Mexican Lucha Libre

I'm in a hostel in Guadalajara recovering from the bad food I had in Tequila the day before. I have been eating bread all day with some bottled water. I'm too exhausted to walk a block to 7-11 (YES they have 7-11's!!!!!!!!!) to get better food. I haven't really seen any sights yet. That evening, as I'm sitting around the table listening to other travellers shoot the shit, we discover that there was wrestling to be seen.

As you guys know, if you've been reading my blog, I went a couple times in El Salvador. Lucha libre, is what I'm talking about.

The next day, I'm feeling better and do manage to round up a few of the boys to come with.

Now, this Lucha Libre was not at all what I expected. This place, of all places, had class. Or, at least they dressed up as if they did. Imagine a Vegas high-profile boxing match where people got all dressed up. People were all dressed up. Vendors came around to sell freshly popped popcorn and salt and vinegar pork rinds. Not deep fried pork rinds, boiled pork rinds. Oh, believe you me, it was a treat indeed. Projectile vomiting and simultaneous diarrhea the day before did not deter me from trying a piece of this bad boy. Let's just say we added a lot of hot sauce to help it down.

I guess Mexico is pretty much the leader in this sport. The acrobatics had more finesse and the costumes were less tacky than the El Salvadorian one. And there was no pre-game show needed to rile up the audience. This was an indoor area with a proper ring in the middle. The cheap seats were waaaaaaaay up high in the back and a single, frail, granny, it seemed, spewed out all the profanity required to meet the quota of curses.

No flames or fancy-dancy circus clowns. Just good ol' Luchadors. I still had a blast and one of the wrestlers, who kinda reminded me of a mix between the lead singer from Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Latin guy from Black Eyed Peas, kept on glancing at me. Damn, I wish my Spanish was better... Could have gotten an autograph.

Getting Closer!

I-m in Guadalajara now. Only 3 more stops before I jump on the train for home!!!

I just have to get over this bout of food poisoning..... Thank God for Imodium!

I have to add that it wasn't from the food market. It was from lunch in the town of Tequila. I had a chicken salad and I guess the chicken wasn't done well and who knows what they washed the veggies in.....

Food Market - Oaxaca City, Mexico.

I stayed an extra day just so that I could eat there again. The first day I went there, I had just finished breakfast elsewhere. I was only able to order a chocolate milk, a specialty in this region. It's served in a bowl and with sweet bread that has cumin baked in. Yum yum.

The second time I went (I stayed an extra day just to do this!), I headed straight to the meat grills. I walked in and a young guy started his spew on all the different types of meat they had available. After about 30 seconds, he realized that I was only able to understand about 1/4 of what he said. He abruptly averted his eyes and turned away. His buddy came up to ask me what I cared for and I told him without hesitation. In Spanish. The young guy still couldn't look me in the eyes even after I sat down.

Yes, OK, bad product shot but it tasted goood!

I had ordered a 1/4 portion of beef, 3 tortillas and guacamole. $30 pesos. The meat was freshly grilled and the guac was made fresh. NOW THIS IS A TACO! Yum.

For dinner, I went back to the hot chocolate place and ordered a yellow chicken mole to go. Wow..........

Monte Alban, Mexico

Mayan ruins at the top of the city that were built as if to resemble the surrounding hills. This was another worship area with temples and living quarters. There was also a tomb and some of it’s artifacts were in the on-site museum. The most interesting piece was in a different museum, a scull covered in bits of blue stone... turquoise? could be, can’t remember. It was pieced together like a pottery mosaic table one would find in a French garden.

Impossibly High Steps to the Top

It took about two hours for me to navigate the whole thing, including climbing steep temple stairs. I held the wall the whole way up and down.

While I was waiting for the bus to return to the city, I got some cactus ice-cream. It was red with back seeds. Kinda tasted like grenadine syrup. Not overly sweet and thankfully refreshing after the day in the heat.

La Guelaguetza

I have betrayed the backpacker community. For this sin, I can not atone. Once you cross the line, there is no turning back. I went to an overpriced trouist trap folkdance dinner show. I apologize.

