pictures

here is a link to all the pictures taken

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=737151208277574693/l=370422766/g=115304689/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

mindless dribbble- mexicooooooooo

so this are just some thoughts on the country about nothing in particular.

transportation- holy hell- i am so glad we did not rent a car. that would have been a huge mistake. now i understand why these people drive so bad in the US- there are not many lines on the road and even when they are no one stays in the lane. they cut off traffic with a beep and go. i saw my life flash before my eyes several times. the seatbelt was an iffy sitiation for me. do i just die in the car rash or do i suffer for hours in a shitty hospital, get a staff infection from and die a slow painful death. the road make SC's look like they were just paved. the cabs are crazy all over and the buses even worse. they are cool to ride and safe but they ride like shit.

hotels- they are all circa 1975 porn palace style- the one we stayed in last night was pretty comical b/c it had a stair stepper in it- they don have AC, maybe a fan if you are lucky. overall not that bad for 70 bucks a night- we chose mainly mexcian style places- they were a pretty nice layout as in they were all kind of compounds. the one in cuernavaca had a lobby/car wash/parking area- we woke up one morning to chumbawumba or something along those lines- it was the employees washing their cars before they started work.

music- so the music here is 1st class- the day we went to the frida museum 2 cars were racing each other- they were 300z's or some shit- the one guy was blasting life in the fast lane- some of the funniest shit i have ever seen in my life. it kind of reminded me of tom cruise on his motorcycle in top gun. they are huge shania twain fans too. we heard that several time, also CCR is coming here, liza minelli and michael bolton. i guess you go from burnout in the US to the star in mexico. in the gay district it was house/trans untzing all night long.(untz is not a verb) it was not that good- they had yo mtv raps on the tv and then the techno on the speakers-

the art- the artwork here is amazing- and to buy the is so cheap. hand painted stuff for 5-20 bucks depending on what it is. the hand carved stuff out of rock is a rip off being it was all in the $200 range @ the stores. i did learn the difference in machine work and hand work though-

i think the one thing that bothered me the most was the condition of the ruins and what not. tagging, trash and whatever else they do really ruin the ruin. i know the country does not have a lot of money for the upkeep of these sort of things which is a shame b/c all of these places could be very nice with a little effort. it is pretty much like taking a big shit right in lincolns chair @ ford's theater or putting a tag on the liberty bell. then imagine walking around mount vernon(va not ga) and being able to buy a flag that was hand sewn right there- when there is a site ran store that makes no money b/c they have people peddling shit on the grounds. just kind of backward, but you def get the stuff cheap.

well this is all i have for now- i will add more later if anything comes to mind- i am glad to be on the way home. it has definitely been an experience i will never forget. i would love to come back with some better spanish and see other parts of the the country like the yukatan and then hit up central america- belize, honduras, ecuador- i also read i can get to easter island pretty cheap- i am thinking it may be better to put machu picchu on hold for a little while and hit up the patagonia/easter island. before i do anything i def have to get some more basic spanish down. with so many countries that speak the lanuage i would rather put an effort into that instead of say, italian which is pretty limited where you can speak it. sucks that there is all this corruption here and in south america

also something that made me laugh was the price of things- so they have these seed necklaces in hawaii and here- i purchased one in hawaii- it was 40 bucks or so b/c it was "made in molokai" and it used these seeds that can on,y be found there. MY ASS- i picked up a bracelet here for a buck with the same seeds- i guess i could come here 1st- make some tags that say "made in hawaii" and mark the shit up 4000%- sell em in hawaii to the tourons to pay for the trips.
i will post a link to all my pictures after i go through them all tomorrow @ work

till next time

adios amigos

set up, like a bowlin pin, Knocked down, it gets to wearin thin. they just wont let you be

