Natalie and the Art of Expat Living

Imagine stumbling upon a new life in the sun-drenched Riviera Maya, complete with vibrant music, transformative art, and the thrill of underwater exploration. That's precisely the journey Canadian-born Natalie Novak Perez took, and in this episode, she takes us through the twists and turns of her incredible expat experience. From serendipity in love to becoming a local icon through her melodic and artistic prowess, Natalie's story is as colorful and inviting as the murals she's helped to splash across Akumal.

Strap in for a ride through Natalie's eclectic contributions to the local music and art scenes, where her accidental foray into community projects gave rise to a festival that left the town awash in unity and beauty. The harmonious chords of her life extend to her music career, as she recounts her evolution from hesitant soloist to a seasoned performer with an array of bands and venues. Natalie's narrative is a symphony of life's unexpected compositions, a reminder of the rich tapestry woven from our passions and pursuits.

Our finale hits a crescendo with 'Que Padre, Que Malo,' where the peaks and pitfalls of expat living in Mexico take center stage. As Natalie and I trade tales of personal victories and shared concerns, we invite you to dive into the warm community waters of Mexico's music and culture. Whether you're an expat, a traveler, or simply a dreamer of distant shores, join us for a conversation that promises to leave you inspired, connected, and perhaps ready to find your own mural to paint in the canvas of life.

We are incredibly thankful for engagement and stories from our listeners, who have found their own sense of 'home' across the globe. Stay tuned as we continue to share the wisdom and wanderlust of those who've charted their unique international courses. We'd love to hear your comments and questions. Email them to expatslikeus@gmail.com
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Transcript

Expat Life in Riviera Maya

Speaker 1 0:00

I've always just gone out and shown up and asked to share a stage and I let lots of people go up that I don't know online. I had the Kansas center to the other day, right, like, especially if you're on vacation, like you can control who has a video of that. You're going to get better. They're working with more people, so go up and and try, and that's how you meet more and more musicians. Most often it is by getting out and getting up there.

Speaker 3 0:31

Welcome to Expats Like Us exploring the world of US expat life in Mexico. In each episode we'll meet new people and hear their personal stories. We'll also learn more about the expat life and get a few tips on everything from making your move to settling in and living your dream. Let's dive in. I'm your host, bob Busse, and I'm Chris Kamalski. Today. We're thrilled to be talking with our friend and part-time expat, natalie Novak Perez.

Speaker 3 1:02

When Sherry and I first moved here a couple years ago, one of our new friends invited us to go see live entertainment at one of the beach bars nearby. She said it was a special night because Natalie was performing that night. We were introduced to Natalie's amazing talent and have seen her perform quite a few times, since Natalie's a popular performer. Besides her musical performances, she's also an artist who works on some of the amazing murals we see around Acomal and, if that wasn't enough, she's a very active diver. Natalie's here to share her experience in moving here, at least part-time to the Riviera Maya and adapting to life here. We also want to hear about how she discovered and perfected her talents.

Speaker 2 1:44

Thanks for coming, Natalie.

Speaker 1 1:45

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 1:47

Hey, tell us about your life before Mexico and how you ended up coming here.

Speaker 1 1:51

I was finishing up university when I was in Canada before I moved here and I met my husband when I was on vacation oh cool. And I actually lived in Belize when I was in high school a little bit, and just before I started university I did my dive master course in Belize and then I was going to university and then I met my now husband and visited him on my way to Belize and never made it to Belize.

Speaker 3 2:21

Have you been to Belize since then?

Speaker 1 2:25

We did go, and visit my friends there later, on, years later.

Speaker 2 2:28

How many years ago was that?

Speaker 1 2:30

Oh gosh, more than 15. More like 20.

Speaker 3 2:36

Okay, very good. When you did first come here to Riviera Maya, what brought you to this specific place?

Speaker 1 2:42

I came to Acoma the first time when I was six or seven, on a vacation with my parents, and there was like nothing there, like Playa del Carmen.

