Mexico
Just a (hopefully brief) synopsis of what happened this past week.
Tuesday night we jetted out from JAX at 7.20pm to San Antonio. Arrived there around 11.30pm. Took a bus from San Antonio to Monterrey (12:30am - 7:30am). Then took a bus from Monterrey to Saltillo, arriving at Saltillo at around 9.30am. We checked in into a hotel and started walking around town. First thing I noticed was that it was scorching hot and most places don't have air conditioning. However, the beauty of the city overwhelmed me and I was ready to be immersed in Mexican culture. We went around discovering various cathedrals, museums and parks. What I loved most was the fact that there are so many parks in Mexico and they're usually in the middle of town and hence was being utilized. There were a lot of people that would just take some time off and chill in park. Students from the surrounding schools take their break and hang out in the parks. PDAs were prevalent and most of them were quite young. I guess this perhaps attribute to the fact that they do marry young. The food was amazing. Some portions I thought were little but each bite always stimulated my taste buds. Somehow this little college town reminded me of my days in Cambodia. The fact that every student had on school uniforms and the the various shops lining the streets bring back old memories.
Thursday we wanted to go to Torreon. However all the tickets for that day were sold out. We decided to go back to Monterrey and go to Torreon the next day. Monterrey was very different from Saltillo. Unlike the small-town Saltillo, everything seemed more fast-paced. There were still a lot of parks and people groping in the parks, but quite a lot more people on the streets and more traffics on the highways. We took a taxi to the hostel and checked in before going out into the town. There was a huge plaza close by called Plaza De Mexico with all sort of things being sold. The one thing that I noticed most was that Mexico was built for girls - there were billions of shoes shops left and right. We also discovered a man-made river with tour boats and parks along the side. Everything seemed well-kept and new. After a long day of walking we decided to sit down for some drinks in a bar close to our hostel. Frankel ordered me a shot of Jack and Coke however they did not know what it was so they gave us a shot of whiskey and some carbonated water. That was funny. They also served us some tortillas and dips along with the beer and the owner was perhaps the first guy we came across that spoke English. That evening we met a soon to be classmate of Frankel at the hostel named Tristan Bauer who was from France and spoke french, spanish, and english. That evening we had dinner and discussed politics and religion in three different languages! Afterward we decided to hit a local famous bar that was a few blocks from the hostel. There wasn't any dance floor, however the bar was packed with people. The building was all in stone, with stone seats and such and various rooms that are opened and occupied. We decided to head to the roof of the building and chill at the top.
Friday we headed for Torreon. The bus ride was approximately 4.5h however the long wait was worth it. Torreon was a little more run-down than the previous two cities. After having arrived we took a taxi to the center of town and started our exploration. Again, there were people everywhere on the streets and in the parks. A sketchy man accosted us and tried to sell us something and that sort of scared me a bit. The town was amazing though, with a central market where you can bargain of all type of goods from sombreros to belts and pants and even various souvenirs. I bought a small decorated sombrero for souvenir in addition to a set of learning CDs for my co-worker. The main place that took my breath was church atop a mountain with an over 50ft tall statue of Jesus. The view was amazing; we could see the whole town from the top of the mountain.
On Saturday we returned to Monterrey. On this day we attempted to explore the rest of Monterrey. Frankel had decided to stay in a hotel next to the main bus station for the next couple of days so we went ahead and checked in before getting some lunch. There was a museum atop a small mountain that was of interest and which seemed close by on a map so we decided to walk there. We found out that it wasn't too close since it took us at least over an hour to reach the place, after traversing through various sketchy places which seemed like the ghetto. However we made it through harmless. When at the museum we saw that there was a wedding taking place with quite a few people dressed up and taking pictures. After much convincing on my side we decided to "crash" the wedding. Afterwards we took a taxi to a science museum and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Before heading back to our hotel we decided to to walk the neighborhood in search of brandy and tequila.
I headed out from Monterrey at 10.30pm that night by bus to San Antonio. There was an accident about 1/2 an hour before the border, a collision between a car and semi. Part of the cargo tied onto the semi was spilled and the car was in pretty bad shape. I saw some people were trying to resuscitate a girl that was unconscious. We spent about 2.5 hour alone at the border. The lines were long as everyone attempted to cross back. Buses were pulled to the side and searched thoroughly. There were bomb and drug sniffing dogs there. We had to get off the bus with all of our belongings and pass our bags through a scanner. It went smoothly and I even managed to sneak a bottle each of brandy and tequila without declaring them. Flying Southwest for the first time was crazy though. I witnessed an incident where this pretty woman was kicked out of the plane. Haha not really but someone did get kicked off and I think it was all due to the sit where you want policy that they have. So this lady requested to sit by the bathroom because she said she was vomiting and had diarrhea but those seats were taken and she was adamant about having those seats. Too bad, so sad, good bye! That was quite an experience. Driving back down to Gainesville I saw a car and 2 trucks collision that left the car flipped on its side and one of the trucks in the trees, on fire. It was one of the crazier days that I witnessed. However I'm now back at home safe and sound and wishing I was living in Mexico.
