Mexico City

So initially the plan was to arrive in Mexico City on Friday night at like 10.30, and go have dinner with my good old friend Jose and his wife Tesha. But - wrong turn once - took me an hour to get back on track - that's Mexico City for you! So I arrived at 12a, had drinks with Jose until like 2.30pm, and decided to spend another day. I ended up spending two more days, and it was sooo worth it. On day one, Jose picked me up at his place at noon, and then took me along all day to their factory (see below),

Then we went to a couple meetings etc. and dinner. Amazing insight into Jose's daily life. That's what I could deal with. Eight hours in an office every day - NO. The next morning we first went and had breakfast with the kids, then dropped them off at school. For those of you who've seen "Man on Fire" (w/ Denzel Washington), you know that there is a high emphasis on security at Mexican private schools. Even though they know Jose, they first checked the trunk before letting us into this gate:

Then Jose had a business-breakfast, in which they pre-negoticated the new wages and conditions for the workers with the union. For the rest of the day, we headed for Toluca, a small city on the outskirts that is slowly becoming part of Mexico City (which now has about 30 million people). While Jose and a coworker went to some event, I went to explore the city: Very nice, relaxed, beautiful city square, a botanical garden inside a building done with beautiful glasswork (see foto).

In the evening, we went to Jose's in-laws and they took me along to a traditional Sabbath-dinner (on Friday night, start of Sabbath). Great experience, great time.

As always, things that happen unexpectedly are the best. I'm in Guatemala now, I'll write more about the travel here later. First I need to go and get a hotel. My sincerest thank you to Jose and his family. Hasta luge ...

Thursday, 01/28/2010

Finlanda, Pulque, & leaving San Miguel - things are getting exciting!

So on Monday night, after doing some "work" in Starbucks, I was walking towards my car to drop off my bag and go have a beer in Casa Payo (sportsbar). As I walk by the church and pass two western-looking girls, they ask me if I know a cheap place to eat. I told them "follow me". The two girls are Susanna, originally from Finnland (but who lived in the US since she was 9), and Michelle, her American friend. What can I say. First there was beer. Then there came Tequilla. When Casa Payo shut down at 1am, we went over to "La Cucaracha" - a well-renown whole-in-the-wall. More beer. More Tequilla. We finally leave at 2.30pm.
Susanna and Michelle invite me to a party at Susanna's parents house (where they are staying) for the following night.
Well, first off, buying a bottle of wine in San Miguel is not as easy as it seems. But after asking about 3 people for an appropriate "tienda", that is solved. Finding the party-house turns out to be much more of a challenge. It's in a little "colonia" outside town, reachable via dirt road. Ok, getting to the colonia I only got lost once. But they happen to not believe in street signs over there. So after asking about 5-6 people I finally find it - and the search was well worth it. My hosts provided fantastic Mexican food, excellent Margeritas, and I met various very interesting people that night. Pictures to follow.

BTW, on the way to the party, there was a power outage in San Miguel - that's what it looked like:

On the way back from the party, at 12.30am, I encountered this:

They are currently in the process of putting all the electric, cable TV and phone wires under ground. I've never seen them working at night before, why they were working so late that night I have no idea.

Pulque

So I went to say good-bye to Josh on Wednesday afternoon - who greated me in his Egyptian bed-rope that he got when he lived there for a few months 10 years ago. Despite the serious face on the picture, he is the happiest and easiest-going buy you can imagine. We we are drinking is called "Pulque". He's given it to me various times before, always pouring it out of this porcellan jar. Comes from some fermented plant. But how does it get into the jar I wanted to know? Since I've never seen this stuff sold anywhere. Well, there is a guy on a burro (donkey) coming by every few days, and he buys it directly from the guy. 

Well, the crown got finished yesterday. Before that I went to lunch with Adriana to say good-bye - really cute place, with "Torrero-ambiance" and an older man playing the guitar. I invited my dentist for dinner - which turned out to be a great conversation, and finally I got to practice my Spanish more extensively.

Arriving in Mexico city turned out to be quite a challenge, but after a small one-hour detour I finally got to my friend Jose's place - which is the, by FAR, most modern living space I have ever encountered in Mexico. Really cool. I'll post some pictures later.

