Yes, so I have a "steady" job now. I'm in the process of waiting for my FM2 to be completed which will allow me to work legally in Mexico. Right now, I am working illegally under another coworker's name and getting paid cash under the table. It's very funny to me to see the other side as we so often think of the Mexicans coming to America to "steal" our jobs and getting paid cash under the table.
Anyway, the hours are short. I only teach one class a day on average, and they're usually at night. From 6:00-8:00 pm or 7:30-9:00 are my normal shifts and Saturday mornings 10:30-1:30. The pay is good, the hours are short, so it's pretty much what I want. Enough to feel some sort of production in my life, but short enough to where I can live like I'm on permanent summer vacation: staying out late, sleeping in late, eating long breakfasts. "Life is only as good as you let it be." (maybe misquoted, Charles Bukowski)
Also, the classes are small from private classes (1 student, 1 teacher) to my largest class of 4 students. Berlitz is the most expensive school in Monterrey and most of our students are adults working in large corporations. Very few pay out of pocket, most are sponsored by their jobs to learn ESL for their job. A few students who are wealthy or have wealthy parents do take our classes just to make themselves more marketable in the future.
I am happy here and really enjoy my students, coworkers, and boss. However, in the future, I would definitely prefer to work in a more academic setting. With lower to middle-class students as opposed to upper-class. I don't know why this is, but I've always felt more of a desire to help those who are less fortunate; this likely stems from my days as a social worker.
A few other cool things about my work is it's downtown and really close to my house. I can walk there in 10 minutes and can bike their in 5 minutes of weaving through traffic. Another is that Berlitz is international, so after a year here, I can transfer to pretty much any country I like. I'm thinking about going back to Japan or maybe Thailand.
Other than work, I've been going out a lot, reading, biking, killing mosquitoes, making friends, cooking some basic Mexican food, watching a lot of movies and my poor, struggling Cardinals.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
So I got out of a mediocre Argentinian movie and I was biking home. I was taking a different route because the park I usually bike through - Paseo Santa Lucia - closes at 10. So I'm biking home, it's a pretty short route: 10-15 minutes. I'm going through down this street and this car is coming towards me perpendicular. We both slow down and he stops, like to let me pass, so I thought.
So I pass in front of him and as soon as I'm most of the way past him he starts going again and clips my back end. My bike tipped over, but I didn't fall all the way over or get hurt or anything. He caught all bike, so I'm totally fine. I look up and the fucking guy is driving away without even stopping to see if I'm ok. So I hold up my hands like, "What? asshole?"
I try to move my bike the side of the road, but the back wheel won't turn, so I look down to inspect the damage and there's a big chunk of something that looks like it fell off my bike and is stuck in the spokes. I pull it out and it's the guy's front plate license plate!!!! What are the odds, right? My back tire is totally bent. There are a group of guys in a little shop drinking beers and hanging out. They heard and came to check it out. One of the guys helps me call the cops.
So I'm hanging out with all these guys who are so cool and helpful. I'm kinda shaking, pissed, and full of adrenaline. Before the cops come back, the asshole who hit me comes back. He realized his lisence plate fell off and is suddenly guilt-stricken. Whatever, he gave me $50 and we called it a day. I had to walk my bike back home and now I have to walk to work tomorrow.
So I pass in front of him and as soon as I'm most of the way past him he starts going again and clips my back end. My bike tipped over, but I didn't fall all the way over or get hurt or anything. He caught all bike, so I'm totally fine. I look up and the fucking guy is driving away without even stopping to see if I'm ok. So I hold up my hands like, "What? asshole?"
I try to move my bike the side of the road, but the back wheel won't turn, so I look down to inspect the damage and there's a big chunk of something that looks like it fell off my bike and is stuck in the spokes. I pull it out and it's the guy's front plate license plate!!!! What are the odds, right? My back tire is totally bent. There are a group of guys in a little shop drinking beers and hanging out. They heard and came to check it out. One of the guys helps me call the cops.
