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 Vallarta Living | December 2005 
Vivendo en Mexico (Living in Mexico) 8
 Korah Winn - PVNN
This past Saturday I got to play tourist and visit the mountain village of San Sebastian del Oeste. I was amazed to walk around the angosto (narrow) streets and see the living history. San Sebastian was founded as a Spanish mining town.
Some of the old haciendas the miners lived in have been converted into large homes or even small motels to accommodate the people who visit the village hoping to get away from the rush of every day life.
Getting to San Sebastian is an experience in itself. I went with a family from my church. We passed through beautiful mountainous country. I just soaked it up because the sight of mountains is not something that I grew up with. We passed by plots of agave.
Agave is the plant that tequila is made from. Tequila is a major part of the tourism industry here. It is common to see advertisements to tour tequila making facilities. The plant is actually very pretty and it has a bluish tint to it.
The family I went with has a windstar minivan. They were honest in saying that it was definitely not the right vehicle to be climbing up a mountain with but it was the only one they had that could fit the whole familia (family). Our situation was a little hairy at points when it was not clear if we were going to be able to make it through some pretty muddy spots on the side of the mountain. We even went through a vado (ford) in the river.
I was not as incredulous that we could not make it through once I saw some cars in front of us pass through the river water just fine. It was definitely an experience. It was all worth it though once we got to San Sebastian del Oeste. It is like no place I have ever seen. We definitely have our own historical areas in the United States but we usually do not preserve entire towns. It was unique for me to see a village that had adapted to new things while preserving the old.
I walked around looking at all the old buildings and doors. The doors back home are usually all nuevo (new) and prefabricated, but each and every puerta (door) in this town was different and they all looked handmade. You could see that many had been painted over numerous times. I really had the feeling that I was in a place of character.
Usually at home we replace the old with new almost automatically but in San Sebastian del Oeste there is an integration of the old with the new. It seemed as though every corner I turned there was something distinctive or beautiful to point out to the family I was with.
Later in the day, we poked our heads into a beautiful Catholic church near the center of the pueblo (village). We took some time to look around inside of it and then we explored the grounds connected to the church.
From there we made our way to the gazebo in the middle of the town. We took some pictures there and listened to the banda music that was floating around in the background. I took a lot of pictures while I was there. I also found a small website that already has pictures of the village on it in case you were interested in checking out what it really looks like. www.vallarta-info.com/sansebast.html San Sebastian del Oeste is truly a place that stands apart from others. ‘Salud!
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