PHOTOS & FOTOS

Cancun, at last!
I'll post some cool stuff soon but on the mean time here's some Cancun photos for your viewing pleasure.
On another note, tomorrow, 28th of April, I'll be 35!

¡Cancún finalmente!
Espero postear mas cositas chulas/chidas/cheveres muy brevemente, pero entretanto, os dejo unas fotitas tomadas en Cancun para vuestro deleite.
Cambiando de tema, mañana 28 de abril ¡cumplo 35 añitos!


CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTOS / PICA AQUI PARA VER LAS FOTOS:



Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

(SUNDAY) DRINKING DAY

Everyone woke up today rather late.

After a quick breakfast, Alan and I, waked down to the beach, actually “walk down to the beach” ain’t the right term to use as we only had to walk for about 40 seconds to touch the water as the house was located on the beach itself. Anyways, quickly dressed down to my swimming trunks and jumped in the blue water of Progreso beach.

The water was so shallow so started walking into the ocean. Walked for at least 5 minutes and the water was still at knee level. I was dying for a proper swim so kept on walking. I guess I had to walk for 15 or so minutes into the sea to be fully covered with water.

Swam for a while then came back to the shore when Alan’s cousin Ana arrived with her girlfriends and a portable cooler full of beers.

Nothing better than more beer (“hair of the dog” as it’s commonly called in the trusted circle!) to cure any hangover.

Ana prepared me a couple of Micheladas, which is similar to a Bloody Mary but containing beer instead of vodka (Recipe: part beer part tomato juice with Worcestershire sauce, salt and lime). Ever so refreshing and tasty!

Never thought I would see a Worcestershire sauce based drink at this part of the world.

Back at the house, sat down where Alan’s parents and all the “parents and adults” were getting heavily hammered with all sorts of alcoholic drinks.

Got asked all sorts of questions about me, Portugal, Europe and my travels. Really cool and easy people to be with.

Someone offered me a vodka with coke, someone else a glass of Coco-fish, another cocktail with coconut water, gin, mint and sugar. Strong but very tasty beverage indeed.

I started to feel tipsy. Sunday seemed like a drinking day.

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

BARRA LIBRE

Llegamos a la playa de Progreso, Yucatan cerca de las 9 de la noche del sabado 4 de abril.

Al entrar a la casa de playa, inmediatamente saludé a los padres de Alan (Roberto y Soledad) y después de una rápida introducción a los a los demás elementos de la numerosa familia, me duche y estaba listo para la noche.

Fuimos a un antro de nombre Ocean donde tuvimos que pagar 150 Pesos para entrar pero esa cuantidad incluía barra libre toda la noche.

A ver si lo entiendo bien:

Después de pagar 150 Pesos para entrar, ¿puedo tomar todo lo que quiero hasta que cierren el antro o hasta caerme al piso de borrachera?

Afirmativo.

O sea, lo tengo que tener clarísimo como el agua (o el vodka), ¿puedo tomar whiskey, vodka o ron con coca-cola toda la noche?

Afirmativo.

Guay pues!

La disco más barata que he estado jamás. La música estaba bien y la gente muy guapa y simpática.

A dentro platiqué con Michel, hermano de Alan y con algunos primos y primas (ya perdí la cuenta de cuantos primos tiene este guey!) y sus demás amigos y amigas.

Después de mucho beber, bailar, hablar y de jijiji jajaja nos volvimos a la casa con media botella de vodka.

En nuestra habitación durmieron como 8 o 9 personas todos en hamacas.

Uyyyy Pues a dormir que mañana viene la cruda (resaca)!

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

NARCOCORRIDOS

By now I’m an expert in hammock sleeping. 3 nights and counting!

Early this morning everyone in the house left to Progreso, Yucatan for their 2 weeks Easter holiday. Alan had to visit a retirement home but when he returned his cousin Paula and her man Carlos came by and we all went on a 6 hours ride to join the rest of the family.

Carlos is an amazing dude with lots of insights about Mexico so he gave us all great attention-grabbing discussions. Also his taste of music is something else, as he educated me on Narcocorridos, which is a type of northern Mexican music that used to be sponsored by all the big local drug dealers.

The Corrido will narrate the story of someone or a group of people.

The Narcocorrido will in turn tell the story of a specific drug dealer or his gorgeous wife from his/hers early days on the street to his/hers demise either on a graveyard or in a prison, depending on the case.

This type of music has long been banned but their past glories are all in Youtube.

On that note I’ll leave y’all with a couple of these songs:

• Tigres del norte - La reina del sur
• Los Tucanes De Tijuana - Fiesta en la sierra

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

HAMACAS EN LA PENITENCIARIA

Volviendo del paseo, Daniel me explicó que los reos de las prisiones locales suelen construir cosas y venderlas, tales como muebles, comida, etc. y obviamente hamacas.

Como tienen mucho tiempo en sus manos, es una manera (con mucho merito) de formar a los presos para que puedan readaptarse en la sociedad así que terminen sus sentencias.

Nos paramos en la Penitenciaria de Villahermosa, Tabasco y intenté entrar pero los guardias me indicaron que ya estaba cerrada pero que yo podría comprar la hamaca de los vendedores que se encontraban afuera de la cárcel. Es más, los reos habían hecho las hamacas y dado a sus familiares para venderlas en su ausencia.

Empezó el regateo y al final me llevé una hamaca de colores verde y azul de talla king size por 450 Pesos.

Nuevamente en la casa de Alan, ensené (orgullosamente), my nuevo juguete a Alan y a su madre y decidí que ¡esta noche lo iba a estrenar! ¡2 noches pasadas en hamacas!

