Hola from La Paz

I'm writing tonight, and for the next ten days, from the balmy shores of La Paz, Baja California Sur, one hundred miles and a world away from the resorts of Cabo San Lucas. On our first extended vacation together in some time, Jane and I opted for the less touristy and more authentically Mexican city of La Paz. Our plan is to spend the week in the city, eating our way across the malecon, before taking a kayak trip to the nearby uninhabited Isla Espiritu Santo for some camping and snorkeling, The little bed and breakfast we're staying at is located on a cramped and bustling little street, and until the nearby Movistar cellular company shut off the obnoxious nortena pop music a half hour ago, I thought we might have some real trouble from a certain exhausted physician. But we have some tacos in our stomach (my pulpo (octopus) taco was a highlight), a cute bottle of tequila on the kitchen counter, and a plan to explore this city of 200,000 more fully tomorrow. Favorite moment so far: either when our cab driver made a remarkable manuever to avoid swiping the very large cow ambling across the highway ("Cow," he calmly said) or when the emotion-dripping ballad singer at an outdoor cafe paused mid-verse to answer his cell phone.