Unsurprisingly, the dancers were less than enthusiastic. Eight different types of dances were performed and at least one of the dancers was sporting a completely bored expression. One was even chewing gum. The restaurant holds a stage in the center and Monday’s crowd only filled half the area.

The live band pounds, strums and honks their tunes and the dancers twirled every which way. The main reason I came to this was to take pics of indegenous costumes; some are still worn by many of the communities that I have passed through. My camera doesn’t allow me to take good pics from far away and I don’t want to shove my camera in somebody’s face. Yes, taking a pic without their consent from far away is OK by me. But up close? I can’t run away fast enough.

Traditionally, these dances are held in late July to August. I guess a pre-harvest/fertility ritual. Half the dances were about chasing skirt. One of the guys managed to steal a kiss from one of the girls and, while they were dancing, the rest of the boy were trying not to smirk.

The show ends and the dancers tried to get the audience up on stage. Announcements of thanks were in French. I definitely heard “merci beaucoup.”

It sucks that the batteries of my digital camera went dead near the beginning of the show. I miss SLR's.

I hate Mondays

1. The taxi droppped me off at the wrong place. Really, my own fault for not knowing the language better.

2. When I walked to the hostel I wanted to go to, (about 20 mins in 25 degree heat) I found that it had permanently shut its doors. I walked around for another 45 mins looking for a decent place to stay.

3. I went to the Oaxacan Cultural museum. I forgot that a lot of places are closed on Mondays in Latin America.

4. I went to a tourist trap show. See next entry.

5. On my way back and about 10 paces from the hostel door, I got my ass grabbed by some fucker on a bicycle.

Oaxaca City, Mexico

A couple of churches by my hostel.

Ahhhhhhh, it's warm. After a horrible night's sleep on the bus, I get into town and head to the Magic Hostel, recommended in guide books and a couple of friends. After a good 15 min walk with my, now even heavier pack, I arrived to closed doors. The hostel had shut down.

I walked around for another 30 mins trying to find accomodations and now I'm in Hostal Santa Isabel which has also been recommended. I do wish that it has flushing toilets tho.

The town so far looks good. I'll be off to explore...

San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

Altitude of about 2189 metres. I can’t stand high altitudes.

Day 1. Slept. I had about 2 hours of sleep the night before. There was a collective farewell party. The hostel in San Cris was really chill. There was a girl at the hostel with an amazing voice and a guitar. She sang various songs for about 25 mins. Amazing.

Day 2. Moved hostels. Hostel Qhia was nice but too many stairs for my bad knee and too quiet for my liking.

I hit the markets after moving and bought and bought and bought. Well, not really. I just got a couple more scarves and tried to look for things for my dad. Somehow I don’t think he’ll wear a peasant shirt in bright red…

I was making my way down the pedestrian walkway when the rain started. It DUMPED down for a good hour and I took refuge in yet another café.

I got back to the hostel, watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith, ate instant noodles and now I’m cold and bored.

Most of what I’ve seen of the town is colonial in style. It’s an interesting juxtaposition with the Mayans. I took a couple of pics of the churches but I can’t be bothered to go into ANOTHER church.

* Street side tacos. Yum. Saucer-sized tortillas with your choice of meat on top, grilled in front of you. For $1.50 Pesos each. That’s $0.15 USD. It took 3 to fill me up. Lunch for $0.45 USD. What can I say.

Day 3. I woke up in pain. It’s so cold at night, even under four layers of blankets, I tense up in a ball. I can barely walk. I went to the General Market which is bustling with all sorts of people but not so many tourists. Some ladies carried chickens. Some stalls had fruits and veggies. Some had clothes. I went into a vegetable, fruit, general goods, shoe store and bought these cute leather shoes for about $15 CAD. They fit in the store but after walking around for a little bit, they are a bit too small. I’ll have to stuff them with newspaper or something.

Day 4. I bought tickets to Oaxaca. Highs of 30, lows of 20. I can deal with that.