Playa Central´s Spanish School

Hola! Bienvenidos todos a la clase de español.

Hello, welcome to Spanish Class.

Would you like to improve your Spanish? Well, it has never been more fun, so sign up and change your Baja experience. Learn Spanish so you can communicate clearly with Mexicans who do not speak English, get those verbs down, learn some of the lyrics of some of the most famous Hispanic songs, explore Hispanic geography and cuisine en Español and meet people in La Ventana.

Maestra Jessica and Teacher Assitant Sallyanne. Photo taken on the first day of the spring course.

For the spring course of April 22nd - May 18th Jessica will be the maestra. For the first two weeks Sallynne Munro will her teacher assistant, and the following weeks you will have Vivien, Jessica´s sister, as a teacher assistant. Jessica and Vivien are fluent in English and Spanish, with a Mexican mom and an American dad, born and raised in Cozumel, they are very good at relating Spanish grammar and vocab to the English language, and can really help you learn some tricks to remembering and pronouncing your Español.

Jessica tutored Spanish Grammar, Literature and Hispanic Drama during her university at Oklahoma State and enjoys teaching interested students a hablar español. Vivien, who will study Business in Guadalajara next year, is a patient and fluent person who will assist you in pronounciation, local sayings, conjugaitons and get you coffe and cake during class! Vivien runs the bakery at Playa Central and is in charge of the wood oven, always making sure there are plenty of galletas y pastelitos for Spanish School students.

Classes includes Coffee or Tea and Cake. (Advances students do pizza & wine)

Sallyanne is a traveled kite instructor who teaches kiteboarding in English and Spanish. She is originally from Scottland and Canada, and is a great example of how with studies and effort anybody can pick up Spanish as a 2nd or 3rd language and become fluent. Sallyanne will assist students with their spelling, vocab and grammar, as well as join in or pair up with students for conversation class. She will also be serving students coffee and goodies, but remember there is NO ENGLISH ALLOWED!

Tuesday´s class was fun and productive. This is your chance to REALLY improve your Spanish. For the next four weeks, we will have classes for all levels, so check out the calendar, decide what level you are at, and enroll.

The Spanish Students! Los estudiantes de la clase :) This is a real fun way to practice your Spanish conversation,

enjoy your morning, meet new people and talk about relevant topics.

Spanish School Spring Schedule for 2011

Which level are you?

Beginners: Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 10:00- 11:30. Cost is 10 americanos a class, or 12 classes for 100 americanos.Includes: Coffee or tea & Cake
Dates: April 22, 25, 27 & 29th. May 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 16 & 18th.
Description: We will start out with the basics. Introduction to verbs and grammar as well as basic vocabulary. Learn your when, where, what & why´s, numbers, the alphabet, body parts, sentence structure, sayings, fruit and veggies, etc.

Intermediate: Tuesday & Thursdays 9:00 - 10:30. Cost is 12 americanos a class, or 80 americanos for all 8 classes.
Includes: Coffee or tea & Cake
Dates: April 26 & 28th. May 3, 5, 10, 12, 17 & 19.Description: Lots of conversation and vocab. We will focus each class on a new topic, example: weather and topography, marine life and water sports, construction/building and tools, emotions and holidays, slang and local dialects, Hispanic culture and geography, etc.

Advanced: Tuesdays and Fridays @ 5:00 - 6:30. Cost is 35 americanos a class, or 240 americanos for all 8 classes.
Includes: Pizza & Wine
Dates: April 22, 26 & 29th. May 3, 6, 10, 13 & 17th.
Description: We will analyze songs, articles, poetry and excerpts to discuss in class. We will be conversing most of the class and I will correct all errors. Every day we will add 10 advanced words to our vocab, and do written exercises.

The advanced Spanish on Tuesdays and Fridays includes pizza and wine.

The wine is to help that Spanish flow a little better :) Bring a friend!

You are welcome to show up, but please Facebook or e-maili Jessica Claire Withington Sanchez at jessica@playacentralkiteboardig.com if you want to enroll in advance.

Farmer´s Market on Thursdays at Vivero El Moy in La Ventana

On Thursdays from 9 am - 12 pm there is a Farmer´s Market at Vivero El Moy, where homeowners and tourists buy their weekly groceries from local La Ventana businesses, people and farmers who set up to sell fresh produce, wood oven baked goods, smoked fish, Mexican and continental art, almond milk and other organic products, and of course, exotic and house plants for sale at Vivero El Moy. Playa Central sets up at the Farmer´s Market with our multi grain and white baguettes, and other goodies like chocolate chip cookies and pecan pies. To get fresh bread make sure to get there early.

