Lo de Marcos Sunday 19-26 September

Ok, so this is the entrance of where I'm staying.

'The little paradise' for those who aren't of habla espanol. And it certainly is that. Met the other owner of this place who is just a true gent. Old skool, innit!

I think this is where my Mum and Dad stayed when they came here. Opposite where I am. Hmmm.Many thanks to you both for the top recommendation. It really is just gorgeous here. And you haven't even seen the beach yet...

And you'll have to wait a bit more while I tell you about San Franciso (San Pancho to its friends) Decided to go there on the Monday to check out the children's charity called 'Entre Amigos' which looks from the website to be very like Sodruzhestvo, where I did the summer camp in August. Sadly, as happens with alarming regularity in this part of the world, the rain had done some big damage. This time it nicked off with San Pancho's bridge. So there was very few people in town and I found it dotted with uber chic American-style boutique outlets, but overall less charming that Lo de Marcos. Had intended to get Spanish classes at Entre Amigos too, but there was no-one around, so no chance to set up either the do-gooding volunteering or the Spanish. Wasn't a total washout tho' as I got a dictionary to help me geek it up big time with my independent Spanish learning extravaganza in LDM. Yes, writing and learning lots of enormous lists of vocab IS cool.... to me :)

So, back to the beach it was...

And the view from the caf, where I had quesadillas and tried to buttonhole a couple of other diners into finding me a Spanish teacher in LDM looks like this:

Settling into a 'meditate, breakfast, study, go out, sunbathe, read, swim, eat lunch, siesta' type routine. No sunburn yet. The locals got burnt tho', boy oh boy, yes, some landlubbers fom Aguascalientes or other such inland place. Transactional conversations dominating at the mo', as there really are NO other non-Mexican tourists around except me. And the locals are all just keeping their businesses open, sitting round chatting and chilling before the insanity starts when the Yanks and the Canucks arrive in November (for the dry season).

In the meantime, quite a lot of rain. Did I mention it's the rainy season? One or two drains seem to be in disrepair; the joys of Jalisco state government.

Bit whiffy round here. And I have to pretty much go through it most days. Always a bit sus when exit pipes head from where beach side accommodation is into the sea. No floaters yet... Did almost hug a dinner plate sized dead fish on my first swim tho. Which, for a person who's been afraid of sharks in swimming pools (yes, I know, it's pathetic) means it's even more impressive that I went back in at all :) Amusingly met a guy who spotted I was going swimming one evening and asked if I could swim with him as he was a bit scared! Talk about the blind leading the blind... And no, he has a girlfriend before you start thinking he was hitting on me. Was pretty good-looking tho'... :)

Wednesday 22nd was Puerto Vallarta day (fenced port, as I worked out yesterday). Paradise LDM may be, but I did manage to make a right pig's ear of my laptop tho'. For anyone who was thinking of switching off their computer when it says, 'Don't switch off' as it's installing updates, just don't....So no photos in PV as I was focused on getting waputah sorted and goggle buying, and there was no room for a camera, as me bag was stuffed.

As was PV. With the swirling billious mass of socks-up-to-the-knee stylie tourists who'd been vomited out of two of the largest moving structures I've ever seen. Monstrous cruise ships. But did all my errands and even went shopping. And considering that the last time I went shopping was probably 6 months ago (it always is), with Paul and Alice (God it must be longer as I don't even remember Alice looking pregnant then...Yikes!), that was all in all a fantastic days work. And enabled me to do some blogging...yay!

Haven't left LDM since then, but did sneak a few pics in on a sunny day. It's not all paradise here tho. If you were tempted to buy property, don't buy this one:

A you can see, LDM is framed by mountains, and it's pretty often rumbling away with thunderous menace in the background up there. Had a storm during the week with thunder so loud it was as if a giant had slammed a football-pitch sized rock down on the roof of Wembley whilst you were sitting in the middle of the pitch. Actually perforated my spleen. So just be careful if you buy. Quite a lot of properties up for sale, from no-hoper houses to swish looking bungalow businesses. LDM has a proper little fishing community tho', who were playing footbal on the beach today, and a few farms with horses and cows, to balance out the otherwise all pervasive hegemony of the tourist dollar.

And now ... a random plant photo.

Byeeeee ;))))))))))))))))))))))

A capital 17th and Lo de Marcos 18th September -

Even though the only people actually reading this in full will probably be my parents (guiltily remembers not bothering to read friends' sumptious Middle East travel blog), I feel bad that I've somehow given a negative impression of the trip so far. That's politics for you! Especially when discussed by people who don't really know what they're talking about and are tired :)

The hotel I stayed in in Mexico City was lovely, the receptionist was really helpful, people were generally helpful, no-one shouted at me or was rude. Actually seeing the main square, which I'd pathetically only watched on TV the night before, was very satisfying. Kids were running around squirting funny foam in each other's faces, the mood was generally good and the sun was out... Sitting down in the sun was 'grt lush' (as they say in Brizl). And what an amazing piece of luck, I randomly bump into this huge party, by accident...

And the next day, when I went to number 222 Reform Avenue in a rough-arsed end of town where my trainers were probably not far off a week's wages, no-one hassled me. The mobile phone guy in the posh Reform 222 shopping mall in the centre had enough gel in his hair to do Amy Winehouse, and was a bit slow on the uptake, but got me sorted. And although the 'pink' zone of the city does occasionally bore with its American chain outlets and proudly exuded ex-pat wealth, it's also very lush with tropical vegetation and some genuinely funky localish shops.