So I'm hanging out with all these guys who are so cool and helpful. I'm kinda shaking, pissed, and full of adrenaline. Before the cops come back, the asshole who hit me comes back. He realized his lisence plate fell off and is suddenly guilt-stricken. Whatever, he gave me $50 and we called it a day. I had to walk my bike back home and now I have to walk to work tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Roadtrip with Matthieu Carlier: Morelia and Guanajuato
07/05/08We woke up at Violetta's with no running water. Matt and I made do and showered each other with kisses instead. We ate and went downtown. We were looking for a parking spot and I found myself going the wrong way down an unmarked one-way street. This is not an unusual occurrence for me here and usually results in people standing in the sidewalk whistling at me and pointing the other way. When I make it to a point in the road where I can turn around, there are three cops waving me down. I try waving them off that I'm ok, but it doesn't work. I explained that I'm unfamiliar with the town and there's no "one-way" sign. One of the cops argues, "There is a sign.""Uh, no there's not.""Come, I'll show you." He walks me to the end of the street where there is a sign on one wall, but there are no visible signs where we came from. He let's us go. For those counting, that's three incidents with the cops within 24 hours. We parked, walked around downtown and explored some churches and a marketplace. Matt and I hit a point where we became crazy-hyper and happy. Dancing and rapping. I jumped from one post to another, dancing. Matt jumped on a fountain and began dancing around it. However, he immediately lost his balance and fell in, up to his crotch. His pants were soaked as well as his purse, books, and camera. We didn't care. We laughed at each other. A barber nearby witnessed the whole thing, not stopping his haircut. We pointed at him and all laughed together.We met up with Violetta for coffee. Then we decided to go to a public pay bath. It was 35 pesos well worth it as we hadn't been able to shower for a few days. It had all the hot water and gigantic cockroaches we could ask for. That night we went to a interesting rock bar with a bad cover band. It was packed, so we left and went to Casa de Salsa. There was a live mariachi singer. Matt and Violetta danced together and I danced with some straggling fat girls until I realized it wasn't as much fun as it sounds.08/05/08We all got breakfast then Matt and I left for Guanajuato. The highway took us on a road that bisected a huge lagoon. Leaving us with views of nothing but water as far as we could see on both sides of us. Then we came across a small ghost town that sold only sweatshop cowboy and booty-club girl clothes. I bought a some cowboy pants for $6.We got to Guanajuato and met up with Jorge, our couchsurfing host and Max a surfer from Germany who was also staying with Jorge. Jorge is an over fashioned, stereotypical super-gay, super-in-the-closet Mexican who's obsessed with French dance culture known as tectonic. He dresses, listens, and dances tectonic. Matt gave him a hard time this as tectonic is as original as the pop-diva slut craze in the US. German Max is too-tall and awkward in his cumbersome hiking boots. He's taking a break from his studies in physics to travel. He's been to Australia and swam with sharks. Now, he's hiking parts of Mexico. He hiked the Copper Canyon by himself, but miscalculated resulting in three days completely isolated with no food and only river water to drink. He thought he was going to die. Then he came upon an indigenous tribe and tried to give them hundreds of dollars for food, but they didn't use or value money and shook him off. He survived all this to be hanging out with us in Guanajuato.
Max and Matt immediately began bickering back and forth about how Germany and France hate each other. Somehow this led to us all telling all the racist jokes we knew and bonding immediately. The discussion ended with Matt asking Max what he thought was a better German invention, the gas oven or mustard gas.
We all explored Guanajuato together. Matt and I were blown away by the people. There was a huge population of Europeans, Americans, and even Norwegians. In the downtown part of the city, it appeared as though Mexicans only made up half of the people. Apparently, the schools here are really good and have several exchange programs overseas. The mixture gives the city the feeling of a large hostel. We got fruit-flavored tea and enchiladas then went back to Jorge's to shower and headed out to Barflies. Barflies is a reggae bar full of hippies who actually skank. I can't help but be reminded of early high school. Everyone was great. Matt and I won a game of foosball, then we all left as it was too packed.
We went to another club named Apple which was an average clubby club where the girls were less attractive but they dressed up really nice to feel better about it. We made due. Matt found a girl and I danced with a waitress in between her taking drink orders. We realized that the place really did suck so we went to En Lak Etch, which is a open-late techno bar. They had a DJ spinning electronic music in a smaller, overpacked, hot room. We all danced until 3 when they kicked us out, so we went back to Jorge's.
Max and Matt immediately began bickering back and forth about how Germany and France hate each other. Somehow this led to us all telling all the racist jokes we knew and bonding immediately. The discussion ended with Matt asking Max what he thought was a better German invention, the gas oven or mustard gas.
We all explored Guanajuato together. Matt and I were blown away by the people. There was a huge population of Europeans, Americans, and even Norwegians. In the downtown part of the city, it appeared as though Mexicans only made up half of the people. Apparently, the schools here are really good and have several exchange programs overseas. The mixture gives the city the feeling of a large hostel. We got fruit-flavored tea and enchiladas then went back to Jorge's to shower and headed out to Barflies. Barflies is a reggae bar full of hippies who actually skank. I can't help but be reminded of early high school. Everyone was great. Matt and I won a game of foosball, then we all left as it was too packed.
