Latino’s got Rhythm

April 13, 2013May 15, 2018Leave a comment

To start off, I didn’t take any pictures today and I am totally bummed.

Secondly, today felt like the longest day of my life.

My dad took the liberty if waking us up at 8:45, to say we were going downtown to go shopping in the morning and lay by the pool in the afternoon. WELL what he really meant was we’re going to be walking around all day till 4:00.

I made out with a few goodies, but way too much. We came home, I relaxed and watched Doctor Who, Cindy napped, people went to the pool, everyone was happy.

8:00pm rolls around and my dad once again says lets go! There’s a square downtown that supposedly has all of this nice music and they shut the streets down and lots of people go, blah blah blah, it’ll be so much fun.

Cindy, Timaree and I agree to go. We go down, hop on a bus and as we’re riding there’s only one other white couple on the bus, and this old Mexican man and maybe (I hope) his young daughter sitting right behind Cindy and I. Cindy turns to the only other white couple on the bus:

Cindy: Where are you guys going!?
Couple: *does not respond to Cindy*
Cindy: *looks at me* Are they American?

I start busting up laughing, how the hell would I know if they were American. (Turns out they were) BUT as I am cracking up all of the sudden on the back of my shoulder I feel *poke* *poke* *poke* I turn around and look:

Old Mexican Man: Can I touch your hair?

I didn’t even know what to say to that. The rest of this bus is empty this old guy and young girl choose to sit directly behind Cindy and I and now he’s asking if he can touch my hair. So, being the smart, clever, witty person I am, I had the best response to his request:

Old Mexican Man: Can I touch your hair?
Me: what.

That’s all I could say. Mind you, you have to read how the man is asking me with a thick accent. Don’t forget that part. I could understand him but I couldn’t comprehend if the question was really what I thought it was.

Homeboy proceeds to touch my hair and all I can do is look at Cindy like “what do I do right now?” And we start chalking it up to a moment and laugh.

He then asks, “how do you get your hair so soft?” Alright, so at this point I’m thoroughly creeped out. Him and Cindy begin to talk because she answered him in Spanish and then he proceeded to keep talking to her. Asking her where we are from, where are we going, being super creepy! He then got off the bus with miss young thang and we were in the clear.

So the bus driver says he will drop us as close to this square as possible. He turns down this road, no cars, barely any lights, no humans, and he pulls over, opens the doors, points in a direction and says “that way”

We all step off the bus, it drives away, we are all looking around, no one is speaking or moving, and all I say is “Cause this isn’t shady or anything.”

So we pick a deserted ally and walk over two blocks in the direction the bus driver pointed. As we get closer we hear music slightly and people. We get there..

AMAZING. This place was beautiful!! It
Had live bands, street performers, vendors, people! It was sooooooooo much fun. I loved it. This little piece of culture, sitting right in the heart of the city.

I bought a journal that’s handmade and completely recycled.

One group of street performers we watched had African drums and maracas, dancing very tribal, using fire on rope. It was absolutely fantastic to watch.

There were families, dogs, children, couples, anyone and everyone you could think of was at this square. After walking around to each vendor we decided to get some drinks. We sit at this table near another band and begin watching. I couldn’t understand the words, but the music was beautiful. It was perfect for the evening. Jazzy maybe? But Rock? I can’t even explain what my ears heard. Just beautiful noise.

We look one direction, couples start dancing. First this white couple gets up and we are all cracking up. I mean props to them, they clearly looked drunk, but they have no rhythm at all and t was hilarious to watch. But you could tell they were having the time of their lives out there. Next comes other Mexican couples and before you know it everyone is having fun, dancing their hearts out beautifully on this street/dance floor.

Also, keep in mind, that women here wear heels like they are tennishoes. It’s amazing. They make it look so easy!! I don’t know how they do it on the daily.

