A HOUSE IN BUCERIOS

A young Mexican friend of mine had told me he was building a house in Buscerios for his retirement.  When he offered to show it to me, I eagerly agreed.  I had never been to Buscerios, but had heard that it was a small quaint town half way around the bay from Puerto Vallarta.

Because he was currently living in Nayarite, I told him I would take the bus there to meet him.  He told me to take the blue bus to the Walmart I knew, then change buses to the Nagarite Walmart.   What he failed to tell me was that it was a different bus line and for too long I waited at the wrong bus stop.  Finally I found someone who spoke English and he explained that I had to take the ATM bus to get to Nagarite and that bus stop was a block away.  There is always something new to learn about buses here.

At the second bus stop, I still had trouble finding the right bus that would stop at the other Walmart.  Finally I found a friendly bus driver who told me that he would stop there.  There were the usual hand painted signs on the windshield, but none said "Walmart".  Once I was seated I noticed that there was a printed board behind the driver listing all their stops (of course the sign could only be seen once you were seated).

Due to the confusion I was a little late, so he was already standing beside his shiny pick up truck.  My first thought was that with such a big truck, he could help with my next move.  It was only about a 15 minute drive to the little town of Bucerios, but his home was being built 10 kilometers out side the town (don't ask me how far that is, as I do not know).  We traveled through farm land that reminded me more of Iowa than Mexico as there were acres of corn fields intermixed with cow pastures and some horses.

The new developement where he decided to build is accessable only over dirt roads (he said they would all be paved soon. I wonder by whom).  Just outside the subdivision there are some very large buildings.  I was informed that it was to be a new University, so he is sure the property value would jump in a few years.   The house is quite nice and large, but is currently only a concrete shell.  All the electricity and plumbing is all in place including ducts for air conditioning.  His contractor was just beginning to lay the marble floors in one of the upper bedrooms.  It has three bedrooms and two and one half baths.  Most impressive to me was that he was building an adjacent structure for an apartment and commercial space (there is no zoning here).  You can see the rebar rising on the right side of the house.

The house was quite impressive for any area, let alone Mexico.  I was amazed that this young kid (well, young to me, he is 30 years old) was able to make enough money to build it.  He does work two jobs (one in the afternoon, and one at night) and works 6 days a week.  It has taken almost four years to get it this far, but still I was very impressed.  He claimed to have designed the home including the high ceilings and arch shaped window in the staircase.

After viewing the home and listening to all his plans for it, we went back into town and had lunch at a tiny restaurant near the beach.   I had a huge bowl of cheviche.  It is a very charming town with the traditional zoacalo and gazebo.  The main street leading down to the beach is lined with colorful stands selling everything.  I enjoyed the day and seeing his home and Bucerios, but still don't want to live there.  I like the Zona Romantica.