Mi amigos en Mexico

My bestest friends from fair Canada came to Mexico for a visit and I think it's fair to say that a good time was had by all. I guess it's pretty easy to lure friends and family to Mexico as opposed to uh, well... other places that are not luring. My friends came to see the sights and see them they did. Fresh juices, Mezcal, tacos, fishes, fruit, dancing, and long second class bus rides in which you have to push start your own bus and be sat upon were all enjoyed/endured. One unique thing was that we went to a protest in support of the newly ousted Mayor of DF, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. This guy seems to be loved by many of the regular folk here and despised by the few industializers who don't like his "liberal" politics. He's seen as a man of the people and to his credit he's seen fit to spend scads of money on social services and infrastructure during his tenure. Right wingers don't like him because he wastes too much money, doesn't give enough to private enterprise blah blah... but it seems as if he's a lot more concerned about what Chilangos (Mexico Cityites) think than many politicians of years gone by. IE: he hasn't gunned down any student protests etc. Anyway, there were apparently hundreds of thousands people at this protest and some colorful displays of political unity and drive. Mis amigos spent the a week drinking and partying and generally seeing the sights and braving the street food and metro system. They would come home tired every day with sore feet and burbling stomaches, but who doesn't? I think, diarrhea notwithstanding, they had a good time. There's a phrase you don't hear so often.







As we walked toward the centre of the Zocalo the crowds increased. By the time we arrived, it was impossible to enter the Zocalo. All the streets leading to it were packed and people were pouring out as there was no more room. Here's a picture of one of the many intricate floats in the parade. I'm not totally sure what the Trojan Horse made of apple crates was saying, but it's pretty cool.





We journeyed to Oaxaca city once again and met more friends there and we all headed to the coast to Mazunte where we had rented a palapa for the rest of the week. We then proceeded to drink, eat, sunburn in the intense heat and generally laze around on the beach. This is near Puerto Escondido which is a popular surf and tourist destination. The climate is very hot and dry for most of the year and the coast is dotted with great swimming and surfing spots. We saw sea turtles, dolphins, numerous dogs and drunken euro-hippie types. The food was delicious and the hospitality great.





If you don't use sunscreen here you are insane, nonetheless, we all got burned. We went to a mangrove where we saw a croc repopulating farm and some dolphins again. Anyway, I'm still kinda angry I didn't get more and better photos of this trip but it was fun and everyone got a chance to relax. I hope we can do the same again soon....