As we’re sitting there watching, everyone is on this dance floor, young to old. People just cutting through stop to dance for a minute or two. It’s as though they just hear the music and all of the sudden the notes are pumping through their veins.
Every chord has a perfect movement attached to it, everyone swaying and dancing like they were walking to the park. It looks like an art. The music just takes over all of their bodies and dances for them. It was beautiful watching everyone have such amazing rhythm and so much fun while dancing. I don’t know how they do it.

We look another direction and we watch two little girls playing on steps and a ramp. They are dressed exactly the same (beautiful light pink dresses, pink tights and head bands with bows) only one is clearly older. Sisters. The older sister was teaching her younger sister how to be a princess. How to walk down stairs, how to walk up the ramp with their hand on the rail, how to wave and how to blow kisses. It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. We watched them for a bit, admiring the carefree life they were living.

Overall, I’m so glad we went. It was a great last night here in Mazatlan. We finished our drinks (and fried mozzarella) and jumped in Pulmania to head home.

As we’re driving back to our part of town, you can see that it is indeed Friday night and the city was coming alive. People all dressed up and walking to the clubs. We stop at a red light and there is music and people. Cindy looks out and then looks back:

Cindy: Where’s the party at, HOLLAAAAAAAAAA!
Timaree: Paula? Who’s Paula? Mike do you know who Paula is?

Cindy and I died laughing and that’s how we ended our night. Great last day here in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Simple

April 11, 2013May 15, 2018Leave a comment

Today we went on a Mazatlan city tour. It was pretty lame to be honest. Yesterday’s tour was so much more eventful and interesting. The guide yesterday knew more about Mazatlan than the guide today and he was rude.

But I got a new whale tale! My dad got me one from Alaska a few years back, it was one of my favorite necklaces ever. Well today I was able to find another one almost exactly the same! I was so excited. The elephant is the pendant I got yesterday 🙂

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After the tour we laid out by the pool,
Soaking in the rays, drinking tequila 🙂 then we got ready and went to a Mexican Fiesta! It was really long. Like really really long. But there was amazing food and I had lots of alcohol 🙂

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Finally home, relaxing in bed after lots of
Margaritas, wine, Ameretto, and other alcohols that I have no idea what they were.

Tomorrow is massages and tanning! Excited for that!

Hard Labor

April 10, 2013May 15, 2018Leave a comment

Today we went on a “country” tour. Basically it’s the outer country part of the city, a long the Mexico Highway 15. Mexico Highway 15 is a huge Y shaped highway that is a straight shot to Arizona or Texas- 16-17 hours away. Before this new high way was built, it would take anywhere from 24-27 hours to hit the states.

Mazatlan was founded in the year 1531. It was discovered by Spainards but there was also Indian tribes here. They were part of the Aztecs so those from Mazatlan originate from Aztecs. Mazatlan came from the Aztecs. Mazat is from the Aztec word deer and lan means land. Naturally, that means Mazatlan means land of the deer. It’s after the white tail deer native to Mazatlan. The original language of the Aztecs was Nawat. I’m guessing on the spelling but that’s how it’s said. That has become one of the largest dialects here.

Our first stop was to see how bricks are made here in Mazatlan. As you can see from the pictures above, it’s intense labor. They mix manure, mud, water and saw dust and grass. From there the man wets his hands, grabs the mixture and puts it into the wooden frame, he pushes it all the way down to avoid air bubbles. He then even it’s out, wets his hands again to smooth the top. He removes the mold, rinses it and repeats it all over again.

He does this from 6:00 in the morning to 6:00 at night. He does not own the land, but he works the land. The land owner will come and check up on him at the end of the day, to see how many bricks he’s made. He will have to make 1,000 bricks a day to get paid $120pesos. That’s $10USD. A day. We get paid $8 an hour for not even half of the manual labor. Let that soak in.