Speaker 1 2:50

Had one hotel and one phone and you would pay by the minute to use it and we called my grandparents mid-vacation between the two weeks to tell them we were alive, like it was like that, right, but I hadn't been since. Alive like it was like that, right, yeah, but I hadn't been since, um. And then we decided to go on a family vacation when I was in my 20s, which we really hadn't done since I was a teenager. And, uh, that was when I met hyven um, my husband and um. He was a lot of fun and very outgoing. And then I was going to come back and and go back to Belize again in the summers, because I was managing a hotel and spa there in the summers from university and I was a backpacker and Cancun was a cheaper flight. So I visited him on my way and then he showed me the area and it had grown and it was beautiful and convinced me to stay.

Speaker 3 3:41

Very cool and the rest is history, as they say.

Speaker 1 3:44

Snuck up on me.

Speaker 3 3:47

So what was it like to adapt when you first got here? What are the things that you had to adapt to? One of the themes of this podcast is adapting to life in Mexico. What are some of the things that you had to adapt to?

Speaker 1 4:00

When I first got here, staying here was remarkably complicated. There was a point when I was working managing the Akumal Dive shop and they were doing my paperwork, where the instructions were. Your paperwork is now finished. What you need to do is you need to go to this store a papilleria buy three copies of this form. Then go to this store a papilleria. Buy three copies of this form. Then go to this hallway and find this one guy who owns a typewriter, who is the only person who is allowed to fill in this form. Then you need to take that to the bank. Then you need to give them pesos. If you need to do an exchange. You have to go through the line twice and then you have to be back here in an hour.

Speaker 2 4:43

It's like a scavenger hunt.

Speaker 1 4:46

That is kind of quintessential doing business in Mexico, isn't it that a lot of a lot of the expats figure that out after all, but that's almost an extreme case right there 15, 20 years ago. But yeah, yeah, yeah, after that I'm a lot more patient when some things take longer. But it's also amazing the things that happen faster here too that you don't see coming. So you can be surprised in both directions.

Speaker 3 5:08

Yeah, what's an example of something that happens faster here?

Speaker 1 5:13

My husband renewed his passport in like two days or a day or something. Mine takes considerably longer.

Speaker 2 5:20

Happy hour is over quicker, exactly.

Speaker 1 5:23

And then it's sad time. Yeah Right, it's, it's sad time.

Speaker 3 5:24

Yeah Right, it's non-happy hour.

Speaker 2 5:29

So, in your opinion, what are some of the most important things people should think about before making the move to the Riviera Maya or anywhere else?

Speaker 1 5:37

I think people often arrive thinking really long term, really long-term, and you need to be here a little while before you start thinking really long-term, because I've seen a lot of people come and arrive saying I'm going to live here forever and most of those people are gone really quickly, whereas the people who are like, oh, I'm going to check it out for a month and then see where I like and then figure it out, they usually stay longer. They kind of don't approach it with an all or nothing.

Speaker 3 6:09

If you approach it with all or nothing, you're, you're all in, and then you're not, because you find out. It's not what you thought it was going to be you know, yeah, yeah, and we, we meet people like that all the time yeah so what sort of unexpected things that maybe surprised you when you got here.

Speaker 1 6:31

It was long ago. Things keep surprising me now you know Um I'm I'm surprised at how fast everything is growing. Right Um and I've been surprised for a very long time, while it's continued to grow, and I mean with progress, I mean on one side. Pardon me, should be rooting for tourism, because I'm a scuba diver and I'm a singer and those things are easier with people On another level. I'm rooting for the reef and the jungle. So yeah, the rate at which things have gotten bigger and are more accessible.

Speaker 3 7:12

Every time I go to Tulum I'm like what there's like a burger cake on the main street. We both, chris and I, have both been here three years this summer and, yeah, I was just remarking the other day in Playa del Carmen how things have changed just in that short a time. You come here and you think it's just going to be like that, but there's always growth and new places, and old places you loved are gone and new places have popped up.

Speaker 1 7:36

I feel like people expect it to be the same because it is their vacation. So when anything changes in Acoma, there's a whole bunch of hopes about how it's not how it was. I'm like. Neither is my hometown in Canada. Everything is growing, so it's a surprise and I'm surprised by both when they change, I'm still one of those people on the inside going oh my God, it's not how it was.

