Bienvenidos a Mexico !

Day 106

Current Location: Monterrey, NL (Mexico)

Total Countries visited: 3

Total Miles Driven: 17,139

First morning in Mexico... Wow, this place will require some adjustment !  My spanish is a bit rusty but I manage.

The drive into the country was relatively uneventful, except that on the US side I took the wrong exit and ended up trying to go through the customs in the business lane.  It was just me, surrounded by thousands of 16-wheelers.  They had to turn me around, and send me the right way.

Once in Mexico, there is all sorts of paperwork, immigration permit, a permit for large marge and whatnot.  Then it's empty road and wilderness for 2 hours until I get into Monterrey.

My first foreign experience occurred when I had to stop at the light, about 10 miles into Mexico.  Immediately someone singled out my van and came with a bottle and rag to clean it up.  Felt a bit like Montreal, just a little scarier.  But he cleaned it good (there were a lot of bugs) and for the sake of safety I gave him a dollar.  Then the next stoplight, 2 minutes later... another man, another bottle, another rag.  And my window was already clean !!! Despite my protests, he cleaned it again anyway.  Another dollar.

Oh well.  I suppose Large Marge stands out a bit out there.  The good news is that I was told later that a dollar is WAY TOO MUCH to give those people.  Apparently one peso is plenty (that's about 0.07 USD).  At that rate, they can clean my windows all day.

As far as language goes, I found out that I can do basic communication and get myself understood pretty well.  That's good.  But I'm still not comfortable enough to go out of the box.  This morning I was looking for a good breakfast - but I couldn't find any breakfast restaurants (all I see is taquerias).  So I had to settle for 5 tacos and a coca cola (that's about all I can order now - but will work on improving my food vocabulary!).  Still, under 2 dollars - can't beat the price !

My first Mexican breakfast

Either way, I haven't started exploring the city of Monterrey yet, but I will spend a day or two here to do just that.  All I know is that it's a bit messy, and there are magnificent mountains all around it.

Talk to you very soon :)

DMR