July 21, 2013

• Report # 1024

  Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a wonderful weekend. It’s already been a full week since I’ve arrived in Mexico, and I’m on my fourth full day in Monterrey, so the time really has flown by. I still haven’t accomplished the most important thing in terms of going to the migration place and finishing the visa process, but I really think I will be able to do that on Tuesday. On Thursday afternoon Arturo dropped me off at a plaza with some cell phone places and I went to a Telcel place and looked around at some phones. Since I was told before that my cell phone from Canada could not be unlocked, and I really didn’t want to go back to using that old Nokia phone that Dora had given me, I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy Mini 2.

  It’s such a nice small phone and lighter than most of the other phones I had before so I really like that about it. I will be able to just put 100 (8 dollars) pesos on it when I have to so I didn’t have to worry about any of the contract stuff. It actually took a long time in the Telcel place as there were many people, and to tend to each customer took like 20 minutes, so it was quite the process. Later in the day I went to see a Nicolas Cage movie called Stolen about a guy who was arrested for bank robbery, and comes out of jail ready to turn his life around only to have to go back to that life to save his daughter who was kidnapped by someone from his past. I had never heard of the movie before going there, but it was very entertaining.

  For lunch I just went to Carl’s Jr. and it started pouring soooo hard. The streets were flooding in a matter of minutes. Earlier I had went to Soriana as well to buy some of the items that the airport woman threw in the trash. I came home around 8:30 pm, and Arturo arrived a little later. He wanted to go out to some clubs so I said that I would go. I’m never a huge fan of these nights, but seeing as he has always allowed me to stay with his family I figure it’s the least I can do sometimes. We picked up some friends of his, one of them oddly who lived in Santa Catarina in the very same apartment complex that I stayed with Pili two and a half years ago.

  We went to a number of clubs, but seeing as it was a Thursday night, there obviously wasn’t as many people out as there would have been on a Friday and Saturday. I didn’t actually see Arturo or the other guys talk to any girls either so the night was kind of a waste. One girl started dancing with me for like a few seconds, but she left so fast I didn’t have enough time to say anything. I probably seemed way too boring as I was just standing there while everyone was dancing ! And like always we didn’t get home until incredibly late. After dropping off the two friends, it had to be almost 6:00 am by the time we were home. Not surprisingly I was in bed until 1:00 pm !!!

  Once I was finally up I started looking for places to live, and I found an ad for a person looking for a roommate. I would have to pay 2,750 ($227) pesos a month, with extra for internet,gas, electricity, but it would be an actual apartment, and not just a room. This will be more than the 2,000 pesos I paid for the room last time I was in Monterrey, but I will be able to buy and store food this time. This means I won’t have to go to the restaurants everyday. And really from my calculations, I was paying over 200 pesos a day on food before most days, obviously an unsustainable number, so paying a little more a month on renting a place is certainly worth it since I’ll be avoiding all of those restaurants.

  So the girl on the phone explained to me that I could go and see it with her at 6:00 pm on Monday. From what I read it’s been mostly renovated, and the girl posted that she looked a lot and it’s a place she liked, so that’s why she said she would take it, even before she had found a roommate. So if everything goes well, I’ll be able to get that place, which would give me an address in Monterrey, and then I’ll be able to go to the migration place, finish the visa process, call the lady from the company, and hopefully be given a date when I can start to work. I’m hoping that everything will work out well. Things are taking a little longer than I had wanted, but it’s not easy just to pack up and move to another city, let alone another country, so some things will take time.

  I went to Cinépolis again on Friday and that time I saw The Lone Ranger. I had read that the movie really did poorly at the box office, but I don’t know why. I thought the movie was hilarious and very entertaining and I would certainly recommend it to anyone. The cashier at Cinépolis asked where I was from and said I had very good Spanish so I liked to hear that. It’s always cool when people ask where I’m from, though I guess it means it’s a bit too obvious that I’m not from Mexico. I had lunch earlier at Cabo Grill, which I hadn’t actually been to since the only time I went, back when I was first in Mexico in December 2010. When I was living here the last four months in Monterrey from November-March, there was never a Cabo Grill close by so I never had went. Basically it’s a place that specializes in seafood tacos, so it’s very good.

