Saturday, November 25, 2006
Thursday 11/23/06 Day 6
My very odd and interesting Thanksgiving.
We all got up around 8:30. Breakfast was at 9 o’clock. We had the same thing. The only difference was that there were no bananas or watermelon. It was mostly strawberries, apples, and papaya. Of course, the papaya tastes like throw-up, so if you count that out, it was mostly strawberries and apples sliced into little pieces. There were barely any pan dulces left. Melissa (my sort-of-step-mom-but-not-really) has not been to the store to buy any more. Breakfast was not as special as it was at the beginning of the trip. Now that I think of it, there were no eggs either.
Once we finished breakfast we left for Bara de Potocí. Our neighbor, Tanya, lent us a truck to use. Tanya is an American who lives in Zihua most of the time (I think). She’s a very nice lady, but somewhat on the eccentric side. Tanya’s house is filled with life-sized statues of people (a very odd style of decoration, but very interesting.) However, I mentioned that she was a nice lady. To show this characteristic, she lent us her car so we did not have to pay 700 pesos for two taxis.
The truck was a very old Pathfinder. The trunk, we were told, would not close if you opened it. Because of this, we did not open the trunk for fear of paying a monstrous repair bill. However, it was a bit difficult to not open the trunk because there were only five seats in the car. My little brother and I had to ride in the trunk. This required climbing over the back seats and lying down side by side in the trunk. Because the trunk would never close if it were opened, we had to be extra extra careful not to bump into the door because we were not sure how tightly it was closed. Along the hour long drive, my brother and I felt like corpses the Mafia had thrown into the trunk so they could take us to a far away place to dispose of.
We reached the small fishing village of Bara de Potosí at about 10:30 or 11:00. We got out of the car and I stretched my legs a lot. We had parked behind a restaurant that was on the beach. It was one of about ten to fifteen identical restaurants located side-by-side stretching across a portion of the beach. We set our stuff down at a table and took a walk down the waterline. As we were leaving the restaurant we saw half a dozen people following us carrying necklaces, hats, baskets, and all other types of trinkets. They caught up with us and proceeded to try to sell us their wares. The ladies (Melissa, her mom, and Jon’s wife) bought lots of stuff. (After all, what else do women do other than shop?) Once the ladies were finished shopping the vendors carried their items towards the next closest American tourist. We continued our walk. The beach at Bara de Potosí was much less crowded than La Ropa beach. I only saw about twenty people over half a mile of sand.
After we had walked a ways and come back, we ordered appetizers at the restaurant. We ordered chips with guacamole and tiritas (raw fish cut into little chunks and marinated in some type of sauce.) On the menu, under appetizers, was something called “papas a la Frances.” We knew that it translated into French fries; however, whoever had translated the menu had not known that for under “papas a la Frances” the English words “Popes to the French” were written. We ate our appetizers and then we did something. Whatever it was we did, it was not very interesting because I’ve forgotten what it was.
Oh yes, now I remember. We took a boat ride around the nearby lagoon and looked at the birds. It was not very interesting; no wonder I forgot what it was.
We returned to the restaurant and ordered our main course, the fish of the day. It took 30 minutes to prepare, but the finished product was two huge, cooked fish. In total, they weighed 4 kilos (roughly 10 pounds). All seven members of our party were well fed by these two fish, which, along with the appetizers, only cost a total of 1000 pesos (100 dollars)!
Now, this is what will really blow your minds (especially you Mom). After lunch there was a tattoo artist walking around. He gave a little kid at a table near us a tattoo on his back. We know that a caring family would never allow their child to get a permanent tattoo, and the kid was not screaming in pain, so we deduced that the man was giving paint-on temporary tattoos. Two members of our party were very interested in this. Jon’s wife, Heidi, got a tattoo of a dragon on the bottom of her back. After that, my little brother got the Chinese symbol for energy tattooed onto his left arm. I know this may be shocking or it may have just passed through one ear and out the other so I will say it again. My little brother got the Chinese symbol for energy tattooed onto his left arm. I wish I could see my mom’s face when she reads this. If I could, I would hook a camera up to the computer and take a picture and then I’d put it on this blog. Hey, everyone who reads this. If you see my brother within the next month or two, ask him to show you his tattoo.
