Paul and I spent yesterday with my cousin and his wife who came into town on a cruise ship and were only here for about 7 hours.

They have been very curious our decision to move and have followed the blog to keep up on what’s going on. So when they decided to take a cruise that included a stop in Mazatlán in order to have a visit with us, we were touched.

We picked them up at the cruise ship without incident. We jumped into the car and headed home via the scenic route, over Cerro de la Vigia and down through Olas Altas. They loved the house and we sat and drank coffee and visited for a while before heading out to show them Centro.

I guess there are times when my inner neat-freak comes out or something because why would it be that practically the day before they arrived every other flat surface in our part of Centro was covered with graffiti courtesy of “dr clark” (or something like that.) Even our next door neighbors got hit. And of course the sidewalks are always treacherous. And it was Wednesday, garbage day, besides. So our walk over to the Plazuela Republica was an eye opener I think. Bumpy sidewalks, crazy traffic, etc. We skipped the Mercado, instead heading over to the Plazuela Machado, really the heart of Centro. Then to the beach and along the Malecon before heading home.

There’s so many things I wish. I wish it had been night time – Mazatlán at night is so wonderful, especially in the Machado with live music, lights in the trees, people strolling, children chasing each other and all that. I wish the city wasn’t gearing up for Carnaval as the whole demeanor of the city revs up a few notches. I wish we didn’t have such a short time – I mean part of what I love about it here is they rhythm and friendliness of the people. And it takes a while to sense that.

We drove all the way to Playa Bruja, had lunch on the beach and showed them some of our favorite places. They did meet a couple of friends of ours.

I woke up this morning feeling sad when I realized that there’s no way that I could do what they wanted us to do – to “show them what it is about the city that made us fall in love with it.” I think that’s a tall order that takes more than a day. So guys, you’ll just have to come back, this time for a few days at least, ok?