We went to another club named Apple which was an average clubby club where the girls were less attractive but they dressed up really nice to feel better about it. We made due. Matt found a girl and I danced with a waitress in between her taking drink orders. We realized that the place really did suck so we went to En Lak Etch, which is a open-late techno bar. They had a DJ spinning electronic music in a smaller, overpacked, hot room. We all danced until 3 when they kicked us out, so we went back to Jorge's.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Roadtrip with Matthieu Carlier: Morelia
05/05/08
We got up and left Guadalajara. It was a nice drive to Morelia but I was cashed by the time we got there having drove close to 20 hours in the past 3 days. Morelia has a very ugly outer city and Matt and I thought we'd only want to stay for a day, but when we discovered the city center we quickly changed our minds. We started at the cathedral and walked several blocks. We stopped on a park bench in the center to watch people pass. Matt noted, "Look at them. They're women and they're with children." We waited outside the cathedral to read and wait for Violetta, our host. She showed us around some more and we went to a fancy bar. As soon as we were alone Matt began telling me how much he loved her.
06/05/08
We woke up and Matt took another cold shower. It seems hot water is a luxury in Mexico. When he got out and dried off, he started itching his back which was irritated from sunburn. He kept complaining, and being extremely over dramatic - as is his fashion. "How can I go out or do anythign with this?" He kept scratching his back, ripping his clothes off, slamming doors, grabbing at his back, dancing in his underwear and wasting almost all of Violetta's lotion while I lied on the ground laughing and snapping pictures. We went to the grocery store for breakfast of doughnuts, bananas, and orchata then went downtown. We went to a museum with amazing engravings and woodprints. I snuck a few pictures while Matt distracted the gaurd.
We met up with Violetta after she got out of school at Casa de Cultura and went out to eat. Then we went to a market with dulces and artenesanias. We drove to another area west of the center so Violetta could go to her grandpa's house. After she left, Matt and I were exploring a park when Matt announced he had to pee and wondered down a main street. I saw him standing behind a car "making art with his prick" on the corner just as a cop was pulling down the adjacent street on a motorcycle. He began yelling that he was going to arrest Matt and he didn't care that people in France pee all up and down every street, because this is Mexico and people here don't do that (Yes, they do!). When I wondered up to see what was going on, the cop asked me, "Quieres ir con tu amigo?". I answered yes, not paying attention, I thought he had asked if I was with him. He had asked if I wanted to go with him, to jail. After a $35 bribe (Yes, that's $3.50 dollars) Matt and I were walking away with nothing more than a relatively cheap story. Matt complained of the cops, "I hate it. You have to fear the cops as much as the criminals. These cops rob me more than any criminal in my life.""
We walked to a nearby university with an alluring campus and decided to enter to read and maybe meet some students. We were the only white people and clearly didn't belong, so everyone had a strong reaction towards us one way or the other. The girls all seemed to take notice and the ones who didn't Matt complained, "I'm tired of all these girls pretending that they are not interested by me." He is genuinely cocky and I felt quite confident with him. "Look at them all. They can't help to look and admire us because we are so attractive and different," he'd say dead-seriously. The women on campus were all big-eyed and smiles. The guys were all defensive scowls. We left feeling like rockstars with Matt constantly pumping us up with lines like: "It's so fun to walk in this beautiful city and attract girls."
We met back up with Violetta and went to a pop art museum with a portrait photo exhibit of a collection of people who live on one of the most crime-ridden streets of Mexico City. Violetta took us to eat in a church basement which had a school cafeteria feel to it, but the food was good and cheap and the eight busboys couldn't take their eyes off my digital camera and lucha libre photos.
That night Violetta took us out to the highest altitude bar in Morelia located on top of the mountain. It was closed, so we continued on to a park with a view overlooking the city. The park was closed and gated, but we were hungry for adventure and felt they had no right to keep us out of the public park. Matt went to the left and I went to the right. I ducked under some barbed wire, went to the end of the fence and found a place we could swing around into the park. I went back to get Matt and Violetta. We were so excited and crazy with the view of the city and the lights in the night. We had the park to ourselves. We were running around. I was taking pictures of everything. We sat on the far edge of the park and took in the view. Violetta turned around facing the park, "Oh!". I turned and there's a security guard standing five feet behind us. He appeared without making any noise and we had no idea how long he had been standing there. He was wearing all black, including a black hat, and black tinted sunglasses and stood with his arms folded over his chest just under his square jaw and ultra-stern expression. He seems to take it as a personal insult that we would dare break into his park. He calls the cops. Three show up: a big, quiet guy, a buff woman, and a little guy who does all the negotiating. They are much more jovial about the whole thing than the security guard had been.
