Crowne Plaza Hotel Guadalajara

I write this at 3.30am, having just had my sleep interrupted once again. Not by gunshots, sirens, nor even the incessant train horn that deafens us on a daily basis. No, this was something much worse. Normally I can deal with pretty much any insect aside from spiders, but the last few nights have given me some new creatures to worry about.

It began three nights ago, just as I was about to go to bed. I reached for my washbag, only to sense a sudden movement ...

... at salsa dancing I decided that it might be best to take some of the lessons available in the bars here. We arrived back late so the next morning I decided to skip classes in favour of a birthday lie in. This gave me plenty of time to catch up with a few friends from home and recover in time for the festivities that night.

Alba is an extremely liberal hostess; kindly allowing me to throw a house party here and invite whomever I ...

... we had heard from Mexican immigrants who sought work in the promised land, but had failed to realise their dreams across the border. He was very repentant of his former ways and now strove to keep his friends from violence and robbery. Many of his companions had resorted to drink and drugs but he assured us that noone would harm us here.

The next day we enrolled at CEPE, the University of Guadalajara's language centre for foreign students. We have Spanish classes ...

... Mexico and Columbia last night, and had a great conversation with some brits who´ve been travelling around the U.S. and Mexico for the past few months, and were totally filled with wonder and delight at everything they´ve seen. That´s the attidude that I really want to cultivate in myself on this trip and beyond. Ultimately, I think that´s what travelling is all about...really feeling deeply the delights (and sometimes lonliness) of exploring new ...

... meet some really great folks and become fast friends with a few. A lot of the people here actually study or work in Guadalajara, and most are from Mexico, so I've been hearing (and speaking) lots of Spanish and improving a ton. My telcel phone is filling up with names and numbers, and I have offers (that I'll definietly take advantage of) to stay with some new friends in Monterray and Mexico City. Surprisingly, hanging around and playing Lotteria ...

... is that they give you a big bowel of corn chip to start and a selection of at least four salsas and guacamole’s instead of salt and pepper. I chatted to the waiter for a bit and he was trying to set me up with the waitress. He also got me a free tequila to welcome me to Mexico. Then he informed me that President Obama was driving through town in a moment so we all went down to watch him come past. I had seen police on every street earlier and thought Mexico must ...

Unable to do our planned ferry crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan due to the service being down for some unknown reason and for an undisclosed amount of time, we flew (out came my friend diazapam...) to Guadalajara city. Katy, Daniel and I were met by Daniel's sister, Lupita, who drove us into town, around town looking for accomodation and then for lunch. Guadalajara is about the size of London - imagine picking your brother up from Heathrow ...

... hotel, named the Fenix. I had visions of Phoenix Nights, with a Mexican Brian Potter behind the counter, but it wasn't that bad. Although when we were checking in, there was a girl doing a bit of singing in reception and she was doing a terrible version of Wind Beneath My Wings....in Spanish!! The hotel was in a great spot, close to loads of restaurants and bars etc. After the long bus trip though, we didn't arrive till near 10pm so it was a quick bite to eat ...

... sentences in the correct word order. I must have looked pathetic! Oh well~ A few hours sleep fixed that, although it took atleast a week to be able to speak properly! My host family were really nice. They treated me as a family member from day one. Comaparing with my classmates at ITTO, i think I was the only one who got a host family that wasn't stingy, and actually wasn't keeping me for the money. I got three meals a day as promised ...

... all stayed behind...like some freak social experiment. I bet those clowns at Los Pinos are behind all this... One thing we did NOT do while in the city was the "mandatory" (per Lonely Planet) trip to the Plaza del Mariachi. We figured we had seen and heard more than our fair share of singing, wide-brimmed sombrero wearing cowboys at family weddings and other gatherings, that we were exempt from this requisite stop. We also found out that the nearby suburbs of Tonala and ...