Day 107
Current Location: Cuatro Cienegas, Cuahuila (Mexico)
Total Countries visited: 3
Total Miles Driven: 17,359
Buenos dias a todos ! Como estan ustedes ?
Not bad for a beginner :) Well, not such a beginner, but I sure felt like one as soon as I entered Mexico !
100% immersion, with no translator. The hardest part is understanding what people are telling me. They speak so fast ! Today, a few military men (there are a lot of military checkpoints throughout Mexico in an attempt to curb crime and drug trafficking) were getting a kick out of me not understanding a word they were saying as I kept saying "Que? Puede repetir por favor?" Well they figured I wasn't dangerous since I didn't know the language, and they let me through.
Yesterday, I decided to give myself a first spanish exam. I went to watch a movie at the theatres. And not any movie! I chose the movie I thought would be the easiest to understand - Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler. Correction... Jack Y Jill.
Well, I laughed my butt off, but only understood about half of what they were saying. Adam Sandler speaks spanish really fast (I was impressed by his hidden language skills). I give myself a 3 / 10, huge FAIL. But I know I will improve, I feel it already. For example, I learned the word for popcorn - palomitas. That will come in handy many times, for sure. And they use real butter too ! The funny thing is that the movie itself cost $2.50, but the popcorn cost $5.00. Welcome to America.
Anyway, I am doing well and adjusting slowly. The food will be a huge issue. The variety isn't even close to what I am used to. It feels like people eat tacos at every meal. I'm not saying they are bad, but I'm used to having options. The good news is that food is REALLY cheap here. What they lack in variety, they make up in quantity. Today, I ordered a combo pollo (chicken combo). It came with a half-chicken, a sausage, chips and salsa, a full onion, tortillas, and a coca cola for under $3.
Another thing I will have to adjust to is navigation. I'm used to clearly labeled streets in the US, with a GPS that gets me to the right place 98% of the time. Mexico is different... First, my GPS didn't work in Mexico. I had to buy Mexican maps from Garmin (they cost more than the cost of my GPS - I should have bought some of that Garmin stock, brilliant idea for a profitable business !) Then, somehow the GPS gets the one ways all wrong. At least a dozen times it told me to turn the wrong way into a one-way, and I had to improvise a way around it that goes in the same direction on a parallel path. And to add to the fun, somehow the street numbers don't work in the GPS, because even though it always gets me in the vicinity of where I want to go, it never gets me exactly there - usually within a 1/4 mile of it. Either way, today I took the wrong highway entrance and returned to Monterrey twice as I was trying to leave it (I swear it is magnetic). Pleasure for the whole family !
And of course, I had forgotten to tell my credit card companies that I was in Mexico. All my cards got declined after I filled up with gas at the station. That was definitely a good opportunity to practice my spanish, the owner was not very pleased with me.
The good news is that lodging is extremely cheap. I don't feel comfortable enough yet to sleep in the van, but why would I want to sleep in the van when a hotel room is under $30 ? This might just work perfectly for me.
Monterrey
I stayed two nights in Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon in Northeast Mexico.. It is a huge city - its population is comparable to that of San Francisco (over 4 million counting the metro area). Monterrey is the most americanized of Mexican cities - I was amazed to see Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, Subways everywhere as I was driving in. And - the funniest and dumbest thing ever - there is also a Taco Bell ! Why on earth would they put a Taco Bell in Mexico ? Do people really eat there ? It's as if Domino's had opened a pizzeria in Italy, or Panda Express had opened in China... maybe they already did, what do I know. Still, that made me laugh. I am not planning on eating there.
Monterrey used to be the safest and richest city in Mexico. Its per capita income is still twice the national average, but it is no longer safe - not by a long shot. I guess the crime gangs figured it was a good place to kidnap rich locals... just look for the Mercs and BMWs, they are easy to spot. Interestingly, most of the crime here is directed towards Mexicans. Plus, I am bigger than most Mexicans and I don't look rich (making a point to wear my most casual clothes around), so perhaps I don't have such a huge target on my back. Still - gotta be careful.
So - about Monterrey. It is surrounded by huge mountains - in fact the mountains are so close, part of the city is climbing into it. Beautiful sceneries, but the city itself isn't all that gorgeous - it is riddled by construction, very dusty and somewhat dirty. There are some redeeming points, nice parks with fountains and statues, good arts and culture scene, but I can definitely feel that it will not be on my top-5 list of places in Mexico. It is just... not Mexican enough.
Which brings me to Cuatro Cienegas. A friend had told me to come visit this area (about 200 miles northwest of Monterrey), which comprises of the town of Cuatro Cienegas and the biosphere park of the same name. I will visit the park tomorrow, but I am already enchanted by the town. It is tiny (under 10,000), has a beautiful little church and town square, and incredibly friendly locals. This is what I came here to see, and I love it.
I cannot post pictures tonight, as the internet is too slow. I will post them at a later time.
Hasta luego a todos,
DMR
=)
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