The little guy leader takes the three of us aside and runs us through the routine. First, he scares us, threatening that since Matt and I are foreigners we have to be treated differently - taken to customs. After letting this thought sit for a while, he begins joking with us. Calls me Jesus Cristo Superestrella. This whole time, the other two cops are gawking at the view, taking their phones out and snapping pictures - the same thing that got us in all this trouble. The leader suggests that there may be an easier way to handle this. He says they are hungry and could settle for some money for dinner. But they're really hungry. Just look at the big guy. He can eat a lot. We give them $200 and the female cop is practicing her English on me and they invite us out for drinks. The leader's been eying Violetta this whole time. We pass. They walk us to the front of the park, get in their car. Peel out backwards, up the hill while screaming like George of the Jungle on the loudspeaker. None of us can believe what just happened. We celebrated our victory at a lame sports bar.
We got up and left Guadalajara. It was a nice drive to Morelia but I was cashed by the time we got there having drove close to 20 hours in the past 3 days. Morelia has a very ugly outer city and Matt and I thought we'd only want to stay for a day, but when we discovered the city center we quickly changed our minds. We started at the cathedral and walked several blocks. We stopped on a park bench in the center to watch people pass. Matt noted, "Look at them. They're women and they're with children." We waited outside the cathedral to read and wait for Violetta, our host. She showed us around some more and we went to a fancy bar. As soon as we were alone Matt began telling me how much he loved her.
06/05/08
We woke up and Matt took another cold shower. It seems hot water is a luxury in Mexico. When he got out and dried off, he started itching his back which was irritated from sunburn. He kept complaining, and being extremely over dramatic - as is his fashion. "How can I go out or do anythign with this?" He kept scratching his back, ripping his clothes off, slamming doors, grabbing at his back, dancing in his underwear and wasting almost all of Violetta's lotion while I lied on the ground laughing and snapping pictures. We went to the grocery store for breakfast of doughnuts, bananas, and orchata then went downtown. We went to a museum with amazing engravings and woodprints. I snuck a few pictures while Matt distracted the gaurd.
We met up with Violetta after she got out of school at Casa de Cultura and went out to eat. Then we went to a market with dulces and artenesanias. We drove to another area west of the center so Violetta could go to her grandpa's house. After she left, Matt and I were exploring a park when Matt announced he had to pee and wondered down a main street. I saw him standing behind a car "making art with his prick" on the corner just as a cop was pulling down the adjacent street on a motorcycle. He began yelling that he was going to arrest Matt and he didn't care that people in France pee all up and down every street, because this is Mexico and people here don't do that (Yes, they do!). When I wondered up to see what was going on, the cop asked me, "Quieres ir con tu amigo?". I answered yes, not paying attention, I thought he had asked if I was with him. He had asked if I wanted to go with him, to jail. After a $35 bribe (Yes, that's $3.50 dollars) Matt and I were walking away with nothing more than a relatively cheap story. Matt complained of the cops, "I hate it. You have to fear the cops as much as the criminals. These cops rob me more than any criminal in my life.""
We walked to a nearby university with an alluring campus and decided to enter to read and maybe meet some students. We were the only white people and clearly didn't belong, so everyone had a strong reaction towards us one way or the other. The girls all seemed to take notice and the ones who didn't Matt complained, "I'm tired of all these girls pretending that they are not interested by me." He is genuinely cocky and I felt quite confident with him. "Look at them all. They can't help to look and admire us because we are so attractive and different," he'd say dead-seriously. The women on campus were all big-eyed and smiles. The guys were all defensive scowls. We left feeling like rockstars with Matt constantly pumping us up with lines like: "It's so fun to walk in this beautiful city and attract girls."
We met back up with Violetta and went to a pop art museum with a portrait photo exhibit of a collection of people who live on one of the most crime-ridden streets of Mexico City. Violetta took us to eat in a church basement which had a school cafeteria feel to it, but the food was good and cheap and the eight busboys couldn't take their eyes off my digital camera and lucha libre photos.
That night Violetta took us out to the highest altitude bar in Morelia located on top of the mountain. It was closed, so we continued on to a park with a view overlooking the city. The park was closed and gated, but we were hungry for adventure and felt they had no right to keep us out of the public park. Matt went to the left and I went to the right. I ducked under some barbed wire, went to the end of the fence and found a place we could swing around into the park. I went back to get Matt and Violetta. We were so excited and crazy with the view of the city and the lights in the night. We had the park to ourselves. We were running around. I was taking pictures of everything. We sat on the far edge of the park and took in the view. Violetta turned around facing the park, "Oh!". I turned and there's a security guard standing five feet behind us. He appeared without making any noise and we had no idea how long he had been standing there. He was wearing all black, including a black hat, and black tinted sunglasses and stood with his arms folded over his chest just under his square jaw and ultra-stern expression. He seems to take it as a personal insult that we would dare break into his park. He calls the cops. Three show up: a big, quiet guy, a buff woman, and a little guy who does all the negotiating. They are much more jovial about the whole thing than the security guard had been.
