Weblog: Cob, love, and new directions

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Building a cob house, life on a Mexican ranch, outings on the Baja Peninsula, finding a soul-mate, and a different direction for my life.

This is going to be a long entry, since I've been giving other things priority over updating this site. It suffices to say that this has been one of the best times of my life. Most people who know me well know that I've been going through quite a difficult time emotionally since I got back from Portland, but things are much better now. I'm not planning to return to the kind of life that led to this trouble, and am taking some very new directions (see the end of this entry), so hopefully everything will stay this great.

The plane trip to Mexico City was the usual. I took the ferry over to Vancouver, caught the bus to the airport, and spent the night there on the comfy chairs in the quiet part of international departures since my flight left in the morning. I'm really starting to dislike air travel. Flights always the same, airports always the same. Missing everything inbetween. I don't even remember which airport I had to change planes at; was it San Francisco? Then there's the huge environmental impact of air travel (this one flight increased my environmental footprint by more than a hectare). I did enjoy the landing at Mexico City, which this time was during the day and demonstrated just how huge and colourful the city is.

My flight for Cabo didn't leave until the next morning, so I had to find a place to stay (Benito Jurez Intl. is the least comfortable airport I've ever slept in, and I didn't care to repeat it). I had planned to take the Metro to the Zocalo, so I stashed my big pack in a locker and walked over to the nearest Metro station, but it was closed. Apparently this line doesn't run on Sundays, though I was never able to ascertain why that is. Thinking other people might know where the next station was, I tried following some others who were heading for the Metro, but they all seemed to get into Taxis. I have an irrational dislike of Taxis, so I didn't want to do that unless I had to. The weather was good, so after looking at some maps I decided to try walking to the next nearest Metro station on a different line that was on my rather incomplete maps, which was about halfway between the airport and the Zocalo. I figured either I could get the metro there, or keep walking. It took a little while to get my bearings and figure out which street was which, but eventually with the aid of my GPS at least telling me which direction I was going I was heading on my way though some pretty interesting neighborhoods with lots of activity. The metro I was aiming for was running, so I took that to the Zocalo and checked into the Hostal Moneda, which was the same hostel I stayed at last time I was in the city. It's one of those big hostels of the sort I dislike, but it was cheap and convenient and involved the least stress.

The hostel provided free breakfast (another reason I chose it), so after eating I headed back to the airport, this time walking the whole way. I could have taken the Metro, but on weekday mornings it's extremely busy and walking is the best way to exprience a city anyway. I enjoyed the colourful houses, crossing a metro track, big highway overpasses, streetside cafes, stray animals, and people. I took roughly the same route back as I had taken in the night before, but towards the end was taking some smaller residential streets rather than the arteries. It was nice to see the same area again but this time during the daytime, because it looks so different. I'm actually glad the Metro wasn't running on Sunday or I probably never would have walked this.

I had some time at the airport, so I had a long conversation with a teacher from Chiapas, who had an interesting perspective on the Zapatistas (that they are in fact supported by the government). Then I checked in and headed for my gate, which was hard to find because it was in the international part of the airport even though it was a domestic flight (so far both the times I've had to find a departure gate at this airport it's been an ordeal).

A short flight later, with a stop in Guadalajara, and I arrived at the Cabo airport. This is a pretty small airport and we disembarked from the plane directly onto the tarmac. At the same time an international flight had arrived and it was pretty strange that the lines of people exiting the planes crossed each other and there was really nothing to stop someone in the international arrivals to join the domestic line and skip immigration. Once we got inside the terminal, the two sections were only separated by a metal bar. Obviously some confusion arrises sometimes, because after I had wandered to the edge of the domestic section someone came up to me and asked my where I had come from, I guess thinking I may have crossed.

I was picked up at the airport by Courtney and her kids Julian and Rosie, who luckily had a description of me as she had not been given any information about my flight except that it arrived around 2:30, and also had the wrong airline! We first drove into San Jose del Cabo because the nights were colder than people had expected and Courtney had been sent to buy some extra blankets (I'm glad I brought my big down sleeping bag).

It took about an hour to drive to the ranch where the workshop is taking place. The weather was warm and sunny, but the vegetation was so sparse and seemingly homogeneous that I wasn't sure I liked the area much. In quite a few places the road was washed out going through arroyos (the wide sandy areas where water drains during the rainy season) and had some very temporary and slightly scary bridges (just separate metal things for each wheel).