Speaker 3 7:58

I can't part of it too. Yeah, absolutely. All right, we're going to take a break and we'll be back. We're back with Natalie. By the way, you are a person here you're the only person I know in Mexico who is recognizable by one name. It's like in the in the States. It's like Elvis or Liberace or somebody like. That is one name here. If you say Natalie, everybody knows who you're talking about, right, have you noticed?

Speaker 1 9:02

that. Has anyone ever told you that before? Yeah, there's two parts to it. One I moved here before my parents. When they arrived they became Natalie's parents not their own people for a bunch of the time. Now they seen in years, stayed in the Serenis Resort, which is just down the road from Akamal, and said to the concierge oh, I want to go to Akamal, why, I'm looking for my friend Natalie and he's like I could get her number from my brother and I get a text message. Someone from my hometown is here and they want to see you.

Speaker 3 9:42

It's almost in that way. It's almost like living in a very small town in the United States or Canada or something you know like a really small town, like 50 people town.

Speaker 1 9:53

And I actually live in the Pueblo, not on the beach side and not in a gated community, so I I walk my dog twice a day and most of the people who work everywhere like know me. So I mean I had friends who were like, oh, come to our all-inclusive and I was like that's okay. They're like, oh, we have an extra bracelet and I'm like that would never work they'd see you a mile away. Yeah, but that would never work before we even think about that. So yeah, definitely.

Musical Talent and Artistic Endeavors

Speaker 3 10:24

So you are well known throughout this area, Also besides just being someone who's ever present in the Acomal Pueblo, but you're known for your musical performances. Describe how you came to recognize your own talent and how did you develop that talent have music around me growing up, and that was that was lovely.

Speaker 1 10:52

Dad, um plays saxophone and mom has always sang and loved musicals. Um, when I was six, I was on stage for the first time as a backup singer for a children's singer, and that was just luck. The manager of that singer was a friend of my parents and a bunch of kids got to be in in that. And then, when I was seven, I auditioned for a very difficult, very technical choir that I was in um until mid high school, um, and both of those gave me a lot of training and also required me to do a lot of training when I was younger.

Speaker 1 11:20

But then I realized I wasn't excited about teaching music and I really didn't join bands, even though I was in musicals in high school, and so when I was in university I had three jobs and two majors and I fell out of singing and I took one music course in university and it just it was nice to be in a choir. There's something about the way, the vibrations of everybody hitting the tones in the same room and bouncing off of the right design room coming back, it is really uplifting and beautiful. But I just didn't. It wasn't doing anything for me in terms of scholastically, so I kind of fell out. And then I actually, when I was living here, I would hop up on stage and do one song and then eventually two and then three.

Speaker 3 12:13

Was karaoke involved in this?

Speaker 1 12:16

I had done karaoke, but no.

Speaker 2 12:18

Okay, all right. Was there a guitar player or somebody that was playing?

Speaker 1 12:23

There was a place called Captain Dave's and it was on 10th and it was full of expats and there was a bar that it was just a bar, like not on fifth that people played in and I got to know the musicians and I'd asked and I did what's up, which is one song I think zombie was like. The second maybe give me one reason was the third. I don't remember what the next songs were after that, but came and then, um, a friend of uh, the guitar player from the band, said you should learn the blues and uh and mentored me and we just once a week worked on the blues and then I joined the band okay.

Speaker 3 12:59

So where did you first start playing around here, other than just that that little bit? Where did you start as a regular performer?

Speaker 1 13:07

um, there was a bar on Fifth Avenue called Bourbon Street, and Zenzi is also still existent in Playa del Carmen, and the bands played in those places that I was in when I started singing regularly, and back then it was just once a week a lot of the time, and then eventually it just expanded and I got to the point where I was singing six nights a week, but it was with the same band, um, doing the same songs, and we had very limited time to learn new songs and I was diving. And then I um, I went on vacation for a couple of months and I came back and, uh, I realized I didn't want to go back and my replacement found out I was back and called me and I was like, yeah, I'm good.

