Readers, friends, if you turn these pages
Put your prejudice aside,
For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,
Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.
Not that I sit here glowing with pride
For my work: all you'll find is laughter:
That's all the glory my heart is after,
Seeing how sorrow eats you, defeats you.
I'd rather write about laughing than crying,
For laughter makes men human, and courageous.

BE HAPPY!

I don’t know who wrote this but I thought that it would be a fitting header for the blog. 

Alas, I have finally arrived in Mexico, San Miguel de Allende specifically and thus far it has been quite enjoyable. The prospects within and around the city are many and I will certainly try and exhaust every last one of them. It is my second mexican morning, 30 de enero, and I awoke with a bit of a hangover from running around the night before. Fortunately John and I purchased a lot of food yesterday and I was able to conjure up a nice little breakfast and make some of the strongest coffee I think that I have ever had. I’m still a bit jittery from it but the hangover is long gone!

From Tejas to Now

So, I flew out of Austin at 7:25 and arrived in Leon, Mexico by 11:30 am. No problems whatsoever. Upon arrival I took a taxi from Leon to San Miguel for roughly 90 dollars US. Too expensive, but I was ready to get there and I didn’t really want to wait around for the bus. It took about an hour and a half to get there. I had the driver just drop me off  in the middle of the city and I started walking from there. Eventually I found the hostel, very quaint little place that really doesn’t feel like a hostel, more like a hotel with plenty of amenities. I was suppose to meet John there at three o’clock but he was nowhere to be found due to a few mishaps he had on the motorcycle. I just left a note on the door for him and then ventured off into the city to get my bearings straight and figure out the layout of the city. After about two hours of aimless wandering I luckily spotted John on his bike riding in my direction. I yelled and flailed around to catch his attention and then helped him get situated in our room. John brought way too much stuff and is a bit disorganized, but I think that it is funny and like to watch him rummage around trying to find different things. I think that we will prove to be quite a team as we both hold few inhibitions and are about as amiable as anyone could be. 

San Miguel is a beautiful little town that has a nice ethnic mix to it.The smells in the city are magnificent and constantly changing depending on your locale. The morning air snaps me awake and I have felt instantly invigorated upon rising each morning. There are quite a few americans and canadians here, mostly old people that have retired and are running from the cold. I kind of feel like I am doing the same thing! The weather has been perfect for us thus far, 80 degrees has been the high and it drops down into the 40’s in the evenings. Es perfecto! My spanish is very rusty, but I have picked up quite a bit in only 48 hours and anticipate a quick acclimation. John speaks spanish much better than I do, although I have done well in understanding everything. I just have to ask them to speak slower and I’m fine. Mas despacio, por favor!

I am writing this in Starbucks because it is one of the few places that has wireless for free. Plus there are several cute mexican chicas here that enjoy our company and think that we are funny. I stick out like a sore thumb here with my long blonde hair, but i think that this is a good thing because everyone is curious to know what John and I are up to and it provides excellent opportunities to mingle with the locals and and foreigners alike. 

The hostel is in a pretty good location, about a 4 block walk to the main plaza where all the main shops and bars are located. The exchange rate right now is excellent, roughly 14 pesos to 1 US dollar. My first purchase in mexico was a liter of tequila and six pack of Tecate because John and I of course had to celebrate our reunion/arrival. I think that this cost about ten dollars total or 140 pesos. Great deal! 

The first night we met a cute girl from Denver who has been traveling for a long time. She was very interesting and has been all over the world working on private yachts. We sat around at the hostel for a bit drinking and talking and then we headed out for the evening. We walked around taking a few pictures until John found a hot dog stand and somehow consumed four of ‘em covered with just about everything that you could put on a hot dog. Then bedtime. 

The next night we hung around the hostel for a bit talking in espanol and sipping beers with some tequila with two fellows named Julian and Luis. Julian works at a local restaurant and knows just about everything there is to know about the city. Luis is just looking for work, i think.

Adios.