Report # 938

Hey everyone, I hope that you all had a fantastic weekend. Friday was El Día de los Muertos here (Day of the Dead) so I decided to go to a cemetery and walk around and see what the day was all about. It was an interesting experience, especially as the cemeteries in Mexico are so fascinating. There was even a guy selling churros so I managed to buy one.

In the afternoon I went to a place called Obispado which is a place way high up with lots of flags and incredible views of all of Monterrey. It was my first time there so I really enjoyed it. I headed down and made my way back into the downtown part. I walked a lot during the afternoon and spent the evening with a friend named Fernanda.

We walked around Fundidora for a while and then had dinner at Chili’s. Afterwards we went to her place for a while and then to an Irish Pub as she had some friends there. We returned to her place and Arturo picked me up and took me to a party of his university classmates. I met some people but Arturo thought the party was dying, so we went to another place.

I saw Arturo’s friend Ana who I had met in March and we stayed there for a while before calling it a night. I can’t remember exactly what time we arrived home, but it definitely wasn’t as late as it was on some other nights. On Saturday I went to see a movie called viaje de generación, (Generation Travel) and it was complete garbage. Basically it was just one of those stupid spring break movies where students go to some resort town and do extremely dumb things.

I hadn’t picked an awful movie in a long time so I suppose that I was due. Arturo picked me up and we stayed at his house for a few hours before heading out to a party. We didn’t get there until after 1:00 am and really there wasn’t much there so we drove around to some other places in San Pedro, but Arturo didn’t find anything too interesting. Then he took me to a place he told me was full of “nacos” who he told me were people that are from other states who don’t have much education or money.

He told me I should leave my wallet in the car and really be careful, but I didn’t feel unsafe at the place. I could definitely see the difference from the places we had gone before. This club just had Tecate Beer and ranchero music, but it was an interesting experience. We finally headed home after and I went to bed and slept until around 11:00 am. I had to go for lunch yesterday afternoon and I was asking directions from the guy in the Oxxo store.

I headed out and a few minutes later a guy in an SUV pulled over telling me that he heard me talking with the employee and the place was super far. He offered to give me a ride and I got in and he told me his son had studied in my province, so that was interesting. I realize it’s usually not a good idea to get into the vehicles of strangers, but he didn’t seem like a bad guy….. I know that sounds so naive, but that’s just how I think.

I met my friend at the restaurant and we had lunch which I couldn’t finish all of as it was a giant lasagna. Afterwards I had some oreo cheese cake from a cake place and I was totally stuffed. In the evening I went with Arturo and his friend to a town an hour outside of Monterrey called Allende. Basically they just wanted to drive and walk around the plaza meeting girls. Sometimes it was embarrassing for me, but I just went along with them and talked to some girls.

His friend is very white looking and he told me in the past that he was from Kingston, Ontario and I believed him. He is a cool guy, but definitely nothing like me at all. I think in some ways he’s even more wild than Arturo. They were able to add a few people to Facebook so I suppose they accomplished what they were there for. We actually got home to the house before midnight, so it was the rare early night.

Today I will be going to Fundidora Park, and I really have to look for a place, I haven’t done that yet, but today or tomorrow for sure. I’m really hoping the company that I interviewed at last week gives me a call today or one of these days, it would be an amazing opportunity. Anyways, that’s all I have for today, so for the next question:

How do you usually meet new people ?

I hope that everyone has a fantastic start to the week. I’ll leave you all with my final set of pictures from Mexico City. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Thursday, bye for now.

Report # 937

After typing my last entry up I used the internet in the bus station for another hour until it was light outside. I then took a taxi to downtown Guadalajara and began exploring the city. I started just after 8:00 am and I was basically walking until after 4:00 pm, so an eight hour day minus maybe almost an hour where I stopped to have lunch. I started out by exploring the plazas and some of the cathedrals in the downtown area and I walked around for almost two hours.

I then walked to the metro train and found my way to Parque Azul, which is a big green space in Guadalajara with a butterfly sanctuary, birds, many tall trees, and man made ponds. It was very enjoyable and I liked the park a lot. I did have to cross the street to buy more batteries though as my rechargeable ones were completely dead. Dora called me to check up on me and I let her know that everything was just fine.

After exploring the park I wanted to find a big sculpture of arches. Unfortunately it was quite the distance from the downtown and transit lines, so it took me a while to get there. With the help of the bus driver I was able to make it there to take pictures, and with the help of a map I was able to make the long trek back to the downtown part of the city. I stopped through another small park on the way back and when I finally arrived I just stopped for lunch at a place called Terra Madre Café.

