Y - Yankees

“Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home”

There are two general categories of expatriates that live in Puerto Lopez (or anywhere, for that matter): those that reside here permanently and those that visit.

Like the “snowbirds” that spend winters in Florida or Arizona, we have seasonal guests for a recurring duration. Most will stay between three and six months, and most are here during the ‘rainy” season – a time of year when rain is occasional but most days are warm and clear.

In this post, I’m referring to them as “Yankees” (primarily to use the letter “Y”). Our seasonal guests are almost entirely from North America, and (unofficially) better than half are from Canada. A common phrase used to describe their stay is as a “six-and-sixer”: six months here, six months at home.

During their time here, the attitude is fairly festive. Not only does their visit coincide with the nicest weather, it also occurs during the year’s major holidays: Christmas and Carnival. There are stories to swap, and the motivation for being active and adventurous is very high. The combination of excitement from their visit and the turn to better weather leads to more social activities: dining out, hiking, site visits, etc.

The past two weeks have marked the closing of 6/6er season. Many have left already, and the rest are leaving in the following week. Our get-togethers at Hector’s and Agnes’ are now about half their normal size. The weather hasn’t changed yet, but we know that the garua (drizzle) season is coming.

During the next six months, work will get done. I know that I’ll be inside more often working on my writing. Others will be doing similar activities – getting around to cleaning up “todo” lists and other things.

The 6/6ers will start coming back in October, and all of us here look forward to that. In the meantime, us locals will be holding down the fort.