Jessica and Vivien at the Farmer´s Market.

To order bread, cakes, pastries, or more information on our bakery and pizza restaurant

please visit http://www.playacentralkiteboarding.com/#!wood-oven

Our chocolate chip cookies and PB cookies are a favorite, we always try to have some at

the Market for our customers. Our white baguettes make great Subs!

Most vegetables are grown in La Ventana and Los Planes, others are

grown on the Pacific side of Baja Sur.

When you shop here you will try new things in your kitchen because you

will want to cook with all this beautiful food!

How refreshing it is to do your shopping at the Farmer´s Market, in the outdoors surrounded by

tropical plants, fresh local produce and friendly farmers and locals to help you.

Paula Sonnenberg, F-One Teamrider and pro kiteboarder stays healthy and supports the local farmers and businesses in La Ventana. Here is a quick link on the pro- kiter http://f-onekites.us/portal/team/paula-sonnenberg-national-rider/paula4/

Vivien from Playa Central with our favorite Spring Break 2011 customers!

Coming to the Farmer´s Market is also really pleasant and enjoyable for the merchants! What a nice place to greet and attend customers. We love this family! They were in town for Spring Break and came by the bakery for over 2 dozen pizzas, 6 brownie Sundays, fresh bread, and lots of lemonade and margaritas while they were in town. When they found us at the Farmer´s Market they had to say hi and stock up on goodies!

Steve, Carol & husband.

viveroelmoy@yahoo.com

Steve, manager of Vivero El Moy, reported that pear and cherry tomatoes are in season right now, and oranges and figs are will be ripe at the end of this month. Steve also offered a simple list of seasonal fruits and vegetables so that people see what veggies and fruits are in season. Some veggies and fruits from Vivero El Moy are yet to be documented since they have not matured.

	Dorment	Flowering	Fruit
Fig/Higo	Jan		April, June & Dec.
Oranges/Naranjas		April	Dec &Jan.
Apples/Manzana		Feb	May & June
Cherry Tomato			Feb & March
Peach/Durazno		Feb	May, June & July
Mango		Jan	May, June & July
Guava/Guayaba			Oct, May; June, Nov
Limes/Limones	Not	Jan	Year Round
Avocado/Aguacate
Dates/Datiles		Sep	Oct
Mandarines, Limes & Kiwis			Nov
Strawberries, Fesas (from Pescadero)			Feb & March
Pear Tomato			Feb & March

On Thursdays you can come and get ranch eggs, natural yogurt, greens and salad fixings. Make sure to see what surprises Alin Aguilar Hardy has, who was stocked with zucchini flowers last week!

Smoked tuna, sierra, and marlin. Hint: make a tuna salad with the smoked fish and serve it on one of Playa Central´s fresh baguettes, the perfect Baja meal!

This on going event has been a great commodity for La Ventana and the people who spend time here, and most importantly, it helps small businesses and farmers promote their business and products and network with customers and each other. The staff at Vivero El Moy reached out to the merchants and invited us to join in on this wonderful idea. A sincere thank you to Carol, Steve and Warren for their time and effort in helping make this happen, as well as they welcoming attitude with all clients, farmers and merchants. Add beautiful plants to your Baja garden from Vivero El Moy. Come by the Farmer´s Market on Thursday and bring your shopping bag!

La Ventana Dog Show

Fundraiser for the Baja Paws, sponsored by Baja Joe´s, Playa Central and Baja Boardriders. Raised $800 for the "Stop the Littering" Campaign.

On March 7th, 2011, more than 37 dogs were in costume and enrolled in the Dog Show at Playa Cental. It brought the community together for an entertaining event and a good cause. Enrollment cost 50 pesos per dog, and there were La Ventana Dog Show T-Shirts for sale at the door. The categories were Obedience, Best Looking, Best Baby Picture, Agility, Best Costume, Most Toy Crazy, Best Senior and Best in Show.

The LV Paws spades and neuters dozens of dogs each year, and will spade any dog for FREE. LV Paws also rescues puppies and dogs in needs of homes, giving them de-worm treatments and vaccinations. This year we raised 800 dollars for the LV Paws, and hope to double it next year.

We had some very impressive dogs compeeting for the title of Best in Show. Some of the exhibitors dressed up with their dog and got extra points for the Costume Contest.

The La Ventana Dog Show 2011 Committee.