Speaker 3 13:54

Because you were too interested in other things, or it was was it monotonous?

Speaker 1 13:58

It was the same songs for the same people every night. So now I do sing, sometimes six, eight times a week, but in different combinations with different songs, with different people, and it's just more interesting to explore the music that way eight times a week, but in different combinations with different songs with different people, and it's just more interesting to explore the music that way, absolutely.

Speaker 3 14:21

And besides different songs and song configurations and whatnot, we've noticed that you, in addition to the solo performances, you work with a variety of musicians too as well. Tell me about what it's like to adapt to varying styles of playing with different people and singing with different people.

Speaker 1 14:33

Well, what I think makes live music most interesting is that it's not a recording and that you don't inherently know where it's going to go. You don't know the mood that everybody's in. You don't know if you're going to crescendo. You don't know if your drummer's having a bad day. We're going to go on this one. We're going to go on this journey, right, like it's totally a thing, right? Or me, I could have some frustration from traffic and I get to get out of my system with some of my big Genesee songs or whatever. We might do an extra verse here or there, right, and that is different with everybody that's playing, with every combination of people that's playing. The longer you play with people, the more you get a feel for it. But it's not the same every day and I think people may not necessarily have words for it or be aware from it, but they don't inherently want to hear a recording, because when they hear live music they react differently.

Speaker 3 15:23

Yeah, I would agree with that as a live music fan.

Speaker 2 15:28

One thing that's definitely different here in the States, and probably Canada, it seems like you're in a band and those five or however many musicians that's all they play with and they go out and gig together and that's it. But here it seems like every musician collaborates with each other at some different levels. So you may have 20 musicians and there's basically 20 different bands because they all mix up and work together, which is it's different, but it's pretty neat.

Speaker 1 15:55

Yeah, it's also just a transient place and musicians are transient by nature often. So, yeah, we tend to recombine more often here. I did a similar thing because I do sing some in San Francisco and there's a wonderful community of professionals that do pro jams for fun and a lot of people moving in and through, and that's where I learned to direct and work with bigger bands.

Speaker 2 16:20

Okay.

Speaker 3 16:21

So how is it different singing for a crowd in San Francisco as opposed to in Acomal, or in Puerto Aventuras or Playa del Carmen?

Speaker 1 16:30

I mean your sound system and the number of people you can reach can vary a little bit, but to me it's not all that different whether there's just a guitar with me. It's always easier to dance once you have drums, and that changes the vibe once people are more likely to dance. Darkness and drums are a beautiful combination Darkness, alcohol and drums.

Speaker 3 16:53

My bad. The trifecta of good performance.

Speaker 1 16:57

Should dancing be one of your goals? Those are essential parts. I mean, people do dance on nights when it's just me with acoustic here and there, but it takes more work. Me with acoustic here and there, but, but but it takes more work.

Speaker 1 17:11

and, uh, and my guitar player actually faked a little bit by um, looping a little bit of tapping on this night to get a little bit of beat somewhere in those layers, right, so there are tricks you can work around. I personally can't do a drum track or a backing track, because then when the live performance takes over and you actually start to go somewhere, you're trapped, you're right, it confines you, yeah yeah, so that's where.

Speaker 1 17:37

That's where I would rather have nobody, or, and then a cajon and then a drum, if I have that combination. But, um, every musician is different and every day is different, and that's what makes an adventure when I get there and when I, um, when I got to play that last night after the gig you were, I had not met the guitar player I was playing with before my other guys on vacation, so well, that's got to be a new experience for for both of you it definitely was we knew a lot of the same songs.

Speaker 1 18:08

That's good to be a new experience for both of you. It definitely was. We knew a lot of the same songs.

Speaker 2 18:11

That's good. Everything here is kind of loosey-goosey.

Speaker 1 18:14

Yeah, transient the way we move.

Speaker 3 18:18

Very cool. So, in addition to music, you're also a talented visual artist and I've seen you creating a mural in Acomal for the Arts Festival. Mural in Akamal for the Arts Festival. Tell us about your background as a visual artist and your involvement with that festival or with visual arts in this area in general.

