03/02/08
The next day in Austin I went thrift store shopping again and found every Kurt Vonnegut book for $1 each and some other books and clothes. Then I went to the
natural spring swimming pool they have. It's pretty amazing. The water stays at like 65 degrees all year, so it was a little cold. It felt good to get out
and lie in the sun. I didn't have a towel or shorts, so I swam in my underwear and just lied around in my underwear which was a pleasant experience for me.
I met a few chicks who told me to go check out a local park. I went there and it started raining really hard. So I went home, watched TV, and got really
stir crazy, bored, and a little lonely as my roomies were out. I drove downtown and decided I'd try to get into a sold out NOFX show. By the time I got there
they were playing there last few songs, but it was at Stubbs - an open air venue, so you could hear it perfectly, actually probably better, outside than in.
This was the second time on this trip where I've began feeling lonely. Immediately afterwards, I met this chick Aleena and her friends, who invited me back
to a party at her brother's house. There everyone was smoking a lot of pot and there was a guy on acid who was really funny and kept asking me if something
had just happened that had never actually happened. Aleena's brother's name is Joe and he was really nice and gave me a free CD of his band which is
actually pretty good. The main thing, is that I have felt God looking out for me. In both times that I felt lonely. I met some intresting, random people
immediately afterwards.
This brings us to Saturday. I woke up and went to check out UT campus which was having some party for prospective students. The campus is pretty big and
kinda nice, but nothing too fancy. Then, I drove to Austin and stayed with Alex and his family again. I ran some errands with Alex's daughter Susie and
her boyfriend Phillip. They're both fun to me. Today - Sunday - I took my car to get an oil change and some other stuff and I've just been hanging out
with the family and reading. I stayed at Alex's house then begun driving back to Monterrey, which should have been a 3 hour drive.
This is my first solo roadtrip through Mexico. I left Alamo, TX and passed the border into Reynosa. When I got to Reynosa, I was immediately lost. I drove
around trying to follow the signs that pointed to Monterrey for about 30 minutes and realized I was literally driving circles around the city. You have to
pictue the roads here: the lanes are not divided by lines, they are imaginary and you do your best to stay in your lane. I would say only 5-10% at most of
Mexican streets are labeled with the street name. I don't know how people know where they're going. I guess you just get to know a city when you live there.
So I was driving around Reynosa rather aimlessly and I decided to pull into a 7-11 and use some even rustier Spanish - as I had been speaking only English
the entire past week in Texas. I asked directions in my best Spanish to Monterrey, and the 7-11 chicks could actually understand me and tell me where to go,
and I understood them!!! This is quite an accomplishment for me. The first time I've been lost on my own and succeeded. So I found my way to the highway to
Monterrey. There are actually two highways and they are significantly different: 1) the pay highway which costs $30 from Reynosa to Monterrey and is a little
shorter and much higher quality roads. It has two lanes going each way with an actual divider. 2) the free highway, which is the original highway used before
they made the new one. It is a rougher ride, unlit, a little longer, and most importantly is only 2 lanes: one lane heading north and one lane heading
south, with no divider or anything. So if you are behind a big, slow semi, you have to pass them in the lane with any oncoming traffic headed directly at you.
If you know me, you know I took the free highway. This was a small challenge, but I made it back to Monterrey in good time. Once I got to Monterrey, I was
immediately lost again. I called Alejandro who came and met me where I was and let me follow him back to my house. What a true friend. Now hopefully I can
settle down and learn Monterrey without having to drive anywhere for a while.
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