Hello from Mexico

When Brian and I arrived in Xela over a week ago and had to resort to buying what we call “winter apparel”, we both decided a trip to the beach was in order. Unfortunately, Guatemala is not known for its beaches, and since we were already so close to the Mexico border, we headed north all the way to Puerto Escondido, or what we like to call Paradise. It wasn’t an easy trek, that’s for sure. Here’s a little recap:

1. Got rid of hair. Brian has been sporting a beard for some time now, but when he returns to work and goes clean shaven, he doesn’t want a freaky beard tan line. He decided to get a cut and shave from a salon down the road.

2. Said bye to the host family. We had been living with our host family for a week, and you can really tell they have people coming and going a lot because it was no thing to them to see us go. Overall, it was great. The mother cooked us 3 meals a day and provided Spanish chit-chat whenever we wanted to practice. The daughter was also always ready to talk, whether we knew what she was saying or not.

3. Waited for our shuttle to Tapachula. We left on Sunday morning at 7:30 for a four hour trip across the border. If only you could tell how cold I actually felt at this moment. I think I only showered 3 times that week in Xela because the heaters in the shower didn’t work too well on already really freezing water.

4. Enjoyed the scenery. The shuttle ride was awesome because you could see the landscape change from mountainous to more tropical plains filled with coffee trees. We also noted the temperature change drastically as we shed every layer of extra clothing we could, converted our pants to shorts, and threw on our sandals. Here’s a cool picture of an active volcano we passed along the way. Supposedly it erupts like every 45 minutes, which you can see is probably true since it, and the mountain behind it, is covered in ash.

5. Tried to speak Spanish. Once in Tapachula, we had 12 hours to kill before our bus left to Puerto Escondido. It was truly 12 hours in Hell, and not only because it was flippin’ hotter than Hades and we had no place to call home except a boring/crowded bus station, but also because we realized that our 3 weeks of Spanish lessons were not paying off. Up until crossing the border, Brian and I both felt pretty confident in our ability to communicate with people only in Spanish, but even ordering a bus ticket in Mexico posed a threat. Simple questions such as, “Can we pay with cash?” and, “What is this thing on the menu?” resulted in major, major confusion. What’s the deal, Mexico?!

6. Rode a 1st class bus for 13 hours. Yep, that’s right. Our ride from Tapachula to Puerto Escondido was a 13 hour, overnight ride. It really felt like being on a plane for 13 hours, so even though it was long, it was quite bearable. Towards the end, however, I did start to feel a bit nauseous from the constantly winding roads.

7. Arrived in Paradise. We made it to Puerto Escondido, and checked into our sweet pad. We are the only people currently staying in our hostel and it has a kitchen, pool, Jacuzzi, fridge and satellite TV in the room, and its only a 5 minute walk to the beach. I’m usually not much of a beach person, but after a cold, cold week in Xela, it was necessary.

That’s all for now. Nothing much exciting going on. We’re just taking a vacation from traveling and Spanish classes before heading back to the eastside of Guatemala.