And the anthropology museum was fab. Well worth the extra walk to get there even though I only stayed for less than an hour, I'll be back. Oh and when the bus company told me my ticket was for the day before, I wasn't too fussed, but a random woman at the counter saw me as I was about to start the painful phonecall to sort it out and came over, told me she was most unimpressed by the lack of helpfulness of the staff and did the phonecall for me - result, no extra cost and the ticket I'd been hoping for in the first place. Now that's something to ¡Viva Mexico! about. What a lovely woman. Thank you whereever you are.

Thirteen hours after leaving the towering inequalities and occasional bad whiffs of the capital behind, I had watched ´La grande vadrouille' (thanks Julien!) on my new-per, duper mini, mini 7" netbook, an episode of 7 Periods with Gormsby (couldn't advise any teacher to watch it, dreadfully politically incorrect :) and listened to some new stuff from my painstakingly reorganised and ipodised music collection. Woke up in lush tropical forests! Wow. Right near where I am in Lo de Marcos, but the express doesn't stop, so I went into Puerto Vallarta and back out again. To arrive at the beautiful 'El pequeño paraíso' and be met by the charming Antonieta and Eder and a beautiful self-catering flat with this as a view.

Was a beautiful sunny day, I swam, grazed my knees on stones while getting mashed up by the quite scary waves doing body surfing (lost goggles too :(, but got loads of lovely stuff at the food shop. Great start to LDM...

Mexico City Thursday 16th September

So that celebration really was HUGE. You may even have seen on on the good ol' BBC. So meditation and morning run done, I set off for the Anthropology museum expecting to see loads of pre-Hispanic stuff. 'Cept muggins went to the History museum which was oh-kay, but heavy on palid Spanish viceroys with 17 surnames, and light on Toltec pyramids. One of the millions of immaculate, white-uniformed attendants did actually talk to me. Probably my longest in Spanish on this trip - social justice, Emilio Zapata, one of the only two decent leaders Mexico has produced (according to him).

Interestingly, on a TV show later, three pundits bemoaned the lack of critical thought in the celebrations. Lots of ¡Viva Mexico! and sombrero thumping, but no detailed list of precisely WHAT has been achieved in the two hundred years since independence and the hundred years since the revolution. Shades of the lack of discussion you'd expect in Russia or China. Hadn't realised Mexico had the same problem. Even more weird, these three well-educated chaps literally said 'nothing' in twenty minutes - not one name or fact - and them bemoaning that from the government! So why did they waste their opportunity to rectify the situation? Editorial methinks...

So anyway, people were climbing on top of anything to get site of their taxes marching past, I mean the proud body of young men. After all, the strength of the revolution and Mexico's progress in the world depends on spending a massive amount of money on the army, right?

They sure could sing anyway, although the people combing through the rubbish just a few hundred meters from where HSBC now vastly lords it over a national monument, didn't seem quite so interested...

And if they weren't marching along the parade (which cut me off from the anthropological museum), they were standing around in case there was a riot... Like you would, with soldiers armed to the teeth marching right in front of you? Hey, Jose-Luiz! When shall we protest the 20,000 plus drug murders in three years? I know, let's do it on independence day when everyone is feeling positive, for once, about a government which happens also to be  bristling with weapons.... that's bound to put the hesitant masses behind us...

On which note, the US announced lower figures for cocaine use this year. Way to go Barack!. Carry on the denial of the ancien regime. So what have the good burghers of the US been doing instead? Smoking cannabis, biggest increase in the 50+ bracket apparently. Must be all the older generation's conscience being wiped as they watch the ceaselessly mounting pile of beheaded bodies south of the border that are the flip side to 'winning' the war on drugs for the next election, I mean the good of the American people .... 

Anyway, I enjoyed it enough, although jingo-jangle militarism isn't my thing, it was people-watching heaven so I just kept on walking and walking until, the 2000 plus metres of altitude, the walking and the morning run caught up with me and I bolted back to the hotel making my first use of the metro. Very nifty, cheap and efficient. Siesta from 5-9 was a bit out of kilter but then few Mexicans got theirs today. So, Domino's (you heard right) it was and then back to sleep. Rock on...

Arrival 15th September

Am feeling quite tired but quite proud of myself for pulling off the journey between the February morning this year when my world changed from 'definitely staying in Manchester for at least another year' to 'it's time to move on'. One minute you have your head down, with all the determination you need for involvement in secondary education, the next your life becomes a whirling mass of house moves, flights, uncertainty, fear (I can hear the violins warming up, but it's true, it IS a bit scary :)))  ... and then you're in a hotel room in Mexcio City. Throw in two triathlons (liverpooltriathlon.co.uk), a summer camp in Russia (www.sodvo.ru) complete with forest fires, a zen retreat, a somewhat inebriated but wonderful week in London (very zen?!!?) and you get the idea of how hectic, lucky and fun it's been. Absolutely wonderful, but hectic. Must be why I feel a bit cream-crackered.


Not to forget saying goodbye to the nicest group of colleagues I've ever had, or could hope to have and a flatmate who was literally a godsend. The extended MFL/PE family formed the core at school but there were many others. People really shouldn't believe some of the crap they write in the papers, like this week's brilliant concept - teachers are overstating special needs to get themselves off the hook for poor teaching. If that's what people believe the teaching profession is about and give credence to such arrant nonsense, then God help us. And I must pay tribute to the talent, honesty and warmth of the poetry community in Manchester - a lot of really lovely people who I'm proud to call my friends.


So here we are. Aquí estamos. Trying to prop my eyelids open with online matchsticks so I can avoid waking up at 2am feeling ready for breakfast. Spot the name of the hotel?

A chapter of my teaching career closes, the next one opens, title to be revealed as we go along....


Just turned on the tv to find that there's some HUGE celebration going on for the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence? Just toooo tired. Exciting tho'.