Last Mariachi in Guadalajara Apparently when I had been trying to call WIll I was calling the number of another host family who happened to be hosting someone else nammed Will and that Will was always out. It seems a bit odd and unlikely but I believe my Will.

So I finally found the wey and we hung-out all day. I went to the Universidad and saw the garden and plaza by there. Then we went to his house. From there we went to the bar by my hotel and we discussed the future.



We watched Los Simpson while waiting for Marisol to take us to the Bariachi. Tequila + Mariachi = Mexico




That was the last time I will see Marisol on this trip. She has made it a very nice time for me when she could.

I feel bad for not getting to spend much time with Will. All the time I thought he was yoo caught-up in his usual routine to make time for us to hang-out he was actually bored and wondering about me.

I have brought a bit of bad luck with me to Mexico.

  ¶ 10:37 AM 2 comments

  Ahora Will left me a note at the motel and se supone que we are going to hang-out today. I hope he doesn´t think I am mad at him.

I went with Marisol and her friend Gladys to a cafe called 5pm. It was a particularly nice plaace and almost no men there, just women. Nice.



I like this city a lot and I could live here for a time- at least as long as the police leave me alone. I don´t know if this makes sense but Guadalajara is a lot less Ameriancanized, but a lot more like an American city in comparasion with Monterrey. That is, there are slightly less US businesses, and many less wanna-be businesses with dumb English names. Guadlajara has more colonial spanish arquetectura and more indigenous place names. It´s more orderly. Neighborhoods and places of business seen planned; they don´t seem like they just appeared there like a rapidly growing fungus.  ¶ 11:00 AM 0 comments

  Greetings from Starbuck´s

07/25 11:29am La Gran Plaza, GDL, MX

For better or worse i have spent a lot of time in shopping malls in Mexico. I guess part of that is that people here want to show me what they think is best about where they live. they don´t want to take me to the taco place with a dirt floor where they slaughter their own chickens- exciting as that might be for a gringo.

The malls are quite nice. It´s actually a bit hard for me to understand why it´s so common for wealthy Mexicans to take trips to US cities just for the shopping. Of course, I am not really an expert on this type of consumerism. I couldn´t really tell you the difference between Sears and Neiman Marcus- perhaps it´s that finer sensability that brings Mexican shoppers to the malls of the US.

There are amny chain restaurants in Mexico. besides the worldwide fast-food places that you can expect to find everywhere, they also have Chili´s, Applebee´s, TOny Roma´s and others. There is also an Denny´s-like place called Vips that is unique to Mexico (I think) but it is owned by Wal-Mart.

I wonder why Mexico doesn´t have its own comprable restaurants. There are many nice restaurants but they don´t seem to be interested in becoming franchises. Mexico is far from incapable in the business world, many mexican companies are among the largest in the world.

I think the reason lies in that fact that both Mexicans well-off enough to eat in such places and Mexicans wealthy enough to invest in that type of business have a preferential bias towards American products. The substantial contact that Mexicans have with the US means that directly or indirectly they are familiar with places like Chili´s and so if given the choice between Chili´s and an unknown Mexican equivalent they would favor the Chili´s.

Mexican businessmen seeking a profit would also prefer to invest their money and/or time in a business that has been successful in the US or other part of the world. Probably with time the business men in Mexico who are currently working with US companies will learn from it and later seek to have their own business. Maybee too Mexican consumers will desire something that appeals more directly to their tastes.
  ¶ 10:33 AM 0 comments

  Pura tierra mojada In two days I have seen will two times. Both times he was barely recieving me, just as much he was sending me away. I don´t take any of this as a personal offense but he did have me believing that I would be better received.

I was going to stay with his host family. I was going to go do things with him and his aunt. I was going to attend class with him at the University for the experience.

I actually came to Guadalajara as soon as possible in order to spend SUnday with him and his aunt, but that didn´t happen.

Again I don´t take this as a sign that he doesn´t want to have fun with me but he has let me down as far as preparation goes.

So, otherwsie I have passed the time with Marisol or alone. With Marisol I have had fun and/or acocmplished a lot, but I can´t depend on her all the time.



Alone I have been okay but since I don´t know the city I am fairly limited. It´s been raining constantly and since all Ic an do is explore the city on foot I have gotten pretty wet.

Last night again I couldn´t meet up with Will . Marisol had her own plans so I set off to find somewhere to geta bite to eat and maybe share some drinks with some cute tapatias but it was Monday night so not such a good night for that.

I found an ¨Argentine Grill¨ called Quilmes. Ironically they didn´t have any Quilmes beer, but they did have choripan so I indulged in that. When I went out the rain had increased but I still hoped to find a nice little bar so I set out walking.

After about 10 minutes of soaking-up the city streets, a police truck stopped beside me. The officer on the passenger side jumped out:

¿A donde vas?
---Este, no mas echando un paseo.