Community Art Projects in Akumal

Speaker 1 18:37

Well, the Art Festival is mostly produced by Jen from Turtle Bay and there's a lot of people that put a lot of wonderful work into it. But if I list them all, we'll be here, we'll be done. But she was sort of the heart of starting it by accident because she wanted to put lights on the way across the bridge for her? Um employees when they go home. And then it cascaded into making it nicer and painting the bridge and then over a hundred murals with all the other festival kind of came together really big and beautiful thing. I I was actually traveling for part of it but I had helped Jen when I was getting my business off the ground. She was coordinating weddings and I ended up coordinating weddings with her for a little while. So I'd been her right hand in the past when she was putting some of these events together. It was easy to hop in and give a hand and make things go and help.

Speaker 1 19:30

On the production side I? I had painted before but after um the first or second festival, there was a space left in the pueblo and I? Um asked jen if I could have it, because during the festival producing I didn didn't have time to paint and I had a vision of wanting to do a turtle, like in that space, and so I did it, but I hadn't painted on that scale before and it took me a remarkably long time, but I finished it and the festival after that. She asked me to do a lionfish because I'm one of the lionfish hunters and it's important to get the message out about the invasive species and the harm they're doing to the reef. And that was terrifying because if you ever see a lionfish, they are complex.

Speaker 3 20:16

Yeah, they look very spiky and dangerous to me.

Speaker 1 20:21

Stripey and all of that. So I did base the one that I painted off of some photos that we had taken underwater and the painting is some live coral, some dead coral, a sea fan, the lionfish, a spear coming right about to get the fish and the fish is about to eat four cleaner fish, because the heart of our lionfish removal. Cleaners of the reef is actually poor women.

Speaker 1 20:50

So, um, that was the. That was the theme when I did the painting and it was a lot of fun. I also do some um visual art installations at Burning man and a couple other festivals.

Speaker 3 21:00

Oh, okay, yeah, Very, very cool. So how would you describe the art scene here in this area of Mexico?

Speaker 1 21:15

I have seen since we did the art festival that there are a lot more murals in general. Playa del Carmen has a lot more, and we do have an excess of blank cement walls in general. In this area, however, there was a series of canvas. I think this is a good spot for that, so I like that. I'm seeing a lot of that.

Speaker 2 21:36

I fell into it by accident just wanting to add this one turtle.

Speaker 1 21:38

And it was a beautiful experience painting because people would come by and offer to get me a cold drink or whatever while I was painting and at one point somebody actually vandalized the paintings at the bridge, but the Pueblo literally chased the person and got the police to come and got them in trouble and I was part of the group of people who fixed the paintings after that and lots of people came out. So it was nice to see the community behind the art that makes the community.

Speaker 3 22:05

Yeah, absolutely Very cool. And the murals for people that don't know it, the murals really put Akamal on the map. You know, I don't know. I imagine that a lot of people come here just to see the murals and would never otherwise go into the Pueblo, but they come here to see the murals. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 22:25

And there's more tucked Like it just continued on and on into, so like you find more, and like there was one done recently on the bridge. So we haven't had a full festival in a while, but there's still painting going on and I don't know when the next one will be.

Speaker 2 22:43

We mentioned earlier that you're an avid scuba diver and dive master and you kind of touched on when you took that class.

Speaker 1 22:54

But tell, us a little bit about what got you into diving and how that became a passion. I've always been a swimmer. I've always loved the water and my grandparents loved the beach and my parents loved the beach, so that was always beautiful. I was lucky enough to live in Belize for a little while, for couple of months when I was 14, and I did my open water course there. And then, um, and I really did love scuba diving.

Speaker 1 23:19

And then, um, I finished high school just um a half a semester early um, cause it's some extra work I had done and I went to Belize and I did my dive master course when I was 18 because you had to be 18 to do it. And then I fell back out of diving until I was living in Playa del Carmen and, although I was staying with my husband, I went back and redid my dive master course and started diving again. I lived here and it's amazing because we are Cozumel is world class and it's right there. Akamal is amazingly relaxing, beautiful, easy, famous for turtles right here, and the cenotes are incredible, so we're surrounded with more opportunities to dive than almost anywhere else I've ever heard.

