Greetings and Hoppy Easter friends!
Much to the relief of our kids, the Easter Bunny does indeed come to Mexico |
How fitting to arrive back in San Juanico for Semana Santa.
Like a phoenix rising from ashes I feel a certain sense of personal resurrection.
We are beginning to feel somewhat normal after the madness of our car accident. The
weeks after the accident were a whirlwind; surgery and an exhausting get away
that was an adventure, but didn’t allow our family the rhythm that we needed
after the trauma of the accident. Each day I have more strength and mobility in
my wrist and more clarity and closure regarding the accident.
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As I composed my last post from the beds of multiple hotels, I wasn’t sure if I should
actually go public and publish. I was still licking my wounds and living in
a fog of disbelief, but I am so grateful that I did. It was very healing to
write about it. The support I received was overwhelmingly wonderful and exactly
what I needed. It gave me more hope for the future of social media. It also made
it easier for me not to relive the whole thing in detail with people. “Go read
the blog,” I would say, “It’s all there.”
We have been here a day, and life already feels more normal
and peaceful in San Juanico than back in California. This is a bit funny, because the Semana Santa fiesta is in full swing and the town is partying
late into the night the entire weekend. The beach, which is usually empty save
some seaweed, shells, and a random person here and there is packed with
hundreds of people. The aroma of tacos and camp fire and the sound of rancho
music has taken over this little town. There are tons of food concessions, bars,
trampoline bounce houses, carnival games and a stage with a dance floor of
sand. Barefooted girls are getting spun and dipped by their cowboy hat wearing
partners. The food. My goodness! I don’t know which was my favorite; the
ceviche, tacos, tortas, or churros! You’ll have to ask my husband; I am pretty
sure he tried two of everything there was to eat!
The beach is full of friendly faces enjoying the event. Most
are camped on the sand. The band is playing in the background as I sit here and
write.
What a lovely place this is.
I must say, Mexicans certainly do know how to have a good
time. Or as five-year-old Lola says, “Mama! Mama! Mexicans sure know how to
potluck and picnic!”
In my opinion, I would say that the ability to have a good
time is doubly true of the friendly people of San Juanico. Even the nurses, who
helped us at the hospital in Guerrero Negro after our accident, spoke of San
Juanico in a dreamy awe struck way. One nurse said in Spanish, “they say it’s
very beautiful and tranquil. With beaches and wind, and that the people are so
friendly there. I must go!”
This charming place has a magic of its own. How lucky we are
to have the opportunity to learn, recoup, and recharge here!
What I love about living here in San Juanico is that it’s
smaller and so much more calm. Instead of going through the mindless motions of
my day, like I do in California, I find myself fascinated and curious about how
everything is done here. I am learning a lot about living and while I have
traveled and even lived in Mexico in the past, I am seeing life here with an
entirely new set of eyes. I am trying to understand myself and others better
and I feel that life is slow enough that I can process things in a more
restorative way. I think so often we get
wrapped up in our Western lives that we are unable to fully process things. We are always on the go. We work to survive, consume and fit as much in as
possible. Everything comes at us at warp speed and it’s really hard to take it
all in.
From the weekly farmer’s market to Easter break, the events
in this town are delightful. La Festival de La Primavera leaves me smiling
every time I think about it.
From what I have gathered, the Spring Festivals are most
often put on by local schools throughout Mexico. Here in San Juanico, the kids
and I participated in one wildly fun community parade and affair!
It all began three weeks before the event, when I reread a
sign wrong and thought that I was attending a little dance at the kid’s school,
to only realize that I was five minutes late to a meeting that was planning a
Spring Festival. The moms talked at warp speed and I tried to process it all.
Costumes, decorations, food, a stage and a desfile. I thought to myself, didn’t
I look the word desfile up the other day…what did it mean again? Well, I slowly
began to form a picture of what this event might be like as I started asking questions. I had a hard time believing that they could pull off their ideas in
just three weeks. With four costume changes, the dance numbers alone
sounded complicated. Meanwhile, the kids joyfully reported how much they
loved their daily dance lessons.
The day of the parade brought a pueblo full of little
eagles, tigers, lions, butterflies, and bumble bees who buzzed the streets with
children’s delight. They danced with the
wind as they awaited their parade chariots. The floats were little more than
trailers towed by rusted pickup trucks, but they were transformed with creative
decorations, blaring music and the festive spirit of the people.