The little guy leader takes the three of us aside and runs us through the routine. First, he scares us, threatening that since Matt and I are foreigners we have to be treated differently - taken to customs. After letting this thought sit for a while, he begins joking with us. Calls me Jesus Cristo Superestrella. This whole time, the other two cops are gawking at the view, taking their phones out and snapping pictures - the same thing that got us in all this trouble. The leader suggests that there may be an easier way to handle this. He says they are hungry and could settle for some money for dinner. But they're really hungry. Just look at the big guy. He can eat a lot. We give them $200 and the female cop is practicing her English on me and they invite us out for drinks. The leader's been eying Violetta this whole time. We pass. They walk us to the front of the park, get in their car. Peel out backwards, up the hill while screaming like George of the Jungle on the loudspeaker. None of us can believe what just happened. We celebrated our victory at a lame sports bar.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Roadtrip with Matthieu Carlier: Playa de Manzanilla
02/05/08
So the people we were surfing with in Guadalajara had a 3 day weekend and were planning a trip to the beach. They had invited Matt and I to tag along, so a total of 14 people left from Guadalajara to Manzanilla Beach between my car and a Nissan pick up. It was an interesting mixture of people: one American, two French, two Australian chicks, two German chicks, and the rest were Mexican including a one year old baby. We drove through desserts, mountains, taquila bushes, and small towns stopping every 30-45 minutes to rotate people out of the baking truck bed into my car. We got to the beach at 6:45, but they told us we couldn't camp there because crocodiles were loose on the beach. We all got out to look at the crocodile and moved down the beach like a mile to another site.
We found a beach front campsite where we could camp for free. We pitched our tents and checked out the area. The men began gathering coconuts from the trees, which is more difficult than it sounds. Some of the guys attempted to climb the trees and pull them down. Orlando and I took huge logs and tried to poke them out, but it was cumbersome and we cut up our wrists. Sadey and I threw other coconuts up to knock out the fresh ones. Then Sadey tied a rope to a coconut to try to throw it over a bunch and pull them down, but he couldn't tie it on the coconut. I found an empty 2 liter and filled it with water, tied the rope, and threw it up over the bunch. It was hard, but it worked. Meanwhile, the girls were at town to buy items for a fish taco dinner. A few of us swam in the ocean, but most of the Mexicans didn't because it was la ispuma roja. Which is what they call it when the water has a red tint. They say it is a cleaning phase in the ocean where bacteria kills everything and washes it ashore.
We started a bonfire and cooked fish tacos and rice. After eating, we stayed up talking. They cut open the coconuts and drank the milk, mixing in rum with a few. Then slept in our tents.
03/05/08
We got up and swam again. This time the water had yellow foam. We had lunch of more fish, fresh fruits, and coconut. We swam more and had another bonfire and loved the beach.
04/05/08
We swam in clean water. Then walked to town and got banana shakes in bags. The crazy guy who was tending our camping site kicked us out a few times, but we weren't ready to drive back as half of the people had to ride under the sun in the back of the pickup. So we packed up and went to a small, dirty beach to kill some hours. A lot of us wanted to go straight home, but went to the other beach to keep the unity of the group. We were tired and angry and the beach was ugly and dirty. The 2 Australians: Emma and Juliet and Matt and I found a cheap restaurant with beachside seating and ordered tacos and drinks. Our mood drastically changed with the food. I got super high on life and kept telling everyone how much the trip meant to me and how I loved them and these were the moments that we'd never forget. Matt and I began a show off competition for Emma's love. I did a bunch of somersaults in the sand, got disoriented, and fell on top of a chubby Mexican and his sandcastle. He said he was ok, I talked with him and helped him build another, better sandcastle. Matt and I swam in a chlorinated pool to clean off a bit, Party Boy danced and we drove back to Guadalajara. On the way home Matt told me stories from his time in France when he organized a student protest to completely block of the school. This resulted in him getting beaten by the police to the point where he needed to get stitches.
So the people we were surfing with in Guadalajara had a 3 day weekend and were planning a trip to the beach. They had invited Matt and I to tag along, so a total of 14 people left from Guadalajara to Manzanilla Beach between my car and a Nissan pick up. It was an interesting mixture of people: one American, two French, two Australian chicks, two German chicks, and the rest were Mexican including a one year old baby. We drove through desserts, mountains, taquila bushes, and small towns stopping every 30-45 minutes to rotate people out of the baking truck bed into my car. We got to the beach at 6:45, but they told us we couldn't camp there because crocodiles were loose on the beach. We all got out to look at the crocodile and moved down the beach like a mile to another site.
