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Blas Nayar

Traveling in Mexico to Guadalajara, kissing cheeks, swimming, and birds in the morning

Here are photos of traveling in Mexico to get to Guadalajara, and some here in town.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/sets/72157616310268586/show/

Traveling across the border there was no monitoring at all. I have no idea what they are talking about the border, all the stuff about what is required to enter Mexico, as far as my car and so forth, I did not find to be true. Nobody even looked at us entering Mexico - insurance? good luck getting anyone to stop after they hit you!

This is no-mans wild mans land - anything goes - we could have come in with anything - there is no security at the border... just a couple of guys sitting on chairs watching the melee.

I did go both ways, but I am Caucasian -- entering Mexico there was no filtering, and coming into the US, most people just walked in -- I rode my bike across because my Bank had zero'ed out my credit card - even though I called and told them I was going to Mexico. After dealing with the bank in Calexico I stopped and asked a Mexican guard if he needed anything - "A kiss!" said he, and we kissed cheeks - how nice!

Tijuana is a nightmare and I feel sorry that there is a border for the people there bare the brunt of all the illegal desires that Americans want to fulfill cheaply. Even the traffic lights did not work - clearly it is a minor hell on Earth.
Former head of the US government Bush had build a giant rediculous steel wall in the desert that runs for a huge number of miles. It is an ecological disaster preventing land animals from migrating. From the human standpoint you can just walk around it, especially where there are breaks in the flat Sonora Desert.

Other than that wall, traveling in the Sonora Desert which runs all the length of Northern Mexico, is quite beautiful and I saw fields of cactus - I didn't stop much there because I wanted to get to Guadalajara, but I wanted to stop and admire the beauty and photograph it. I stopped at a few of the larger shrines along the way and made offerings of candles for the benefit of all sentient beings. At one of the larger sets of shrines a turkey vulture starred me in the eye for a long time circling not far overhead. I took it to be a good sign.

I stopped at the way stations that have been abandoned since Bush's wall went up. I did take the time to spit on on the wall. At one of the way stations I fed sets of large ants in the ground what remained of the cookies.

Later stopped at the many, regular security checkpoints I learned the power of transparent organization. All of my paperwork was in a medium sized transparent folder where all the materials were labled and could be clearly seen, my VISA, Passport, drivers license, registration for the car, insurance, etc, everything.

Not only that, all my clothes, and everything I packed to take with me was similarly packed in clear transparent plastic containers of various sizes and shapes. I also carried cookies, and food with me while traveling to give away. So each time I was stopped and asked to undergo inspection or for my papers and so forth, as soon as the police saw the transparent notebook with clear pages and the clear plastic containers, mostly like boxes, they knew there was no point, I really did not fit the description of someone with anything to hide. So I offered them cookies and this was accepted with gusto! They waved me on immediately.

I learned not to take anyone I do not know with me as a traveling companion. What a painful and drawn out lesson! One of the police women at a regular security stop noticed that the person riding shotgun didn't raise a hand to show her the items in the car or trunk, which meant removing my bicycle from the back of the car, and she was clearly astonished, and leapt to help me instead. Finally she just waved me through with a look of disgust at my passenger. He remained oblivious to the reactions of others throughout the remainder of his time on my dime.

I stayed at several hotels along the way, all about the same, kind of old, like on the order of 100 years or more, and run down, but everything tended to work, even if a bit dusty I could afford them. It was not like India where you consistantly put your life in your hands to travel and eat, or stay someplace.

One of the most interesting hotels was built more than 100 years ago and named after a Catholic Monk by the name of Kino. The Kino Hotel is located in the capital city of Hermosilla. It had a lot of charm and many kinds of handmade tiles. There I also met a very interesting lawyer and I enjoyed chatting with him about when he was a tenor singing in a band in the 1960's (which I guessed because of his voice.)

The vacation towns along Mexicos beaches range from sweet and really for the locals to invaded by American students at spring break, during which time the Mexican population sort of holds their noses until it is over. They are a very religious people and for the most part I encountered the ethical folks. But here and there my white skin means I must pay much more for things than the locals do. They have no way of knowing how little money I have or that jobs in the US are such a rarity.