the title is kind of lame but can't be more fitting

The final 2 days in mexico were some of the most hectic and stressful of the trip. I had to use my ninja like training to get through these times. Friday we head to chalula to see some more ruins- the bus ride will be explained in my “transportation” blog b/c that itself needs a whole explanation. Probably one of the shittiest times in my life. I wanted to hop off and walk but we were in the ghetto so that was no go. So after getting to the 2nd tallest pyramid in the word we start to check it out with tons of obnoxious school kids. Did I mention people here gawk @ us. It gets tiring to say the least. So the pyramid is not excavated fully b/c ironically there is a church on top of them. The brainiac conquestidors said “hey there is a tall hill that overlooks the city, lets stick a church on top of it so all of the Aztecs can see who is the ruler now.” little did they know there was something underneath of it. All the money and power in the world and dumb as a box of rocks…that sounds about right- I assume george bush is a decendent of these people. The raddest part is we got to go inside. I never thought this was going to be an option but it was. The tunnels were some of the 1st arches ever built I assume- this place predated 0 AD- I don’t think the Egyptians had them but they may be wrong. Hard to believe that I could be but there is always a chance. After heading bck to puebla we go eat and hit up maya, the super tramp wook selling all of the carvings. I got a sweet piece of amber for a keychain. I figure where else can I get this for 15 bucks, now where in the US that’s for sure.

Saturday we board one of the deluxe buses back to mexico city. We arrive around 3 and the rain came. We were going to check out the floating gardens but we did not have much time and didn’t want to pay a cab and them not even be running b/c of the rain. We stayed @ the marco polo in the zona rosa- also known as the gay district. I do not mind gay people- go be gay all you want, just don’t do it in front of me. They must have not gotten the message b/c I was nauseated several times yesterday. Julie is one of those people that has a thing for them. I will never understand the fascination with it but she was happier then a pig in shit, esp to go out. I went along figuring it was better then the hotel and there were women too so I didn’t have to see the men and their very open PDA that they have here. So Julie starts to talk to these kids, around 16/17 and they start t lead us around the city looking for more gay men. Just what I wanted to do, in the rain. After them taking us here and there I just say we need to go back by the hotel b/c I did not want to get raped by some back street gay bum in some random alley. After seeing the movie hostel I know that anything is possible so I was kind of weary of the whole “hanging with the locals” anyway. We head back to this bar and now all of the hot lesbians were all over. Making out left and right, pretty much just shy of going down on each other. So Julie is talking to some and I grab a beer. They are talking about going to another bar so I step out with my beer on the sidewalk to see what she wants to do and bam, a freaking undercover cop wants to take me to jail. Yeah- jail, for drinking on the street. The whole situation was shady, I don’t know if we were set up by the locals and they were all in on it or if they were really trying to help us. We were staying right by the embassy so I refused to go anywhere with anyone- the good thing about the crooked cops is you can pay them off- problem was we had no money. They wanted 60 bucks to leave us alone- there was some money in the room so that is where I wanted to go. They wanted to take me to the ATM to get it out, I may look dumb but I am not a fucking idiot, not to mention earlier in the night my bank closed my account for the 100th time b/c they feel they are protecting me when they see random charges on the account. God forbid someone leave the area of Hilton head or bluffton once and a while. When I get back I am closing my account. This always happens @ the worst times and they are some local Podunk bank so there is no 24 hr service. So back to the cops…Julie is shooting her mouth off to these guys that claim to be cops b/c they had shitty looking badges and what not. Never have I wanted a roll of duct tape so bad. After convincing them I had money in the hotel they let us go back. I am pretty much begging the waiter and the people @ the hotel telling them I’ll give em 100 bucks of they give me 60 just to get to guys away from us. We go to the room and turn out all we had and we happen to have exactly 600 bucks- if Guadalupe was not on our side for this one then it musta been the skulls. I give the money to the bellman and they go away. 1st rule of thumb- never give them a reason to fuck with you here. 2nd never let Julie deal with them in a time like this. This kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth about the country yet I did break the law. The fucked up thing was there were tons of Mexicans drinking in the streets right with me. El gigante has to get fucked with though. All I could think of was how I have never been to jail and mexico city is not the place for my 1st experience, or any place for that matter. I am glad I was pretty drunk @ this time b/c it help me sytay calm being I was “one eyed” drunk. I did not care what they wanted I just wanted to get them the cash and be done with it. My life is worth more then 60 bucks- I am thinking @ least 100 on a good day but no less then 75. I was kind of insulted I did not bring a higher amount. So this morning we wake up @ 6 to get to the airport, Julie had an early flight. So feeling like ass and pretty much going through th “I’ll never do that again” phase of my hangover I take a shower and feel somewhat better. All I wanted to do was brush my teeth. My Listerine ran out and that was a problem it itself. So I walk to the sink and see no water. I ask Julie where it is and her reply was “oh I made some coffee” where is that duct tape again. I could do nothing but laugh to myself when she said “oh there’s some left” and brings a cap full over. I made it work and didn’t have to use the tap water. Thing is, it was a liter bottle- who needs 8 cups of coffee when we are about to leave in 10 minutes. I hope that was the best cup of coffee she has ever had b/c I had to stomach some tooth paste and that does not mix well with tequila from the night before. - bitch