We found a beach front campsite where we could camp for free. We pitched our tents and checked out the area. The men began gathering coconuts from the trees, which is more difficult than it sounds. Some of the guys attempted to climb the trees and pull them down. Orlando and I took huge logs and tried to poke them out, but it was cumbersome and we cut up our wrists. Sadey and I threw other coconuts up to knock out the fresh ones. Then Sadey tied a rope to a coconut to try to throw it over a bunch and pull them down, but he couldn't tie it on the coconut. I found an empty 2 liter and filled it with water, tied the rope, and threw it up over the bunch. It was hard, but it worked. Meanwhile, the girls were at town to buy items for a fish taco dinner. A few of us swam in the ocean, but most of the Mexicans didn't because it was la ispuma roja. Which is what they call it when the water has a red tint. They say it is a cleaning phase in the ocean where bacteria kills everything and washes it ashore.
We started a bonfire and cooked fish tacos and rice. After eating, we stayed up talking. They cut open the coconuts and drank the milk, mixing in rum with a few. Then slept in our tents.
03/05/08
We got up and swam again. This time the water had yellow foam. We had lunch of more fish, fresh fruits, and coconut. We swam more and had another bonfire and loved the beach.
04/05/08
We swam in clean water. Then walked to town and got banana shakes in bags. The crazy guy who was tending our camping site kicked us out a few times, but we weren't ready to drive back as half of the people had to ride under the sun in the back of the pickup. So we packed up and went to a small, dirty beach to kill some hours. A lot of us wanted to go straight home, but went to the other beach to keep the unity of the group. We were tired and angry and the beach was ugly and dirty. The 2 Australians: Emma and Juliet and Matt and I found a cheap restaurant with beachside seating and ordered tacos and drinks. Our mood drastically changed with the food. I got super high on life and kept telling everyone how much the trip meant to me and how I loved them and these were the moments that we'd never forget. Matt and I began a show off competition for Emma's love. I did a bunch of somersaults in the sand, got disoriented, and fell on top of a chubby Mexican and his sandcastle. He said he was ok, I talked with him and helped him build another, better sandcastle. Matt and I swam in a chlorinated pool to clean off a bit, Party Boy danced and we drove back to Guadalajara. On the way home Matt told me stories from his time in France when he organized a student protest to completely block of the school. This resulted in him getting beaten by the police to the point where he needed to get stitches.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Roadtrip with Matthieu Carlier: Guadalajara
30/04/08
I woke up with a fly buzzing in my ear and landing on my nose. Matt and I got up, said our goodbyes, and left at noon for Guadalajara. It took 5 hours to get to Guadalajara. Mostly an easy drive with maybe 2 hours of winding, slow mountain driving. We found our couchsurfer's house Orlando, but he was at work. He lives in a commune house setting. Similar to a dorm for grown ups. There are 6 rooms spread along the perimeter of a community outdoor area, living room, and kitchen. Everyone hangs out together and takes turns cooking and cleaning. We unloaded our stuff in Orlando's room and walked downtown. We went to an art museum, a million plazas with fountains and palaces. We settled in a plaza with a live mariachi band playing on stage in front of a huge crowd. Interestingly, mariachi bands and much of Mexican traditional culture originated in Guadalajara. We ate, found some street performers, and watched some kids playing music and dancing Capoiera. We got home at 11 and hung out with Orlando and the other roommates. There were like 8 people over. I met Ruth who rents out one of the rooms for an art studio. She's kinda really cute and funny. She told me what I should see in Guadalajara. She's super sick and has a bad cough, so we walked to Oxxo to get mango juice and talked for a while.
05/01/08
We woke up and went to a marketplace with crazy fruits called Yakas an the cheapest, gross tacos ever (5 for $10). I got two orders and a huge orchata for $10 more. We explored more and found another huge market where everyone sells the same things: guitars, leather crocodile shoes, panchos, perfumes, and food. We wondered some more and found a plaza and stopped to read at a shady bench. Found a bookstore and matt convinced me to buy 100 Years of Solitude in Spanish. That ngiht we decided to go see lucha libre in Guadalajara. We walked to the Arena Coliseo which was in a bad part of town. Everyone was staring at us unwelcomingly. We made it ot the Arena to find out it was not open on Thursday. We went back home disappointed. We got a group of us and went to a nearby taco stand. Matt and I had been talking about going out that night, so we invited Orlanda and Ruth and went to a music bar Scratch. They played blues, 60's, and James Brown. It was nice, but Matt and I wanted to dance-go out after spending our weekend in Chill Zacatecas. It was midnight, the four of us headed to a salsa bar Mutualista with a $15 cover and a live salsa band. At first we were all just standing around, waiting. Matt and Orlando went to get drinks and Ruth and I began dancing. Well she more or less taught me how to dance. Her feet were always moving twice the speed of mine. We danced all night. I joked that it was half dancing and half lucha, because the place was so full and we were constantly bouncing off other dancers. Matt danced with an attractive Mexicana until she asked to take a break and sit down. He couldn't stop and became fed up with her. They kicked us out at 2 am and we went home.