Bobbie Garner, Kent & Cynthia from Baja Boardriders, Claire Donahue, Joe and Angie Cheek from Baja Joe´s, Leon Garner and Jessica Withington from Playa Central. We had a great committee this year , especially sine Angie was the leader! Thanks Angie :)

Our panel of five judges were Larry Russ, Leon Gardner, Sarah Wilson, XX and Rick Shields . We had great announcers, Kent from Baja Boardriders and Shannon Gromley, a special thanks to them. Britney Todd and Krissy Arsens were the greeters at the show and the head volunteers for the LV Paws.

Krissy Arsens showing one of the LV Paws puppies she is fostering for the Best in Costume.

Britney Todd playing with one of the La Ventana rescue puppies at Playa Central.

Dan and Michelle Koff with Lucy Furr, what a great show she put on.

It was great to see that many of the dogs compeeting in the show were once Baja Rescues that were fostered by the LV Paws, and found wonderful homes here in La Ventana.

A special thanks to the Baja Boardriders for sponsoring the event, and to

Cynthia Brown for designing the awesome Flyer & T-Shirts for the Dog Show.

Tucker was the dog that blew the crowd away, especially since the crowd was mainly kiteboarder!! Give it up for the Best in Show winner, Tucker! Here is a video of Tucker, courtesey of Paula Sonnenberg.

Playa Central was proud to be a part of this event and will be hosting this annually. We are aware that the La Ventana Paws makes La Ventana a better place Baja in general is a dog friendly place to travel to. If you are comming to La Ventana, bring your pets, or come and adopt one here!

You can buy a La Ventana Dog Show T-Shirt at Baja Joe´s or at Playa Central. If you would like

to make a donation to the La Ventana Paws, please e-mail Angie at bajajoe@yahoo.com

Playa Central, the New Event Site

If event organizers could design their ideal place to hold kiteboarding tournaments, their picture perfect venue wouldn´t be far from what a painting of Playa Central would look like.

Mural in the Playa Central Kiteshop, in La Ventana, BCS, Mexico. Artist: Gilberto Fernandez, from Culiacan, Sinaloa. Inspired by aerial photo taken from a chopper by Adam Koch.

In December 2010 the Mexican Asociation of Kitesurfing, (AMK), held a national tournament at Playa Central, where all of it´s main characteristics like being in a cumfy and windy bay, on a wide sandy beache, with a grassy hill and rigging lawn , a big warehouse, food & lodging services, efficient and friendly staff and personel, were apparently essential for the execution of the event.

National anthem, inaguration ceremony on the front lawn. Photo by Adam Koch, 2010.

For the Copa Playa Central, Torneo Nacional 2010, Playa Central arranged lodging for competitors and spectators. Spectators and organizers had the bakery and pizzeria at their disposal during the event so they remained comfortably onsite; merchandise, beer and softdrinks were stored in the warehouse after event hours; competitors were able to leave their gear onsite during the 4 days; we had a meetting room for the skippers, a judges´ tower and coordination room with internet, printers and fax; and we held all creremonies and parties onsite. Being able to catter to all these needs was an important tool the coordinators were able to use to keep spectators at the event site, offer the competitos close lodging thus being able to remain near the competition area for the parties and ceremonies, and easy social media updates for the coordinators and press.

Group photo on the Playa Central lawn, photo by Rockstar.

La Ventana´s thermal wind is above all the most valuable contributor to Playa Central´s success as an event site. Sponsors, organizers, competitors and spectators can count on the wind and are very likely to support and attend the events. La Ventana also has two international airports, one in Los Cabos and one in La Paz, both within 2 hrs. La Paz has a ferri to mainland Mexico, where kiters from Guadalajara, Culiacan, Colima and other cities can cross over with plenty of kite gear. Highway 1, from San Diego is scenic and also key for kite expos or demos, since kite companies can travel in vans and RVs with kites, baords, other merchandise and shade tents.

Thermal wind, channeled inbetween the island and the bay. Playa Central is located at the star *

Map of airports from La Ventana and photo on highway 1, 2011.

The Mexican National tournament, named "Copa Playa Central, 2010", had a total of 57 competitors and attracted world champions Adam Koch, Sean Farley Gomez, and Mexican champions Adam Withington, Fernando de La Torre, Raquel Arroyo, Diego Tron, Warenka Smutney, Paco Chan and Daniel Koeing.

Group photo after awards party at Playa Central.




President of the AMK, Andres Santacruz, and Playa Central manager, Jessica Withington, worked together as event organizers and chose the format, judges, disciplines and scheduled the competition days. A local kite asociation from CozumelKiteboarding.com came to sanction the event, along with Joe Cool as Race Advisor from San Francisco, CA.

Baja Boardriders sponsored the event with their killer buoys, a special thanks to you guys.