  The weather in Monterrey has certainly been cooler than I had expected, but that is a good thing. The days have been mostly cloudy and between 28 and 32 C (82-90 F) I was expecting super hot weather closer to 40 C (like 100 F) when I got here, but most of the days have been very cloudy, with some rain storms and lightning and thunder. I guess this is kind of normal for Monterrey in July, and it is really nice because I can’t imagine people wanting scorching hot super sunny days the whole summer. The people have told me last week was super hot, so I missed that heat wave, though there will be another one coming I’m sure.

  Yesterday I had to move myself to a place that rents rooms as Arturo and his family went to Cancun for a few days. I will stay here a few nights until I can get into that apartment. Luckily it’s in the same area so I will see if I can walk to the apartment today so that I know where it is for tomorrow evening. After arriving at this place yesterday I just spent the afternoon uploading lots of pictures, and I went for a walk later. I was able to find a laundry place to get a week worth of laundry done, and I stopped at Super Salads to have lunch, and later on in Starbucks. Once again the lady in Starbucks wrote my name on the cup like “Cail” but that always happens here so it’s not surprising.

  As I headed home it started pouring with lightning and thunder, but the house was pretty close so I didn’t get too wet. On Friday night I had dinner with Deyla, the girl who picked me up from the airport. We just went to the Las Alitas by Arturo’s house. She called me at 9:30 pm, and said she would be there by 10:00 pm, so I had a shower and made it there as quickly as I could, but I was a bit late. I also forgot the t-shirts I had bought for her in Vancouver. We had a very nice dinner and I really enjoyed spending time with her. She drove me back to Arturo’s house which was just like two minutes away and I was able to run in and quickly give her the t-shirts I had got her.

  Arturo can be so funny sometimes as he has said to me if I don’t date her if I could give him her number as he thinks she is very good looking girl. I like her as she is very nice and sweet though we just spent one day together, so I have to spend lots more time with her hopefully and see what happens. I haven’t actually called her before, and she said that she always called me, which is true, but I did send her messages yesterday. I just always worry about bugging people at the wrong time, but I will definitely give her a call today and see how she is doing.

  In the last few months I read a lot in Vancouver and some other cities about bike lanes. I think it’s great that many city councils are working to make their cities more bike friendly, though these lanes are often controversial as they cost a lot of money to create, and sometimes make the traffic even worse. I do think it’s important to be encouraging people to leave their cars when they can and look into alternative modes of transportation such as cycling, transit, and walking when possible, but clearly these modes of transportation are just not possible for some people.

  So instead of governments forcing cycling lanes on people there needs to be a better way to work together and create cities where solutions are met for citizens who use the different types of transportation, not trying to cater to just one group of those people. I’ve never really been a fan of cyclists riding on the streets with cars, as I’ve though it’s incredibly dangerous, so having special lanes further away from the traffic makes more sense. Of course this has to be done in a manner where the city councils consult with local businesses and residents and study any possible impact from the installation of bike lanes.

  If these lanes are installed in a way where everyone feels like they have been consulted and have had their opinions heard, there will certainly be a lot less controversy and angry people, and that just makes for a better state of community. And even the people who can’t use the bike lanes for whatever reason for their commutes, could use them on weekends with their families and it really could be a win-win situation for everyone. So while I certainly think it’s great that so many cities around the world have done a lot in terms of being more “green” it’s important that the concerns of all the citizens are met and that any sort of special project that costs millions of dollars isn’t shoved down the throat of taxpayers. If city councils ignore this advice, chances are they’ll be looking for a new job after the next election !

  For the next question:

  What are your thoughts on bike lanes being installed in cities ? Do you see this as more of a positive or a negative thing ? Would you ever use them ?

  That’s all I have for today. I will leave you all with some pictures that I took from Puebla. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Wednesday, bye for now.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  • 12:42 pm
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