Speaker 3 24:02

Right? And what does being a dive master mean for those of us who don't scuba dive?

Speaker 1 24:08

Well, a dive master is the entry level of being a professional in scuba diving, so a dive master is somebody you can lead other certified divers. Um, so I'm actually an instructor and I make dive masters, and so an instructor can teach right from the beginning. And then there are upper levels of what you can teach. There's a master scuba instructor who teaches specialties and all that kind of stuff. But after I got into diving I ended up teaching my husband to dive as well and then he became a dive master as well and he became an instructor as well and been teaching for more than 15 years now okay, yeah, we're gonna take another quick break and we'll be back and I'll think about all the things.

Speaker 1 25:26

What?

Speaker 3 25:29

to do. All right, we're back with Natalie. I recently saw on a social media post and you mentioned earlier, but I know your father because I play pickleball with him in the Pueblo and so I'm friends with him on Facebook and he posted a picture and it was you and he in dive gear with a bunch of lionfish. Tell us about the lionfish. You said you're part of lionfish hunters. What is that?

Speaker 1 26:00

about, and why is that so important? Well, lionfish are an invasive species, so they're native to the Indo-Pacific and they are not naturally occurring here. The challenge is that they eat everything. I have picked up a lionfish both the size of my hand, and then picked up one almost twice that size in my container, and then, when I poured it out, the bigger one had almost finished swallowing the smaller one.

Speaker 1 26:26

They will even eat their own. Wow, they are voracious eaters. Whenever we've done any dissections with any of the universities, they find everything in their stomach, but they find a lot of the fish that would clean other fish and the reef. So you're going to change the landscape of the reef. If you eat all the things that would eat the algae, you get way more algae.

Speaker 1 26:46

And then that algae strangles out other plants, but you also take off the fish. That would take the parasites off of other fish, while you're just kind of stripping the environment of anything that'll fit in their mouth. They are voracious eaters and they reproduce very quickly without any natural predators.

Speaker 3 27:00

And so the way to get rid of them is spearfishing, yeah they are venomous.

Speaker 1 27:06

Yeah okay, so I'm clear. I am not advocating.

Speaker 3 27:11

Don't go up and grab the first lionfish you see.

Speaker 1 27:14

Nature makes things spiky and brightly colored as a way to say no.

Speaker 2 27:19

Yeah right.

Speaker 1 27:21

So yeah, I'm not saying anybody else should do this on a regular basis, and there is always a chance we will get stung, and getting stung is remarkably painful and probably not deadly and awful. Um, but all the same, we do use a hawaiian sling, so it's just elastic on one end, three pr-pronged generally. On the other end. The goal is to have enough power to almost grab the lionfish without hurting the sensitive reef that they like to hang around, and they like to hang around cleaning stations. They like to hang around where there's live coral and lots of small fish, so they're usually in a delicate spot when they're there. So like, at one point the ecological center actually gave us spear guns, but you're going to end up all sword in the stone.

Speaker 2 28:04

Yeah right.

Speaker 1 28:05

And then on top of that we have a container that we carry them in. We actually had put together our containers before there was something commercially available, but they ended up looking roughly the same and it's a tube with funnels that have been cut so that you can push the fish through and then pull it out. There are other versions with trap doors and such, but essentially it has to be contained so you can't be in contact with the spines.

Speaker 2 28:31

Okay. So even after it's dead, can it sting you?

Speaker 1 28:34

Yeah.

Speaker 2 28:35

If it touches a spike.

Speaker 1 28:37

I've seen somebody drop one on their foot and get stung. I actually got stung because I put the lionfish in the container, pulled the spear out because there was a second one and there was a small chunk of the lionfish with the spine not attached to the lionfish.

Speaker 2 28:52

Oh geez.

Speaker 1 28:52

And that was enough. And it was still in my spear near the tip. So when I lined up I stabbed myself with it and got stung. It still had all the pain and swelling that comes with venom.

Speaker 3 29:03

So where did these things come from? You said they're an invasive species.