I woke up with a fly buzzing in my ear and landing on my nose. Matt and I got up, said our goodbyes, and left at noon for Guadalajara. It took 5 hours to get to Guadalajara. Mostly an easy drive with maybe 2 hours of winding, slow mountain driving. We found our couchsurfer's house Orlando, but he was at work. He lives in a commune house setting. Similar to a dorm for grown ups. There are 6 rooms spread along the perimeter of a community outdoor area, living room, and kitchen. Everyone hangs out together and takes turns cooking and cleaning. We unloaded our stuff in Orlando's room and walked downtown. We went to an art museum, a million plazas with fountains and palaces. We settled in a plaza with a live mariachi band playing on stage in front of a huge crowd. Interestingly, mariachi bands and much of Mexican traditional culture originated in Guadalajara. We ate, found some street performers, and watched some kids playing music and dancing Capoiera. We got home at 11 and hung out with Orlando and the other roommates. There were like 8 people over. I met Ruth who rents out one of the rooms for an art studio. She's kinda really cute and funny. She told me what I should see in Guadalajara. She's super sick and has a bad cough, so we walked to Oxxo to get mango juice and talked for a while.
05/01/08
We woke up and went to a marketplace with crazy fruits called Yakas an the cheapest, gross tacos ever (5 for $10). I got two orders and a huge orchata for $10 more. We explored more and found another huge market where everyone sells the same things: guitars, leather crocodile shoes, panchos, perfumes, and food. We wondered some more and found a plaza and stopped to read at a shady bench. Found a bookstore and matt convinced me to buy 100 Years of Solitude in Spanish. That ngiht we decided to go see lucha libre in Guadalajara. We walked to the Arena Coliseo which was in a bad part of town. Everyone was staring at us unwelcomingly. We made it ot the Arena to find out it was not open on Thursday. We went back home disappointed. We got a group of us and went to a nearby taco stand. Matt and I had been talking about going out that night, so we invited Orlanda and Ruth and went to a music bar Scratch. They played blues, 60's, and James Brown. It was nice, but Matt and I wanted to dance-go out after spending our weekend in Chill Zacatecas. It was midnight, the four of us headed to a salsa bar Mutualista with a $15 cover and a live salsa band. At first we were all just standing around, waiting. Matt and Orlando went to get drinks and Ruth and I began dancing. Well she more or less taught me how to dance. Her feet were always moving twice the speed of mine. We danced all night. I joked that it was half dancing and half lucha, because the place was so full and we were constantly bouncing off other dancers. Matt danced with an attractive Mexicana until she asked to take a break and sit down. He couldn't stop and became fed up with her. They kicked us out at 2 am and we went home.
Roadtrip with Matthieu Carlier: Zacatecas
So a few days earlier at a Couchsurfing party, I met this French guy who was couchsurfing in Monterrey. He had been hitchhiking his way across the States for the past 5 months largely inspired by Jack Kerouac. After listening to his stories and plans to travel Mexico next, I shared that my life in Monterrey was very flexible without a job and offered to join forces with him in his trek through Mexico.
28/04/08
I picked him up three days later with two weeks and a loose plan of what we wanted to see. We both were slow getting ready as my house was without electricity that day following a storm the previous night. We left at 3pm for Zacatecas. We had a slow start stopping for groceries for the trip and to eat great tacos for under $35 a piece. We made it to the Tropic of Cancer and stopped to take photos. While I was taking a shot of a large globe that marked the spot, I felt something sting my toe. I looked down to see that I had stepped near a large ant farm and there was a fat one on my right foot. My toe hurt and as I continued to drive it throbbed a little.
We arrived in Zacatecas at 9 pm without a place to stay. We parked and decided to look for an internet cafe or a hostel. We passed a group of 3 alternative-looking guys about our age and I asked Matt if we should just ask them if we could stay with them. They said we could stay with them, so the 5 of us went to Wendy's for enchiladas then returned to their house located nicely in el Centro. The guys were Guillermo, Marvin, and Jose Luis. Guillermo and Jose Luis were guitar majors and Marvin is an engineer major. At their house we talked and they drank.
