Apparently there was a 5.9 earthquake today in Mexico City and I didn’t feel it. According to the wonderful and also very knowledgable Sarah Tompkins, people were “panicking in the streets” and electricity went out in many parts of the city. I believe this happened about the same time I was in the men’s bathroom of the UNAM faculty of medicine undergoing the sort of stomach trauma that’s to be excpected after a few days eating nothing but quesadillas and passing around bottles of Corona Familiar.
Another thing you should know is that I’m going to Puerto Escondido. This is significant, due to the fact that Puerto Escondido is one of my favorite places in the world. For my money, beach towns don’t get much better. I will be staying at the Hotel Rincón del Pacifico and spending much of the time at Playa Carrizalillo trying my hand at the small left pointbreak for which the beach, apart from its stunning beauty, seclusion, sparkling water, and hundreds of steps leading down to it, is known.
The shitty thing about getting to Puerto Escondido is that the bus ride takes 17 hours. 17 hours is a long time to spend on a bus. Luckily after the 30-hour hellride I once did from Ariza, Northern Chile to Valaparaiso I think I’ll be able to handle it. I won’t be hungover since I’ve now decided that alcohol is the devil, I’ll have plenty to read, and I’ll have my cell phone so I can annoy Barry with text messages.
That’s right, I have a cell phone! A Mexican cell phone. It’s fucking awesome. I’d give you the number but I don’t know it. Actually that’s not true. It’s 552 655 7324. Hit me up.
This entry was written by , posted on May 22, 2009 at 7:10 pm, filed under Uncategorized and tagged a huevo, carrizalillo, chido, chingon, corrizalillo, hotel rincon del pacifico, puerto escondido, surfing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
El Cenote Azul is one of the cooler hostels I’ve ever stayed at. The bottom is a bar/café with rad hanging seating areas with tons of pillows always full of students and the top two floors have various rooms with bunk beds.
One of the hanging seating areas as seen from the roof terrace.
The majority of the clientele comes from the nearby National Autonomous University of Mexico (la UNAM), the biggest in Latin America with over 200,000 students. At any given time you can walk through the grassy areas of la UNAM and see about 60 different couples lying on the grass and making out vigorously. I guess that’s what happens in a place where everyone lives with their parents until they graduate college.
One of the grassy areas. Not too many people making out. Just a juggler and a dude looking at me like I was being creepy. Note la biblioteca central in the background. A huevo.
El Cenote Azul is definitely a “chill” place, but surprisingly it’s not completely chock-full of dirty stinking hippies. There are a few, of course, and plenty of reggae gets played, as is happening as I type these very words. But a majority of the customers actually seem to be from the medical school, as can be noted by the white pants and coats they insist on wearing everyday to class to distinguish them from the “other” students.
As for the people staying in the hostel, like I said, it’s full of fucking rockers. Everywhere here is a student at the nearby music school and plays guitar:
El pinche Alan.
or “produces” or “rocks” in some way or another. They love Guns ‘n Roses, they love Pink Floyd, and they love Depeche Mode. I have no idea why this last one is, since Depeche Mode is generally acknowledged to be one of the worst bands alive (at least by me). But Mexicans love it, much like they love U2, and much like, according to an article I once read by Chuck Klosterman, many love The Smiths and Morrissey.
But anyway. Today will be another day of chilling. Another day of learning ways to say that things are “cool.” Another day of walking around trying not to spill salsa on my white T. Another day of gazing happily at the bougainvilleas that spill over the walls and into the streets. Another day of rad.
This entry was written by , posted on May 21, 2009 at 10:46 am, filed under Travels and tagged a huevo, chido, chingon, el cenote azul, el DF, la peda, la unam. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.