peubla

thursday morning arrived and it was time to head to puebla. i packed pretty light so this was the 1st day of recycled shorts. my clothes all smell the same and i am starting to look forward to being home- i am not a fan of fast food but i have a desire for a mcdonalds cheese burger and a good ole sweet tea- although the selection of fruit juices is very good especially the orange soda department- my fav. we hopped the bus and took a 2 hr ride watching licensed to wed- with jim from the office in it, it was def some bootleg which you can get all over for 10 pesos. puebla is the 3rd largest city in mexico and it feels it. i am not sure the population but i would compare it to jacksonville. the way mexico is, the major cities are built around the major cities back 1500 years ago. every city has so much history and things to see. it doesn't compare to any city in the US as far as the vibe and feel of it. the central square here has a pretty big european flare to it. there is one main central square with a cathedral on one side then the other 3 are all restaurants. we kicked around the city some, checked out some with one of those double decker buses. it was the best way to see it all. there are so many churches here that it would take forever to go to them all. besides, once you have seen one mural you have seen em most all of them. yeah there are some real stand out places but @ the same time there are lots of generic ones too. we checked out a band and dancers in the square and took the night pretty easy- the highlight of the evening was getting the stuff from the guy after dinner.

sector 9 in mexico

i have to write about this now while its still fresh in my mind- so this whole trip we have julie and i have been spotting out dreddies here and there and its been kind of funny to see em around just b/c its such a taboo thing here, so we just went to eat- we went pretty late and the entire square closed down pretty much- on the return trip to the hotel we spot a dreddie with gauged out ears- i would say about an inch or a little more- he and his lady had 2 large blankets laid out with all stuff they made. so we stop to take a look and he happen to speak english- his name was maya(forgot his last name)- i assume he was mayan being his name. he had jade, black jade, chunks of amber with bugs in it and she was making stuff out of hemp and colored string. he finds all of his stuff and carves it down into pipes and necklaces and what not. the stuff was better then what we have been seeing in the stores for 3-4 times as much not to mention the commercial stuff has seemed to have lost some sacredness along the way. so we got to taking and there was just a whole good vibe about him. his main concern was not selling us anything but to meet us and just to talk about our trip, why we were here. he said that many mexicans are not welcoming to foreign people in general but they are just stupid, and he wanted to welcome us to the country. i think the most interesting thing he showed me were the works in progress he had. he had a huge chunk of amber that was around 2x3 that he was making into a necklace- it has 2-3 ants in it. ever since jurassic park i have been in love with seeing amber and how bugs and what not get trapped in it- then they are there for millions of years. we went to a few places that had the carvings but most were machine done and the hand done ones were in the $2-300 range just for a small carving. pretty much a tourist rip off- buying something from the guy that found the rock, carved it down to something of beauty and then pretty much travels around mexico and the US selling this stuff just felt like a much better buy then the people that sell out their culture to turn a buck. he asked how we have been accepted during our trip here and we told em about how we have been freaks of nature- he said that they are viewed the same way by the mexicans and are run out of places b/c he is not "normal" - pretty much to sum it up he does it for "the love of the game" and to see north and south america while doing it. sounds like many people i know except he has no music to follow- he just tramps here to there with his lady and dog(go figure, a puppy puller in mexico) just to be out there. i think the most interesting thing was he wanted to keep in touch with us- he was glad to have gained one friend- so thats all i got about this experience but i must say i came away with so much from it- i am sure he woulda made for some good skull talk too but i forgot all about it @ the time

lost in translation, again

back to civilization, or more like back to the land with an internet connection. the past 2 days have been pretty interesting with yesterday being the best day of the trip so far.