Finally I arrived in Guadalajara and with my memory of 5 years ago and my friend Ariel's instructions, combined with strong intuition I was nearly able to drive right up to Ariel and Rossy's house, in a huge city of 12 million people! I was so tired from packing my house, storing my things and traveling for more than a week, I went to sleep immediately.

I was bitten by mosquitos so badly that my left eye would not open. So in the following days I tried several techiques to prevent mosquito bites, but finally had a seamstress sew up a tent made from bridal veil material I designed that fits over a twin bed rather nicely. It took a lot more time to assemble the materials, and I got skin allergies that look like burns from all the stuff I used to prevent the somewhat painful bites. My lungs suffered from the Raid citronella rounds burning at night sometimes 6 at a time with incense.

We also had built a large closet arrangement in my room to hang and store my stuff. I plan to go get hangers this weekend I hope. What is holding me up there is that thieves stole my side mirrors on my red Toyota Corolla, and so it is more difficult to drive. Driving here is risky even if you are expert. They have several Wall Marts here, and although I don't love Wall Mart, in a pinch it works. Also I have car insurance but so far have not heard back from the insurance company if they cover the mirrors - it is a standard crime - stealing the mirrors and everyone except the police have antithief plastic devices to prevent their theft.

For fun we went to a river with Ariel and Rossy's mom's and members of their families. I enjoyed it a lot! The river was small, and flows not too fast with warm water over small boulders and rocks. It is situated in a small town about 30 or 40 minutes north of Guadalajara. Rrun as a small resort, we paid about 4 - 6 dollars for the day (with a tip!).

Here in Guadalajara I live on the top floor of a 100 year old house made of Adobe, Brick, concrete and iron rods with some steel or iron beams embedded in the Adobe. There is large white tile covering the entire ground floor, and it's warm and smooth to the feet. We have a professional maid come twice a week to help us clean because Guadalajara is a dusty town. We live in the Zona Centro, in the center, next to a lovely old Catholic Church and a great large square that has our favorite resturant, El Fenix.

My room has very high ceilings perhaps 16 feet tall, and the rest of the house has even taller ceilings. Rossy had a special paper bag brown wash over several of the interior walls which are otherwise in cream.

My room has one wall painted red with a large antique metal Mexican mirror of the sun hung on it - looks smashing. The opposite wall is where we had the closet placed, right now I am working on staining the wood of the closet which has a desk. I am staining it marroon red to go with the wall - so I will leave them something they like when I leave.

From the side of my room and Ariel's band practice room is a huge rooftop porch with no roof where we keep a few plants. Ariel and Rossy have very little furniture, they are saveing to purchase some traditional Mexican furniture from a town nearby that is famed for making furniture.Rossy and Ariel have a daugher, La China, and the family also has a dog, Breda, and two cats, one white and one black, and a turtle. Many students and people from international locations live around here.

In the mornings birds come visit the interior of the house, as the hallways are open to the sky, and sing sweetly, the most complex songs I have ever heard birds sing. Certainly in the 80 and 90 degree weather this is the tropics.

On Monday I begin Spanish lessons with a teacher in a school nearby, my classes are $10 per lesson.

I look for work every day over the internet in Seattle, and try to continue to learn something on the computer. I am looking forward to going back to school in the fall. Of course this means borrowing more money but I don't have a choice.

As possible I will publish more photos on my site at;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/

Given the bad warnings about Mexico lately, are you still going to Guadalajara?

Yes. It is safer in much of Mexico than it is in many places in the US in terms of the general crime rate. I have traveled to more dangerous places and been held at gunpoint in Dhaka, Bangladesh for example, and on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, USA more than once, and in the American Embassy in Calcutta, India for example.

Ok I forgot - there were the Mexican Pacific coast endangered-turtle-egg poachers riding horses with rifles, sure, ok, there was that, but they didn't actually *point* their weapons at me, so much as shake them and hold them up in view. I got the point. Mexico is a groove anyway.