Once we got to the ranch (Rancho "El Tezal"), I was briefly introduced to everyone. I'm usually pretty intimidated by sudden introductions to a group (which is why I often try to be the first one at a party), but there was no problem here. And this was also when I first saw Alexis, and though she didn't make a huge impression on me at the time, I remember being disappointed that she wasn't the one who showed me the way to the tent area. I went up the hill to find a site for my camp, and came back down while everybody was waiting for dinner to start. Now I noticed how beautiful she was, and at some point we made eye contact, and a shock went through my whole body. Throughout dinner, the group talking afterwards, and during cobbing the next day (we mixed cob together during the afternoon), I was getting a lot of strong signals, although Alexis doesn't seem to think she was sending them. However, she did say that the moment she first saw me she knew something would happen, even though I'm not the physical type she goes for at all (nor is she mine). After dinner after the first day of cobbing, I sat down next to her and without saying a word put my arms around her. This is not the sort of thing I ever do. It could have backfired in really bad ways and made the whole workshop awkward, but somehow I just knew. Since then I haven't had to spend the night in my bivy, so I guess I was right!

The ranch is right next to the highway from La Paz to San Jose del Cabo along the east coast of the peninsula. An arroyo runs along this part of the highway and is accross from the ranch. The nearest town, about 4km away, is San Bartolo, which is a nice little mexican town with a few small restaurants and a small store. About 15km away by road is Los Barriles, which is a very strange place that caters to windsurfers and fat old gringos, but is the nearest place to get internet access and make phone calls. The main house of the ranch is built near the highway at the bottom of the hill and we're camped behind and above it. Our kitchen area is actually in a makeshift car repair space, and the hood of a small toyota pickup forms part of the food preparation space. A few metres away is a covered sitting area. Nearby is a pit toilet and a shower. The water supply comes from a nearby spring via black PVC pipe connected with cut inner tubes. The tents are behind this kitchen area, some right nearby, and some way up a path up the hill. Alexis' and my spot is quite high and has a view of the arroyo and the sea, and we get to see lovely sunrises out of our tent every morning. The site where we're building the cob is about 100m up the highway from the main house.

The daily cobbing schedule goes as follows:

In practise, we usually don't start cobbing until 0715 (Alexis and I have a tendency to be particularly late). The initial cob mixing is supposed to be silent, in order to be a bit meditative and more productive, which again is more theory than reality. For second breakfast there's oatmeal prepared, in addition to the break, pb&j, and granola that's available for first breakfast. Lunch and dinner are cooked by a professional cook and eaten in the family's house. Both meals are incredibly good semi-mexican cuisine (though with added veggies and pasta dishes, I guess to suit northern tastes). For the first few days the last cobbing was from 1500-1700, but it was decided to make it later because of the heat. Most nights a campfire is built at the camp and we sit around it talking until bedtime, which is usually around "baja midnight", or 9pm. Sometimes Coenraad (one of the teachers and Courtney's husband) brings out his guitar and we sing. Siesta is usually spent resting, or doing chores like Laundry, or for a trip into Los Barriles to check e-mail (others go to the beach there, but I'm not much of a beach person and there's usually a cold wind).

When I arrived, the foundation was complete and about a day's worth of cob was already onto the wall. For the first week or so, we pretty-much just put cob on the wall since there were no details to worry about yet. Although I had hoped that I would be working along with mexicans, this turned out not to be the case. The family we're building the house for (Jose Juan, Yadi, and their kids) comes by occasionally, but aside from that are not very involved. Toward the end of the workshop and after it ended, Jose Juan became much more involved, which was gratifying.

On the first Friday, we had a "field trip". First we checked out a palapa (palm leaf) roof that was under construction just outside Los Barriles. This is the same type of roof that the house we're building will have, but this will be done after the workshop is over. Next, we briefly stopped by a nursery and then took all kinds of back roads from Santiago to get to a beautiful adobe house that was constructed a few years ago. After that, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the hot springs at "Agua Caliente". This is a beatiful spot where hot springs run into a creek, so you can find a spot with the perfect temperature by moving around. Even in the cold creek, the sand underneath is kept warm by the springs. There's a small dam there which is great for jumping off as well. Quite a few gringos were camped out nearby. On the way back, we stopped into Los Barriles to check e-mail and ate some tamales for dinner.