tuesday- we took the bus to cuernavaca- the bus system here in mexico is 1st class- and that is not laced with my usual sarcasm. it really makes the dirty dog, real dirty. they have a bus class system here and the 1st class and deluxe buses are pretty tight. they have a movie, AC and bathroom. we board a bus from mexico city to cuernavaca making stops along major highways to pickup and drop people off. we stayed @ a B&B which was a pretty nice place. it was a horse shoe style house with a courtyard, with no view- but it would have been nice if they did. we arrive in the city and we go to the "central" which pretty much all cities have a central square. we walk around and check out a few churches, ate some dank ass food, saw cortez's place, but pretty much took it easy. the best part of the day was the market. it was a craft market that was a city of its own. it was booth after booth covered with tarps in a square. they had everything from bart simpson marionettes to hand painted boxes and bowls. everything is pretty cheap and they all deal with you. the common line of communication when dealing is a calculator and them giving a thumbs up saying they want more or you giving the thumbs down saying less. it is pretty funny b/c they are pretty anxious to make a sale. if you start to walk away most will give you th e deal they want. there was also lots of silver jewelry there being cuernavaca is one of the many "silver cities". after the market we head over the the sqyure where there was lots of drumming- it sounded like a pack of wooks invaded the square with a drum circle- we walk up to find a bunch of people dressed in traditional aztec attire and a tall white chic that was lost dancing to the music- it was very choreographed and pretty fun to watch- behind them were the cuernavaca hipsters skating. being el leche el diablo aka candy (julie) is a hipster she spotted them a mile away. they were were not bad but they were no tony hawk either. after that we decide to head back to the B&B- easier said then done. being you are advised not to hale any cab you have to call one that is authorized through a company. the number i wrote down was not getting answered and we didn't have the number for the hotel to help us. after calling a bunch of people- to which none answered- thanks to you all- my mom helps us out and we get a cab- our goal was to be in by sundown just so we didn't have any problems. we get back to the B&B and make a trip down the street for some cervesa. we grabbed a couple of 40's, mexican style and headed back. it was kind of weird because along the way we pass a black SUV with talking in it- and same on the return trip...