After the bricks are made they lay out. After a few days they will flip them up so the sides will dry. After 9 days they will add them to the helm. When building the helm, the second picture, they add wood. They will add about 3 more feet in height of bricks to the top of this and more rows. When it is complete they will set the wood on fire and cook the bricks. This is an art Carlos, the guide, said. If you cook them too much they will stick together. Not enough they will fall apart. He has to know how to do it perfectly. Once they are done, they are loaded in a truck and shipped out to build the city houses and buildings. Then the process begins all over again.

The second place we stopped was a bakery. We got two things of bread for $1. I got cinnamon bread and butter with sugar! So bad for you but so delicious!! They wake up early every morning to make these delicious pastries fresh.

The next place we stopped was a tile maker and jewelry store. My papa bought me an elephant pendant with a stone native to Mexico. It is beautiful and I am planning to wear it to graduation!!

The tile maker was awesome. This is the old fashion way to make tile that most people don’t do anymore. Carlos says that this particular shop had been handed down through generations. Each father has passed the tradition down to his son and it continues today. We watched him make tiles in front of us and it was amazing!

He cleans the slate and drops color on to the the slate. He puts the mold over the slate and drops the ceramic into the mold like miniature pancakes. If he drops it all in at once, it will spread all of the color. He then takes a standard number 2 pencil eraser sticks it in to the ceramic and color and makes a design without seeing it. He then puts the backing of the tile on, and puts it under a machine. He then applies 1 ton of pressure onto the tile. He takes it out, removes it. That’s the finished product you see him holding. He makes them 1 at a time, 200 tiles a day. They sit in the shade for 16 hours and then are ready for sale!

Our next stop was a small town to see this Cathederal. This Catholic Church was built in the 1700s and survived the French invasions in the 1850s. It took 85 years to build because the priest wanted a specific tile and stone to build it. It was a beautiful church and use to be the town hall of the city. However, when their first president was instated he wanted to separate church and the people’s taxes. So now in each town you will see the church and the town hall separated by the square.

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The last place we stopped was a town in the mountains of the Sierra Madres. Way way way way way way way way way up in the mountains. Population is 600. 300 people, 300 donkeys.

It is an old mine town founded in 1565. That’s old. Really old. Uneven cobblestone roads that are one car only. We ate at Daniel’s the local restaurant, absolutely delicious. The good was amazing. We had a chicken and potato taco, tamale, cheese taco, frijoles and rice. Dessert was a banana coconut pie. My stomach is pretty damn happy.

Most of the mines in this town are no longer active. We went into one mine, as you can see from the picture. A beautiful place and great last stop for the day. Now it’s back down those windy roads.

Salud and buenas noches.

Bad Day Gone Good

April 9, 2013May 8, 2018Leave a comment

This morning started off not so hot.

It was suppose to be a great day- wake up and go get an hour massage, who wouldn’t want that! However, Timaree got sick when getting out of the car. Bad sick.

My mom and Timaree’s appointments were at 9:00 and mine and Cindy’s were at 10:00. We were to meet them there later. Cindy and I were waiting for the shuttle, at this time Cindy could hear workers talking about getting a wheel chair ready because somebody was sick and heading over. We thought nothing of it, we get to the spa and they ask us to sign in. I picked up the pen, looked down and thought it was odd I didn’t see my mothers name. We moved on to the next room where we have to sign in and again I don’t see my mothers name. The lady looks up and asks if my mother and aunt were there at 9. I knew what she meant and I said yes. She began to tell me my mother was sick. I instantly had to clarify who she meant. I don’t look like my mother, but I look a lot like I could be my cousins daughter. Low and behold, I was right, she meant my cousin. That honestly was less stressful for me, but she said she was sick and they cancelled. I thought that was weird- getting a massage isn’t like playing basketball, even if you are sick, you’re just laying on a table.. I would think you could push through it.

Eventually over the phone I got a hold of my mother who was stressed and scared.
The thing is, in really serious intense situations, my mother is one to stress and not “freak out” but panic more. I get insanely calm. She explained it wasn’t just “sick” something was seriously wrong with Timaree and she had asked that we come back to the room. Obviously we went without question.

