20:29
Coatepec, Mexico
We threw a party for Shayla's birthday on Friday, but today was her real birthday - so Maeve and I vacated the house to let her Skype with all her family and friends throughout the world. We decided to go to Xico (HEE-ko), a nearby town and check out the waterfalls there. It definitely turned out to be a good day.
The first thing we needed to do was get some moneda (coin money). Bus drivers are real grumbly when you hand them a two hundred peso bill for a ten peso ride. All right, Grumpy Grumperson, I'll get some change. And dude, what the fuck is the deal with getting change in Mexico?! You go to pay for something and people just straight up have no change sometimes. Twice now, I've gone to pay for something and the vendor didn't have change so they just gave it to me for free. "Pay me later," they say. Dang man. I always did. But what is the dealio! I think the problem is that the government flat out just didn't cut enough metal money. People hoard it like it's going out of style.
(Bus fare roundtrip: $20)
So here's what I had to buy to make some change:
(Churros: $10)
The next order of business was to find Maeve a baño. She was suffering a little discomfort due to her and Shayla's morning watermelon eating contest. I'd say the real winner there was me. Cause I didn't almost pee my pants on a city bus.
We tried the church, but that was busy with its usual Sunday reality protest rally so we figured she could just tough it out on the bus. Next thing we know we get approached by a Mexican guy about my age who stopped us somewhat awkwardly,
"Ey, uh, amigos? Do you speak English?"
"Yeah man. What's up?"
His name was Miguel and his English was pretty good. He'd worked in the US for some time and was waiting on his visa to clear so he could hop back over the fence (legally) and come back with some scrilla. At first I thought he was giving us this big schpeil to ask for money but it turned out that what he really wanted was to practice his English with us. PERFECT! We'll work on our Spanish with you, too! By the way, do you know where the nearest pisser is?
Miguel showed us to his friend's autobody shop just around the corner and Maeve seemed much happier. He left us his number and if I can find it from my bottomless bag of tricks we should be meeting up to swap operating systems.
Maeve and I managed to find the bus stop. It was a little tough since there is neither a terminal nor any sort of sign denoting the usual stopping location for a bus. We used our super powers of asking in broken Spanish and followed the groups of people who seemed to be patiently waiting for something to carry them away.
The ride to Xico was pretty short. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes and the distinction between the two towns wasn't really ever made. If I had to guess, I would say the border was somewhere straddling several of the banana plantations that surrounded both villages.
Once at Xico, we promptly got ourselves lost on a dead end street trying to find a pretty looking church that didn't end up being that spectacular. We wandered back to the town center and ate a little bit of the packed lunch that we'd brought. Somewhat unmotivated and lackadaisical from all the work we'd been doing at the house we wondered if we should ask someone for directions to the cascadas (waterfalls). Turns out we picked the right guy.
Two white peeps in the middle of Smalltown, Mexico will always attract attention. But one guy wasn't staring at us at all. I figured it was probably because he'd done a fair amount of traveling himself and wasn't really that surprised to see some gringos in his town. He had long dreads and was sitting on a bench tying friendship bracelets. I went up to him and asked him if he knew the fastest way to the waterfalls.
"Las cascadas?"
"Si."
"Sígueme! Estan cerca de me casa!" (Follow me! It's right next to my house!"
And so we followed.
Sweet! Personal hippie tour guide for the day. I bought one of his bracelets to seal the deal and we were off!
(Bracelet: $50)
I was right, Victor had done some traveling. He spoke only a few words of English so despite my broken attempts to communicate with him he responded quickly and verbosely in his native tongue. It was good to get back into listening to and speaking real Spanish again, however, I definitely didn't understand everything that he was saying.
Victor took us through a couple of neighborhoods, up a gravel road where the concrete houses stopped, over a bridge and down to his jungle bungalow. Literally just a couple of wooden shacks pinned up above the riverbed. It was AWESOME. I bought a couple jars of pulque (a fermented, milky drink) and we visited on the porch. It tastes kind of like a mix between keifer and kambucha. I'm not sure if I liked it. It made me thirstier the more I drank it.
(Pulque: $30)
We spent the next couple of hours soaking in sweet sunlight and listening to the river roar around us. Myself, alone with the hot boulders, Maeve and Victor in the throws of a traveler's romance. Nowhere to be. No one to please. Doing nothing never felt so good.
Before we left the bungalow entirely, Victor showed us his shack. Yep. A shack. Inside he had just enough room for a small mattress, the jewelry he made and sold, an alter for Hari Krishna or whatever and seven hippie bunny rabbits that had dreads just like him. He loved those things and made sure to get them the nicest green pickings from the riverbank. They showed their gratitude by dutifully munching it all down.
Victor made it clear that he would really like us to buy some of his jewelry. As his only source of income I felt somewhat obligated to do so. But then again, I'd also bought his slightly overpriced bracelet as well. So I had to say no. I will say, however, that the man is very good at what he does. His wire jewelry, in particular, was extremely intricate and incredibly well thought out. I wish I could have. But I have no need for it. Thanks anyway man!
On the bus we went and back to Coatepec. Back to the house. But NOT without some chocolate first. We stopped by a local chocolate shop and split a few truffles between the two of us. Oh. My. God. So good and so cheap.
(Total split cost: $20)
It really was a great day. The one that you can't plan and the kind of adventure that leaves you feeling a little terrified about what might happen - yet, it always ends up amazing. There really was nothing to worry about.
So. All in all, I spent $130 MXN which just so happens to be almost exactly $10 US. A whole day of fun for ten bucks. Not bad. Not bad.
(Total split cost: $20)
It really was a great day. The one that you can't plan and the kind of adventure that leaves you feeling a little terrified about what might happen - yet, it always ends up amazing. There really was nothing to worry about.
So. All in all, I spent $130 MXN which just so happens to be almost exactly $10 US. A whole day of fun for ten bucks. Not bad. Not bad.
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