Cabins on Stilts

HI everyone. So I finally hit a wall in Puerto Escondido. The place was run by a crazy man named Steve who I came to be very fond of. He ran around the hostel screaming at everyone and always was kicking Lacy and I out of our room to make room for more people. We were in our 3rd room which happened to be his own room which he gave up to sleep in a hammock. Well the day after we slept in there the first night we were hung over. For some reason no matter how many drinking games nor how much tequila we drink the Tower Bridge had good healing properties and we woke up feeling fine. So this perticular morning we were feeling extremely under the weather and decided to watch movies all day on Steve´s TV. He mentioned to Lacy and I that we shouldn´t use the toilet because being Mexico and all the plumbing wasn´t working properly. So we were the only two aware. He however had moved two of our guy friends into his house as well that day to make even more room...well needless to say the toilet was used without us knowing and we watched a whole movie until we found out that our entire room had been floaded with gross toilet water. My whole bag and most of our clothes. So we freaked out and started crying. Our Australian guy friends really helped us out by packing up all our wet stuff immediately and taking it to the laundry. So we just had to wash out our bags and delay our departure till later the next day while we waited for our laundry which Steve kindly paid for. Then still being clumbsy I had sat in his recliner to paint my toe nails. Forgetting I placed my nail polish on my lap I stood up and shattered the polish all over his white tile. Quickly I sprinted to the store about 3 blocks away and got some remover and it was all clean before he returned to bitch at me :)

The next day we moved to a small little town about 1hr south of Puerto. We took a cab here with our two Aussie friends as it only cost about 7dollars each this way and didn´t have to deal with night buses. A great game which passed the time was the name game ( you all know it say a celebrity and the next person says one with the first name the same letter as the previous last). Once in Mazunte we met our Danish girlfriends and just hung out in this town with only one bar and not much else to do. During the day though we were able to go visit some crocodiles! They were cool we took a little boat with a guide up a swamp. We saw some big boys and then there was a sanctuary on an island where they protected the baby ones (so cute) and a very aggressive pregnant one. I met this little anteater who I fell in love with...so cute. Finally we were able to see sea turtles hatch and hold them!

Now we are in Zipolite and I love it here too. I wish I were in the market to invest because this place is beautiful quiet and has great potential. Everyone is nice and tells you straight about how things are done. We hitched for the first time today to get to another town. This is not strange as everyone thinks kindly here. If they are going there why would they just be selfish and take themselves....so nice. Everything is getting cheaper the farther south we get. Today we moved to a beach front bungalow with a huge window opening to the water... we are so close our house is one stilts! Only 5 dollars each a night. Everyone is just so nice and the world is proving to be so small. Last night we ran into some people from our first night of the trip and today in the main town (45min away) where we went to get cash we ran into our old mate Steve from Tower Bridge. He just ran up behind us and scared us. Recognized us by our large shades. He must have secretly liked us even though he bitched at us all the time because he is coming by our hostel tonight for a Corona.

We also had an interesting experience on our combie (like a bus but cheaper and on the back of a pickup truck). A mid to late 30s hippy was the only one back there with us. He began to do some sort of leg left stretches in pants that had slits down the sides. I am definately too immature for this because it took all I had not to laugh out loud as he performed these the whole way. So funny. See ya in the next town. I think we will hopefully make it to Guatamala this week! Kisses

Mexico´s Pipeline

I have found my first place that is calling me to stay put for a while. I am here in Puerto Escondido and it is amazing. We are staying at a hostel called Tower Bridge where the environment is amazing and the people are great. The owner is a crazy Englishman named Steve. He runs around the house screaming at everyone. He doesn´t know one of our 20 names. We offered to pay him double rent if he could name one (most of us have been here for a week), he couldn´t. We have a great swimming pool and just spend most of the days here in this compound. It is all open space with lots of trees and little groupings of couches. So even though we all have huge bungalows we all hangout outside. It is about 100 degrees here which is keeping us put because the weather down south has begun to turn to the rainy season. Plus we are happy with just spending our days in little thought and hanging out in the pool all day and talking with our new friends. There are no other Americans here but lots of British, Australians, and Austrians. Everyone is really funny and witty and I find myself laughing all day about the outrageous things everyone says. It is a good thing I have 6 brothers too as not many girls are traveling so we tend to be stuck with heaps of guys being guys all the time. All good fun. We all cook dinner together everyday (those Aussies can really cook some good Barbie) and pretty much do everything together as a group of ten. I also taught them sloppy dice and they can´t get enough of it worst thing I could have done as a mellow night turns into sloppy dice. They also learned beer pong so we have been playing a lot of that in afternoons while BBQing Anyways I think we will be here for another week or so and then who knows where next.

For some reason the computer will not let me upload my photos so sorry no photos of my own, but the picture is mearly the postcard image I wish I could take. Soon though I will upload some off all my new friends. Post me comments and emailing. It makes getting on the computer everyday so much better.

Good bye USA Hello ZIUTANEJO

Traveling all night is sort of the way to go as far as plane flights go. If you are like me and can sleep anywhere when you are tired that is. Last night our plane left from Sacramento at midnight. Perfect time to get on the plane get comfy and take a nap. Just what I did. I barely could wake up in Houston to get off the plane for our layover, but once I did I slept again all way here to Ziutanejo.

The airport here is small, not San Luis Obispo small but same sort of deal where you have to deplane to the outside and not down a jet way. The baggage all arrives on a turnstyle the size of a small SUV. Starting out in Mexico seems like a great plan as I have been down to Baja many times and I am pretty comfortable with the language. This all turns out to be true. Minus the luggage situation Lacy and I are struggling (ours keeps breaking and are super heavy but we need to get in shape anyway) the arrival went very smooth.

Our hostel instructions...the sole thing we looked up before the trip about our first destination were fairly vague but very clear once you see the place. Go diagonally across the parking lot. Wait by the main road for a bus with a purple stripe. Board and tell them to take you to Ziutanejo´s central market. So we walk across get accossted by cabs. We stood firm as we are now on a strict budget. Standing there seemed odd, there was no sign and not really any buses coming and going. 6 min later along. The bus was simply a mini van with the seats taken out and skinny ones put around the parimeter. Soon we picked up many more people this way. Everyone unfazed by the fact that Lacy and I had bags every where. They jumped on greating Buenos Tardes to everyone aboard. It was completely on the honor system of just pay for what you rode when you get off. Things immediately started to slow down in my head and I was able to sit back and enjoy the bus. I knew it was the first of many. The whole journey which took about a half hour only cost a dollar to the 30 that the cabbies were offering. I unfortunately will not be able to get cabbies direct numbers here.

Our hostel turned out to be just like the pictures and we have two roomates so far in our dorm. One is named Beth apparently so must be cool. Today we walked around sans map. Still not going to do too much worrying about what and where we are. Not even wearing watches. The beaches are already great to be on. It seems that people have come to walk and do things to the pace of the slow waves in the cove here. I will post pictures when I take some. Miss you all. Hopefully the next few days here will make for some good stories. Kisses