Tequis, DF, and Influenza

So it has been a very long time since I have updated my blog.  A lot has happened since leaving Ziuat.  Getting out proved to be very stressfull.  I got taken by cab to the exit in the wrong direction and began to try hitchhiking back through Ziuat and to the north.  After no luck for hours it dawned on me that almost all of these people were heading into town. I hoped a shuttle bus back into town and decided to spend the night at the hostel there and deal with it in the morning.  I met some really awsome folks at the hostel and the 7 of us went out to see a show at the guitar festival in town.  It was really a great time, with music from all over latin america and a few american artists.

I caught a commuter shuttle the next morning to the exit of town and was picked up in 20 minutes by a trucker heading to Lazaro Cardenas.  This was about half way so I happily accepted.  He was a great guy and we had fun talking on the way.  When we arrived there he parked his truck in the work lot and him and his family were about to go to the beach.  This was north and they offered to take me up to Playa Azul (another 50 km or so) so I took him up on it and got off and had a coke and stoke my thumb up again.  I got picked up by a truck full of teenagers going to a beach 60 km up the road.  They dropped me off and I walked to the exit of the small town for the next leg.  I spent 2 hours at a gas station at the end of town before getting a ride from a truck full of a large family.  Yes when I say full I mean I was sitting in the back with three generations of a family, we were riding 6 strong eating mangos on the back of this truck.  This is the Mexico I love. They took me to were they lived and dropped me off.  It was starting to get late and I decided to camp on a beach nearby because I didnt want to be stuck on the road at night.

The next day I was picked up by two americans that had moved to san pancho and another girl that had been hitching around as well.  She had many interesting storys from centeral and south america.  They dropped me off in La Placita and I walked down the dirt road to Pacha Mama, my new little beach palapa home for awhile.  It is a resturaunt/bar that is not opened or finished yet.  It is on a beautiful isolated beach.  There are 3 resturants and thats it.  It was a great reunion to see my friends Santiago, Gabriel, and Randy.

I spent about 2 weeks there.  Helping out here and there.  I helped split bamboo for the bamboo pillars, sawed wood, painted there sign, and dishes and things.  In return I get a place to stay, frequent meals, and all beer and soda at cost.  For the place, it is an awsome deal.  While there we celebrated Santiagos birthday and Samana Santa.  This is a 4 day long holiday and lots of friends of Santis and Gabriels came from Mexico city, And Gueretaro and around mexico.  There was about 20 of us there it was really a blast.  I got to meat some really amazing people.  Starting this trip I really had a goal in mind to meet lots of people my age and see the younger people of Mexico.  In this last month I have met at least 40 awsome people in my age group.  Many of them doing incredible things.

We set off about two weeks ago to climb Izta, we had planned to hitch hike but Randy needed to pick up a freezer from Gueretaro so he drove us there and then DF (mexico city).  We planned to do Izta the next day.  When we woke up are friend we were going to do it with, Sebastian, informed us that the mountain was closed do to dangerous glacier conditions at the top and military personal were not letting anyone past camp two.  This was a big bummer but we accepted it and it was cool cause Mexico city, although extremley obnoxious has some amazing stuff to see.

Over the next week I spent a lot of time getting shown around and introduced to people.  We spent a day down town checking out historic buildings.  My friend Sebastian is an expert on Mexican history so I learned a lot.  The city is sinking!!!  It is built on one of the biggest lagoons in the world ( the size of most the enormous city) and on top of that it is built on an enormous Mayan civilazation.  We are buying Tacos on top of sacraficial tempals!!!  We also checked out some art museums and drove out of the city to do a hike up to an old ruin.

So, about the influenza.  I just got off the phone with my dad who seemed to be pretty worried and im sure there our others to.  Please do not worry, this is something that has really been drummed up.  People are freaking out for no reason.  100 people have died in DF from this so far.  There are 30,000,000 people living there.  I am not saying im not being cautious but the one and four people wearing masks is really overkill.  Theres all these people trying to give you free masks at the subway entarance, forcing them on you as if its your last hope.  Its really bizare.  They even have closed many bars, and the soccer games cant have fans attending!  This is a HUGE deal for the government to do this and its got a lot of people pissed.  People put all of there hearts into soccer here and its a really big statement.  All im saying is, dont worry about it, I am washing my hands and I dont lick seats in the subway : )

After DF me and Santiago took a bus to Queretaro were we met and hung out with many friends of his.  Many to that I had met from before during Semana Santa.  We checked out Queretaro which is a beautiful city, on my top so far in Mexico.  It was a very friendly fun place to be.  After that we hopped on a bus to Tequisquiapan which is where I still am.  I have been here now for 4 days and been haveing a blast.  The people here are really cool.  The day before yesterday we went camping an hour and a half away with some friends and a bunch of old teachers of theres from Australia, the UK, and Canada.  They are all teaching at the english school they went to.  Fun group of folks.

Next we will go back to DF and hopefully get a shot at doing Izta and after that its back to la playa.  I will be meeting my friend Vincant soon who has just left Puerto Vallarta today and should be in La Placita in 8-14 days (there are no specifics in bike tour time).  I am very excited to get on the bike.  We will be biking through Oaxaca and Chiapas, a place I have been reapedidly hearing amazing things about.  I am planning to get picked up and do a break to drive out to Tulum and through the Yucatan with Sebastian and some of his family.  I hope that works out.

I hope all is well and people are smiling.