Finally, my journal of my trip to Mexico. I'll put up one day, per day. So here is the first day! Enjoy!
DAY 1
I began my trip quite peacefully. Early in the morning I headed to the airport, got onto the plane without any issues and slept most of the way there. Once I arrived in Mexico, the process was quite quick and simple. Getting off the plane, the first thing I noticed was that it was slightly more difficult to breath. It wasn't immensely difficult, but it was enough for me to acknowledge this. I would never tell Manuel this, though, who was constantly complaining about it. I honestly thought it was a pollution problem but later discovered it was actually an elevation problem. I booted up my phone and luckily the international data plan I had paid for started kicking in right away. Now remember, my Spanish knowledge is practically zero. People in the airport mostly spoke English, but I was not going to count on this while out and about in the city. I ended up using one of their registered taxis to get to my hotel. The guy drove through a lot of small streets in order to avoid traffic on the main streets. I was totally lost extremely quickly, but he got me to the hotel relatively quickly. The guy at the desk in the hotel didn't know English, but I was able to say enough Spanish mixed with English for us to understand each other. I checked in, paid and headed up to the room. It was actually quite nice, considering the really cheap price. It was especially nice because it was only a 15-20 minute walk to the venue. It was in a pretty good location, despite Manuel's complaints. I settled down, put all my things away, took a little bit to look at a map of the area, then headed out to do a little exploring.
As I walked toward the main street, I noticed that there was a convenience store right outside of the hotel. CONVENIENT! Walking down the main street a little I discovered a set of statues in a plaza area along with a bell as well. I lingered a little and headed further down the street. Truth be told, it was then that I realized I hadn't eaten anything and that there was a McDonald's right next to me. I figured, why not try it. I tried one in Japan, I might as well try one in Mexico as well. It was nice and clean, and the choices were essentially the same. Interestingly though, there was no fried chicken sandwich, it was only grilled. I ended up trying that, and it was really tasty. It was like getting a grilled chicken from El Pollo Loco back home, but in a McDonald's sandwich. I took my time and enjoyed my meal, taking in the environment. From there I headed back outside and decided I'd walk to the venue to gather my bearings and see what there is along the way.
About halfway there I looked up and saw a lightning strike and it started raining. Maimi had struck again! I was tired and sleepy, so I decided I didn't really want to go exploring in the rain. I also had forgotten my umbrella in the room, even though I was fully aware of thunderstorm warnings. It was about 7pm at this point. I headed back to the room, dried off and got ready for the next day. Manuel would be arriving early so I figured I'd go to sleep early since once he got to the room he likely wouldn't let me sleep anymore. I ended up staring out the window at the rain for a while, read “Weapon of a Jedi” for a while more then I went to sleep early.