Speaker 2 29:07

Yeah.

Speaker 3 29:07

How did they get here yeah?

Speaker 1 29:10

They spread out from Florida.

Speaker 3 29:12

Okay, all right.

Speaker 1 29:13

So humans? The short answer is humans, okay, most likely in fish tanks. They can't actually even reproduce in fish tanks.

Speaker 3 29:20

It was humans that brought them here because they're pretty so somebody released some fish from their fish tank when they didn't want their fish tank anymore, or whatever probably.

Speaker 1 29:30

I mean the kindest version I've heard was like a fish restaurant, close to the water, like in a hurricane, like, maybe they like, but you know yeah it took a few to start producing and then that was enough to cascade. And there's actually graphics by Noah where you can see them spreading out from over time, like the rat of the sea.

Speaker 1 29:53

Yeah, and they they reproduce quickly, they eat a lot, but I do see a marked difference where we dive often and remove them, and that we do that in the area in Akamal, specifically because we worked with the ecological center and they made a no fishing zone where nothing else is supposed to be fished, and we also worked with them and and Ivan and I in the hotel Akamal Kar, caribe, were part of creating a coral restoration program and that program started coral gardening. So the idea was to remove lionfish where we're growing coral, where they're not fishing other things. And having all of that happen in Alcamal is a project that we started more than 10 years ago, but the lionfish hunting is the thing that we've continued now that the Ecological Center has taken over the coral project.

Speaker 2 30:45

So far. There are other groups like you along the coast that do it, you know, in Playa and PA and Puerto Morales.

Speaker 1 30:52

There are hunters. There's lionfish hunting certifications. I haven't really heard of other local groups. I know that Mahowal was paying dyers for the lionfish and actually freezing them and using them. We tried to work with the Fisherman's Union here, but we may get none or very little by weight because we're trying to remove them, which means we'll take tiny ones out. We're not waiting for the big ones.

Speaker 3 31:14

You're not waiting for the big trophy lionfish. We tried.

Speaker 1 31:18

We actually did have one lionfish hunting contest and to encourage people to get them all, we gave a prize for the biggest, because you kind of want to. We gave a prize for the smallest and that was almost as big as the prize for the biggest, and we gave a prize for the most by weight to make everybody try to remove as much as they can. But they are venomous fish and there are liability issues and you want people not to get, like you know, too fixated or get stung.

Speaker 1 31:44

So right having a dedicated group of people who um have been diving together for a long time allows us to focus specifically on hunting, and then we can clear out areas more often, okay, how many days a week do you go out and hunt them?

Speaker 1 32:00

We often did like both weekend dives. But if things are busy the dive center's there. If parts of the team are away, we could go a month or two and not dive at all or there might only be two people in town. And also when I'm diving, when I'm with divers or when my husband, ivan, is with divers a lot of the time now we can hunt For a long time. We couldn't, because if your guide gets stung they're not much of a guide at that time and it could end your dive and it might not make things relaxing for the people with you, right. But all of the people who choose to dive with me, I give them a choice and they're happy with me hunting and if they're at a level where I can take my cue, I will. So I get to hunt regularly that way, so probably hunt a couple times a week between the group or diving with my people okay, very, very cool.

Speaker 3 32:49

So, in changing topics a little bit, do you have tips for musicians and artists who may be considering the riviera maya as a place to spend some time, either temporarily or permanently? What advice would you give them?

Music, Life, and Culture in Mexico

Speaker 1 33:12

That is a good one. Um, I've always just gone out and shown up and asked to share a stage and I let lots of people go up that I don't know online. I had the Kansas center to the other day. Right, like, especially if you're on vacation, like you can control who has a video of that. Like, especially if you're on vacation, like you can control who has a video of that. You're going to get better working with more people, so go up and try, and that's how you meet more and more musicians.

Speaker 2 33:31

Most often is by getting out and getting up there. They have an open mic night at some of the places in Playa. I know, yeah, and they've got a drum set and guitars and all that. You can play whatever. No, I love that Naughty Burrow has one.