29/04/08
The next day I woke up and my foot was better. Matt showered with cold water as the guys haven't paid their heating bill. Also, when Matt went out to my car to get his clothes, their landlord told him that they hadn't paid their rent for the month - only $1000 each. Apparently, she has dementia and can't remember when they pay and when they don't. She also asked Matt and I to pay her for the nights we stayed. We refused of course.
Matt and I walked the streets of Zacatecas, wondering into a few tattoo shops for Matt to price tattoos. Matt wants a tattoo of a Mayan sun and keeps trying to talk me into getting a tattoo of Dia de los Muertos. We stopped at a bread store and got some pan dulce con flan adentro - too rich and heavy, but we both ate it. We explored a few churches and plazas. Matt became quickly frustrated with the aesthetic Zacatecas complaining that as soon as you put your camera away, you are surprised by another beautiful view. We climbed the mountain on one side of the town and took the teleferico over the city to the Bufa on the other side. We bought some small hand-made crafts from the gypsies on the other side and ate gorditas.
We went back to the guys' house to read and relax. WHen they all got home from school, we went to a cafe downtown that one of their friends Sol had opened. It's a cafe, bookstore, and art gallery all in one. The guys' guitar teacher was there drinking alone. He was already drunk, the guys invited him to come sit with us. He kept making the same jokes over and over again. Some being that the landlord wanted my money because I am Jesus Christ, so I have all the money in the world. Then a similar joke about how I should pay her because I'm such good friends with George Bush. He wasn't funny. We all talked about music, politics, and all the different meanings and uses of Spanish curse words. Sol kicked us out at 1 am as we were the only ones in the cafe. The teacher took Matt and some of the guys to another bar, followed by a gay bar. I went to get tacos and sleep.
28/04/08
I picked him up three days later with two weeks and a loose plan of what we wanted to see. We both were slow getting ready as my house was without electricity that day following a storm the previous night. We left at 3pm for Zacatecas. We had a slow start stopping for groceries for the trip and to eat great tacos for under $35 a piece. We made it to the Tropic of Cancer and stopped to take photos. While I was taking a shot of a large globe that marked the spot, I felt something sting my toe. I looked down to see that I had stepped near a large ant farm and there was a fat one on my right foot. My toe hurt and as I continued to drive it throbbed a little.
We arrived in Zacatecas at 9 pm without a place to stay. We parked and decided to look for an internet cafe or a hostel. We passed a group of 3 alternative-looking guys about our age and I asked Matt if we should just ask them if we could stay with them. They said we could stay with them, so the 5 of us went to Wendy's for enchiladas then returned to their house located nicely in el Centro. The guys were Guillermo, Marvin, and Jose Luis. Guillermo and Jose Luis were guitar majors and Marvin is an engineer major. At their house we talked and they drank.
29/04/08
The next day I woke up and my foot was better. Matt showered with cold water as the guys haven't paid their heating bill. Also, when Matt went out to my car to get his clothes, their landlord told him that they hadn't paid their rent for the month - only $1000 each. Apparently, she has dementia and can't remember when they pay and when they don't. She also asked Matt and I to pay her for the nights we stayed. We refused of course.
Matt and I walked the streets of Zacatecas, wondering into a few tattoo shops for Matt to price tattoos. Matt wants a tattoo of a Mayan sun and keeps trying to talk me into getting a tattoo of Dia de los Muertos. We stopped at a bread store and got some pan dulce con flan adentro - too rich and heavy, but we both ate it. We explored a few churches and plazas. Matt became quickly frustrated with the aesthetic Zacatecas complaining that as soon as you put your camera away, you are surprised by another beautiful view. We climbed the mountain on one side of the town and took the teleferico over the city to the Bufa on the other side. We bought some small hand-made crafts from the gypsies on the other side and ate gorditas.
We went back to the guys' house to read and relax. WHen they all got home from school, we went to a cafe downtown that one of their friends Sol had opened. It's a cafe, bookstore, and art gallery all in one. The guys' guitar teacher was there drinking alone. He was already drunk, the guys invited him to come sit with us. He kept making the same jokes over and over again. Some being that the landlord wanted my money because I am Jesus Christ, so I have all the money in the world. Then a similar joke about how I should pay her because I'm such good friends with George Bush. He wasn't funny. We all talked about music, politics, and all the different meanings and uses of Spanish curse words. Sol kicked us out at 1 am as we were the only ones in the cafe. The teacher took Matt and some of the guys to another bar, followed by a gay bar. I went to get tacos and sleep.
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