Expectations

I wasn't expecting Mexico to be so calm and tranquil. Don't get me wrong, there's been plenty of craziness, not least in Jerez, where they seem to think that mixing horses, fireworks and alcohol (for both the horses and the people on the horses, and the bystanders of course) makes for a jolly good time. Actually I have to agree with them on that one :) And then there was the march of silence (I think) which was silent apart from a drum beat and very occasional trumpet calls, and consisted of an incredibly long march of people mostly dressed in KKK-like robes carrying Jesuses in various conditions of pain and distress, enclosed by the longest rope in the world. But over all Mexico seems a pretty relaxed place, especially Guadalajara, a place which I cannot pronounce if I am reading its name. I've also been quite surprised at the openly gay community here, I think even in Brighton you don't get the openly affectionate gay scene that you get here, but then I guess if your straight scene is open enough to have people groping each other in parks all over the place then it only follows.

When Maddy arrived she said three things, that I am thin (I've always been thin!), that I am brown (I've never been brown!) and that everyone at home thinks that I am having so much fun that I will never come home, well fear not, I am actually quite looking forward to it, but not quite enough to move my flight :)

Another thing that Maddy said was "I fancy cooking tonight." I was flabbergasted, well, surprised. I've been loving the food here, it's so good and so different. The food's been good everywhere really, but here it's really different from European food, goat stew for breakfast with tortillas and limes, sheep cooked in cactus leaves in a hole in the ground with tortillas and limes for lunch and then... actually we've mostly been having a very large late lunch and not much else. With tortillas and limes. In the UK I've often thought what a genius combination beer and limes is, but it's just a default really, everything comes with limes, and chili, and you can get your beer with chili too, it's just way too salty for me. Anyway, the point is I found myself wracking my brains trying to remember how Johanna did her blue cheese sauce this evening, after Maddy's spag-bol (though Adam always swears you can't call it spag-bol if there's no meat in it) last night. I can't usually be bothered to cook in hostels, it's too frustrating and you usually don't really save much money. And so it was. Our bill came to 200 pesos when two can eat well on 150 pesos, though as Maddy pointed out, that doesn't include chocolate, which after the steak was the second most expensive item on the receipt. Honestly, we come to the land of chocolate and she buys Cadbury's!

Again, you might like to have a look at Maddy's photos so that you can get a load of my ugly mug/beautiful face.

Talking of photos, this was recently brought to my attention :)