In Dhaka the jetliner we arrived on had just touched down and rolled up to the airport when 5 or 6 men dressed from head to toe in black, sporting loaded Russian AK47's climbed on board, pointed their weapons at us and searched the plane - for who knows what. They demanded to speak with the pilot, and after 15 minutes they all left. These bullies felt powerful coming on board, yet they retreated in a way that felt sheepish, and I am sure more than one person snickered.

There was very little discussion of the event afterwards, as if some stewart had accidently dropped a fork and no one wanted to embarrass him by mentioning it. One man just looked over his New York Times for a second, and went right on reading it though the whole thing. There was something funny and sad -- still grim and dangerous about it.

On the Kenai Penninsula outside of Anchorage I had just finished telling the Federally employed fresh-out-of-college biologist (I was traveling with him as a guide and wildlife photographer) that he had no right to cross private land in Alaska. And being "not local" - not recognized - it was likely that someone with a shotgun would soon appear - he no more than put his hand on a gate to open it - when sure enough a very very angry man appeared with gun just like I described. The young biologist was incredulous when it actually occured just as I said it would, as soon as I completed the last word of my sentance. I said to him in an undertone, "do whatever this man asks and we will get out of this alive, and keep our jobs." I was 20 years old. The young biologist's name was Tom Turner, from Oregon. Tom and I were held at gun point by private Alaskans twice during that trip, in spite of my warnings.

If you work for the Fed and want to maintain peace, don't drive a marked federal vehicle into rural Alaska. And don't do stupid things like entering private property without permission carrying a camera. Private people are fed up with being taken to court for what others view as breaking a law. There are major crimes being perpetrated every day by industry and corporations but they have lawyers to keep the accusations at bay. Rural Alaskans are hanging on by a few thin threads and can not afford to be continually harrassed so they personally defend themselves. I can really understand their situation. If there are no gas stations to buy gas, or stores to buy food from up there, how are people going to travel and see the beauty of Alaska? There needs to be private industry.

My trip to the American Embassy in Calcutta taught me a great deal about what it is like to work within a foreign nation. Earlier in the day I watched as a local Indian embassy employee looked right at me and re-shuffled the embassy paperwork so that I, one of the few Americans in line, was the second to last person on the daily agenda behind every Indian citizen although I arrived early in the morning.

I was sick and exhausted when finally meeting with a low level American official who was terrible; insulted by his position he mistreated nearly everyone he came into contact with - snearing and speaking down to me -suffering succotash!- he finally gave the advise I needed, but it meant calling a Bhutanese government official.

Reaching the main door, I looked outside at the 115 degree heat madly distorting the light above the sidewalk and I - I lost heart - I just couldn't go outside to find a phone. So I asked the Indian guards to use a phone to make the required call.

One Indian guard said no, I had to find one outside the Embassy. From behind the large glass panels at the last door, over zealous Indian guards pointed their guns at me - which caused an unexpected reaction on my part! I had enough and threw a fit on the Great Seal of the United States embedded in the flooring, stomping my foot down, I demanded a phone. This was the American embassy, but I was treated like a criminal, they showed no intention to aid me in any way. I yelled "This is MY embassy, and I am NOT going any place until you GIVE ME A PHONE." and pointed at the American Flag and the Seal and at myself jumping up and down - I am sure I looked like a nuke had just gone off in my brainpan banging my hands wildly in the air to get my point across.

I pointed my finger at their guns and laughed! "This is what you do when someone asks to use a phone??!!?" I was beyond overwhelmed, and right then I lived up to my nickname "Chernobyl".

It worked, like nothing else had. Their supervisor was called in - and on command they relented immediately, lowering their weapons against me - a single unarmed protesting American female tourist - they looked terrified. Embarassment ensued but not by me. They presented me with a phone, I made the call, finalized my business and dragged my diarrhea racked, bug bitten, infected, overheated body back to the sweltering hotel as the sun sank red into the heat.