Monday, 1/25/2010

I got sick on Saturday. Lay in bed all night with stomach cramps - not how I envisioned my last Saturday night here. Got the cramps under control Sunday afternoon w/ 2 Tylenol. I also met a guy last night in a bar (Kirk) who spent 2 years in Guatemala with the peace corps. He's lived for four years down here, and work in - online marketing (Phil, if you need someone for your sample ...). He gave me some awesome tips, for example that the pacific coast is fairly laim until you reach Costa Rica, and that the eastern part of Guatemala is the pretty part. So I think I'll adjust my travel schedule based on that.
I also discovered, to my big disappointment, that the Mexican K-12 education system is not nearly as good as I thought it was. I tutored my friend Adriana's son for the math part of their university entrance exam here. Even though he is a bright kid and seems to be catching on quickly, I cannot forgive their school system that a graduating senior is barely familiar with the sine, cosine and tangent functions. So far for that.

Yesterday I went with my new buddy Josh to "El Ring" - a dance club that, to be politically correct, does not cater to the upper class, and in which we were the only two gringos. It got exciting, too: first a bunch of guys started a fight, and ten minutes later two girls started a fight on the dance floor. I loved it! ;-)

By for now. Next blog might come from Guatemala.

Joe

(Sorry - no new pictures - forgot the camera in the car)

Friday, 01/22/2010

So I suddenly find myself in this quite interesting conversation about Herman Hesse, the German author that lived around the time of WWII. After helping Josh with some interesting concrete pouring yesterday (see pictures below), an older friend of his came by who we took to a little "Ranchito" outside town where Josh introduced him to a concrete artist. Afterwards we all went to a drink in town, catching a glimpse of the fireworks in honor of the 200th birthday of the name patron of the city - Senor Allende.
As it turns out, both Josh and David (the older Gentlemen) are avid fans of Herman Hesse, all of whom's books they read in their early twenties. So I find myself listening to them, and recognizing how much those readings had affected their respective lives. So I'm wondering - how much do the more rebellious books, that we sometimes (rather randomly) stumble across, influence the way we think and live our lives?

 

I'm gonna leave you that question for a piece of though. Below some pics. And off I am to English tutoring. ;-)

For all the Toyota lovers: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100122/OEM/100129949/1117

Thursday, 01/21/2010

I'm going to help pour concrete today at 3. The Mexican way. Yep, you heard right. I met Josh, an Alaskan who's been living here off and on for the past 14 years, two nights ago at my friends Adriana and Greg's house. He's building/renovating a house here - been ongoing for the past 6 years. I went to check it out yesterday, just about spent the entire afternoon there. It's more of an work of art than just a house - which explains why this has been going on for so long. They pour over here without a form/mold, so I'm excited to see how that'll go.

Went running yesterday morning and found a shortcut to el centro. I also discovered some really cool little streets with amazing buildings and astonishing views of the valley. I also found a place where local women still do laundry by hand in the mornings (see above). I also saw the first military presence in town.

I think a gun like that would look great on my Subaru as well, but it might create some suspicion at my future border crossings to come. 

Monday, 1/16

To the right a picture of the street I live on. There is a kindergarden down on the left, and a high school a little farther down on the right. I wanted to get a job at the kindergarden, but they thought with my mild and friendly face the kids would run all over me.
I went for a run this morning, and figured out that if I walk 20 yards up the road from my place I have a fantastic view over a huge valley behind the city. Guess I need to put the running shoes on more often.


This was breakfast this morning. The plastic bag is a juice "to go" from another store - strawberries, honey and milk mixed in the blender.
Since I went for a run earlier, I was hungry and had four tacos. One with mushrooms only, to honor Lane who is now back in the business world busting his bud while I'm enduring the hardship of the developing world. ;-)
Fruit juice: 20 pesos;
4 Tacos: 28 pesos; Don't think that's cheap - the pinche gringos have jacked up the prices here like crazy in the past few years. The juice used to be 12 pesos.


By the way - I found my "ideal workplace". In Starbucks of all places. But they have free wifi, power outlets all over the place, and this beautiful worktable (see picture). BTW - work right now means studying up on places in Central America and organizing all the info in OneNote - best software by far Microsoft has ever invented.

Saturday, 01/16

Still in San Miguel. I had a conference call for our HOA meeting this morning, went to a coffee shop. Could hardly hear anything - they are tearing up the street, putting electricity under ground to get rid of the millions of wires they had hanging above the streets.
Yesterday: Thunderstorms all day long. Had to hopp from coffee shop to coffee shop on my way home to avoid getting soaked. At the end I stoped at a small "Taqueria". Awesome. Last week in South Texas, Jael took me to a Taco place an hour away 'cause they are so good - these were even better! (Sorry Jael, you need to come down here if you want to try the truly "best"!)

