When I returned to the motel, I discovered the maid had done up my room. I had forgotten to ask for no service, as I always do because I have expensive computer equipment and don’t want the maids to see it. I wasn’t especially concerned here, though, since I hadn’t unpacked everything I unpack when I’m working. I was just mortified that I didn’t have a tip ready for the maid. Thankfully, she was just two doors down, so after a quick Google search (yay for my own super fast connection!) to find out how much I should give her, I caught her attention, thanked her for the service, and gave her a 10 peso coin. She was surprised and the thank you I got made me feel a lot better about my gaffe.

Then, I went back to Los Arbolitos, where I had the taco last night. This time, I climbed the stairs to the deck. The view wasn’t as good as at Charly’s Rock, but I could at least see the ocean!

I asked for a Pacifico beer and they didn’t have any so I said ‘alguno lager’ (which I’m hoping means any lager) instead of listening to a long spiel about their beer offerings. The server seemed confident in his understanding of my request and returned with a Dos Equis, which was perfect! He asked if I wanted a glass and I said yes, so he returned with a frosty mug, as well as salsa, chips, and lime. I squeezed a quarter of lime into my beer and settled in to peruse the menu… and eat chips. Today I got the weird salsa from last night that I can’t even describe other than it being pretty tasty, plus your more standard pico de gallo, which I preferred. Cilantro is definitely growing on me, yay!

I was amused that the menu was partially translated into English and am pretty sure that the untranslated stuff is food the gringo population doesn’t tend to order. I’d done a lot of walking around today on just a granola bar and found myself, to my surprise, drawn to the pasta section. My eyes rested on pesto fettuccine with shrimp and octopus and my decision was made.

The meal was really delicious! It had tons of octopus and shrimp as well as diced bell peppers, spinach, and Parmesan cheese. I couldn’t believe that the dish also came with garlic bread. They sure eat carb heavy here!

I asked for the bill and the server was surprised, asking if I was sure I didn’t want dessert. Nope! I might go back to Thrifty’s for an ice cream later, though. 🙂

The server was working another table with, I’m afraid, ugly Americans. They refused to speak any Spanish at all, even just to say thank you, and actually berated the waiter for greeting them in Spanish, saying, “This is a tourist area. You should speak English to us.” So sad. 🙁