After lunch I went to another park and walked through it for half an hour, and then I made my way to some more plazas and cathedrals that I hadn’t seen in the morning. Surrounding these plazas were so many skeleton displays, each signifying something, such as end violence, education, and others more silly such as a hippie and a ghost. It was fascinating as I had never seen anything like these before. It took me a long time to find all of them as they were spread throughout the different plazas. I think I got all of them but of course I can’t be sure !

I wanted to explore inside the government palace, but I thought it would be a better idea to get back to the bus station to pick up my bags. I had to take the train and then another bus and then walk a ways, so it was quite the journey. I got back to the bus station and got my bags back and then a taxi driver took me to the airport to catch my flight to Monterrey. The taxi drivers are so interesting, sometimes they say nothing, other times they talk a lot and are super friendly, and other times they can be a little weird, so it’s always interesting to see who I get.

I arrived at the airport in Guadalajara about three hours before my flight, so I obviously would have had time to explore the government building, but it’s always better to be way early than a little late. Unfortunately in Mexico they don’t seem to take your check-in luggage and let you pass through the security gates until two hours before your flight. In all of the cities I’ve been to in Canada or the US they really don’t care if you arrive super early.

It’s kind of annoying here because these airports are small and they only have like 5 seats. However I survived and got through the gate and waited for the flight. I talked to a guy sitting across to me for a while as well. The plane ended up being a little late and once we all boarded I think we were all a little surprised how cramped the seats were.

I can’t remember being on a plane that cramped before. The guy sitting in front of the guy sitting next to me put his seat back a lot and it was almost touching the face of the guy next to me….. he complained right away ! On the plane I just had a sandwich, drink and cookie and we arrived in Monterrey around 10:45 pm. I had to wait quite a while to get my bag on the carousel but that was ok as I had to wait for Arturo to pick me up.

I waited another hour outside and Arturo arrived and picked me up and we headed back to his house. We talked for a while but we were both super tired so we went to bed. It’s great that I know Arturo and his family is allowing me to stay here. It definitely makes things a lot easier for me. I’m going to buy a newspaper super soon and start looking for potential places to live. I’ve just been kind of waiting and seeing what will happen with the job situation.

I had my first interview on Wednesday morning and unfortunately I got on the right bus number but the wrong direction. I was so confused I just ended up taking a taxi. I’ve learned my lesson on that mistake though and I won’t be making that again. My interview was for 11:00 am though I don’t think I started until around 11:40 am. A lot of these companies in Mexico have high security and they won’t let you in unless you sign the guest sheet and give a piece of your ID as you need to receive a keycard.

Finally a lady dressed as Amy Winehouse led me and some other people into a room to take some computerized tests. I can be 100 % certain I will never be led into a computer room by someone dressed like Amy Winehouse in my life ever again ! It was Halloween so a lot of people were in costumes. The computer test was pretty long and there were also questions about customer billing and numbers.

Afterwards I had to take the English test as well. I can say while a lot of the questions were super easy for me, some of them I was not 100 % sure, and I would think for someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language, it would be incredibly challenging. After finishing all of the tests I have to fill out a super long application booklet. I wasn’t too happy about that as literally all of the information I had to fill out on there was on my resume !

I was able to head home after that so I returned to Arturo’s house and relaxed for a while. He had to go to school in the afternoon but he invited me to come with him. There I met this guy named Ferdinando and he had to be the nicest guy in the world. He bought me a pizza and a drink and said if I need clothes or anything just let him know. Obviously I have lots of clothes though ! Ferdinando was introducing me to literally the whole department of political science students at the university (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León)

I even talked to some of the teachers for a while too. It was so interesting for me to attend university classes in Mexico and see how its different from Canada. There were five classes in a row, with five different professors up until 9:00 pm. Outside in the courtyard there was a huge Halloween celebration going on with super loud music and costume contests. It was super hard to hear anything inside the classsroom.

I think for that reason almost none of the teachers taught anything. The first teacher just watched some student presentations for 20 minutes before leaving. The next two teachers did literally nothing but take attendance. The fourth teacher just went over answers to a test, and the last teacher actually had the students reading some material for a while, though we still finished super early.

It was wonderful to talk to so many super cool people who were so friendly and it was just a great experience. At night time Arturo wanted to go to a Halloween party in San Pedro that was starting at 10:00 pm. We went to pick up a girl that we spent time with before and then we headed to the party. It was at a club called Queen and it was sooooo loud. I guess that shows I’m not a party person, I really don’t enjoy music loud enough that its hurting your ears.

