We've lived here just a lil over a year and this is now our third home that we've lived in. Moving to El Nogalito was pretty much an impulse move, it was so beautiful, and so different than anything we'd had before, plus it was a fenced space for Bolt to roam around, so we jumped on it. Who doesn't wanna live in the jungle right? Me. The answer is me lol. I do not wanna live in the freakin jungle, well not anymore I don't. It was beautiful, it was peaceful, it was disconnected from the city. But it was also out of range for any type of delivery, full of creatures (a good and bad thing), when the power went out you're just screwed if you don't have a car, no cell service, and of course the number one reason we left it was unsafe. Now don't get me wrong it is not unsafe in general. The home we were living in became unsafe shortly after we got there. The owners are two guys from the United States, well one was actually born in Mexico but you wouldn't know it by his ignorance to Mexico and local life here. They have a dog, Dakota who is part wolf, part husky. She lives in the US part time, since the guys go back and forth a lot. We first met Dakota a few months after moving in. Upon meeting Bolt she attacked him. He did nothing to her, they were both just sniffing each other like normal dogs, then all of the sudden she attacked. Bolt is 12 and we are lucky he survived it. The owners never apologized. To be fair they did ask if Bolt was ok, but never showed remorse. They then started tying her up on their patio, but Dakota was always getting lose and they never bothered to ensure she couldn't get loose. So taking Bolt out to potty became a challenging situation. But we were dealing with it. Then it became a lot of texting and asking to tie Dakota up so Bolt can go out. That didn't last long until they just flat out started ignoring our text. Then one day the coast seemed clear so we were outside with Bolt so he could do his business when Dakota was loose and spotted us. She was quickly coming down the stairs and headed right for us. I told Bridget to get Bolt inside and I was calling Dakota to me since I knew she liked people. She stopped for a moment to get pet but then was off, still in a hurry to get to Bolt. I managed to grab ahold of her collar just in time as she let out a growl and lunged for Bolt. Bridget was still getting Bolt back into the house at this point and I was holding on to Dakota like my life depended on it, because it pretty much did. If she would have attacked Bolt this time her owner would not have been there to call her off like before and I'd have to get in there to try and save him. It would have been bad. Luckily I was able to hold on to her while Bridget and Bolt went inside. Then I waited for the door to be clear and got myself inside too. Now for the trippy part. I didn't realize it at the time, but when all that was taking place I had jumped out of my body. As I was sitting inside thinking about what had just happened my visual memories of holding Dakota by the collar and her trying to lung at Bolt were all from the front. I was holding her from behind. I have a clear memory of seeing myself holding her back. How is it my memory is of watching myself holding her? Because I was so scared I jumped out of my body. Talking with a friend later about it she said that I am Mexican, and Mexico is a deeply spiritual place. And that it was likely my ancestors that held me there, and held on to Dakota for me. That explanation makes a lot of sense to me, because what I do know is I watched it happen to me, so I had unseen help for sure. I also really like the thought that I am living in the land where my ancestors are from and that they are watching over me and here to help me. It's a trip to think about, but also a very comforting thought to live with. - Nolan

The last few days were strange.

There are moments that look small on paper but feel enormous in your chest.This was one of those:

If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be getting a measles booster in a Mexican Costco parking lot, I would have had many follow-up questions.

I experienced my first earthquake while I was awake last week. I've been through plenty of earthquakes but somehow I was always asleep when they happened. So this was my first time actually experiencing it awake. That shit is a lil scary. It was super quick, and small, so I'm grateful for that. Nothing broke, no one was hurt. It was weird being perfectly and completely shaken. Not at all what I expected it would feel like, but also how do you even know what to expect to with something like that? Bolt did great! He was sleeping between me and Bridget and only lifted his head to see what was happening. He didn't get scared at all. Bridget of course has being for SoCal has been through plenty of earthquakes and it was no big deal to her. I don't think earthquakes happen here often, this was our first in a year. But either way me being me I plan to be more prepared for the next, because I know if we had needed to evacuate on this one I would not have been ready, and I'm all about planning and preparedness. - Nolan

One year living in Mexico was definitely not what I was expecting it to be. But at the same time I didn't know what to expect living in a country I've never been to where I don't speak the language. What I've discovered in that year is that there is a something very spiritual here that speaks to me. It goes far beyond the fact that this is the country where my dad was born. This is the land of my ancestors and on some level I feel that within me. I'm in a place that I don't know, but it knows me. It's been a good year over all, but not without its challenges. I cried a few times and wanted to want to go back, but at the same time I know I'm not ready to leave. Learning the culture and traditions has been amazing. I will admit that I hate that the majority of the traditions have been altered by religious colonization. But I love seeing how the traditions bring people together. We've made a few solid friends and I'm super grateful for that. Playa Listo is still finding its wings, but I see the potential and know it can be very successful. 

