The first blog......here goes.
We flew into Mexico City a little over a week ago and after myself, Jason, Janet, and Jay made our way to a hotel and dropped our backpacks we immediately starting eating our way through the city. Tacos, tortas, rotissarie chicken--you name it, we tried it. Late at night, early in the morning, it didn´t matter--the roadsides stands started recognizing us immediately as we would stare and point at the al pastor. I think Jay was even talking about the "chicken man" in his sleep. Konrad arrived a day later and we wasted no time showing him our new favorite spots in the city. In between our first, second and third lunches we did some sightseeing--museums, markets and even toured some ruins in Teotihucan--but you can bet your bottom dollar that our first question to our newly aquired tourguide, Donny, was "where can we eat before we see these pyramids??" Donny didn´t disappoint; he took us to a lovely place on the side of the road with delicious tacos and quesidillas and free tiny shots of tequila! Speaking of tequilla....
Jay's 30th birthday rolled around and we spent the night in nice quiet cafe drinking beers and tequilla purchased from the 7-11 cleverly disguised in a kleen kanteen. We were in a new part of town and the cafe at the steps of our hostel was the perfect place to celebrate. I´m not quite sure how to say "cash cow" in spanish, but I am pretty sure that was what the server kept saying to the bartender while they pointed at us over and over again and laughed to themselves quietly. Finally we figured out how to order a pitcher. The beers and ambiance were great...super nachos, not so great. We learned a lesson with that one!
After riding matching flueresent green bikes through Chulpultepec Park (more pointing and laughing from the locals) we hit up the Chicken man one last time before we departed the city for the beach.
We caught a late night bus to the beach town of Puerto Escondido. It was about a 13 hour ride, but the bus was plush. One thing I missed about this form of transportation vs. the metro was the lack of entertainment. Sure, they were playing Italian movies for us in Spanish, but the metro had action. Being pushed onto a crowded car with 50 other people was an experience, but when the loud shouting began you knew it was about to get good! Men blasting children´s dvds from a portable player and attached speaker backpack was only the begining. You can purchase burnt cds, candy, pens, notebooks, wrestling stickers, and small strips of used paper for only a few pesos while the seller screams about their wonderful product right in your ear! My personal favorite was the guy who would bring on his own bag of broken glass, spread it neatly on the floor, and then smash his naked back into it over and over again. It made Janet very uncomfortable, but you get very used to it after 6 or 7 times.
Ok, back to Puerto Escondido....
The first thing we do when we get off the bus is stop at the first resturant we see. Jason and I enjoy some nice chiliquiles while Konrad mistakenly orders scrambled eggs for about the 4th time. Now that we´ve got some food in our bellies we begin walking toward town to find a place to stay. The hostels aren´t really a deal here, so Janet and Konrad stay put with our bags while Jason, Jay, and myself walk through town looking for a hotel. I practice over and over in my head how to ask for a room for 5 people for the night, but when the moment comes, I chicken out and have Jason ask instead. (The spanish in my head is getting much better!! ) Just as we have checked into prices of about every hotel on the strip, we run into a portly man who wants to sell us beachfront real estate. I don´t know what this guy was thinking--I´m wearing huge green sweatpants, Jay is in the same sweaty shirt he´s been wearing the entire trip, and Jason is "clean" only because he was forced to change his shirt after spilling chiliqilles all over his other one. Anyway, after realizing we are not into investing but renting, our new friend introduces himself to us as "Stevie Wonder" and tells us he has the perfect place for us. Turns out, he does! After Jason and Jay check the place out, the three come back for us and we promptly drive to our new condo on the beach for the next 10 days (thanks Stevie Wonder!). This is great for us, because out of the five of us none has had a place to live with a kitchen AND a bathroom for years! And two bathrooms, to boot! This last statement is very important seeing that on night number 2 ("number 2" being the key phrase in this sentence) Jason and I spent about 24 hours regretting those chiliquilles....over and over again. Jason had the good insight to buy some Cipro (aka: oh, god make it stop medicine) while we were in the city and that helped us to a quick recovery. We are back to eating again, which obviously seems to be the centerpoint of this trip so far.
Friday, October 30, 2009
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