Today the sun is back - and it feels like Mexico again. ;-)

In the afternoon I happened to come across a wedding. The newly-wed couple walked out of the church just as I came by. I don't believe they had any groomsmen or bridesmaides. It varies over here. I've been to Mexican weddings where they had them and once where they didn't (majority). I also found out that it's only 500 pesos to get married in that church (~$40). Bastante barrato.

Thursday, Jan. 14th

I'm sitting in the garden in el centro again. The picture shows the view from my spot. I got a root canal this morning. Despite various words of caution from friends in the US. It was a very good experience. My local dentist here took impression for the crown yesterday, and sent me to this guy in Queretaro (~ 40 mins away) for the root canal. The guys is a specialist, does only root canals. Same x-ray equipment my dentist in the US has. Plus some other high-tech gadgets I've never seen before. The whole thing cost me $180. My dentist in the US would have charged $1,000, a specialist he said would charge about $1,400. The whole thing was almost painless. He gave me a folder with a sheet showing before and after x-rays for the local dentist who will make my crown. Seems legit enough for me.
I met up with my friends Adriana (local) and Greg (her American husband) yesterday. Went to Happy Hour with them. They wanted to set me up with a girl that was sitting next to me at the bar. I backed out. Not on my agenda right now. This afternoon we'll have Mexican bbq. First real test for the root canal. ;-)

Arrived in Mexico

Change $ to pesos - check;
Hand in I-94 to US immigration - check;
Mexico-Visa and sticker for car - check;
2 breakfast burritos - check;
Sufficient windshildwiper fluid - damn, no;
Got into apartment - check;
Have a beer at la Coronela - they are out - Ha??

Free Wifi in the garden in el centro - priceless!

Everything went great. More later.

Heading South

I left Knoxville on December 29th, around 5pm. So far everything has been super-busy, so no feeling of excitement yet. After stopping for the night in the "Executive Inn" in Little Rock, AK (which was not really that "executive"), I arrive in Dallas on the 30th to visit Lance and Holly (as well as their 7-month old son, future linebacker Wade Cox). New-years comes around. No hangover. I visit my friend Shaily, who takes me to this "total-fitness" workout. Three days of absolute soreness, horrific pain when trying to brush my teeth or any other activity involving lifting my arms. I also finally order maps and a guide book for Central America, which I have send to a friend's house in south Texas.
On the 5th I continue on to San Antonio, where I visit with my friends Carolee and Mike for a day. After some great time outdoors (including some horse-riding and stable-cleaning), I take off on the 6th for south Texas. Driving down Highway 281 evokes nostalgia, and a feeling of going back home arises in me. How these kinds of emotions work, I don't know, but they sure felt nice while viewing the sunset over the prairie of south Texas.
Today is Sunday the 10th. I'm finally bringing this blog up to speed. On Tuesday morning I'm heading off to Mexico. I have to. If I stay until the 13th I will be an "illegal". Strange feeling after more than 10 years here.
The past few days have been awesome - been able to catch up with so many old friends. Thanks to all of you - it has been great to see you again. Almost all my preparations are finished. But no feeling of excitement yet. Maybe it's because I trained myself in past years not to build up expectation before going somewhere. I don't know. Enough for now. You'll here from me again from Mexico. Hasta luego ...

Preparation

So once I made up my mind that I was gonna go through with this, the prepping started. Reading blogs of people who have done something like this. Talking to people. Searching for health insurance, car insurance, etc.
One big issue was which type of vehicle to take. My budget is quite constraint - so recommendations for Landrover Defenders and such quickly got discarded. But life threw me a bone on this one. Turns out that Jason, who works in service at MF Automotive (my VW shop in Knoxville), has driven various ralleys and is like a dictionary for cars. He was also really excited about my plans and has since provided me invaluable help.
Most big, outdoor-worthy vehicles are not only gas guzzlers, but are also hard to pull out if you ever get stuck in a ditch. Most smaller, more economical vehicles are not rugged enough for the terrain I might get into. So Jason's suggestion of a Subaru Outback became the winner - rugged, yet not too heavy, good gas milage - and I can sleep in it if I need to.
So at this point - thanks to MF Automotive for all their help and to Jason for all the help selecting and making the vehicle as reliable as possible.