On Saturday, Alexis and I slept in and then climbed up a nearby hill accross the arroyo. This hike made me appreciate how beautiful the environment is. It seemed like every 100ft of elevation the type of vegetation and trees changed. Until now everything had seemed really sparse and homogeneous, but the hike demonstrated how much diversity there is here. The view from the top of the hill along the arroyo to the Sea of Cortez was striking.

The next week was spent continuing to cob, but now we were reaching the height where we needed to consider windows, shelves, and other details. Just about everything in the house is re-used from somewhere else or found. The windows consist of a car window, the back window of a pickup truck, two boat windows that open, and a found sliding door. Shelves and windowsills are being made of stone slabs and beautiful eucalyptus that washed down the arroyo during a past hurricane.

Sometime toward the end of the following week, it was time for a member of the group, Brad, to leave (some people only came for two weeks of the workshop). A camp fire was lit inside the incomplete cob house and the family we're building for was invited. More songs with Coenraad on guitar and he and his wife (who's a great singer) leading the singing. There were some speaches, and it was a pretty emotional experience losing the first member of our group. In the weeks that followed, more members left and each time a similar ritual was performed. Every time someone left it was difficult, and it's a real pity they couldn't all stay to the end.

The second weekend, Alexis and I took it pretty easy. On Saturday I got a ride into Los Barriles to Internet and phone, and then walked back to the ranch along the arroyo (which meets the sea near Los Barriles). We then walked a little ways up the arroyo to a nearby canyon that has a couple of lovely small waterfalls, one of which makes the best shower ever and gives a pretty good back massage as well. We continued a short way up the canyon and found the spot where our water supply comes from (distressingly, it is downstream from where cows obviously go to drink). One of the more bizarre experiences was seeing this strange patch of soft green stuff on the ground, and realizing that this was in fact perfectly normal grass (which neither of us had seen for quite a while)! Maybe Alexis will have some more to write on this nice soft bit of grass and what a fine valentines day gift it made, but I prefer to keep this log G-rated :). On Sunday we returned to the canyon but explored it further, and it just got more and more beautiful the further we went.

On the third weekend, most of the gang went for a trip to La Paz (the nearest big city) to take in Carnaval, and Alexis and I went along. We caught the bus and 1330 on Saturday and got to La Paz around 1530, then walked into the centre to find a place to stay. Everything was pretty booked up but Pension California, which had been recommended to us by Marc (who went to look up a friend in Cabo San Lucas that weekend), had space for all seven of us. Carnaval was quite a spectacle, with at least ten blocks of the malecon (waterfront promenade) absolutely packed with people. All along here were bands, games, and vendors selling booze, blankets, food, and everything else. As it got later everything just got more and more packed, to the point where it was almost impossible to move and the only way to get from one place to another was to join lines (kind of like conga lines) with some people at the front who could push people out of the way, which snaked through the crowd. The only places that were not packed were the 5 metres radiating around the blanket sellers, who were constantly yelling into microphones connected to extremely large speakers describing what they were selling. They had incredible energy, but maybe they should rethink their technique. This all culminated around 2300 after the carnaval queen was crowned and the fireworks started. After a rather rickety fireworks stand was lighted (with people thronging around it) the crowd began to disapate and we headed back to the hotel. Shortly after arriving there, more fireworks were being lighted along the malecon which we watched from the hotel roof. On Sunday, we mostly just wandered around the city. There's a whole section that seems to be dedicated to stores selling candy, spices, and dog food. There was a church that was either under construction, destruction, or serious renovation (it was hard to tell). It was in active use, however. We ended up picnicing in front of a huge pink hotel that had never been completed. It looks like the building had been finished, but the interior had been left and the grounds were mostly bare except for some tennis courts. Homeless people had taken up residence (and said it was fine for us to look around, although we didn't quite feel comfortable going in) and there was glass from smashed windows everywhere. I was delighted to find that Alexis has a similarly wierd approach to cities and strange aesthetic taste as I do.