December 28th, Dia de los Inocentes is an insane thing to become a holiday. No matter how you spin it, it's crazy that they turned this day into a holiday. Like seriously, a day that hundreds of innocent babies were murdered is now seen as a day for practical jokes? What the actual fuck. - Nolan(also I hate using pictures that aren't my own, but I didn't get any pictures of practical jokes or babies being murdered so historical pics off google it is.)Dia de los Inocentes stems from Día de los Santos Inocentes, meaning Holy Innocents’ Day. This Catholic festival, which has been marked in the church’s religious calendar since at least 485 AD, is a commemoration of one of the darkest events recorded in the bible; the murder of innocent children on the orders of King Herod. The book of Matthew tells of Herod’s barbarous command that all babies under the age of two in the Judean town of Bethlehem were put to death. This was prompted by a perceived threat posed to his rule by the prophesied rise of a King of the Jews. Herod had been alerted to the likely presence of this king in Bethlehem by the visits of the three magi to the newborn Jesus.So now the question is how did a day of murdering babies turn into a day for practical jokes? The term inocente can, as with innocence in English, be used to either suggest a state of being spiritually innocent or of naivety. This double meaning results in the link that those who easily fall for the practical jokes and tricks of the day are themselves innocents. And so somehow Día de los Santos Inocentes was begun.

Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is a big deal out here. It's pretty much the main event of the Christmas holiday season. The baby Jesus finally makes his big appearance in the nativity scenes, Las Posadas comes to a close, gifts are exchanged, and if you didn't already party during Las Posadas you are likely getting together with friends and family on Noche Buena. 

A few late posts here but I really wanted to get them in before we get too far into the new year. This was our first Christmas season in Mexico and it was incredible to say the least. The cultures and traditions in Mexico are all month long including some of January. Just seeing these traditions being practiced is an experience itself. We didn't participate in a lot of it this year because we have been busy with the store and the immigration process, but hopefully we can be a part of more next year. This post is pretty much a copy/paste from what I shared on our business page, but I wanted it documented in our blog as well.  -NolanLas Posadas starts Dec 16th and runs through Dec 24th. Every night Mexico celebrates nine nights of Las Posadas. Each night of a traditional Posada contains the following customs:

We are the new store on the block here in the  5 de Diciembre neighborhood so naturally we wanted to put on our best face to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. After a few hours of googling and checking out the local artists we decided to go with Misael Ivan Lopez, a very well known local graffiti artist. I've yet to see something of his I don't like, so really it was an easy choice. If you have a minute you should google him and check out his other work, I promise you it's worth your time. So anyhoo Misael loved the idea of skeles on the beach and accepted the job. We are thrilled with the final result and are hoping to have Misael back to do the inside of the store in the future after we start making some money. He was thinking it would be cool to continue the beach scene from the door on into the store with more fun things happening. And I'm thinking somewhere in the middle of that scene it would be great to have a naked skeleton streaking running through the scene. So many possibilities, I can't wait. - Nolan

This post is a lil late, but I didn't wanna let this holiday slip by without sharing a few thoughts, especially since this is our first year in Mexico celebrating Dia de Los Muertos. 

We got a car! She's a 2006 Honda CRV, and Bridget couldn't be happier. Personally I never pictured myself buying such an old car, but things are a lil different here in Mexico. Especially when it comes to cars. Here cars are surprisingly more expensive, and even older cars cost more than they would in the US. Anyhoo with us preparing to open the store, and moving further from city center it became clear that we needed to get a car. Uber has been great but just didn't make sense for us anymore. So meet Selena, we named her after the previous owner who just could not have been sweeter. I'm glad she's a Honda because Honda's last forever, and Bridget loves that is practically identical to the a CRV that she had and loved so much. And we both love that now Bolt came come with us to the store, and we can take him anywhere. - Nolan