Something happened and we weren’t really sure what. She was having trembles, she couldn’t walk, she was babbling about things that didnt make sense, she was hallucinating. She told me there was a man behind me messing with my hair, putting a clip in it. When Cindy asked how her vision was she said “I can see everyone and everything fine. There’s just a few other things there as well.” Long story short, she was dehydrated, due to many many many many reasons. She is doing much better now and will recover just fine!

That part of the day over, the rest was just bliss. My dad, Cindy and I hopped ons bus and took it all the way downtown into the heart of Mazatlan. This is the kind of stuff I live for when traveling. The real heart of a place, exposing myself to the culture head on. We spent the afternoon roaming around the uneven stone streets shopping, exploring and I was on a personal mission to find tacos.

As we wandered through these markets, we came across the meat section. Cindy kept saying, “I can’t do this!”. There were full blown pig heads, everywhere. Eyeballs still intact, tongues sticking out, snouts still hairy. Goat heads too, like it was just another isle at the market. I was cracking up, my dad was taking pictures.

After some simple shopping, I bought a beautiful white dove wind chime, we finally focused on the tacos. After checking around several stands, shops, and carts we finally settled on a place.

Oh. My. God.

I had 2 Carne Asada Tacos with lettuce, hot chili sauce, pico de gallo, and guacamole with a nice cold cup of Horchata. I think this place we ate at, my mom would have died. This little hole in the wall had a family cooking on a stove, bare hands, greasy, dirty, nasty looking but the food was absolutely delicious.

I was completely satisfied and thrilled that my mission was accomplished. That was all I wanted. After that we hoppe on a bus and headed back, threw on our suits, went in the pool, got out and napped in the sweet sunshine.

After that we went and had dinner on the beach while the sunset. It was magnificent. The sunset was beautiful right on the water, and I had BBQ food! It was soooo good and I love BBQ. All in all what seemed to start off as a potentially bad day turned out great!

Sunshine

April 8, 2013May 8, 2018Leave a comment

Today was a beautiful day and perfect for Cindy and I. We had a day practically to ourselves!

We woke up, threw on our bathing suits and headed out to have a breakfast made for Kings. It was delicious, there was so much food! Any kind of food and drink you could imagine. After we were thouroughly stuffed we headed straight for the pool.

We laid out all day, soaking in the sun and drinking mango margaritas! Around the time we were eating lunch, the hotel was hosting bingo! Of course we had to play. We sat under the umbrella of our table pool side, drinking margaritas, eating crane asada tacos with chips and salsa, playing bingo.

The first round we lost, I was close at one point but we won nothing. The next round we both won!! We ran up to the desk to claim our prize and the DJ begins to laugh at us! Turns out that round was black out.. we missed that minor detail. We decided to continue sitting near the DJ because I only had 4 left before I had black out and she had 5 left.

The next three numbers in a row were mine! I only had one left and had to wait two more turns to get it! He announces the number in Spanish first and before I know it, Cindy is telling me I’ve won! We go back up to the DJ to rightfully claim our prize. In confirming my victory, the DJ tells me in order to claim my prize, I have to dance. Now, anyone who knows me, I don’t dance. I tell him heck no! He asks my name, I tell him it’s Cindy. She looks at me and starts laughing, the towel guy (who Cindy introduced herself to earlier) was standing next to the DJ and called me out! He started laughing saying that Cindy isn’t my name but it’s her name (he pointed to Cindy). I tell him my name is Desiree and he says “ohh!! Desire!!” Mind you, all of this is happening in a microphone, being blasted through speakers all over the pool. He tells me again that I must dance in order to claim my prize. I asked him what the prize was, I needed to see if it was worth making a mad fool out of myself for.

He looks at me and says “Your prize is the lifeguard!” And he turns to look at the handsome lifeguard who looks at us and begins to blow his whistle. Completely embarrassed and dying inside, I ask him what the real prize is. He hands me an XL Mazatlan t-shirt. You’re welcome pops!

