The P Habla: Across the Border

Zihuatanejo

dk and the P snuck across the border for a couple of days to attend a wedding in the lovely town of Zihuatanejo. One thing I love about Mexico is the music everywhere… from boom boxes to strolling mariachis to restaurants with tiny little stages. One of my favorite memories from camping trips in remote bays in Baja is the early morning sounds of fishermen out on the water, singing to themselves and their catch as they place their nets.

Zihautanejo is a sleepy town on Mexico’s pacific coast, with a well-protected bay and a couple of lovely beaches. We stayed up a hill, looking over the bay, with the sounds of wild parrots, geckos and Mexican radio swirling around us. In our wanderings around town, music was a constant companion on the streets. Walking through town one day, the strains of Willie Colon’s El Malo flowed out over a courtyard wall and drew us into what turned out to be a fantastic restaurant. Not bad for a trombonist from the Bronx!

This is not a town of big stages or fanfare, but of street music and simple melodies. My favorite memory of this trip reflects the basic rhythm of life in a Mexican beach town: the nighttime sounds of music floating over waves and water.

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During our first evening in town we met a professor who teaches a class on the history of rock and roll at a Bay Area college. (No joke!) His focus: Rock and Roll music from its inception in the mid 40’s through the punk movement of the late 70’s and beyond. [Is this really a class? For credit? Sign me up!]

And as if on cue, we flew home sitting just a few rows behind a bona fide rock star, named after a pesky insect, who once posed naked with his bandmates on the cover of Rolling Stone. [Professor, I think this warrants extra credit...]

Tags: Willie Colon, zihuatanejo