During the last week of the workshop, two afternoons were spent building a cob oven at the main house. At one point, Miguel (brother of Jose Juan) had suggested shaping it like a pig, so that's what Alexis and Tracey (mostly Alexis) sculpted the top into. Judging by the reaction of the family (Yadi's mouth was hanging open for at least a full minute, and no-one else looked very enthusiastic) he was either joking or something had been miscommunicated.

On friday of the final week, the family prepared a feast for us. They inaugurated the oven which had been completed that day by slaughtering a pig and roasting it (which the vegetarians and more sensitive folks weren't all to happy about, but I found fascinating). The pig's head was all dressed up and put on the table with the food. There was much drinking, and afterward a big fire was built in the cob house and the festivities continued there. Everyone also put an object into a time capsule that would be embedded into the house. Alexis and I took locks of each other's hair and braided them together into a circle to form our time capsule item.

There are quite a few dogs on the ranch, and, as is usual in Mexico, they're left to their own devices and aren't treated that well. But there was one Rotweiler that was being totally mistreated. Apparently, she had been brought to the ranch by her owner to breed with "Gringo", a white pitbull, but that hadn't happened and she was left to fend for herself. After she bit a pig, she was tied to a tree on a short rope and was not being fed or given water, and was starving to death. Kup took it upon herself to save the dog, who she dubbed "Precious". She's now being fed and, with the help of "Quad Man", a gringo in Los Barriles who rents out quads but is also the head of the local humane society (I'll leave the whole topic of foreigners coming to a country and telling the locals how they should do things for another day...), she got her shots and paperwork and will find a new home with Alexis in w. Pennsylvania. She has now been re-named "Annie Basura", "Annie" being Kup's middle name and "Basura" meaning "trash" in Spanish (because that's how she was treated, and it came from the first road sign we thought of, which is Alexis' family's usual way of naming animals). Now that she's being well treated, she's blossoming into a beautiful, energetic, and loving dog.

On Saturday, Alexis and I left to go hiking in the Sierra de la Laguna mountains. We got a ride to Cabo San Lucas with Courtney, Kup, and Marc. Cabo San Lucas is a horrible place full of golf courses and fancy hotels. Who knows where they get all the water for all the flowers lining the highways and golf courses in the desert. We stopped in town to get some cash at a bank machine, then got dropped off near the bus station. While we waited for the bus to Todos Santos, we got our food supplies at the nearby huge CCC supermarket. In Todos Santos, we stayed at Way of Nature, which had been recommended to us by Honey and Daegan (sp?) who visited the workshop for a day. Way of Nature used to be a bed and breakfast but had been neglected for a couple of years and was just starting to be brought back to life. In exchange for moving some cut grass, we got to camp for free. It was a beautiful setting in an orchard next to town, where qi-gong retreats are held periodically. We had dinner in town with Brad, one of the people on work-exchange there, and then went to the hostel were we had been told there was someone who knew about the trails. Only a couple of people were at the hostel because everybody else was watching a boxing match at the nearby sports bar. Johnny, who ran the hostel, said he would help us after the match, so we wandered a bit and waited, and finally around 2200 (when we were both nearly falling asleep) the match was over. He drew us a map and offered to drive us to the trailhead the next morning and arrange someone to pick us up on Tuesday. I was a bit worried, since he was pretty drunk at this point and I don't count on things going to plan in Mexico, and our schedule was tight because Alexis' flight would leave La Paz on Wednesday morning, but everything went without a hitch and he even arrived early to pick us up on Sunday morning.

The first day we hiked up 4500ft, to an altitude of 6200ft, which took us most of the day. As we reached the top, the vegetation changed completely. First we saw a big oak tree, then a couple more oak trees a couple of hours further on. Then, the first pine, then the first arbutus, and suddenly everything was different. There were few water sources on the way up, so we wanted to reach the valleys where water was plentiful before setting up camp, but we hadn't gotten there yet by nightfall. We reached a spot with a firepit, so we decided that we must be close and set up camp there. Without my pack, I quickly continued along the trail and after ten minutes reached water and filled a couple of containers.

In the morning, we broke camp, stashed our packs, and continued into the valleys and to a canyon where we'd heard there were large waterfalls and pools to swim in. We never did reach any big waterfalls, but there were some small pools. The water was freezing cold, though, so Alexis never went in and the only way I could get into the water was by jumping right in off a ledge and then getting out as fast as possible, since there would be no way I would get in if I went gradually. We then returned to where our packs were stashed and went halfway down the hill, since we would be picked up from the trailhead at noon the next day.