We sit back down, lay out some more, nap again, wake up and decide to swim and get beer. After a round of confusion and negotiations we are paying for our Pacificos. In the process of waiting for the receipt, a man comes up to order a drink.

He then, waiting for his drink, looks at Cindy and says “Hi, What’s your name?” Talk about awkward. What a way to abruptly start a conversation.I think the only way he could have been creepier would have been if he added “little girl” to the end of his question.

So for the next eight minutes, the world spun a little slower as if Father Time was standing above us somewhere laughing watching the whole thing. During this conversation, I instantly begin to pick up on this guys accent. He was Canadian, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind. This guy had to be from Canada. Eventually it comes up that he is from Alberta, called it!!! As he is talking,
both of us are listening but not listening. You know what I mean? When you hear someone, you know they’re talking, you chime in at all the appropriate times but you’re not actually talking to them? The conversation they think you’re having versus the conversation you’re actually having? Anyways, within this conversation he is telling his story of how he switched hotels, which led to stereotypes, which led to (apparently) people from Alberta are seen as rednecks. Homeboy had a huge Freduian slip. As he’s explaining how they are not all red necks (btw he SCREAMED red neck) he said “but most vagina, main people are not”. He tried to play it off and we let him. Standing there, in my head, all I am thinking is, “did he just vagina?” I wasn’t even sure I heard him right. “Maybe it was the accent? Maybe he…no he definitely just said vagina. Right?” Father Time was waiting for this moment. He finally showed mercy, we signed for our beer and left. First thing Cindy says to me was “why did he just say vagina. Freudian slip.” I wasn’t alone! She heard it too! We chalked it up to be hilarious and awkward. Longest. Eight. Minutes. Ever.

Now, as a disclaimer I am not saying Canadians are creepy and weird, I’m just stating facts. This is what happened. That is where he is from. If you choose to associate the two together, well, that’s not my fault. 🙂

Tomorrows agenda involves massages and more sun, can’t wait!

Cheers!

Mazatlan Mayhem

April 8, 2013May 8, 2018Leave a comment

Today we began our journey (at 5:15am mind you), our final destination being Mazatlan, Mexico. Mazatlan is on the west coast of Mexico, practically a straight shot down from Arizona. They say there’s a population of around 500,000 people who live here. In my opinion, because my one Urban Studies class I took my sophomore year of college has provided me with qualified credentials, there is way more than 500,000 people living here. It’s a beautiful town and our hotel is right on the water!

It’s been a busy day though, exhausting too! This trip I am traveling with my parents, my cousin Timaree, and my best friend in the whole wide world, Cindy. We landed and had to shift our way through customs, get our luggage and find our ride to the hotel. The thing I love about Mexico is that there’s not a lot of restrictions on what you can or can’t do. Rules aren’t really a thing here and I am totally okay with that! Whilst standing in the airport, waiting for other groups to arrive we were approached two separate times by two separate waiters asking if we would like any beers or margaritas. You don’t find that in the states.

Twenty minutes and two couples later, 9 guests all pile into this big shuttle van with the driver and our guide, Fabiola, riding shotgun. It was a wild ride. For those of you who have been to Mexico, you know what I mean, for those of you who haven’t… Well remember the there’s-not-really-any-rules part? That applies to driving as well. People are driving all kinds of speeds, in all kinds of cars, all over the road. No one really is in a lane and people move over or turn from whatever lane they’d feel like, when they feel like it. You have people busting u-turns over medians in the middle of the high way, people jumping on big rigs and cars to clean their windows at a red light. People walk in the street and cross the street whenever they like during traffic and you have a 3 people on a one person motorcycle. All this and so much more can only begin to describe the driving down here.

Cindy was having a bit of culture shock on our drive. I’ve been coming to Mexico since I was a kid, so even though it’s not the best sight, I’m use to it. I’ve seen it. This is Cindy’s first time in Mexico.

