Guanajuato, Mexico

Guanajuato is a small mountain city north of the Federal District.  This is a colorful town, rich in history.  It is completely surrounded by mountains, making it accessible only through tunnels.  Entering this town is very exciting.  It's a bit like coming to El Dorado; you approach the mountains, enter through the tunnels, and emerge into a beautiful hidden city.

There are very few roads in this city which are passable by cars.  The hills are steep and some of the "roads" are no more than a meter wide.  Navigating the city is at times tiring. You must climb stairs everywhere you go, and sometimes the stairs seem never ending.

Guanajuato has a very rich history.  This city was the location of the first major uprisings during the Mexican war for independence from Spain.  There is a famous story of El Pipila, a man whose actions allowed the insurgents to overcome authorities in the city of Guanajuato.  When the Spanish troops took refuge in the city's granary, the insurgents were unable to make headway in the battle.  It is said that El Pipila strapped a large flat stone to his back, which allowed him to approach the  granary unscathed and set fire to its door.  This allowed insurgents to enter and take over the building.  El Pipila is memorialized in an enormous statue overlooking the city.

This city has some wonderful architecture as well.  The Teatro Juarez is a wonderful place to meet with friends and chat, and the churches in the city are spectacular.  Guanajuato is by far one of my favorite cities in Mexico.

Mexico City Canals

In the southern end of Mexico City are the last remaining canals of Lake Xochimilco.  This lake was once the heart of agriculture in the area, but now has largely disappeared.  If you go down to the canals, you will see the brightly colored boats that navigate them.  For some money, you can go on a tour of the canals in one of these boats.  We chose to just sit and watch the boats float by.  Even this is quite a nice experience; it is very peaceful and beautiful.

This is the entrance to the canals.

Here are some of the boats.  The more magnificent boats are often named.

We spent a very nice afternoon sitting on the bank of the canals.

The watermelon swimming in the ocean

One day in Isla Mujeres (Cancún, México)

 

l wrote this to Alia on Sep 8th 2010, after her departure from Cancún, México. Alia had some days between the end of her summer job with the US Forrest Service and beginning of school. As I was still in México, we had decided one month earlier, she could come to Cancún and be together for one week. Later, I would have to continue my way back to Spain, hoping to fix my US immigration status, and Alia would have to be back in school for the fall semester. We had not had much opportunity to be together until then and clearly would not have much opportunity either after Cancún. So, we decided that week in the Yucatán would make for our Honeymoon. The message that follows, was written after her departure...

September 8th 2010

Hola Alia,

It was difficult to see you leave Cancun. It was difficult to see you disappear among the people in Cancun’s airport. It was difficult to see you take with you, at least, part of all the love you had brought with you one week earlier.

The other day I was able to take a look to the pictures you took. At night my eyes get a little better and I can better enjoy the pictures. In your absence, the pictures at least allow me to remember all the love you brought to Cancun. I was still able to enjoy the love you put in those pictures: your happiness in those pictures, your expressions of love,  the anal setup and preparation that preceeded each picture, your smile, your shining eyes.

I remained in the airport for still a couple of hours after you left. I was a little confused, disoriented, like after something hits your head. I was feeling a little lost, still wondering where that love had gone. It’s true not everything had been perfect. There had been beautiful times, there had been stressful times and there had been passionate times. But, in the end, you always keep and remember the best. After all, nobody can say that things have been easy for us. The road we found has certainly not been smooth.

I went to one of the cafes, trying to get some internet connection. I wanted to check my email, and maybe write a few more messages. I wanted to wait a little while, in case anything happened. I didn’t feel like going back to Cancun and start figuring out what to do with the rest of the day, the rest of the week and the rest of the month. However, it became soon clear that I was not going to get any internet connection at the airport, and nothing out of normal was going to happen with your flight, so I started my way back to Cancun.

I started walking towards the hostel, hoping to find a hotspot. I could not find any until I finally reached the hostel. So I sat there for a couple of hours, across the street, sending emails and trying to figure out what to do next. Finally, I ran out of battery and went back to the bus station to find out about the bus schedules to the west. I hoped I could find as well some power plug to recharge my batteries.

There were buses day and night and I preferred a night bus, so I decided to stay a little longer and keep working on my plan for the next days. Then I thought I could also go to Isla Mujeres and, that way, win some time to get some replies.

Eventually, I decided that was the best option. So, I started doing research on how to get there. Unfortunately, I found out too late that the cheapest ferry was not the one running until late in the night. It was, however, too late as well for another change of plan, so I took the 10:30pm ferry to Isla Mujeres.