Seeing as it was a Wednesday night Arturo didn’t drink anything, and the girl just had one drink. It was cool seeing all of the costumes though as some people did wonderful jobs dressing up. I wasn’t dressed as anything, though I was probably the only Canadian there so that must have counted for something. Arturo is always trying to talk to girls so he spent the night trying to get phone numbers, and I think he managed to get two numbers. We headed home after 2:00 am to drop the girl off.

Afterwards Arturo wanted to find out about an after party but thankfully we couldn’t find one. I was exhausted ! Unfortunately we were lost in Guadalupe for over half an hour navigating so many residential streets trying to find our way back to the freeway. We found a woman on the street corner who needed a ride home. She was very sad because she recently lost her father and it was going to be día de los muertos (Day of the Dead) here today.

We dropped her off at her house and we were able to find our way back to the freeway, head home, and finally sleep. I had to check my emails and do a few things on the computer before getting to bed, so I don’t think I was actually in bed until after 5:00 am. I had got an email from the company saying I passed the testing process and they want to see if I can come in for an interview, though I was much happier when I was woken up at just after 11:00 am yesterday by Rodrigo.

He has been the guy from the MSCI company that I’ve been emailing back and forth for so long. He told me a manager was in the office from California and that it would be great if I could make it in for an interview. I told him yes and he told me to come in at 5:30 pm. He gave me great pointers for the interview such as to research the company and its products, history, why I want to work there, and to ask questions.

He has been very helpful throughout the process. I went to Las Alitas, which is like a hamburger and wings place to have lunch. Everyone there was super friendly, but when I was leaving they were saying “Hasta Mañana.” I don’t know why, but a few of the employees said that. I have no plans on going there again today, so I’m not sure why everyone was saying that. Maybe it’s some sort of customer service thing to let everyone know they are welcomed back super soon.

After lunch I caught the bus in an effort to find a Telcel branch so I could finally get a phone number for Monterrey. I finally found a branch, but it was closed for renovations saying I had to go to another location. I was frustrated as I had an interview in just over an hour, but I was not sure that I could have time to find the other place. Luckily I found a bus that took me to the San Agustin mall and I was able to find a Telcel inside the mall and get my chip.

So finally I have a telephone number for Monterrey, now I just need to find a place soon. I took a taxi to my interview and it was in a gated business park with two giant towers that were both very new. There was an incredible view of all of Monterrey, and I thought to myself it would be an amazing experience to be able to work there. I was about half an hour early, so I just went over some notes I made and tried to prepare myself the best I could for the interview.

I headed inside the tower and once again I had to give some ID in exchange for a keycard. I took an elevator up to the 13th or 14th floor and I was greeted by Rodrigo. He led me into a room and got me a glass of water and then came in to ask me a few questions himself. Afterwards I met the office manager for the Monterrey branch, Karla. I interviewed with her for almost half an hour. She was very nice and I talked with her in Spanish for a few minutes as well.

She basically told me the office language is English, but its good that I am able to speak in Spanish as well. I think it was great I came prepared with three reference letters as that really helped out a lot showing the interviewers that I have done good work in the past. Finally I was interviewed by Sue, who is a manager from Berkeley, California. She started off by saying something like “you probably don’t know who I am.”

However I had learned that she was the manager from Berkeley and once I told her she asked if I had been to Berkeley before, and I told her in 2009 I spent a week there visiting a friend who was attending UC Berkeley and I toured Oakland and San Francisco too. She told me she was in Vancouver before and loved it, so it was nice to have that friendly little talk first.

Overall everyone was super nice and I really think I did my best. It would be the ideal job for me, corporate services assistant. It would be extremely high paced and very challenging, and stressful at times, but if I am given an opportunity I would definitely give it my all. I am really hoping for an opportunity as this is by far one of the more exciting jobs that I’ve interviewed for. After the interview Rodrigo told me that was all and that he would be in contact with me about the next steps. I did email him my cell phone number so he will be able to contact me that way.

After my interview I walked to San Agustin mall and went to Cinemex to see the new James Bond movie Skyfall. I had no idea that it was going to be out the 1st of November. I was thinking it would be closer to December. I enjoyed the movie as it had lots of action and suspense, though I thought the villain was a little bit weak. However a great movie and I recommend it to anyone who likes those types of action movies.

I talked with Dora after the movie and she was happy for me about the job interview and told me lots of positive things. It was great to talk to her. I had a hell of a tough time finding my way outside the mall, and once I did  had an even tougher time finding my way outside of the underground parking lot. I finally got outside and called Arturo and he told me about another party.