The freestyle results were men: 1. Daniel Koeing, 2. Sean Farley Gomez, 3. Paco Chan, women: 1. Warenka Smutney, 2. Shannon Gromley, 3. Cythia Brown. Results for Downwinder race men: 1. Andrew Koch, 2. Adam Koch, 3. Joey Pasquali; women: 1. Cynthia Brown, 2. Shannon Gromley, 3. Warenka Smutney.

Great photo of Andres Santacruz during Copa Playa Central, president of the AMK. Phto by Adam Koch.

Jessica Withington, manager of Playa Central and event coordinator, with event judges Vicente Cardenas, Kenji Jones and Dave Tyburski.




A special thanks to Litewave Dave, Kenj Jones, Dave Tyburski and Vicente Cardenas for being the judges. Thanks you to Litewave Designs and Liquid Force for sponsoring two boards as prizes. A special thank you to Joe Cool and the Koch brothers for advising on the race, and thank you to Cozumel Kiteboarding for their assistance. A thank you to Adam Koch for photographing the event. An extra special thanks to Joe Cool for making this short video on the event:

Youtube Video of Copa Playa Central:
http://www.youtube.com/user/JessicaWithington?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/u1pFyD1F49E

Playa Central is located on the best launching beach in the bay.

If you are an event organizer, please contact Jessica Withington for information on having Playa Central host your next kiteboarding event.

Open Mic Night on Wednesdays

In La Ventana, an outstanding kitespot in Baja California, there happens to be an incredible music scene happening at the Playa Central restaurant, a local favorite. Most kiteboarders in La Ventana are people who are here because of the lifestyle people can create while here. We all value spending time on the water and taking advantage of the almost daily sideshore thermal wind and fill the rest of our day with leisure activities, friends and families, passions, and personal hobbies. Luckily there are lots of people who share music as their hobby and are very talented musicians who have time to jam together, practice, and put on a great show for the rest of us.

Playa Central is the yellow building with the rigging and launching lawn. Photo by

Adam Koch, December, 2010.

Look at this picture and check out all the kiters on the water in La Ventana, where do they all go at night? Well, on Wednesday Nights, you can find them gathered at Playa Central.

The famous Open Mic Night on Wednesdays at Playa Central have been very successful and attracted great talent and fun audiences every week this season. We get Blue Grass, Country, Rock'n Roll, Opera, Melodies, Classic Guitar, pop, you name it. Playa Central's lounge room has the perfect acoustics for the concert, with no need for mics or speakers! (it's amazing).

Two local kiters jam on stage during Open Mic Night with a room full of friends and musicians. Photo by Adam Koch, Feb, 2011.

If you come to La Ventana, make sure that you check out Open Mic Night. Playa Central is a great venue to host concerts and the food and drinks are great. If you are planning a trip to La Ventana, bring your instrument and be ready to jam. Walk Ins are welcome, and there are always people who will get up there and jam with you on your first day at Open Mic. It is a great time to show off your talents (or guts :) and have your friends and family in the audience.

When you come you will get to try our wood burning oven pizza, home made pasta and desserts of the night, as well as our famous Mojitos and Margaritas. Musicians are welcome to come up to Playa Central Bakery and sign up during the day, and usually begin setting up at 5:00 pm while the audience shows up for drinks and dinner. The show begins at about 6:00, and is often hosted by two of the most famous local musicians, (both in La Ventana and Hood River), Thomas Corlett and Larry Russ. A special thanks to both of them for sharing their talents and helping the music community in La Ventana grow together.

Movie Premier of ¨Present Tense¨ produced by Nathan Appel Hosted by Liquid Force and Playa Central

On Tuesday Jan 18th, Liquid Force was setting up for a movie premier, produced by one of their team riders and LF media contributor, Nate Appel, who happens to be in La Ventana right now to document this upcoming kite tournament. The video, ¨Present Tense¨is a collection of some of the biggest American kite events during 2010, as well as some free riding that Nate documented and edited.

The video was projected on a silver screan that is painted on Playa Central´s wall, which is great for events like this. People gathered all over the lawn, ordered pizzas, beer, margaritas, and wine as they watched the 30 min video (Good job Nate with the soundtrack :).

After Present Tense, we watched a Joe Cool raw footage of the Lord of the Wind Showdown (Jan 16-19th), which included course race starts (my favorite), bikini contests, skipper meetings, and parties. Thank you Joe. We also watched Jason Noorwick´s video of La Ventana winter kiteboarding, most filmed infront of Playa Central. Thank you Jason!

Here is a link to Jason´s video:

http://www.kiteforum.tv/video/La_Ventana_Kook_Out.html?Itemid=0