February 27th, 2007
posts have been a little thin lately, eh? sorry to be boring, but i’ve been out having adventures. mostly adventures you can have without leaving the beach, so they’ve been relaxing adventures. but it’s time for a full post with all the trimmings just like mom used to make.
er, when did i get here? last saturday? that’s ten nights. somewhere between 50 and 100 people have passed through here in that time. you get stuck. there was a surf competition called mexpipe going on when i arrived. the waves were bad. but every morning you could get up at ten and wander down to playa zicatela, sit in the stands, have a beer and watch the pros. i picked up some tips from watching them. like i learned that it’s very cool to ollie up to the lip of the wave and ride that for a second. if i need more points in my next competition maybe i’ll throw in one or two of those.
the last two or three nights of carnaval, there were samba floats going through town. there was a beauty contest where lots of boring speeches were given and the girls had to dance three or four times for the mexican judges to decide which one was better. also, two completely average looking mexican douchebags competed for the title of “El Rey Feo”. one of them was chubby and wore a ridiculous straw hat and in my opinion was the better of the two. mexican guys really seem to like the straw hats for parties. what’s that about? i want one.
there were some parties on the beach and a couple nights of reggae concerts under the stars. i was confused when they took down the stands and the stage. i hadn’t really thought about it, but i assumed there was always a stage right on the beach.
instead, all there is on the beach are umbrellas and ramadas. plastic tables and chairs are standard, but the best places scour furniture catalogs for the laziest, most reclining furniture possible. there are a few covered in bean bags, hammocks, and little pillows. micheladas are a standard drink here. it’s beer – maybe corona or pacifico, but it’s up to you – in a glass with ice and lime and chile or salsa, with salt around the rim. like a bloody mary for beer. they don’t go very well with the pancakes, which everyone seems to be able to make perfectly here, but they wash down a cheeseburger like you wouldn’t believe.
this is a stupid place to learn to surf right now – well, maybe always, at least you can’t really kill yourself now like in november – but i’ve been going out most days with a rented board. my shorts don’t fit perfectly because my weight is down, so i had a sunburned ass from sitting on the board waiting for waves.
i broke my cheap acapulco walmart sandals dancing my first night here, so i went without shoes. i’d need another two weeks to get them good and leathery, but we’ll work on that in the yucatan. conni’s plane gets to cancun friday afternoon. so i’m taking the overnight bus to san cristobal de las casas. it’s historical and cultural and stuff and supposed to be interesting. i’ll spend tomorrow night there and then take another overnight to cancun. then conni and i are traveling together for two weeks! we don’t have an itinerary, just a list of cool places we’d like to see. i’ll probably have to wear shoes for some of them, which isn’t that great, but otherwise i’m excited.
i’m going down to the beach to see who’s around and catch my last pacific sunset for a while. there’s some photos up finally and you can try to view them here. they’re not organized but i’ve taken out all the naked ones.
phillipao