Trip to Mexico: Chihuahua

EXCERPTS FROM A WRITTEN JOURNAL

1/10/08
8:30am- Walked to Palacio Gobierno- Memorial to Hidalgo. Enormous murals all over the wall, we checked out what the tourist office had to offer. Afterwards we checked out some statues- there was a horse with HUGE brass balls. Talked to a guy who worked in Alamogordo! He just walked up to us on the street and asked in English "Are you American?" we've seen exactly 2 other white people the entire time. Not a tourist town- people very friendly and helpful. We stand out among everyone and get a lot of stares. People regard us as mostly a novelty.

Before lunch- Bookstore. Anthony bought a book about the history of Parral, a nearby mining district. Jake bought a the children's book "Three Musketeers" in Spanish

Lunch- Best ever? We had 2 burritos al pastor- slightly picantes. 10 pesos cada uno.

After Lunch- We decided we needed a beer in case lunch was unsanitary. Went to "Bar Turista" we were the only ones in there at the time. Wondered into the real marked after a 2 hour siesta. Ended up eating pizza for dinner. cheap. they don't seem to believe in tomato sauce here. I didn't want pizza but everyone else wanted some "American" food. Before dinner we went to a Supermercado, Bought Mezcal- $19.99 MX for a liter of 70 proof. Later that night we went to a bar which was lit up with Pink and Purple neon lights with the sign "ladies bar" outside. there were two dudes in the bar that spoke English to us !Borrachos! Great time. In Mexico, if a bar doesn't say "ladies" or "unisex" outside, it is a bar for men only.

1/11/08
Woke up at 4 am to hear Jake puking his guts out. He drank too much last night! A couple hours later, Anthony won the 1st diarrhea contest! He felt much better around 11 am. Finally wandered around the REAL market. Got lots of stares. Jake and Anthony bought sombreros: <$2 US a piece. It made them look just like the tourists they are. Ate lunch at Joe's. A little pricier. ($17 for burrito y papas) Lauryn thoroughly enjoyed her hamburger, "Jake's" meat was amazing." Anthony and Jake bought postcards and made up crazy bullshit stories. Jake's story was much better than Anthony's. For siesta, sat in front of the cathedral, Anthony read his book about mining in Parral, I read my book, Lauryn read her book, and Jake took pictures. We have decided that we have thoroughly explored a good 8-10 block radius around our hotel. We look forward to finding a new area to explore. This morning we finally broke down and showered. It wasn't as bad as Lauryn thought it was going to be. The entire bathroom has 1 drain in the floor shared by sink and shower. No shower curtain. Dinner- wondered around the market. settled on a taco stand where we met a retired civil engineer and his wife. They just came from the Copper Canyon area. The old man liked to ramble (in his 70's) about growing up in LA, etc... They were the epitome of tourists.... bad Spanish, quite possibly smuggy San Franciscans. We left while they were bugging the poor lady who just wanted to close her restaurant. Then we humored Jake while he took pics of the city at night. Everyone but me called the parents so they wouldn't worry. 1/12/08
Got up this morning and... it was Lauryn's turn for diarrhea/vomit! Jake went out and took pictures in the early morning, it was cold. The sun was coming up. When Jake went back to the room the lights were still off. (we were all still in bed trying to sleep) We packed up and Jake had breakfast, he was the only one. :( He ate fast because everyone was waiting for him to finish. We are going to the hostel today. Then to Copper Canyon. I am excited.

not quite diarrhea today. :)

Anthony is sitting in the hostel, Lauryn is still sick. I am sleeping in a bean bag chair. Jake is watching NFL playoffs. (Seattle lost) :( This is definitely a tourist place. almost devoid of "culture." Still, very calm and relaxing which is nice. The owners speak English. !Receptionist is muy bella! We asked the owner of the place if he knew a good place for lunch and he said yes, he'd drive us there. So he dropped us in the middle of down town where we've been romping for the last 2-3 days. ( the place he dropped us was $35-$40 MX a meal. too fancy for us.) we waited until he drove away and went back to the street vendor we bought burritos al pastor from 2 days ago. he remembered us! then we walked a couple miles back to the hostel through a more "scenic" part of town. (Scenic means ran down and crappy looking)

Same day - night time (Anthony's Journal Post)
Jake is pretty disappointed that his "GF" Angelica (receptionist) isn't out dancing with him. But that's okay because he spent the evening embarrassing us and making a monkey out of himself in front of our new friend who's name i can neither spell nor pronounce. she is dutch and very attractive. We all went to a bar, had a couple rounds, then went to some trendy-ass nightclub where i (Anthony) don't belong. Lauryn was still feeling sick, so she and i left. i got us lost on the way back. my bad. (End of Anthony's journal post)

We all went out to dinner including Kasijani (Dutch Chick). No one wanted to go back to the hostel so we went to a ladies sports bar. The only ladies were Lauryn and Kasijani. We had a couple rounds then decided to wonder around for awhile until nine and go to a club. I found out lots about Holland, did you know that the places that they smoke weed in are called "Coffee Houses," and the places to get the drink coffee is spelled with a "K." No one was at the club for awhile so we just talked and drank. Eventually people started showing up....in costumes. It ended up being a "private" party for a gay guy. Pretty much everyone there was either gay or lesbian. We danced until 1:30 or about when we started sobering up and decided we should head back to our hostel. Jake had left an hour or two before.We left after a comedian finished her skit, and started walking down the sidewalk a couple blocks when we hear the waiter running after us in flip flops, we "forgot" to pay our tab. Then we walked back to the hostel after a few more wrong turns and went to sleep.