wednesday- after being treated to a traditional mexican breakfast of tacos and cafe we head out tepoztlan. we asked for a cab but they advise us to take the bus- on the walk we pass the spot where the SUV was the night before to find a few used rubbers in the street- guess they don't have pay by the hour hotels in mexico. we go to the bus stop and wait, and wait and wait- we get anxious and start to walk towards town- after walking for 30 minutes or so we go grab a drink and ask directions. we ask in our best broken spanish and we get a reply that was 10 times faster then we could comprehend. then we hear a sound as beautiful as any siren- the sound of english. it is kind of funny b/c if they know english they prefer to let you get it out in your worst spanish and they they tell you no need they speak english. this lady that was 5 foot nothing starts talking in english and is very helpful and leads us to the bus- the enttire trip, 5-6 block was just "just 2 more blocks"- with her little legs moving swiftly it was hard for me to keep up. we briskly walk to the bus to catch it as its leaving. this was a 3rd class bus i assume. it was a pretty funny trip- all of the roads are cobble stone and the bus is almost like a bread truck with windows. it was bumpy and would just pull off where ever to pick up and drop off. after about 30 minutes we arrive in tepoztlan. the town is very small and surrounded by mountains. it says in the 60's and 70's it was a huge retreat for the hippies and is considered a very spiritual place, not often visited by tourists. we have been pretty lucky with what days we are in a chosen city- wednesday is market day in tepoztlan so we hit there 1st. it was a market of crafts and food- many people from surrounding towns were there to buy food till the next market day, which is saturday. meats, veggies, beans and crafts lined the square as far as the eye can see. the meat- what can i say about the meat- if you ever leave beef, chicken or goat out don't worry- is ok- just grab a few gocery bags, shred them and tie em to a stick to shoo the flies away. at least thats how thy do it here- being somewhat of a germaphobe it kind of made me sick thinking that our meat we eat in the restaurants is the same way before it's cooked. the markets here are like nothing i have ever seen. stimulation fo ever sense in every way. the colors, textures, music and just seeing how hey locals interact with each other is just something that would take pages to explain. in th center of the market we stumble across this seed and bean mural of a church scene, like everything here. this has to be 2nd to rome in churches and murals. it is on the gate @ the entrance to a church- we go into the church and we are both just awestruck. the paintings in the church were bar none the best thing i have seen this whole trip. after some more wheeling and dealing with the market people we start a hike to the pyramid that overlooks the town of tepoztlan. about a 2 mile hike so steep it needed steps in most places, i mean rocks assembled into steps. neither of us were really ready for this but we made it with a few stops. the views from the top were pretty nice and overlooked the entire town. after about an hr @ the trop we head down to catch the bus home. we go to the bus stop where we were dropped off and wait, and wait and wait. after 3 rounds of buses a random fellow comes by and asks us where we were going. turns out in mexico the pickup and drop off locations in a town are not the same. he tells us to go around 2 bends and there is where we need to wait. we thought we found the bus stop3-4 times but we kept asking people as we went just to be sure. we wanted to be home by sundown. everyone told us different or i should say there was a huge breakdown in the communication. after having to walk about a mile all the way out of the town pretty much we get to the station. we buy our ticket and i am thirty- i tilt up a bottle of water to notice that it's empty- i toss the bottle away and go to sit down then i feel this thing in my bag, a bottle of water, my bottle of water, yeah you guessed it- i tried to drink some random bottle of water- i wanted to cut my lips off and drink a bottle of clorox. we head back on a little better bus then the one we came on- which was suppose to drop us off @ the bus station by the B&B- nope- we could have probably jumped on a local bus to the stop but we did not want to end up in some random place by accident so we humped it. when we get back i wash with listerine twice in hopes of getting any germs from the water bottle. nothing actually went in my mouth it was just lip contact- i am going to assume i was ok, for my sanity being nothing has happened to me yet and i have no cold sores. we walked a total of 27 miles or so it felt like it over the course of the day. i must say taking the public transportation has been some of the most fun along the course of the trip. i know many people would not tolerate it @ all but we just say "what the hell" and do it. i am still awating my bus ride with the chickens and goats but the trip is not over yet.

"mucho gracias" ; "mama bichu"

day 2 and 3 in mexico have been great and even more antics from the locals to keep us entertained. yesterday was a recovery from the night before- 1st off check out is @ 2pm- the hotels in the US need to learn from the ones here. that woulda saved many "late checkout" calls after a show. this trip was not really planned out as far as places to stay and what to see. after taking a look @ the frommer and lonely planet we decided on a hotel with lions, yes lions. we are @ a place that is pretty much its own world behind the gate, like many houses in the area. a little money where we are and most places are compounds behind huge iron gates, as is our hotel. we arrive here and grab a few drinks. the wait staff was not too happy with that and the lost in translation conversation ended us up with some food that we didn't ask for yet we couldn't say no. after that we headed to the frida kahlo museum. we took the metro, i was kind of apprehensive @ 1st yet i am so glad to took it. it was pretty much like the NY subway but not as shady as far as staring @ the wall. there was lots of eye contact among the travelers and in a city of 22 million it was odd to see 2 families know each other and exchange hellos and goodbyes like they may have been related. after the incorrect map in the guide book we figured we could not find the museum and just took a walk around the area to see what was there. we happen to stumble across the street that led to the house. frida is a person i knew nothing about really. heard the name here and there but that's about it. julie is a huge fan and i am thankful for this. the art was very advanced as far as what it was. some 3d stuff with drop shadows in her drawings and stuff like that just seemed very advanced for its time, yet i am not an art guru so that means nothing. there were also many things that were kind of alex grey sorta, psychedelic inspired stuff. human heads on animals and things like that. they had her sketch books and it was like looking @ stuart's sketch books with lots of line drawings. i was very impressed. she was alive in an oppressed time for women in mexico and to make such a statement just kind of blows me away. after the museum we returned to the hotel for a meal and to hit the sack pretty early. this is where the fun began. we go to the restaurant with the lions and had the same server from earlier in the day. he asks us our drink order and he suggests a few beers and i told him to bring me his choice...wrong decision. he bring a corona. i tell him i can ge that @ any store by us and i want more a local beer, he returns with a negro modela. i return that b/c of the same situation and this must have made him mad. so i speak a very broken spanish and i mean more broken then hal the broken clown. this is where i became a real life chevy chase in european vacation when he is in france @ the restaurant. he brings me the dinner i ordered and i say gracias, his reply was mama bichu- being my dad knows every spanish profanity there is to man i knew this was not good yet i didn't know what it meant. (it means suck my dick). i was unsure of what i heard so i didn't say anything yet i mentioned it to jules. i order another been and same thing. i was more aww struck then anything. was this guy really saying this? it was kind of pissing me off but i did not want to cause a scene so i just let it go. i should have left his ti as "thanks suck my dick too" but i left him what he deserved and i hope is evening was a waste @ work, being we were the only people in the place.


