Welcome to Mexico!!! I honestly think I left part of my heart in Mexico in 2008. How I have missed it! I heard the Mexican Mariachi band when we got off the boat and my heart smiled. Alas—the air filled with smells of taquitos, clothes, slight sewer, FRUIT, and Spanish just warmed my spirit. Oh man! I wasn’t hit on as much which I was not looking forward to—the men were actually able to control themselves in Progreso, Mexico unlike Morelia. But I didn’t stand out with an afro this time. John mentioned that he didn’t like being 1.5 heads taller than the natives there.
With this being John’s first trip out of America, I wanted to show him “True Mexico”. People on the boat said that there was little to do/see in Progreso and that the beach wasn’t as great as Cozumel (where we’re going tomorrow), however, I knew that it couldn’t be as fun-less as people were saying. So John and I watched all the Americans go left towards the beach and we turned right and took the road less traveled by Americans. Within 3 blocks, we were in True Mexico where things were sold in Pesos, food was really cheap, and children played on the sidewalks next to their abuelitas or grandmothers.
John and I walked and walked and walked. We found a grocery store that sold the card game Uno—slightly ironic. We found an amazing heladoría or ice cream shop that sold frozen juice popsicles made from real fruit. They pretty much squeezed a pineapple into a mold, stuck a stick in it, froze it, and sold it to me for $0.50. John got a strawberry one.
We found clothes in the mercado or market. We saw the American one and later found the Mexican one with cheaper prices. We each ate 1 mini flat taco—corn tortilla, Mexican mystery meat (beef, pork, or combo), fresh onions, cilantro, lime juice, salsa for about $0.90. I bought a pretty cool dress that I’m wearing right now as I type this blog entry. When the streets started turning more residential, we back-tracked and went toward the beach. That’s when we ran into all the cruisers almost butt-naked and sun-bathing. After listening to the waves, for about 20 minutes while a lady ran to find John an XL shirt, we made sure we had all of our new buys: a dress, 3 bootleg DVDs, and a mango.
We walked the beach to get back to the bus. But I got distracted by more food—this time it was a crunchy crepe with a really strong asiago-like cheese and Nutella (a chocolate-hazelnut spread). I’m not exactly sure what animal the cheese came from—I couldn’t read the wrapper. Quite amazing.
I stopped next to an artisan who was making hats out of a palm branch, a tribute to his father who taught him the art 5 years ago. I bought it for $5 and was the center of attention on the bus going back to the ship.
I almost got to the bus without buying anything else. But my efforts were fruitless. I was hit again by a very eager salesman who offered me a hand stitched, navy blue dress for $39 American dollars. I said, “No gracias (no thank you)” and slowly moved away, and he says—“You eh-speak-eh Spanish, no?” I said I did, but he needed to speak slowly. He spoke with such passion and told me how beautiful the dress would look on me and how he was so happy to see an American that spoke Spanish. Then he said—“For you, just because you speak Spanish, I will offer the dress for $20 American. Can’t get better!” I said, “SOLD!” It’s slightly sexy, so I’ll have to hold a prayer vigil before I wear it.
Last, but not least—dinner time!!! Today’s appetizer was cured Salmon which was RAW! I tasted it and thought I was going to gag, but it was too expensive of a cut of meat to gag on. So I scrunched my nose and slowly passed tiny pieces from my right cheek, across my tongue, down my esophagus. I kinda liked it, kinda didn’t. Grossed me out, and fascinated me. So I ate the rest of it. The entrée was turkey, wealthy-tasting stuffing with raisins, and pumpkin/yam something. Tasty as usual and whisking me further into bliss—which happens to be far from Winslow…
More tomorrow…
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