Once Dylan and Heidi’s paint-on tattoos had dried, we all piled into the truck again. We decided to take a scenic route along the beach to get back to our house. This turned out to be a very bad decision, as there was no road at all and only a wide dirt path. Fortunately for me, Melissa had offered to switch seats with me, so I got to sit in the last row of seats. Melissa and Dylan sat in the back. We found out that this car had no suspension to speak of (for my readers who do not know car talk, suspension is what keeps a car from going up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down on a bumpy road. Don’t feel bad. I had to have it explained to me too.) Because there was no suspension, we felt every bump, dip, hill, and pothole we passed. Dylan and Melissa felt it most, but I don’t think my readers would be very interested in any complaints they made. After all, this is the story of my trip to Mexico.
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. The question should be rephrased into “Why did the chicken attempt to cross the road?”
Q. Why did the chicken attempt to cross the road?
A. I don’t know, perhaps the chicken does not even know. Anyways, it was a bad decision because he almost got himself run over by a truck with a broken trunk and no suspension as it drove down a dusty road that really was not a road at all. As if the driver did not have enough things to worry about and then you add in random chickens that want to cross the road for no apparent reason. It’s enough to drive one insane.
When we finally got back to the house it was late. It was like 7 o’clock late. We had spent most of our Turkey Day on the beach, and we had eaten fish instead of turkey. I know that today has been the most interesting Thanksgiving in my life. I look forward to next year’s Thanksgiving so that I can compare it with what has transpired today.
The Internet guy did not come while we were away. We’re beginning to doubt whether the Internet will ever be fixed.
We all got up around 8:30. Breakfast was at 9 o’clock. We had the same thing. The only difference was that there were no bananas or watermelon. It was mostly strawberries, apples, and papaya. Of course, the papaya tastes like throw-up, so if you count that out, it was mostly strawberries and apples sliced into little pieces. There were barely any pan dulces left. Melissa (my sort-of-step-mom-but-not-really) has not been to the store to buy any more. Breakfast was not as special as it was at the beginning of the trip. Now that I think of it, there were no eggs either.
Once we finished breakfast we left for Bara de Potocí. Our neighbor, Tanya, lent us a truck to use. Tanya is an American who lives in Zihua most of the time (I think). She’s a very nice lady, but somewhat on the eccentric side. Tanya’s house is filled with life-sized statues of people (a very odd style of decoration, but very interesting.) However, I mentioned that she was a nice lady. To show this characteristic, she lent us her car so we did not have to pay 700 pesos for two taxis.
The truck was a very old Pathfinder. The trunk, we were told, would not close if you opened it. Because of this, we did not open the trunk for fear of paying a monstrous repair bill. However, it was a bit difficult to not open the trunk because there were only five seats in the car. My little brother and I had to ride in the trunk. This required climbing over the back seats and lying down side by side in the trunk. Because the trunk would never close if it were opened, we had to be extra extra careful not to bump into the door because we were not sure how tightly it was closed. Along the hour long drive, my brother and I felt like corpses the Mafia had thrown into the trunk so they could take us to a far away place to dispose of.
We reached the small fishing village of Bara de Potosí at about 10:30 or 11:00. We got out of the car and I stretched my legs a lot. We had parked behind a restaurant that was on the beach. It was one of about ten to fifteen identical restaurants located side-by-side stretching across a portion of the beach. We set our stuff down at a table and took a walk down the waterline. As we were leaving the restaurant we saw half a dozen people following us carrying necklaces, hats, baskets, and all other types of trinkets. They caught up with us and proceeded to try to sell us their wares. The ladies (Melissa, her mom, and Jon’s wife) bought lots of stuff. (After all, what else do women do other than shop?) Once the ladies were finished shopping the vendors carried their items towards the next closest American tourist. We continued our walk. The beach at Bara de Potosí was much less crowded than La Ropa beach. I only saw about twenty people over half a mile of sand.