most people wake up to the crow of a rooster- we wake up to the roar of a lion. this place is the circus we thought it to be. this morning we wake up and board a tour bus to Teotihuacán and the shrine to guadaloupe. the shrine was 1st and it was pretty much a group of churches where mexicans take a pilgrimage to to make sacrifice in exchange for good in their life. the oldest church is sinking like the leaning tower of pizza- so the mexicans have their leaning tower of tacos. they are installing a whole inner support system for this to keep it from sinking more, which is a whole engineering marvel in itself. the ride to the ruins was a sad one. we got to see the poverty stricken parts of mexico city. imagine the worst projects you have ever seen and then make it 10 times worse. houses with tarps as roofs and made of plywood and not much else. i have been asking myself "why do these people come to america, its not that bad here"- then i saw this and now i know why. i think the one thing i have gained out of this trip so far is the respect for the mexicans that have migrated to america in hopes for a better life. there are times in the past they have bothered me and i have made a comment here or there but now that i have seen what the come from and why and that gave me a whole new respect for these people. i would be the 1st one on my way if i was in their situation too. people may bitch(i am one of them) about free handouts in the US to them and some other people but really if anyone deserves them it's the mexicans. they have nothing here, they are not taking what they are given and throwing it away like others for the free ride, they are using our fucked up system to make something from nothing. is it right? maybe not 100%- is it wrong? not nearly as bad as the millionaire with kids on medicade or the family that has been on welfare for years with no ambition to find a job. this trip, mainly today has opened my eyes to this in a whole new way.

Teotihuacán is a city which contains the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. the 2nd is also in mexico- i find pretty fascinating being i always thought it would be in egypt. it also boggles my mind that chichin itsu is one of the "new 7 wonders" yet this place is way bigger. there are the pyramids of the sun and the moon. its kind of funny about them b/c when discovered the president of mexico took some engineers there to see how to excavate it the fastest. they had the brainy idea to use dynamite @ the top to blow all the growth off and what not- @ the same time they blew the top off the moon pyramid, so its missing th complete top 2 levels- i guess government engineering agencies are all fuck ups- ala army core of engineers . this place was ancient ruins means shakedown street. ruins to the left and the right with mexicans selling handmade crap all over on the "avenue of the dead"- all it needed was a few wooks slinging some t shirts and it woulda been perfect. to see something of this size made 2500 years ago, being so exact with strait lines and perfectly level platforms was just amazing. we saw how they used cactus as paper, the same thing used to make thread and then the evolution of tequila. we also saw how they did the carving of the decorative work and the statues and silver smithing- i asked about the crystal skulls and if they had anything of the sort with the aztecs but i got some blank stares and a "como" from the guide so i am going to guess no. we climbed to the top of both the sun and the moon and the views would have been great except the smog is outrageous. my nose has been on the "bleed" setting the entire time from it. this took up pretty much the entire day and kicked out ass- el leche is not el diablo b/c of her lack of sun screen till it was too late. one of the highlights of the day was watching a typical american family make the haul to the top. dad 150 lbs over weight filming the 2 loud mouth complaining kids ahead with the ragged out mom in the back just hating life panting like jenna jamison in a gang bang.