Tuesday night we jetted out from JAX at 7.20pm to San Antonio. Arrived there around 11.30pm. Took a bus from San Antonio to Monterrey (12:30am - 7:30am). Then took a bus from Monterrey to Saltillo, arriving at Saltillo at around 9.30am. We checked in into a hotel and started walking around town. First thing I noticed was that it was scorching hot and most places don't have air conditioning. However, the beauty of the city overwhelmed me and I was ready to be immersed in Mexican culture. We went around discovering various cathedrals, museums and parks. What I loved most was the fact that there are so many parks in Mexico and they're usually in the middle of town and hence was being utilized. There were a lot of people that would just take some time off and chill in park. Students from the surrounding schools take their break and hang out in the parks. PDAs were prevalent and most of them were quite young. I guess this perhaps attribute to the fact that they do marry young. The food was amazing. Some portions I thought were little but each bite always stimulated my taste buds. Somehow this little college town reminded me of my days in Cambodia. The fact that every student had on school uniforms and the the various shops lining the streets bring back old memories.
Thursday we wanted to go to Torreon. However all the tickets for that day were sold out. We decided to go back to Monterrey and go to Torreon the next day. Monterrey was very different from Saltillo. Unlike the small-town Saltillo, everything seemed more fast-paced. There were still a lot of parks and people groping in the parks, but quite a lot more people on the streets and more traffics on the highways. We took a taxi to the hostel and checked in before going out into the town. There was a huge plaza close by called Plaza De Mexico with all sort of things being sold. The one thing that I noticed most was that Mexico was built for girls - there were billions of shoes shops left and right. We also discovered a man-made river with tour boats and parks along the side. Everything seemed well-kept and new. After a long day of walking we decided to sit down for some drinks in a bar close to our hostel. Frankel ordered me a shot of Jack and Coke however they did not know what it was so they gave us a shot of whiskey and some carbonated water. That was funny. They also served us some tortillas and dips along with the beer and the owner was perhaps the first guy we came across that spoke English. That evening we met a soon to be classmate of Frankel at the hostel named Tristan Bauer who was from France and spoke french, spanish, and english. That evening we had dinner and discussed politics and religion in three different languages! Afterward we decided to hit a local famous bar that was a few blocks from the hostel. There wasn't any dance floor, however the bar was packed with people. The building was all in stone, with stone seats and such and various rooms that are opened and occupied. We decided to head to the roof of the building and chill at the top.
Friday we headed for Torreon. The bus ride was approximately 4.5h however the long wait was worth it. Torreon was a little more run-down than the previous two cities. After having arrived we took a taxi to the center of town and started our exploration. Again, there were people everywhere on the streets and in the parks. A sketchy man accosted us and tried to sell us something and that sort of scared me a bit. The town was amazing though, with a central market where you can bargain of all type of goods from sombreros to belts and pants and even various souvenirs. I bought a small decorated sombrero for souvenir in addition to a set of learning CDs for my co-worker. The main place that took my breath was church atop a mountain with an over 50ft tall statue of Jesus. The view was amazing; we could see the whole town from the top of the mountain.
On Saturday we returned to Monterrey. On this day we attempted to explore the rest of Monterrey. Frankel had decided to stay in a hotel next to the main bus station for the next couple of days so we went ahead and checked in before getting some lunch. There was a museum atop a small mountain that was of interest and which seemed close by on a map so we decided to walk there. We found out that it wasn't too close since it took us at least over an hour to reach the place, after traversing through various sketchy places which seemed like the ghetto. However we made it through harmless. When at the museum we saw that there was a wedding taking place with quite a few people dressed up and taking pictures. After much convincing on my side we decided to "crash" the wedding. Afterwards we took a taxi to a science museum and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Before heading back to our hotel we decided to to walk the neighborhood in search of brandy and tequila.
I headed out from Monterrey at 10.30pm that night by bus to San Antonio. There was an accident about 1/2 an hour before the border, a collision between a car and semi. Part of the cargo tied onto the semi was spilled and the car was in pretty bad shape. I saw some people were trying to resuscitate a girl that was unconscious. We spent about 2.5 hour alone at the border. The lines were long as everyone attempted to cross back. Buses were pulled to the side and searched thoroughly. There were bomb and drug sniffing dogs there. We had to get off the bus with all of our belongings and pass our bags through a scanner. It went smoothly and I even managed to sneak a bottle each of brandy and tequila without declaring them. Flying Southwest for the first time was crazy though. I witnessed an incident where this pretty woman was kicked out of the plane. Haha not really but someone did get kicked off and I think it was all due to the sit where you want policy that they have. So this lady requested to sit by the bathroom because she said she was vomiting and had diarrhea but those seats were taken and she was adamant about having those seats. Too bad, so sad, good bye! That was quite an experience. Driving back down to Gainesville I saw a car and 2 trucks collision that left the car flipped on its side and one of the trucks in the trees, on fire. It was one of the crazier days that I witnessed. However I'm now back at home safe and sound and wishing I was living in Mexico.