¿Donde vives?
---Estoy quedando en el Motel Puerto Vallarta.

Aja, pero ¿donde vives?
---Estados Unidos. Dallas, Texas.

¿Tienes identificacion?

I showed him my driver´s liscence and my student ID. then the other officer came around and began to ask the same questions. They searched me, continuing their questions.

¿A que te dedicas guero?
--Estudiante. Acabo de graduarme.

¿Tienes drogas, armas?
--No

¿Estas casado?
--No

¿Por que no?
-- Pues...

Looking at pictures of my cousins from Ohio they asked:
¿Y estos niños?
-- Son mis primos.

And it continued like this for a while with some of the questions being repeated and some new ones, all the time the rain falling down.

They were not very respectful. They certainly didn´t realize or care that such an action might leave a bitter taste.

Not that this was quite as extreme but I think I understand a little better now what the urban black and Arab youth of France face on a regular basisi- or even what the Palestinians have to deal with under the authority of the IDF.

maybe not, but I fell like leaving Guadalajara and going back to Monterrey. In Monterrey Alvaro is always there for me, his family welcomes me in their homes and treats me well, I have various friends, old and new, and i know the city better. In Monterrey I don´t have to spend the night admiring the way the wall tile looks under florecent lighting through the mirror.

  ¶ 12:24 PM 0 comments

  Alma de provinciana 07/23 12:00pm CentroMagno, Guadalajara, Jalisco, MX

In contrast to Monterrey where once you leave the Metropolitan area civilization practically vanishes, the urban center of Guadalajara emerges subtly from a slowly intensifying scatter of street lights and house lights. It´s a nicer place than Monterrey, probably due to the less harsh terrain. THe streets flow in straight lines and are lined with trees.



My spirits have improved after the desolation found along the way to Guadalajara had me depressed.

The bus I took was actually much nicer than the bus I rode from Dallas. One big improvement was the movies:
1) Better films- Couch Carter and Cinderella Man compared to Son of Mask and THe Princess Diaries.
2) Subtitled, not dubber. I cannot stand overdubbed movies at all!
3) Lower volumn

About an hour outside the city I could pick-up the radio stations. The most common genre I heard (no less than 3 stations) was techno, mainly house- not my favorite type of music but interesting.

SO upon arriving I call Will. He tells me where to to take a taxi but first I have to get some money from an ATM. As I do that, three times I have to turn away the taxistas eager for my pesos.

I couldn´t get money from the ATM.

Appearently I wasn´t so welcome to stay where will was staying but I did manage to get his couch for one night.



6:00pm

In Guadalajra I have found peace of mind and tranquility. Marisol rescued me from my situation of no money, no where to stay, and no luck. The good luck that she brought me must have been the key to me getting money from the ATM because when I tried with her by my side I was able to get money out.



Las Tapatias

The inhabitants of various parts of Mexico are called by unique names. Those from Mexico City are called chilangos. Los regiomontanos or regios are the people form Monterrey. The name given to people from Guadalajara is tapatio.

Las tapatias (the girls from Guadalajara) are known for being quite beautiful. I would have to agree. Probably the source of their physical beauty is their heritage. They have the high cheek bones and silky hair of the Aztecs mixed with the beautiful eyes and tall slender figures of the Spanish.  ¶ 11:42 AM 0 comments

  Entre Monterrey y Guadalajara 07/22 5:43 Zacatecas



I have NEVER in my life felt more out of place than I do right now in a little spec of a town in the state of Zacatecas. This is the first stop we have made and despite being very hungry, and needing both the restroom and the telephone
but I could barely get myself off the bus and from there again I had to force myself to go inside the restaurant.

I don´t really understand what this is but of course this is very unfamiliar territory- the farthest I´ve been inside of mexico and the most significant time I have spent alone here.

The tacos were 5 pesos (fifty cents) and the bathroom cost was 2 pesos. After that and the money they took from me on the bus I didn´t want to give up my last few pesos for the phone at this point.

6:19

Again I have seen something new: A giant dust cloud

  ¶ 12:09 PM 0 comments

  La 2a Fase



After a late night of some mild desmadre I had to get going in the morning to make it to the bus station for my 12:15 departure to Guadalajara. Alvaro accompanied me in the Transregio local bus to the Central Station. Transregio Air Conditioner:



The local buses zig, zag and wind their way through Monterrey and by the time we arrived at the station it was 12:07. Sitting in the bus I had to pay the driver 250 more pesos ($25) becasue my international student ID wasn´t valid for the student price.

The time I have passed here has been ideal. Alvaro has done everything to accomadte me and his parents have made me fell welcome and comfortable. Even more so than before the friends of Alvaro have been very cool to me. We sat and talked about politics for hours. Back home I can´t get away with more than the slightest criticiism of the US before my opinion is discounted and ignored. I have been able to tell these guys everything that I think is screwed up about Mexico and they take it as a legitamate point of view even if the disagree. Monterrey is probably the city that most supports Felipe Calderon and the PAN party. Conservativism is basically an ideology that perserves society in its current state. Whoever thinks that Mexico should maintian itself as it is rather than make drastic progress is not very aware of the extent that poverty is ingrained in the country.