On Tuesday, we got going around 0900 and got down faster than we expected. Once again everything went smoothly and our ride was only a few minutes late. We got into town, started walking to the bus stop, and there was the bus waiting. It left just as we sat down and we got into La Paz around 1500 and walked to the Pension California to get a room for the night. We had some fish tacos and bread for dinner, then walked around to get some presents for Alexis' siblings. She had some fun picking out the most disgusting looking candy at one of those candy-and-dogfood stores (I tried out a chili-covered candied mango, which was even worse than a Super Lemon), then we called it a night. It was finally starting to sink in that soon she would be gone.

Wednesday morning, we got a taxi to the airport and I saw her off. It was so strange to be alone, after a month of being together almost constantly. The airport was pretty far out of town, but I kind of wanted to walk back. I ended up taking a taxi back anyway, but along the way saw an incredible sight: along the highway there was a stretch of totally crumpled massive billboard stands. At that point I really wished I'd walked so I could have taken some photographs. However, it's a good thing I didn't walk because later in the day it started pouring rain. They obviously didn't put too much thought into drainage in La Paz, because there were rivers of water streaming down the roads into huge puddles at the intersections.

The workshop was officially over, but there was lots of work left to be done on the house, so Tracey, Pat, Kit, and Steph were still there to finish, and I took the bus back to the ranch so I could help out. I had considered staying in La Paz a couple of days to catch the Lucha Libre (Mexican pro wrestling) event, but decided it wasn't worth it. When I arrived at the ranch, it looked empty so I made myself some hot chocolate and started cooking some of the leftover hiking food for dinner, when Pat, Kit, and Steph emerged from the trailer. The family is feeding us lunch and dinner until the house is done, so that's great (I thought we would be taking care of our own food). I tossed out my half-cooked ramen noodles and headed to the house for dinner. It's too bad most of the group is gone, but the work dynamic is very different with so few of us. The work schedule is more relaxed, with us starting around 0800, breaking for lunch around noon, then continuing around 1330 until we feel like stopping.

So I'm now at the ranch helping to finish the house, and will probably stay here until Monday the 9th at which point I will head to the mainland. I'll probably spend a day or two in Mexico City checking out art museums, then head to Puebla to meet up with Ed.

As far as future directions go, things should get interesting. Alexis and I were together almost 24 hours a day for the last month and we can see spending our lives together. I came to this workshop being open to whatever possibilites presented themselves, but this was the last thing I expected (I'd pretty much given up on ever finding a soul-mate). The plan is to head to western Pennsylvania where she has land and help her build a cob cottage this summer, and see where things go from there (you never know how things can change when you're living in the "real" world instead of the beautiful environment of a ranch in Mexico where you don't have to worry about anything). After tying up loose ends in Victoria for a month or so and waiting for the mountain passes to be passable, I'll be riding my bicycle accross the U.S.A. visiting some folks along the way (but I may not be able to wait that long and opt for a faster mode of transportation).

Side Note 1: Emmy returned "Tashi" to the SPCA because the cat was taking away too much of her freedom. It's too bad, but I understand the feeling very well. I'm glad I only saw her for a few days and didn't get too attached.

Side Note 2: Incase you didn't notice, I implemented a comment system just before I left for Mexico.

Side Note 3: Cobworks is posting pictures of the workshop on their site, which you may want to check out in addition to the pictures below.

Thumbnail of: The cob site Thumbnail of: Chili dog sleeping at the site Thumbnail of: Woody sleeping at the site Thumbnail of: Julian and Rosie at the site Thumbnail of: Discussion at the site Thumbnail of: Flowers at the house Thumbnail of: 'No Hard Hats' sign I made when entering the site Thumbnail of: Bonnie on the farm truck Thumbnail of: Beach north of Los Barriles Thumbnail of: Aroyo from Los Barriles to San Bartolo Thumbnail of: Pat, Kup, Steph, and Coenraad Working on the oven Thumbnail of: Stream in the first valley Thumbnail of: First valley

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Posted on Fri, 5 Mar 2020 at San Bartolo, BCS, MX (altitude 278m) (map/google earth)

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