I am accustomed to sitting and watching parades from the
sidelines, but here in the little pueblo of San Juanico, the entire town
strolls along with the parade. What fun
it was listening to the music and walking with the procession as the salty
air came off the ocean. So much laughter and joy!
As the parade ended we all gathered in la Salon Civica,
where concessions offering pizza, tamales, pozole and many other flavor
bursting foods were being sold to fund raise for the schools. Each school took
turns performing dances and songs for the crowd. When the performances were done the
children frolicked in festive encumbrance while everyone helped clean up.
We were embraced by the community and we embraced the
experience. The kids danced their hearts out and gobbled tamales. I was so
grateful to be there.
The end of the week brought us Zoe’s fifth birthday. Once
again the Salon Civica was filled with friends and family. The common theme
here is food. Zoe’s birthday was no exception, we were served dish after dish
and Zoe had her own personal sugar coated table full of treats of countless
variety. I love attending these events because I always learn something new. On
this occasion, we learned that birthday parties provide two piñatas; one for
the girls and a second for the boys. My wild three-year-old boy had a heck of a
time waiting for the boy's piñata! And let me say, the kids here know how to work a piñata! They really went
after them gusto!
And so there it is. The community and events here are
fabulous! We love living here and are so very happy to be back and already
falling into the swing of things. The children have one more week off for
Spring Break before we fall back into the rhythm of school life here.
Summer will arrive before we know it and we are hoping that many of our friends
(this means you!) will join us to experience some of the magic of San
Juanico. The kids are thrilled to have both their grandma and grandpa in residence!
Grandma has helped create the beginnings of a fairy garden the past couple of days and PopPop and Jesse are building a tree fort!
My viewpoint, has once again shifted since the accident. It will be
really interesting to see how it changes who I am in the long run. I felt that
I was on a really clear path before the accident, but now I have to rebuild and
reassess things. That prospect is actually really exciting.
I reflect daily on the miracle of car seats. My children
would not have survived without them and I believe that my choice in seats kept
them extra safe. I am astounded by the compassion and generosity I received from
Diono car seats. Late night, shortly after the accident, I tearfully messaged
Diono via their website and thanked them for saving the lives of my kids. They
contacted me the following day and continued to check in with the physical and
emotional welfare of our family every few days. They also replaced our car
seats with brand new ones and used our story as a safety story on their
website. https://us.diono.com/safety-stories/.
I have never been super into car seat safety. I turned both
kids forward facing just after a year because they got car sick. I did do a
lot of research and chose Diono because they seemed like the safest on the
market. I am SO happy that I chose them. We have other car seats that we use as
backups and our five-year-old has an inexpensive booster seat that, much to her chagrin, we rarely use because
I know the 5-point buckle is safest. For me, it's Diono for life. After this accident, I am now a car seat devotee.
The irony of my previous posts on fear, safety, and paranoia are not lost on
me. Sometimes westerners do get it right and when it comes to car seats, I now
herald, “safety first!”
I had the most interesting conversation with the PR person
from Diono. I was telling her how no one in San Juanico uses car seats. She responded
with a, “that’s crazy!” And my answer was, “it's simply the way it is.”
I think the reason they don't use car
seats is based on three circumstances. Number one is lack of knowledge and
education. The second is that they can't afford them and third is that the
pueblo is isolated and access to purchase car seats is limited.
I do know that towns people here are
asking me about the experience of our accident and I am advocating the importance of car
seats.
I am hoping that I can get readers like
you to donate gently used car seats for the families of San Juanico. My goal is
to collect thirty or so. My hope is to get enough to donate to all the kids in
the Jardin class and possibly some infant seats. I can also purchase Cosco Sceneras for
around $40 if any would rather donate money. https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=cosco%20scenera
If you are interested in donating money toward a seat or donating a used seat, please message me at sarahpearsonbeck@gmail.com.
I will be sure to send you individual information
and photos about the families you are helping!
Thanks so much for reading my blog. Your
support after our crazy accident has been incredibly healing! And thank you for
considering donating a car seat to this sweet pueblo! It’s as simple as
checking your garage for a spare, asking your friends if they have an extra car
seat collecting dust in their garage, or skipping going out to sushi for lunch and donating $20-$40 instead. Your donation will save lives!!
Hasta entonces, mas tarde...
Have a beautiful day and Happy Easter!
~Sarah