Ray: Hermosillo, Mexico - Cowboys, yee ha!
Trip Start
Dec 27, 2007
1
3
80
Trip End
Dec 28, 2008
Hermosillo,
Mexico
Saturday, January 5, 2008
We´ve met some good people on our wee journey to date. Richard and Cristina were good people who looked after us in Tijuana. The restaurant we went to was fantastic. The food was great. Lots of meat, some salads and small tortillas to scoop your food into. Condiments too ("sauces" Mike and Steve) although they were a little too hot and spicy for my liking. The bar itself was uniquely Mexican I think and Sarah has taken hundreds of photos to capture the colour and hopefully vibrancy of the place.We even had Marriachi players to woo us. Patrons got up randomly to sing and I thought about it but I wasn´t sure they´d know 10 guitars. I had to pay to go to the toilet which takes a little getting used to as we´ve had to do that in most public places but it´s explained to us how poor some people are it makes sense of course. We knew this already although seeing it first hand is different and we take public services for grated in NZ.
We moved on to a small town named Caborca. We´re in desert country so there is a lot of barren landscape, a few cactus trees and lots of dust. We got to stay at a very nice hotel in Caborca for free! The owner, a kind man named Hector, gave us accommodation for nothing because we were so far away from home. Sarah spoke to him at length about our plans for the year and our beautiful country Nueva Zelandia. He showed us around the town and even gave us a ride to the bus terminal. He offered to help us with our trip by recommending or suggesting things we could do or places we could stay via email. So we´ve been fortunate with the people we´ve met. Thanks again.
We´ve looked a little out of place in all the places we´ve been, I think. Our clothing especially but also because Sarah is a palangi. I sort of blend in a wee bit because of my skin and people often turn to me to spèak when Sarah is asking them something. I just shrug my shoulders, utter no intiende and gracias. People think I´m Hawaiian otherwise and think Samoa, New Zealand are close enough together to be Hawaiians. I hadn´t realised what a huge hispanic community there is in California. They seemed to outnumber others 4 to 1 but maybe it was where we were staying. Anyway it makes you feel a little out of place because you don´t know the language but it gives you a little motivation to learn it, quickly.
Some of the guys here wear the stereotypical cowboy hat, checkered shirt, thick leather belt with silver buckle, jeans and boots. I have been tempted to adopt this style but I don´t know whether they have hats that big and the whole checkered shirt thing is the kind of thing Rod might wear. Come to think of it Rod, it´s you!
We´ve visited zoos, churches/ cathedrals, shopping centres, rode the local buses all over town, walked all over the place and really enjoyed what we´ve seen of the people and culture. I say enjoy tentatively because there are aspects that have saddened us too in regards to poverty, people, housing or lack of. We´re heading further south to Mexico City and Acapulco soon, and some beach towns too. Time to spend a little of our holiday on the beach, get a tan, or more of one. The weather is quite warm to very hot but noticeably cooler in the evenings.
hasta manana
