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The Expat Almanac

The Expat Almanac

Monthly Archives: December 2013

Wally World is Closed

29 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by Tom in Accommodations, Travel

≈ 7 Comments

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Los Tules, Puerto Vallarta, rain

Those vertical streaks are rivers of rain, cascading from our patio roof.

Those vertical streaks are rivers of rain, cascading from our patio roof.

It’s Christmas Week in Mexico. For many it’s a week off, and in Mexico where the family is cardinal and most people live inland, Christmas Week is spent at the beach. Los Tules has beaches (a half mile of them) and swimming pools (seven). This is the place for Mexicans to take their families for Christmas Week, and scores of Mexicans have done just that.

There’s just one hitch: it’s raining.

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Merry Christmas Everyone!

25 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Tom in Sentiments

≈ 3 Comments

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Christmas, Portland, Puerto Vallarta

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Kappy, Bernie and Kathy, Doyle, Michael, Beth and Jim, Sybil and James, Cole, Lillie, Weston, Hayden, Topaz, and Kerri — thanks for making our Portland Christmas everything we hoped it would be.

But enough of the freezing fog already. It’s back to Puerto Vallarta (and sun, and beach, and surf) tomorrow.

Tom & Louise

======

(Photo by Sybil Lichty Fontaine)

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Christmas Eve in Portland

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by Tom in Gallery, Travel

≈ 8 Comments

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Christmas Eve, Portland

Downtown Portland in gingerbread

Downtown Portland in gingerbread

Max, the light rail train, was waiting for us inside the airport. The fare was a dollar. It took us downtown, within two blocks of our hotel. We had arrived for Christmas in Portland.

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How to See 5,693 Shops in Three Days

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Louise in Gallery, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

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Guadalajara, shopping, Superior Tours

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To prove what a great husband he is, Tom booked us on a tour to Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico. It wasn’t just any tour, though, it was a shopping tour, and I saw more different kinds of stimulating marketplaces in three days than ever in my long life as a black-belt agoraphiliac.

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Sun Guilt

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Louise in Sentiments, Travel

≈ 7 Comments

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Puerto Vallarta, seasonal affective disorder, sunset

P1040671 The other day I was watching Portlandia in the afternoon down here in Mexico. It was that episode about the annual day in July when the first beam of sunshine returns to Portland after eight months of gray and drizzle. People come rushing out doors with their picnics, bongo drums, sun hats, skateboards, and guitars. I instantly doubled over with guilt, verklempt with shame, suffering a double dose of Sun Guilt in both art and life. The sun was shining, and I was inside making a bracelet. I should have been Out There. Continue reading →

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Hunks and Chunks, but No Shoes

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Tom in Accommodations, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

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Emiliano Zapata District, Old Town Market, Puerto Vallarta

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Everyone who knows Louise knows that she’s a varsity-level shopper. Leaving the theater last night, she lingered at numerous shop windows even though the shops were closed. Closed! When the shops are closed, she plans strategy. When they’re open, she manipulates prices, selections, and even vendors with the precision of an NBA star on a charge to the basket. The woman is shopping’s Kobe Bryant.

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Home Improvement

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Tom in Accommodations, Travel

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Los Tules, palapa, Puerto Vallarta

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That may be a poor choice for a title. Tim Taylor worshiped power tools. (“More power!”) At Los Tules, repairing palapas is done without a power tool in sight. Just three guys and a machete. Sorry, Tim.

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Chic But Still Shabby

03 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by Louise in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

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Los Tules, Nayarit, Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita

The Sayulita beach. (Click to enlarge)

The Sayulita beach. (Click to enlarge)

Yesterday we hopped on a two-dollar bus for the one-hour trip to Sayulita, a fabled old surfing town that has blossomed, since the ’60s, into a chic-but-still-shabby cluster of shops, restaurants, and very expensive real estate. No big hotels, no high rises, and the 4,000 permanent residents all seem to know each other.

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