Lowe and I go swimming a couple of times a week after we drop Ouest off at school. Ali takes a break, or more often goes grocery shopping. Can I just tell you how nice it is to not be a part of the grocery shopping trip any longer? So nice. And Ali likes it because it means she can race around the store like she’s practicing to be a contestant on Supermarket Sweep.

Anyway, we had been going to a small beach that we pretty much had to ourselves aside from an occasional local or surfer. But then we started to notice that there were always a ton of people swimming together on a different beach right across from the park that we often go to. So we went there instead this week, and love it. The locals have created a swimming club there, Club de Natacion, and it is packed every morning with probably close to a hundred people from every age group—but a majority in the 60-ish range. Sweet old ladies and men out swimming, laughing, and hanging out in groups talking (in four feet of water and occasional breakers). Quite a few already remember Lowe’s name, and every day more and more people swim over to talk to us. One group just about drowned en masse today when they heard that this little blonde boy was a Mexican. They thought that was the greatest thing they’d ever heard.

It’s a fun place to take Lowe, get in our morning swim, and talk with some locals who always appear happy to see a couple of gringos join in with them. And best of all, because it’s a club, five pesos buys us a fresh water rinse afterwards.