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

POZOL

First night spent on a hammock. I’ve had afternoon naps on hammocks but never spent a whole night on one of them. Very comfortable, I must say. Last night there was a electric blackout, very hot night in Tabasco, plus there was no AC units in all the rooms, therefore it was decided to accommodate everyone in two rooms in order to have a good night sleep: Some people in beds, some in hammocks! Guess where I stayed?

In the morning, Daniel drove their CS guest Gabrielle and yours truly to Tapijulapa, Tabasco. A very entertaining drive: We talked about our experiences in China, lack of toilet paper in India and Gabrielle’s tattoos. Daniel pointed out several sights during our field trip, like sacred trees, miles and miles of banana trees, the Chiapas mountains and he also recommended a book which will (try to) explain the Mexican way of thinking:

 El Laberinto de la Soledad by Octavio Paz

I’ll search and download it online otherwise I suppose I’ll have to buy it in some bookstore. I haven’t read many books this year so this one sounds like a good choice.

Upon arrival to the village of Tapijulapa we walked up to the nearest bar to use the toilet and Daniel suggested that I tried a Pozol (traditional drink made with corn and cocoa).

Verdict? I supposed that if they would add some honey, sugar or something, it would make Pozol delicious, but as it stands: Not great at all. Mind you, I’ve had some really strong Yerba Mate tea in the past and that’s one bitter drink.

We took the taxi boat (150 Pesos) to our destination and asked the guide about the place and its sights. He informed that there aren’t many tourists so the place is rather tranquil. There used to be lots of buses full of tourists coming to this place but since the road got blocked that stopped. He mentioned the Sardine Festivity which is THE CELEBRATION to attend.

The boat moored us at our destination and we started our wonder into the jungle. Very hot day with high humidity so we were all sweating but even so Daniel kept his cool and pointed out cool trees and birds.

There was a long branch hanging down from this tree so I tried my Tarzan impression by swinging from it but failed miserably.

When we got to the amazing waterfall, all our pain and suffering was all forgotten and we felt like kids again. Actually, there were lots of kids bathing in the waterfalls so when I tried to have a swim they came round and bombarded me with lots of questions about me, my country, my travelling, etc.

Kids will always be kids so I didn’t mind it at all. Fun afternoon.

When we got bored of the waterfall (and the kids) we head back and spotted these ladies selling food so we decided to have a bite here instead of eating at the only restaurant in the village. I can’t get enough of Mexican food. I’ve been in Mexico for over a month and every day I eat something different and scrumptious. Unmistakably, we had some very tasty cheese pasties (empanadas).

A youtube Video (or some other webpage) with the walk and the waterfall to follow soon.

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

OYE ¿DONDE ESTÁN LOS GANCHOS PARA LAS HAMACAS?

Llegando a la casa de mi CS host Alan, me dio la bienvenida y nos sentamos en el sofá platicando un rato. Hablamos de nuestras experiencias en España, Francia, Italia, Inglaterra y México.

Luego me dio el tour de su casa y como me habían dicho que hay muchas hamacas colgadas en todas las casas tabasqueñas, yo buscaba en las paredes a los ganchos. Alan me preguntó: “¿Qué pasa Paulo?” “Oye – le indagué - ¿donde están los ganchos para las hamacas?”. Se rió y me aclaró que no todas las casas tienen ganchos y hamacas por todo el condominio. Por lo tanto, en su casa hay hamacas y hamaqueros y eses (ganchos en las paredes) en las habitaciones y en la oficina de su padre.

Luego vino su madre y me la presentó. Como Alan tenía que ir a sus clases de la Universidad, nos metimos al coche y me dejó en la tienda Chedraui para que yo pudiera comprarme una crema de Aftersun (yo estaba más rojo que un camarón y me dolían mucho los hombros debido al solazo del día anterior). Con mi compra me metí en una combi bus (5.50 Pesos) y de pronto estaba de vuelta a la casa.

Platiqué un poco con la madre de Alan y envié un par de email a la miembros del Couchsurfing para ver qué onda había para esta misma noche: La función seria una cena y cuando llego Alan de sus clases nos metimos en su coche y dimos una vuelta por la cuidad por lo menos para ver los monumentos, las plazas principales y la Chichona.

A continuacion fuimos al restaurante a conocer otros miembros Chocos (tabasqueños) del CS. Sandra, Daniel + Lorena y su invitada Gabrielle, Marco, Alan y Paulinho! Toda la gente era de muy buena onda, charlamos, comimos unos ricos tacos y Daniel nos dijo que al día siguiente nos llevaría a visitar un pueblo tabasqueño. Volvimos a casa y descansamos. ¡Mañana promete!

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~

TAXI SHARE

Again today I woke up very early (hope I don’t have to do it too often!), took a shower and walked down to the Tuxtlas bus station.

Next destination: Villahermosa, Tabasco.

According to my itinerary I’d have to catch a bus to Acayucan then another one to Villahermosa. Hopped on a second class bus and 1h40m afterwards arrived at Acayucan bus station (49 Pesos). Asked for the ADO bus to Villahermosa but the Information desk informed me that the next bus would arrive in 2h30m so I’d be better off going to Coatzacoalcos (37 Pesos) and from Coatzacoalcos catch another bus to Villahermosa (80 Pesos).

This way I’d arrive at my destination faster and wouldn’t have to stand on the sun for so long. Decided to follow this reroute and managed to arrive at Villahermosa at circa 13h30.

Called my CS host Alan and after giving me directions to his house, jumped on a shared taxi (15 Pesos). The whole shared taxi concept is foreign to me as well many of my peers. The taxi picks you up and will briefly stop at certain points of the route and ask if anyone else is heading that way. If he picks up other passengers it means that everyone will share the full cost of the ride so you save some money.

I's like rideshare but with taxis and within the same town/city. Odd but useful. So far only seen this concept here in Tabasco County.

Ciao 4 now

~Paulo~