I was out of luck that night, I made it to the hostel in Isla Mujeres at 11:15, to find out the office closes at 11:00pm. I had thought the hostel, being a party hostel with lots of life until late in the night, would not give any problem accepting people arriving late. I was obviously wrong.

It was a bad end for a bad day. I really didn’t feel like struggling with that day much longer, so I decided I would go to the beach, look for some quiet place and sleep there. I kept telling myself that it would probably be much hotter in the hostel’s room, than at the beach anyway. It did not take long to find out, I was actually not that wrong about that.

In the middle of the night I woke up. Some couple was passing by on their romantic late-night beach walk and the girl freaked out when she saw a body laid down on the beach. The guy went to inspect my bags, so I rose my head to let them know I was doing well and only sleeping.  She thought I was dead and I clarify I was not. He told me to be careful that I don’t get attacked. I explained I could not get into the hostel and just wanted to have some place to sleep and start some better day tomorrow.

Other than that, the night was not that bad. I enjoyed throughout my sleep the fresh breeze of the sea and was already laying down on the beach when I woke up. I was starving though… and, even worse, probably getting dehydrated. Nothing to be surprised about, since I had not had any food, since the day before, when I had breakfast with you. That afternoon in Cancun I did not feel like doing any work, not even going for some food.

In fact, I was still feeling that way. I did not feel like eating, I didn’t have the energy to start digging in my backpack for some food. I wished I had some juice and I could just drink as much as I needed. Everything else was just too much work and not even what I really wanted. But I was starving, probably dehydrated and it was nothing but going to get worse.

So, I decided I would do what I had to do and spent the next hour eating something; as little as I was enjoying it. I started feeling a little better, but I was still very thirsty. I just didn’t feel like packing everything again and carry all my bags back to town, just to get some drink and then go back to the beach. It was starting to get hot as well, so I thought getting into the water would make me feel better. I didn’t want to expose my white skin too much to that mid-day sun, but those clothes were killing me under that heat. I really needed something to cool off the temperature of my body and the water in fact felt very good.

Surprisingly, while I was in the water, something hit my hand. It was some big, round thing. I turned around to find a huge watermelon swimming in the ocean. As soon as it had gotten my attention, it started waving at me: “Youhoo…!!”, while moving its leg up and down in the air. I was really very thirsty and that watermelon looked really 'freaking' juicy. I just could not find the way to tell that watermelon to stop screaming at me: “eat me!, eat me!”. But the watermelon had a big crack running through its entire length and, obviously, did not seem very safe to eat. I felt like Adam in the Garden of Eden, being tempted with the evil apple.

I decided I would take the watermelon out and study the situation very carefully.  I thought I would call Rationalman and have him assist me taking a good, rational decision on the matter. Suddenly I noticed somebody was trying to get my attention. A few people had gathered next to me. Some Mexican woman was making weird gestures to this American, to make him understand he should through that watermelon away. Rationalman, however, interceded and asked the woman in perfect Spanish, what would be the reasons to through away the watermelon. She explained it could be bad. I had, however, already worked with that hypothesis. She did not have much more to offer. I thought I would cut off the surface and try a little bit deeper inside. I was really thirsty, probably dehydrated and that watermelon was really sexy. In fact, if I was thirsty, that watermelon was pretty much the best I could have possibly wished for. Besides, it would not stop screaming at me, no matter what. Rationalman gave his thumb up to have a bite and see if I feel good or bad. The watermelon was actually 'freaking' good! I waited a bit and since it became obvious I was not getting any reaction, I decided to go ahead and eat some more. It was at times a bit salty, but I could always spit it out, and overall, it made me feel much better.

It even had some very positive secondary effects. The people around me was in complete shock, as they watched me dissecting and eating that street watermelon. It became clear I should be really desperate and in very deep hardship, if I did not mind to eat such thing and put my health in risk. So, some man came and offered me a can of soda! I told him I truly appreciated. I explained I was feeling dehydrated and that is why I gave it a try to that watermelon. Shortly after he came with a plate of food. Some seafood with some vegetables and potatoes. It was freaking good! After that, I was still able to enjoy the beach a while longer, but could not stay much more, as I was fearing I would get burned. So, I packed all my stuff and got ready to leave the island. That watermelon had saved my life that day, so I did not want to abandon it and leave it alone in the beach, so I took it with me. It became, however, a real pain to carry that huge thing, that monster, around. It was not long before it got bad anyway and that I finally had to discard it. That watermelon will always have a space in my heart and will always have visions of it swimming in the ocean, waving at me: “Youhoo!!”, while moving its leg up and down in the air.

Javier