01.04.07 Day 17, Mexico Trip 1

Ixtapa/Zijuatenejo not my favorite place. As we arrived, I felt great relief in the site of multiple story buildings and large graphically composed billboards but as we got into the city and had to interact with the locals, I felt that I was going to start throwing punches. I am so tired of people trying to take advantage of us and myself especially since I am a gringa. You know what buddy- I understand every word you are saying and I know you are not nice. Don’t try to get one more peso out of me.

Helio, of course, did not make a reservation in Ixtapa although that has been the plan for like 3 months that we would go there after the New Year when the prices dropped. (he must have been busy) Well, the prices did not drop and the people didn’t go home. There was some random dude standing on the side of the road trying to hustle Helio into renting a room above Domino’s Pizza for $130. All the other hotel rooms were booked. We tried a few hotels ourselves to make sure and there wasn’t a space available. Mind you during our hunt I had a drippy nose kid sweating in what I swear is 150 degrees down here. And those who tell you “it’s not hot in Mexico bc it is dry heat”- they are liars, it is tropical, greasy and plain icky after a while. As we were leaving Playa Azul, the 5 people who we picked up on our way out to drop at the neighboring town kept saying, “oh you are hot bc you took a shower today, that always makes it more hot” What? I did indeed take a shower and I stood in that shower for like 15 minutes not knowing when the next one would come.

I thought we were going to make it off the island quickly and bc I was feeling a bit crabby with Helio was trying to wait out his goodbyes in the car- sweating. But then he returned and said, everyone is asking for Levi and wants to say goodbye to him. Thus, I had to go say goodbye as well. I was embraced by a few women and children I had no idea who they were, beautiful when you are slimy and they are slimy. Then to my great stress Helio announced we are going to take these three women and these couple kids to the next town. I had to turn around, I nearly started something with him right there. I think I muttered something out loud like “oh dear Lord” and rolled my eyes, I think it was obvious. Then as I tried to cram myself and Levi into the front seat and the five of them in the backseat with all my stuff, they went on and on about the seafood on the island. They asked if I had the shrimp there, I hadn’t. They then shoved one of the two bowls they had with them in my face and offered the spicy smelling shrimp they were bringing along. I declined. The other bowl had cut up raw fish in it. It smelled great in the truck after that.

I had a meltdown when we finally made it to a hotel in Zihuatenejo. It looked like the kind of hotel room that I imagine when I am reading books and people have lost all their money and are hitting bottom. Everything was made out of concrete, the bed base, the dresser, the closet, the walls- the window frame was painted on. I thought we had to pay $100 for that and when Helio said it was actually $130 I had him march right down there and ask for our money back. Of course, we didn’t get it. But I made them give us another room as our air didn’t work, there wasn’t an outlet for my big box fan I have been toting along, and we were put in a room with a huge neon sign of the balcony that said “Hotel Zihuatenejo”. The saddest thing about going to Ixtapa is that I am sure that it would be a great place to visit- with a freaking Reservation! I felt so relieved for like 20 minutes and then my world came crashing down on me. I am sure there was a McDonald’s there and I didn’t get any. I will have to wait until I get back to Minnesota or maybe there will be some in Cuernavaca. We are going there on Saturday and going back to Playa Azul on Monday.

After I called my mom and bawled my eyes out, I found an Internet Café. (I really do feel bad, I sat down on the bed, grabbed the clean towel that was left for showering, put it over my face and sobbed, Levi didn’t know what to do, he started crying too and I just couldn’t stop) Levi is so sick and very difficult to deal with bc of all his cold drainage, heat, and travel time in the car. I really feel bad for him. I discovered that indeed my friend Susan from London got her passport back from the London government, they had to renew it. She and Jonathan, her English boyfriend, are coming. In a way, I guess I did hit bottom in a seedy hotel, like so many novels I have read. I lost it and then found my friend Susan who is going to come and fill out my whole next week. She is amazing and so low key (we are total opposites on the hyper spectrum) she will be great to spend time with. We have been friends for like 15 years, she is the one who was our chaperon when Helio and I started dating and translated for us, and was in our wedding. So our plan is (bc I finally made a plan, I can’t take Helio’s aloofness anymore- or maybe a better word is footloose) We will go back to Playa Azul today (Friday) and either sleep in the car, at Bebo’s mom’s house, or in the hotel, then to Cuernavaca for Saturday and Sunday, then to Playa Azul for a couple days with Susan and Jonathan. Then to Jona for a couple days, on to D.F. for Friday- and then Sunday morning Levi and I board the plane for home. It makes me sad to leave Helio and the sun, but I can’t wait to just have a computer/internet at my disposal (Mexico doesn’t have three way plug outlets, so another tip, if you are traveling with a laptop, bring a plug to charge anything that may need it) and eat anything that is not wrapped in a tortilla.