Speaker 1 33:42

They've got a drum set and guitars and all that. You can play whatever. No, I love that Naughty Burrow has one. So in Porto Aventuras there's like on Monday nights very often that one has one. So I've definitely gone up there even as like between songs or with people. I know that's how I discovered one of the musicians I'm working with right now is going on stage there, so definitely.

Speaker 3 34:00

Very, very cool. So in each episode of expats like us, we play a game we call Que Padre, que Malo, and it describes one thing that we love most about living in Mexico, and that's Que Padre and Que Malo is one thing. We don't say we hate it, but something that we're still maybe adapting to or haven't fully adapted to. So could you give me one K Padre and one K Malo?

Speaker 1 34:30

I think the K Malo is watching things become privatized around me, watching giving ID twice to get in here or once to go in North York mall and, like I, I think that accessibility is important, and one of the things that makes Ockham Hall magical is that if people are from this state, they are able to show their ID and access the beach, and access to the beach is supposed to be a real thing that is supposed to exist for everybody all the time, and there are a few accesses in North Ockham Hall after that, stop that. They could say no to you at, which is questionably okay.

Speaker 2 35:09

Right right.

Speaker 1 35:10

And, like Porto Aventuras, has some accesses, and there's also the same thing there where they could, in theory, turn you away. So watching things that are supposed to be public become difficult to access, I think I have issues with that.

Speaker 3 35:26

And what do you have for Cape Padre? What's the thing that you love most about living in this area, or one of the top things that you like?

Speaker 1 35:33

Well, I'm a water baby and having diving right there with a five-minute boat ride and a beautiful ocean is really unusual. Boat ride and a beautiful ocean is really unusual when I've been anywhere else as a diver. If it's any closer, you have to swim out from shore, which is a lot of work, and if it's any farther, you're in a boat for a long time. There is a beautiful combination that is right here that I have treasured for a long time. And also just I like singing in Akamal because people know me, and so it's a lot of fun to be at my home stage at Lola. We're in Porto Aventuras and close by in the smaller communities where I'm working with this, but it's also nice that I can go all the way to Palaya for my bigger band and my louder later shows. Having all of those things close together is very cool. I appreciate it. Okay, chris, you got any other questions? I don't think I do. All right, yeah, being having all of those things close together is very cool.

Speaker 3 36:23

I appreciate it. Okay, chris, you got any other questions? I don't think I do. All right, I think we've taken up enough of your time. Natalie Novak Perez, thank you so much for sharing your story of moving to Mexico and pursuing your passions, and for the great tips and insights you provided. Thank you, thank you Instead. This is a term used primarily by Mexican-Spanish speakers. Today's word is Chela Chela. I think I know what that is. I think I'm familiar with ordering a chela now and then.

Speaker 2 37:16

What is it?

Speaker 3 37:17

Yes, chelas are beers. That comes from the beer cocktail. Michelada Micheladas are beer, lime, chili and tomato juice. Okay, and chela is the beer cocteau. Michelada micheladas are beer, lime, chili and tomato juice. Okay, and chela is the beer portion of that.

Speaker 2 37:27

Yes, chela chela.

Speaker 3 37:30

That makes sense to me. Thank you so much. Well, let's go have a chela. Let's do it. Gracias, erica kowalski from mi vida. Margarita, we'd love to hear your thoughts on today's topic. Just look up Expats Like Us on Facebook or send us an email at expatslikeus at gmailcom. You can also see the video version of today's discussion and all of our discussions on our YouTube page Follow, like, subscribe and leave us a review. Thank you to today's guest, natalie Novak Perez. Thanks also to my co-host, chris Kowalski, and co-producers Erica Kowalski and Sherry Busse. Most of all, thank you for tuning in to Expats Like Us and thank you for interacting with us on social media. Next time, we'll bring you more firsthand information about your international move. Until then, remember our homes are not defined by geography or one location, but by memories, events, people and places that span the globe I don't want no one to squeeze me.

Speaker 3 38:43

Oh they might take away my life.

Speaker 1 38:47

Yeah, I don't want no one to squeeze me, they might take away my life. Yeah, I want someone to hold me, oh, and rock me through the night.