Nos Amigos: Lalo, Sandra, & Keen

I finally have some time to sit down and write a bit...

While "viajando con dedo" (travelling by thumb) we caught a ride with a family who said they were camping at a great place (this was just outside of Tuluum). So we hopped in the back of their truck and wound up at Jaime´s. Jaime owns a plot of land approximately 25 meters (oceanfront) X 100 meters (long). On his taxes he claims it as private land with no places for rent, but should a camper stumble on to his place they can stay for a small price ($5 per night). He and his brother bought the land 10 years ago for $10,000 USD. It is now worth a million and Jaime might actually be more than just asset rich if he didn´t go out drinking every night on the money he earned from campers (meanwhile his brother is off serving in the military and his wife is working somewhere in the north of mexico). A funny portrait of a millionaire.

The family we caught a ride with proved to be fantastic neighbors & friends. Sandra, the mother of Keen, is a make-up artist for the movies. She recently pulled Keen, her 13 year old son, out of school to travel and experience a different learning environment. Lalo (above, in the white sarong) is Sandra´s boyfriend, an ex-professional soccer player (his father went to two world cups in ´54 & ´58 with the Mexican team) and is now a trapeze artist as well as rigs stunts for movies. They sold their house in mexico city and have resolved to only work in the summers and travel the rest of the year. We had a great time sharing coconuts & cerveza, playing beach soccer, & making fresh shark ceviche together.