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.

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.