After we had walked a ways and come back, we ordered appetizers at the restaurant. We ordered chips with guacamole and tiritas (raw fish cut into little chunks and marinated in some type of sauce.) On the menu, under appetizers, was something called “papas a la Frances.” We knew that it translated into French fries; however, whoever had translated the menu had not known that for under “papas a la Frances” the English words “Popes to the French” were written. We ate our appetizers and then we did something. Whatever it was we did, it was not very interesting because I’ve forgotten what it was.
Oh yes, now I remember. We took a boat ride around the nearby lagoon and looked at the birds. It was not very interesting; no wonder I forgot what it was.
We returned to the restaurant and ordered our main course, the fish of the day. It took 30 minutes to prepare, but the finished product was two huge, cooked fish. In total, they weighed 4 kilos (roughly 10 pounds). All seven members of our party were well fed by these two fish, which, along with the appetizers, only cost a total of 1000 pesos (100 dollars)!
Now, this is what will really blow your minds (especially you Mom). After lunch there was a tattoo artist walking around. He gave a little kid at a table near us a tattoo on his back. We know that a caring family would never allow their child to get a permanent tattoo, and the kid was not screaming in pain, so we deduced that the man was giving paint-on temporary tattoos. Two members of our party were very interested in this. Jon’s wife, Heidi, got a tattoo of a dragon on the bottom of her back. After that, my little brother got the Chinese symbol for energy tattooed onto his left arm. I know this may be shocking or it may have just passed through one ear and out the other so I will say it again. My little brother got the Chinese symbol for energy tattooed onto his left arm. I wish I could see my mom’s face when she reads this. If I could, I would hook a camera up to the computer and take a picture and then I’d put it on this blog. Hey, everyone who reads this. If you see my brother within the next month or two, ask him to show you his tattoo.
Once Dylan and Heidi’s paint-on tattoos had dried, we all piled into the truck again. We decided to take a scenic route along the beach to get back to our house. This turned out to be a very bad decision, as there was no road at all and only a wide dirt path. Fortunately for me, Melissa had offered to switch seats with me, so I got to sit in the last row of seats. Melissa and Dylan sat in the back. We found out that this car had no suspension to speak of (for my readers who do not know car talk, suspension is what keeps a car from going up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down on a bumpy road. Don’t feel bad. I had to have it explained to me too.) Because there was no suspension, we felt every bump, dip, hill, and pothole we passed. Dylan and Melissa felt it most, but I don’t think my readers would be very interested in any complaints they made. After all, this is the story of my trip to Mexico.
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. The question should be rephrased into “Why did the chicken attempt to cross the road?”
Q. Why did the chicken attempt to cross the road?
A. I don’t know, perhaps the chicken does not even know. Anyways, it was a bad decision because he almost got himself run over by a truck with a broken trunk and no suspension as it drove down a dusty road that really was not a road at all. As if the driver did not have enough things to worry about and then you add in random chickens that want to cross the road for no apparent reason. It’s enough to drive one insane.
When we finally got back to the house it was late. It was like 7 o’clock late. We had spent most of our Turkey Day on the beach, and we had eaten fish instead of turkey. I know that today has been the most interesting Thanksgiving in my life. I look forward to next year’s Thanksgiving so that I can compare it with what has transpired today.
The Internet guy did not come while we were away. We’re beginning to doubt whether the Internet will ever be fixed.
# posted by Osiris Stein @ 7:29 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
He got a tatoo! See if I let him go to a foreign country again! Temporary huh? Well, I bet I can make it eaven more temporary! If nothing else works there's always bleach. What ever happened to the traditional Thanksgiving of eating too much turkey and laying around all day (I would say watching football but I know this crowd)?
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 8:46 AM
: 8:46 AM 
<< Home
