Hasta luego amigos!

The inaugural Baja Spanish School session has come to a close.  The combination of Spanish, surf, and yoga brought out the best in our minds, bodies and souls.  It is amazing how much knowledge can be attained in just one week of classes. We went from knowing “hola” and “cerveza” to forming real sentences… perhaps our sentence structure still isn’t perfect but imagine what we could learn if we stayed for several weeks.. ;). Most importantly we are communicating in Spanish!

Throughout all of this we had the opportunity to soak up all the magic Cerritos has to offer, sunset margaritas, morning coffees with a view, lazy hammock hang outs, and a reggae dance party over an open fire pit.  Lucky humans we are indeed!

Thanks for tuning in to our journey.  A full session of classes will be available in the upcoming Fall and Winter as well as exciting new volunteer opportunities…  Want to learn Spanish and help out in the local community? All that and more is coming your way.

Stay tuned as we will be posting an album of our favorite photos later this week.

Hasta luego amigos  🙂

Adios amigos!
Adios amigos!

 

Balandra beach bliss and beyond

It’s been hard to find time to write- just having too much fun :).

Yesterday we started Spanish early at Alma y Mani a new restaurant in Todos Santos.. studying our Espanol over breakfast.. I highly recommend the Chilaquiles (photo below)-  full meals were all under $5- not only unbelievably tasty but affordable.

We headed straight from class to Balandra beach (which is just outside of La Paz on the Sea of Cortez)..Baja Spanish School on road-trip! Dios mio! What a sight!  Words cannot adequately describe how gorgeous it is.  One of our group even said it was the most beautiful beach he’s been on; I’d be hard pressed to disagree.  It is a shallow bay perfect for wadding and floating.. rumor has it there is even a floating ice cream vendor for those who have a craving.. I had a caving as per usual but unfortunately we did not see him this time;).

After a full day of beaching we returned and ate dinner in Todos Santos at the hotel Casa Tota- a beautiful small hotel in town, fish was cooked to perfection- add that to the ever growing list of amazing places to eat.

Today it is the weekend and we are taking it easy a sleep and a full day of chilling out at the surf beach and indulging in our newest concoction the watermelon-lime margarita garnished with fresh pineapple..we’ve found a winner!

Balandra views
Balandra views
Chilaquiles
Chilaquiles
watermelon-lime-pineapple margarita!
watermelon-lime-pineapple margarita!

 

Balandra views
Balandra views
Balandra beach model indulging in coconut and cerveza
Balandra beach model indulging in coconut and cerveza
Road to Balandra
Road to Balandra
Perfect views
Perfect views

Speak, surf, stretch and repeat!

We are in the full Baja Spanish School flow.. We’ve dove head first into the classes with surfing, yoga and lots of delicious eats in between.

Mario’s surf school taught us really well and now we’ve even been able to catch a few waves of our own.  The waves have been fairly small and beginner friendly making us all happy.

Yesterday morning we did yoga in Spanish and then decided to switch up the location for Spanish class opting for an evening study session at Todos Santos Inn in the historic centre on Todos Santos.  They have a beautiful courtyard and lucky we had it all to ourselves.  For dinner we visited Café Felix, one of Guillermo’s favorites, we were not disappointed. The majority of us decided to indulge in the Papas Rellenas which is a plate of potatoes mixed with cheese, cream, vegetables and a meat of your choosing.. Certainly not low calorie but definitely added to our ever growing list of favorite Baja foods.

Going to keep this one short and let the photos speak for themselves..  Hope these photos help entice you to come on down for a visit.. We’re off to the beach!

Spanish classes in full swing

Spanish classes are in full swing here at Baja Spanish School.  The group is just finishing off its second morning of classes. Guillermo is an amazing teacher, everyone is learning so much, so fast and it is really exciting to hear new words mixed into the conversation. Guillermo teaches with the perfect blend of humor and anecdotes and really finds a way to pull everyone into the conversation.

YeIMG_20140429_103238[1]sterday we had a wonderful day which began with classes, which led into lunch and a stroll through Todos Santos, which rolled into a late afternoon Yin yoga class.  I really can’t say enough great things about Baja Zen the space is so beautiful and Kim is as lovely of a host as they come.

The day ended as we began an unofficial Spanish class at Tortugas bar (the bar on site where Baja Spanish School is hosted). The bar was full and one of our most outgoing students was carrying on some pretty interesting conversations with a group of locals.. Let’s just say we learned some words that were not taught in class ;). We trickled out of Tortugas to the Baja Spanish School bungalow rooftop for a star gazing party and some additional Spanish banter. Needless to say some of us were a little less bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning than others. But I am happy to say we were all there and even on time!  Now we’re off for our first Surf lessons..wish us luck.. weeee!!IMG_20140428_214958[1]

Bienvenidos to Baja Spanish School’s first blog post!

We have spent the last couple of days bustling around Cerritos, prepping for the inaugural Baja Spanish School Session to begin..  surf boards and yoga mats are waiting and we have got a cozy corner all set up to study espanol.

Today the chores were done and it was time to do some yoga of our own. Mira (a great friend and the first guest at Baja Spanish School) and I decided to join an acro-yoga class at Baja Zen. Baja Zen is a treat in itself- probably the most stunning studio I have visited- perched up high on the hill will tall ceilings and an atmosphere that is simple, beautiful, and extremely welcoming. I’d never tried acro yoga before and had always been curious.. Let’s just say I was not disappointed- I loved it! The gorgeous beach view, talent of Fernanda and Christian acro-yoga instructors extraordinaire, the Thai massage to close off the class, and the chocolaty treats made by Kim (owner of Baja Zen), made this morning’s session nothing short of magical.

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The morning session exceeded all my expectations but  it was what happened after the workshop that was really incredible.  We were asked to help out and take some acro-yoga photos for website and promotional materials..  It turned into an entire afternoon stretched into sunset of photo shoots complete with a couple of costume changes. It wasn’t necessarily the photos themselves that was the best part (although I must admit those were looking pretty darn good) but the opportunity to drive up a bunch of the back road of Cerritos and finding ourselves on top of some incredible mountaintops..  finishing off with a sunset session splashing in  the water, balancing, laughing and building human pyramids with new friends.

When I woke up this morning I never would expected to be flying through the air on top of a strangers feet. I certainly never would have expected to spend the day at multiple beaches, hidden back-roads, and taking part in 100’s of photographs with lovely people in balances I’d never heard of. What a treat!

Expect the unexpected.. take a risk, try something new.. It’s all possible. 🙂

beach silhoette
beach Mira
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