How old are you and where were you born? I am 27 years old; I was born  in Puerto Vallarta. I have lived here in Sayulita since I was two years old; I consider myself a true Sayulera.

Cuantos anios tienes y donde naciste? Tengo 27 anios; naci en Puerto Vallarta. He vivido aqui desde que tenia 2 anios; hasta la fecha. Me considero una verdadera Sayulera.

Family history? I have four siblings besides myself. Cuautemoc, the oldest is 37 years old, he works as a traffic officer in Puerto Vallarta; Joel is 35 years old, he lives in San Miguel de Allende, where he runs a grocery store; Xochilth is 32 years old, she and her husband Mario run the restaurant Mexotic; Alvaro is 30 years old, he runs the money exchange across the street from Cafe El Espresso. My dad’s name is Miguel Topete, he is 60 years old and he has the bungalows Don Miguel, next to the plaza; my mom is Tomasa Rodriguez, she is a housewife and also 60 years old.

Historia familiar? Tengo cuatro hermanos aparte de mi. el mayor Cuautemoc tiene 37 anios, trabaja de Transito Muncipal en Puerto Vallarta, Joel tiene 35  anios y tiene tienda de abarrotes en San Miguel De Allende, Xochilth tiene 32 anios tiene su restaurante Mexotic con su marido Mario y Alvaro tiene 30 anios y maneja la caja de cambio frente a el Espresso. mi papa se llama Miguel Topete, tiene  60 anios, tiene los Bungalows Don Miguel, junto a la plaza, mi mama Tomasa Rodriguez, es ama de casa y tiene tambien 60 anios.

Work history? The first place where I worked was in the old Rain Tree Cafe as a cashier for a year-and-a-half. Right after, I started as a waitress at Cafe El Espresso for another year-and-a-half. I moved to Puerto Vallarta to work in a nail salon; after awhile I started to work as a cashier at the restaurant La Palapa. After I went to work in another nail salon. I came back to Sayulita where I began work as a waitress at the Mexotic with my sister and a couple of weeks ago I recently opened my own nail salon called NAil Art Judith across the street from Lunanet.

Historia laboral? El primer lugar que trabaje fue en el extinto Rain Tree Cafe de cajera por un anio y medio. De ahi me fui a El Espresso como mesera por otro anio y medio. De ahi abri mi local de  unas acrilicas por un anio. De ahi me fui a Vallarta donde trabajaba poniendo unias en un salon, despues trabaje de cajera al restaurante La Palapa y de ahi me fui a trabajar a otro salon de unas, regrese a Sayulita donde empece a trabajar de mesera en el Mexotic con mi hermana y hace unas semanas abri nuevamente mi salon llamado  Nail Art Judith enfrente del LUNANET.

Education history? I studied kindergarden and elementary school here in Sayulita in the public schools; secondary school in San Pancho and high school in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle at the CETMAR where I studied Water Sports. After, I entered College at the CUC to study accounting, I didn’t finish the entire course; I started my studies at the CECATI where I became an accounting assistant and also took English lessons.  From there I was asked to take the nails course at NSI. I was going to beauty expos and there are all  the very beautiful girls with their nails and I began to dabble in that world and decided to begin to specialize in that. I do nails, manicures and pedicures.  I brush up on my skills at workshops hosted by different brands; each season many trends go out and I want to stay up-to-date with the newest and latest in fashion.

Historia educativa? Estudie el kinder y la primaria aqui en sayulita en las escuelas publicas. la secundaria la estudie en la escuela tecnica de San Pancho, la preparatoria estudie en el CETMAR, la carrera de Recreaciones Acuaticas, ingrese un anio al CUC a estudiar Contaduria, de ahi me fui al CECATI a un curso intensivo de contabilidad, donde me recibi de auxiliar contable y ademas tome cursos de ingles. al mismo tiempo estudie para cultora de belleza en el Instituto Beverly. de ahi me pidieron que tomara el curso de unas y lo tome en el NSI, estuve yendo a expos de belleza y ahi van todas las chicas muy bellas con sus unas y empece a inmiscuirme en ese mundo y para empezar decidi especializarme en eso. hago unas, manicure y pedicure. tomo talleres de actualizacion de diferentes marcas, cada varios meses salen muchas tendencias y quiero mantenerme al dia con lo mas nuevo, lo ultimo de la moda.

What do you like about Sayulita? What I like most is the freedom. You can go out on the street at any time of day and not have a problem. Besides that, I enjoy the beach; when I go to a place where there is no beach I miss it so much. Also I can walk everywhere in town here.

Que es lo que te gusta de Sayulita? Lo que mas me gusta es su libertad, puedes andar las 24 horas del dia en la calle y no hay problema. aparte la playa, cuando viajo a un lugar donde no la hay la extrano muchisimo. tambien que puedo ir caminando a todos lados.

What are some positive changes that you have seen in Sayulita? The Cultural Center and workshops that are taught there have been positive changes. More involvement for youth in sports such as surfing, baseball, soccer and boxing. Also, we finally have internet and cell phones here! (laughs) I remember before, we lived in "solitary confinement" and it was not long ago, it was only about 7 years ago since we have been able to get these services running efficiently. Our beaches are cleaner. Obviously, there were fewer people and less trash, now it is the opposite. We now have a Teleprepa and that is an extremely positive change for people who can not afford to take their children to study somewhere else.

Cuales son los cambios positivos que has visto en Sayulita? La casa de la cultura y los talleres que ahi se imparten. la motivacion al deporte y me refiero al surf, al beisbol, al futbol y hasta ahora al box. que por fin tenemos internet y telefonos celulares!! (risas) antes, viviamos incomunicados y no fue hace mucho fue hace apenas aproximadamente 7 anios que tenemos esos servicios funcionando eficientemente. las campanas de limpieza que hacen en las playas. obvio, antes habia menos gente y menos basura, ahora  es al contrario. Ya tenemos secundaria y ahora una Teleprepa, son cambios muy positivos para la gente que no tiene los recursos de sacar a sus hijos a estudiar a otro lado.

What would you suggest to people who come to Sayulita for the first time? I think that what is most beautiful is when visitors coexist with the local people, when they become friends, and so when they return to Sayulita they have someone to greet them during their next visit. I recommend that visitors interact with the locals. try the local food flavor, the variety that exists, you can not leave without eating the original tacos from Sayulita, because they are nothing like the "tacos" in the U.S, and tamales because in Mexico the flavor changes from state to state. Don't miss out on our beautiful sunsets and I would suggest taking a walk through our jungle paths.

Que le aconsejas a la gente que viene por primera vez a Sayulita? Yo creo que lo mas bonito es cuando conviven con la gente de aqui, cuando se hacen amigos, y asi cuando regresan a Sayulita tienen a alguien que los espera con carino y ansiedad. que interactuen con la gente local. prueben los sabores de la comida local, la gran variedad que existe, no pueden irse sin comer los originales tacos de Sayulita, porque nada que ver con los “tacos” de Estados Unidos, y los tamales porque aqui mismo en Mexico cambia de Estado a Estado el sazon. No se pueden perder un atardecer porque son unicos y un paseo por la jungla, para convivir con la naturaleza.