after returning to the hotel we plan the rest of th trip, reserve the hotels over the phone with the translator in 1 hand and the phone in the other. kind of funny in its own respect. we wanted to leave it @ "2 gringos need a room, see ya tomorrow"- so then off to dinner- we get a suggestion from the desk man about where to eat- he gets us a cab and we go to this place that was mcdonalds meets baja fresh. the food was outstanding. i had enchiladas with mola sauce. my mouth was loving it. mola is a blend of chilies with chocolate as a sweetener. we are going to peubla - which is renowned for this sauce and i can not wait. it was so good i wanted to take a bath in it. this was the 1st place we went where no one knew english but we go by. the waiter was so nice and there for our every need. i am not sure what the customary tipping is here but i have a feeling 20% is not the norm. after we left we went outside to wait for the cab and he wanted to give us free drinks on them and wanted to know when we would be back. this is our last day in mexico city till we go home and it was great. the city is great and the people are pretty much welcoming with a few acceptions along the way. the rest of the trip is going to be in the smaller pre colonial towns- which is where we expect to see the "real mexico"

cuidad de mexico el día uno

This is a little longer then I hoped it to be but to get across the true sense I have to write this much. Hawaii did not require much b/c it was lots of hiking and there is only so much to say about a view- this is all about the people and the culture. We decided to stay pretty central the entire trip and pretty much try and do what the locals would do. The crime thing for us limits that to some extent but not a ton- just have to be smart with where you go and what you do.

The time has arrived, time for mexico. I must admit I was very apprehensive going into this. Reading the info about kidnappings for ransom, theft and just crime in general in the worlds most populated city had me a little anxious. I have known Julie for around 4 years now but our social setting was always with a group of people, never juan on juan- thoughts meandered of how that may come into play with this whole thing too. Our personalities are very similar yet we are drastically different people. Friday morning has arrived and I am getting together the last essential items for the trip, tumbs, pepto and imodium. Right now we are winding down from our 1st day in the city and regrouping for meal in another part of town.

the trip has been wonderful so far. It started out a little rough yet things kind of went in our favor. After arriving @ Julie’s house one drink turned into several next thing we know it’s 5:30 and we have a 7:40 flight. The storms were rolling in and tornado watches all over, luck was in our favor and the flight was delayed 2 hrs. as we were checking in an announcement came across the loud speaker “the airport is closed, your bags will be returned in a few hrs.” the omniscient staff of delta airlines was no help what so ever to whether the flight was going to depart. After much debate we decided to check the bags and go grab a bite and some drinks. After passing through the contra banned lined hallways of turtles and tiger tooth cure alls of the E concourse- that’s E as in echo, we arrived @ our destination, gate E-2- a 757 direct to mexico city with 3 Americans on it, me Julie and some girl that had not traveled much. She was a small talker and I could see this was going to be a long flight. I didn’t want to pick up any single serving friends on the flight but I didn’t want to be a dick either. Just to be nice I did entertain her some before I was put into a self-induced coma listening to thievery corp so soothe the soul for some rest. It was short and sweet till I decided I had enough. I drew the line when her reply to my “where are you from?” was “a farm”- 3 ½ hrs later I come to and see a vast amount of lights for miles. It made the view flying into LA busch league. Some of you may or may not know, I kinda have a thing for airports- hence my degree- I was shocked with how the airport moved people being such a shitty design. One long building almost a mile long. I can hear dr young taking about it right now- this is the airport that was used as our “what not to do“ in a design. This was no kansai but not as bad as I was expecting it to be.

We grab a cab and head to the hotey. Let me tell you what 75 bucks a night gets you in mexico city. This room is super deluxe. They didn’t spare a dime when it came to furnishings that’s for sure. It’s right outta Debbie does mexico city. We got the jr suite. How can it be a jr suite if you don’t even have a suite? It has 3 beds- which is weird- all doubles too. When I yank the cum quit off the bed and it was like finding the holy grail. Staring back @ me was a blanket with a huge tiger on it. This was the 1st of many laughs on this trip so far.

So the first stop was the 7-11 for a few drinks. This was my 1st real language barrier problem, I asked for a coke, she brings a water. After a few minutes of pointing @ a near by parked coke truck I get the coke and a “dumbass gringo“ look, I smile and walk away. So coke is written in arabic on one side and english on the other, so weird to see that. That would cause WW3 in the US.