I am eager to be out of Monterrey and to see much more of Mexico than I have ever seen before. But again its scary because I don´t know what to expect on the way nor when I arrive.  ¶ 11:41 AM 0 comments

  Ya llegue 1:12pm Monterrey, N.L



I arrived in Monterrey safe and sound. Alvaro found me with relative ease. We ate tacos 'gringas.' I saw his parents again. We met up with his friend Adrian and we went to a place called Cafe Paraiso in the Barrio Antinguo. The place had a really cool ambience and good live music. We sat, chatted, drank beer, and sang. This is the kind of thing that shows how much Mexico rocks! Also on the way back some girls in a taxi whistled at me. Ahhh... being a 'guero' in Mexico certainly has its advantages.

  ¶ 11:18 AM 0 comments

  The way to Monterrey 7/20 9:00pm Oak Cliff



The bus is loading passengers. I didn't sleep well last night- a mix of excitement and worry. During the 12 hour bus ride south I may get some sleep but moving vehichles don't offer that much comfort and the same excitement and worry from last night hasn't passed.

I am taking Alvaro two boxes of his personal possesions. Right now I am worried about how the boxes are holding up. Upon arrival I have to find a way to get in touch with Alavaro. That means going to a pharmancy and buying a phone card. That's not a monumental task but I have to do this while still being responsable for his things and my own.


1:15pm between Austin and San Antonio

Both times that I have taken a bus to Mexico I have been subjected to movies that I don't want to see at volumns that I can't tolerate. These are American movies, dubbed into Spanish. All characters in all the movies seem to be done by two voice actors, one male and the other female. The Spanish they speak is a purposly generic dialect that is particularly annoying.

5:17pm Nuevo Laredo



The border is one of my least favorite places in the world. It seperates two realities- one of opportunity, the other of elitism and poverty, one where one can be proud of being Mexican the other where Mexicans have to fight for their dignity.

I had to get a tourist visa on the Mexican side of the river. Nothing more than a formality but its a nervious experience. During the whole time the ''Overdub Feature Presentation '' is Hotel Rwanda. Surreal. Let's see if the horrible voice-over acting keeps me from crying.

6:41pm Edo. Nuevo Leon



The mountains jolt out of the Valle. The rainy season has painted the land green. The most recent shower lingers in the air and mixes with the sunshine tinting the sky and the mountainside with a rainbow. I have never seen any sight like this.

  ¶ 10:27 AM 0 comments

  La Razon Tomorrow I leave on a bus for Mexico. Specifically to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. There lives one of the best friends of my life, Alvaro, as well as the friends of his that I met on my previous trip who befriended me. Beyond Monterrey I am traveling to Guadalajara (Wad Al-Hidjara.) I will also travel by bus within Mexico, crossing some of Mexico's highest mountain ranges.

In Guadalajara I will meet up with a college buddy, Will Smith. He is studying in Mexico for the summer and he is discovering the joy and beauty of Mexico that I have always struggled to show my countrymen.

I had my doubts about this trip. There are many places I need to visit and lots of personal responsibilities that I must attend to. It took a sign from God to send me in this direction.

On a trip to Half-Price books I was browsing the libros en espanol section when I came across "El Loco, El jardin del profeta" by Khalil Gibran. Mr. Gibran was a Christian spiritualist writer of Lebanese decent who spent the best years of his life, near the turn of the 20th Century, living in the United States. It was interesting for me that his work had been translated into Spanish and I was curious to examine this version. As I flipped through the pages I saw a bill. It was Mexican currency, 500 pesos ( US$50 .) Needless to say I purchased this book, and took it as a sign that I should go to Mexico.

Weeks later, while reading the book two $20 bills fell out. In total, a book that I bought for about four bucks gave out $90 worth of cash. That money there basically covers my bus-fare.  ¶ 11:54 AM 0 comments

  The Journey The journey is important. The Prophet Mohammed was a merchant by trade, traveling in caravans from the tip of Arabia up through the Fertile Crescent. Perhaps that experience has a connection with the Muslim pillar of the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah) required of all Muslims. While the key purpose of the hajj is the religious experience within the holy city, the journey too has a spiritual significance. In almost all religions pilgrimages are common.

My own religion is a very personal Sufism, that is, a broad-minded spirituality based primarily on both Islamic and Christian thought. I hope to one day make the journey to Mecca as well as other sites of religious importance, but the day I begin that journey will not be the beginning of my hajj. Already today I am on a spiritual journey seeking to know the deepest truth and highest reason of human existence.  ¶ 11:36 AM 0 comments