I am still learning from that experience that being 'polite' is not always the best modus operandi, because repression can bubble up later in unexpected ways.

In short I have no worries about Mexico; sure it will be hell here and there, but I've seen it before. Just don't eat in restaurants where the line of sight does not include a view to how they prepare and store food, how they keep things clean, or where locals do not eat - or like India where the walls in the kitchen are black. Yah, don't eat meat in India either if avoidable.

Plus, I am not traveling to a border location - just through it, nor to any famed drug dealer areas, just headed to Guadalajara, so I am not concerned. A friend has offered to put us up in San Diego overnight so we can arrive at the border in the morning, go across and drive a couple of hundred miles south before the devil knows we've left (as the saying goes).

What is a drag is all the paper work required to obtain car insurance, permissions to take the car to Mexico, forms that need to be filled out, money paid for certificates, permits and so forth. I have to notify the State of California, my bank, and the Mexican government and put up insurance against leaving the car in Mexico. I'm just not one for paperwork - it's not that bad.

It would be much much easier to haul my stuff back to Seattle put it in storage there and fly to Mexico from there, using public transportation when I arrive. But I wouldn't be able to get around as well to more remote destinations.

Today I applied for a copy of my California drivers license (cause I misplaced mine), donated some clothes and a ton of Microsoft software. Now I am looking for a place to buy boxes to begin packing.

I'll be applying for school loans, and finalizing some financial details to get ready to go. And I look for work stateside over the Web every single day - that is my job.

HOLA! The Magic Has Started!

Well the recession has recessed me right out of living in California, so I am driving down Mexico way to stay with friends who offered to put me up for a spell. Goal? document the ongoing effort to save endangered species, and the social changes in modern middle class Guadalajara. In the turtle spawning grounds the locals earn $1 an endangered egg for soup. The last time I visited we were threatened by men on horseback with rifles. They bullied me into not photographing them; this time I will shoot them (so to speak!).

When the economy comes ROARING BACK! I'll take that job, and complete my masters degree.

Hey lets face it nearly $0% interest loans? A rocking great new president of the US? Americans don't like depressions. Americans don't believe in failure. People of the US don't like second place, won't stand for dead rats in the peanut butter, bankers with their hands in the public till, an old man freezing to death in his own home as he donates a 1/2 million to a hospital, a widow shooting herself in despair of loosing her home - these are the kinds of things Americans can not abide.

If we don't have people robbing grocery stories with shotguns, and riots in the streets we will have peace in two years and an expanding economy.

Things are going to change and they will change swiftly - but not fast enough for me to remain in San Mateo... My friend Ariel said I should bring another gringo to ride shotgun meanwhile.

Eco project managers in Colima, Mexico

Eco tour guides sipping ice tea at the Colima Best Western Hotel in Mexico (prior to the 2005 volcanic eruption which occurred not far away) discussing their plans for the upcoming season.

I was so dying for something to drink in the hot weather, and craving black tea - tea' negro which surprisingly is not popular in Mexico - probably because they have coffee.

When I spotted the Best Western in the colonial architecture and green umbrellas, I followed the fine scent for tea. Begging my friend Ariel (on your left) to come we walked with his friend on the baking hot pavement over to sit in the shade. I must have drank several of these babies, I just could not get enough.

Tea how refreshing. My friends company -- also very fine!

Relaxing in a hammock high above Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

This builder was taking a break while building the largest private house on the top of the ridge which overlooks Puerto Vallarta, Mexico when I walked up and asked to take his photograph.

The owner deferred having his photo taken but what a great looking old man he was, with personality written on his face -- the same bright brown and rose red color as his assistant. I just instantly loved these people - just thought their work was great!

Check out that wonderful stone wall behind him. They had done several like that, and had plans to make the house multiple stories with several feature walls.

While they spoke no English and I very little Spanish we still communicated as they showed me all three stories of the mammoth place. Maybe I can take some pictures of the completed building when I find my way back there. This time I hope to have or rent a bike.