After more communication problems @ breakfast we hit the town bright and early @ around 8:30 or so. Stores were setting up for the day with their rolox watches and dolce banana purses. I want to add that this is like any other city. There may be a problem of rape, murder and robbery if you take one of the “forbidden cabs” mostly being green and white VW beatles, but I am a mini giant so I am not fitting in the back seat of a beatle anyway. After walking around for a little while like lost kids in the grocery store we find what we were looking for- it was only the 2nd largest square in the world after red square yet we couldn’t seem to find it. We start to notice the crowd around, there are not many tourists and the ones that are, are Europeans or from some other place, not america that’s for sure. To these people we are a freak of nature I think. coming in almost a foot taller then most of the local people and Julie with her bleached blonde hair and blue eyes we must look like a real sideshow attraction. El Diablo is also noted as having blonde hair and blue eyes so there is no telling what they are thinking when they see her. There are lots of stares and oohh’s and ahh’s- people 1st see me coming from a mile away and then they see jules come on the scene lookin like madona circa 1983 with her vintage clothes an her hair. I must say it is quite the pair to be in the land of the dark skinned and black hair. Like many cities in the US mexico city has it share of street performers…with a twist. They are in full Indian dress(I assume Aztec being we are not around the maya) doing their chants and dances then you can have them cleanse your soul with some incense and a few plants. I saw this opportunity and had to do it. My fear was the shaman may freak out and run away when he saw my cloud of black smoke rise from my body. After that we went into some big buildings, I would tell you what they were but I couldn’t read the signs. One was some sort of govt building with soldiers and shit- it was like we weren’t even in a city once in the court yard. We saw some ruins and that was kinda boring yet there was not a whole lot to see really. It was just a few mounds of stones with some carvings on em. As we are in the ruins site we see the city has now come alive. We see a corner with street vendors and a whole lot of ruckus. We head over there and it was really what I was hoping we would see here. It was as busy as 5th ave on black Friday except the most expensive thing was a 24 karat gold plated necklace that will turn your neck green after the 1st shower. I picked up a voodoo doll and a wrestling mask like any good american would. there were a few strange streets that would all sell the same items. 2 blocks of stationary stores, offset printing style. it would have been ok to see 1-2 stores but there were around 20 of them and they were all full. the next was holey ave. this was a street lined with crucifixes in all sorts of styles and sizes, some almost life size. After more oohh’s and ahh’s and Julie getting a few comments from the guys - to which are funny as hell, we decided to head back to the hotel to relax before dinner. We hire a private cab that takes you in an unmarked car and waits on you to come back. I kinda felt important except the car was a corolla or something of the sort. It was nice to see some of the city from a car. I am so glad we did not rent a car but more on that later. We go to this amazing place that has been around for 40 years. It was authentic peubla Mexican all over, aesthetically and food wise. I was very happy with our choice.

After dinner we grow some balls and decide to hit the town. Miguel seemed to know his shit and was pretty honest with us about what is safe and what’s not. We go to the zona rosa district and get dropped off for a few hours. We defiantly got the cold shoulder and gawked @ even more. This neighborhood was more affluent then where we were staying so there were lots of hot women and gel heads in designer clothes. The bars were kind of boring so we decide to go to the casino. After playing the slots for a while and starting to feel the effects of the tequila - we decide to head back to the hotel. That was a chore within it self. I felt a certain intimidation factor for sure. We speak very little Spanish, they don’t want to help you and the cops have machine guns. We tried to go to starbucks being it would be quiet but the cop with the mp5 guarding the door said we couldn’t go in. we find find a place, call Miguel and head back “home”.

overall the city is great. one street will have a very european influenced feel to it then you round a corner and its like new orleans. we have a few more days in the city then we head out to the outskirts and some smaller towns to see what we can find.

el gigante mini invade México con un entusiasta de jazz

i am embarking on another journey of fun- going to visit central mexico for a week with julie. Tomorrow i am driving up to atlanta, meeting her then we board the plane with goats and whatever else to mexico city. we will check out some ruins, surrounding cities and some heady pharmacies along the way. I can't leave out the best part of mexico- the food- i have a supply immodium, pepto and tumbs. i look fwd to sweating with each bite of a chili and washing it down with cheap beer. so check back as i update this with pictures and whatever else.