I never go to parties in Canada, and sometimes its fun to go to these things in Mexico as I usually talk to such interesting people, but I was still super exhausted from the last night. So eventually I told him I wasn’t feeling so great. He had picked me up from the mall and picked up some of his friends, but he did drop me back at the house at around 1:00 am, so I was able to get into bed before 2:00 am and sleep basically eight hours.

I’m not sure exactly what I will do today yet. I don’t know if I’ll hear back from Rodrigo today or Monday as it’s a holiday here for some businesses. Anyways I’ve typed enough, here is the next question:

What do you think about the decision to strip cyclist Lance Armstrong of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles ?

I obviously don’t know for sure if he used performance enhancing drugs or not, but clearly the highest level of officials believes he did and all I can say is it’s more sad than anything else. Someone who over came a fight with cancer to triumph so many times obviously gave so much hope and inspiration to so many people, and to find out now all of his accomplishments could have been because he cheated is tough to take for many people.

I can’t judge him because I just know what I read, but I will say there are so many people out there cheating in many different sports, and if these sports board members and anti-doping officials are going to start exposing cheats and throwing them under buses, they really have to make a strong effort to catch all of the cheats and shame them all equally.

I will leave you all with some more pictures from Mexico City. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.

Report # 935

I am spending my last couple of days here in Lázaro Cárdenas. I have purchased my bus ticket to Guadalajara and I will be leaving Michoacán at 10:45 pm on Monday evening. I’ll arrive in Guadalajara at 5:30 am….. thirteen and a half hours before my flight to Monterrey. This will give me plenty of time to explore the city of Guadalajara and take so many pictures. I will do some research online and find out what there is to see in the city.

I’m hoping I’ll get a strong enough internet signal on the bus so I can connect to the internet and post my Xanga entry in the morning, otherwise I’ll have to find an internet cafe or a signal for my laptop in Guadalajara. I don’t really want to spend my day there doing that though, so I’m hopeful I can get it done on the bus. On Wednesday I went to La Fragua to have lunch, and I ordered a chicken burger and fries as well as a milk shake. Definitely not the healthiest lunch in the world, but I enjoyed it.

The cook actually came out and spoke to me in English saying to me if the burger was too salty he would make me another one, but I enjoyed it. Wednesday was such a humid day as it got up to 35 C with the humidity. This day felt especially hot as the previous weeks didn’t quite get that hot. After experiencing that day I really can’t wait to get to Monterrey and enjoy some drier heat and cooler nights.

Dora stopped by the house Thursday at lunch time and we spent some time in the bedroom enjoying the air conditioning before going to the plaza to have Chinese food. Unfortunately 2:30 pm is not a great time to go to that place as they almost never have anything left. It didn’t help that there were two incredibly heavy people ordering practically the whole restaurant in front of us ! We just ended up leaving and on the way out we noticed a new Chinese restaurant but it was closed for the day. I definitely want to try it before leaving here.

Dora dropped me off at a super cheap restaurant where I had a burger and fries and drink for 45 pesos. ($ 3.45) Afterwards I walked home and had a relaxing evening. At night Dora and I went to a nice restaurant where we had eaten a few weeks ago to have a light dinner. I just had a chicken soup and some cheese and that was good enough for me. Dora came over on Friday and we spent an hour together at her lunch time before she went back to work. In the afternoon I went to Cinépolis to see a movied called Chiapas El Corazón del Café.

It was a great movie about a man and his wife from England who came to Mexico and purchased land to grow the perfect coffee beans. The movie was mostly in Spanish, though with lots of English, some Italian, and Indigenous languages as well. I headed home in the evening and Dora came over once again to spend some time with me and pick up a lot of the things that she had lent me while I was living here. She took the bus at night to go to Morelia to deal with some school things.

Dora will return tomorrow and we can enjoy our last full day together before I leave. It will definitely be sad, but I do have hopes for the future and I told Dora that we will see each other again and of course we’ll talk regularly. Today I went for a run in the morning and came home and had a shower and walked up to the coffee shop to find out that it was closed. I was disappointed as I really wanted some pancakes and eggs.

I walked further to another coffee shop and just had a frappuichino and a chicken sandwhich. It felt so refreshing and amazing sitting in that air conditioned coffee shop. I had to walk home through the heat and humidity afterwards, but as soon as I got home I went to the room and used the a/c as I worked more through my Spanish book. I have one more unit and I’m done the book after over a year. I will now have completed 3/4 Spanish books that I’ve bought.

