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[high-pitched tone]

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LILIANA SALGADO:
This land is a gift.

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Normally, you don't see the
waves next to the desert

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is very special combination.

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We are in a very
beautiful place,

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that's why I thought we need to
build something special here.

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OLAF MORALES: One
of the main reasons

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we decided to create this
project was to actually feel

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connected with nature,
and especially with nature

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in the Baja, like telling
the story of the region

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and also connecting it
with the elements that are

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part of my Mexican heritage.

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So Lily and I worked really
hard to actually choose

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the pieces that tell the
story, helping people

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understand why the elements
that represent Mexico

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are so important.

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[mutters]

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More coffee for
the coffee lover.

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Uh-huh.

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Thank you.

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You're welcome.

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We are in Cerritos, Baja,
California Sur, Mexico.

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Cerritos is located very
close to Todos Santos,

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and it's a very small
community, really--

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probably, there's no
more than 12,000 people

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living here in this area.

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LILIANA SALGADO: Well, we are
in the middle of the desert

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next to the sea, and
this is a special place.

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I born here in Baja,
California Sur.

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My family is from here.

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When I was younger,
normally, I came to the beach

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and see the sunset.

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I say sometimes I will
have a house on the beach.

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OLAF MORALES: Just
like your dream, right?

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LILIANA SALGADO: Yeah.
OLAF MORALES: It's your dream.

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LILIANA SALGADO: It's my dream.

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Casa Pakal is my dream.

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OLAF MORALES: I'm
originally from the South

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of Mexico, Chiapas.

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My ancestors were
actually Mayans.

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What we want to do is to honor
them, to honor the heritage,

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to honor the history,
culture, traditions.

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So even the house, if we even
think about the name Pakal.

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Why Pakal?

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Well, Pakal was a Mayan king.

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So Pakal was chosen by
us as a way to actually

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honor the Mayan culture.

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Casa Pakal is about
a 1,000 square feet.

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One common kitchen, one
outside living room, and

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two bedrooms and one bathroom.

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And also, we have
the rooftop, which

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is the perfect view to enjoy
the landscape of the region.

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You know, this landscape really
tells the story of the Baja.

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LILIANA SALGADO:
It's very peaceful,

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and you can hear the, the
waves here in the house.

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So it's very, very nice.

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We respect the land,
so we try to don't

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move the cactus and the torotes
because I love that tree.

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OLAF MORALES: And when we very
first started, the foundation

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of the house, I remember
Lily was so much worried

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about something, and it wasn't
even about like the foundation

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of the house.

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It was more about like cacti.

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So we, we talked to our
friend and contractor.

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And Lily told him
very specifically,

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please, like, make sure not
to, like, damage any cacti.

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One of my favorite is
just that one right there.

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LILIANA SALGADO:
Maybe 200 years old.

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OLAF MORALES: At least 100 years
old, but it could be 200 years.

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LILIANA SALGADO: Yeah.

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OLAF MORALES: I don't know,
but that's, that's really nice.

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Coming here to the
Baja was, for me,

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an opportunity for
growing as well,

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not only professionally,
but also like personally.

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Early 2018, I opened this
opportunity for the community

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to take English
classes for free.

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So Lily was basically one of
my first students here in town.

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LILIANA SALGADO: This
part of this land

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is a legacy from my family here.

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My grandfather has this
land from his father.

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I am so grateful
because he's not--

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he's not alive, but I
saw, OK, I need to work

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with this piece of land.

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This is an opportunity to
do something special here.

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OLAF MORALES: When I met lily,
one of the things that I like

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the most about her is that
she likes to actually work

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hard and make things happen.

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By 2021, we finally finished--

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LILIANA SALGADO: The house.

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OLAF MORALES: --the
construction of this house.

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Yes.

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So we love Pakal and
Pakal is our first baby,

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and the place where
dreams can happen as well.

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LILIANA SALGADO:
This is the pompones,

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and we love the colors.

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OLAF MORALES: Pompones
represent fiestas.

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In the South of Mexico, by
having pompones then you

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are telling your friends,
you're telling people around

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that there's like happiness.

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And that's why we decided to add
them as part of the entrance.

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The first thing that we
see, it's the kitchen.

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And in the kitchen,
we have these tiles

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and you can see that the tiles,
the green, different tones

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of greens are
connected to the door,

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but it's also connected
to this Mayan culture.

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LILIANA SALGADO: The Mayans
use a lot of jade in gallery

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and that was used by the king.

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And this is the guest room.

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You can see textiles made
actually by Chamulans.

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The Chamulas is a
community in Chiapas.

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They are Indigenous.

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OLAF MORALES: The
way that actually

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people dyed these textiles
come from an insect

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known as cochineal.

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And this little insect
grows in the nopales, which

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is like a plant here in Mexico.

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It's so impressing how
our ancestors actually

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created these different colors.

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When you buy it, you're actually
not just buying that cushion,

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you're not buying that cover,
but you're buying like, history,

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which comes from our ancestors.

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LILIANA SALGADO: This
is the main room.

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Maybe you can jump from
the bed to the pool.

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So I like to keep in touch with
the water, and at the same time,

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you are hearing the waves.

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So it's, it's a nice
combination for us.

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OLAF MORALES: The
layout of the house

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was a very interesting
project by itself.

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It's more like this organic
feeling of like moving

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around the house and just like
feeling that everything here

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flows naturally and smoothly.

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LILIANA SALGADO: We have
the living room outside

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because we love to hear
the birds in the morning

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and have our breakfast and
feel the nature very close.

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So why not to enjoy it?

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OLAF MORALES: Hola.

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Buenas tardes.

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[spanish]

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We usually invite people
over to our house.

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These are old friends
we've known over the years.

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In Mexico, the kitchen
is very important.

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And this is the place
where conversations happen.

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And this is the
place where families

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actually gather together.

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It's not a living room.

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It's actually the kitchen.

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WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

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WOMAN: Oh, I see.

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WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

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[speaking spanish]

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[ladies laughing]

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[easy-listening music]

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[speaking spanish]

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[men laughing]

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[chatter in spanish]

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LILIANA SALGADO: It's very hard
to find a place where you can

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disconnect the rest of
the world, and rest,

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and really enjoy
yourself and the nature.

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[speaking spanish]

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[spanish]

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DINNER GUEST: [speaking spanish]

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[speaking spanish]

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[chatter in spanish]

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OLAF MORALES: I believe
Paqal invites people to come.

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And in some way, it's this
place that will embrace you,

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which it sounds
like the opposite,

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right, because
we're in the desert.

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But instead, Paqal has this
unique vibe that will tell you,

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you can stay as
long as possible,

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and you can just relax, and
you can recharge batteries.

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LILIANA SALGADO: Casa Paqal
is my dream come true.

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[easy-listening music]