Imagine if you will, a highway. Along this high way there are buildings, but the buildings aren’t complete. As you drive along and see the piles of bricks along the sides of the dirt roads you begin to realize it is not that the buildings aren’t complete, they’re run down. You then begin to realize that these shops that look so abandoned are not only shops but people’s homes. Graffiti, everywhere. Covering walls, garages, doors. Kids running up their street, barefoot. Sights that to any American would make your heart sink.

But this is life to them, this is every day living. These families live and love every day, working hard, hanging their clothes out on a line to dry and doing their best to carry on. It can really help you appreciate what you have when you see all you could be without.

Enough of the sad talk though! Once we arrived to the hotel it was time to find our room and put food in our stomachs! We ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach, it’s part of the hotel. It was beautiful. The weather here could not be any more perfect. It’s probably around 80-85 with a cool breeze. Just absolutely fantastic.

So there we are, enjoying our beach side meal under there sun.. breeze blowing lightly, waves crashing, birds flying about chasing each other, children playing in the ocean, people parasaling, calm peaceful splendor and I am thirsty as fuck. They had placed glasses of water on the table, but you know what they say, don’t drink the water in Mexico. Our waiter said the water was purified but as I glanced over to my mother, her face would tell me she was not sold. However, I was feeling ballsy and I think I have a pretty strong immune system, so I went for it. I drank two glasses of water with lunch and so far so good! I was willing to test it, lets hope it’s in my favor.

Our room is absolutely gorgeous. We are on the 18th floor with an impeccable view. The hotel is wonderful, I had a piña colada while we were checking in at the desk!

After a long nap, we decided to go into town and pick up some groceries. We paid 50 pesos to ride the bus to Mega, the market. After an hour of trying to figure out what we wanted and what we needed, we left, in search of the bus that had brought us there. Well, the driver had told us if we just cross the street from where he dropped us off, a bus would come back to pick us up. We cross this busy street through traffic and are waiting on the other side in front of a gas station… suddenly unsure if that was where we actually had to be to get a bus. We are carrying everything we bought in our hands and just waiting. I’m sure to anyone driving by we screamed confused. There’s tons of traffic and cars everywhere. Oh! I forgot to mention, there’s a motorcycle parade in town! There’s an insane amount of people on motorcycles. All kinds of people (14 year olds, biker clubs, men in dresses, etc) and all kinds of motorcycles. Tonight is the last night of this week long event, so naturally, everyone is partying hard. These people on motorcycles are speeding through traffic, cutting through the gas station to get to the street, getting air because of the way the lay out is of the ground. Loud, rambunctious, and wild. It looked way fun. However, we are still waiting for this bus, it’s late, and the motorcycles are blaring ther engines as they speed by as close as possible to us. We finally flag down a “taxi”.

Now when I say taxi, I really mean a golf cart with doors. There are 5 people, 4 seats, and a ton of groceries. There’s no way we would all fit. But, being Mexico, you make it fit.

We were off. My mother, Timaree, Cindy and I in the back bench, my dad riding with the driver. We begin zooming through traffic, racing down the cobblestone road. I am next to the door of the golf cart, thouroughly convinced with each sharp and quick turn that my door was going to fly open and make for a really interesting night. Fortunately, it never did, but the ride was great. I could taste the salt in the air as we raced back to the hotel. We passed a child and his father on a motorcycle, only the child had his head down and was asleep on the gas tank. There were smiles across everyone’s faces as we passed each vendor, looking at all the shops, soaking in the sounds of speeding cars, horns honking, people yelling, and of course mariachi music! It was a beautiful moment in time and as I glance over at Cindy with a smile on my face, I know she too was sharing the same moment as me, loving every minute.

Now back in our room, relaxing and drinking tea, our night comes to a quiet end. It’s been a great first day here and I look forward to the rest of the week.

If you have actually read this whole thing, first of all, props to you. Secondly, I hope you enjoyed it. Sending lots of love and happiness!

Namaste!