While I have already studied most of the concepts that are in those books, they still teach me new things and it’s mostly about giving me written practice. Eventually I want to learn French and German, though I have so many things I have to accomplish now, the other languages will have to wait for a while. Later today I will have to clean this house as the landlord will come tomorrow hopefully to return my deposit. I will have to see if I can return the key to him on Monday as that is the day I will actually be leaving from here.

I’ve been following the election in the US and I still stand by my prediction from a long time ago that President Barack Obama will defeat Mitt Romney in a very close race. From what I’ve been reading it’s very, very tight, though Obama seems to have the advantage in the “key battleground states.” While Mitt Romney obviously did well in the debates, and clearly dominated the president in the first debate, re-energizing his campaign and giving it momentum, I think at least some voters will have been turned off by some of the stupid abortion comments by two republican senate hopefuls.

I’m not going to go through the time and effort to post what these two men said, but anyone who has not heard about their incredibly stupid, horrific and downright appalling comments can find them on Google. The republicans may have kissed their hope of winning back control of the senate good-bye, and I can imagine at least a few voters will push aside any consideration for voting for Mitt Romney as well. While Mitt Romney is obviously an incredibly talented businessman, he himself is known for making some pretty dumb statements as well, and I really don’t think he’s the right type of person to be a president.

He is always changing his opinions on issues and basically just tries to say what he thinks will help him capture the most votes. While all politicians are guilty of doing this somewhat, Mitt Romney is an expert. I found it funny that Obama has labeled his condition “Romnesia.” Now obviously there are a lot of people still struggling in the US and the hope and change that was promised back in 2008 has not helped everyone. So obviously Obama has not done perfectly and he has made some mistakes, but given the choice between him and Mitt Romney, I think Obama is the much better choice.

Women won’t have to worry about him taking away their rights and sending them back to the 1950′s, gays and lesbians can take comfort in knowing they have a president who will fight for their rights, and poor people won’t have to worry about hearing about someone who says he doesn’t care about them. So while there are a number of issues people can criticize Barack Obama on, I still believe more than 50 % of Americans will realize that between Obama and Romney, Barack Obama will be the better choice.

If somehow Mitt Romney manages to eke out a slight victory almost everyone around the world will be shaking their heads wondering what on earth the voters of the US were thinking, but at the end of the day the vote belongs to the American people and they have every right to choose who they want, just like people in their own countries have the right to vote for whoever they want. Of course I’m always fascinated by politics, and as frustrating it is to deal with polticians, elections are always exciting and I love following elections around the world in different countries.

I think we all should at least be somewhat interested in what happens around the world, and we should definitely all be interested in what is happening in our own countries. So I encourage all Americans to cast your vote as this is your chance to make your voice heard. Don’t let those people who died fighting to save democracy over the years have their lives lost in vain. Vote and then you have  a right to complain after if you like. And the same goes to anyone else in the world, if you have an opportunity to vote, as Nike says, just do it !

For the next question:

What are your thoughts on the US presidential election, do you have any predictions ? Do you ever follow elections or politics in other countries ?

Today I’ll leave you all with some pictures from Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Tuesday, bye for now.

Report # 934

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a fantastic week so far. On Sunday afternoon I walked up to La Fragua to have a frappuichino and something to eat. I had never seen this city so dead before. There was literally no one on the street and it was literally a ghost town. It was kind of nice walking in the afternoon and seeing how quiet and peaceful it was. Dora returned in the evening with some food from her son’s birthday party and it was delicious.

I went for a run on Monday morning and in the afternoon I went to Cinépolis to watch a French movie called The Intouchables. Originally I wasn’t planning on seeing this movie as I thought it would be difficult for me to watch a movie in French and reading subtitles in Spanish, but surprisingly I didn’t have much problem and there were only a few words I didn’t know. I am so glad I went to see this movie though as it was incredible.

It’s about a rich man in his mid 50′s who is sick and can’t walk or care for himself so he needs a personal assistant. He ends up hiring this young black man from Senegal and at first what seems to be a very unlikely match, they end up learning so much from one another and becoming great friends. The movie is super funny as well and I encourage anyone to watch it.

I certainly hope it has been shown in all of the english theaters in the world, because this is a wonderful film and I think most people would enjoy it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie wins an Oscar for best foreign language film. Of course in the last year I’ve seen a number of movies in Spanish, and now I’ve seen this movie from France, and I’ve really learned that there are some incredible movies from other countries and people who watch movies should really broaden their horizons and watch these films.

The point is that while there are obviously many great Hollywood films, Hollywood is only one part of the movie world, and there are so many fantastic films from other countries that we should all check out. I can say I’m glad I did and now I will definitely be open to watching many more foreign films as I can only imagine how many amazing ones there are some a number of different countries. One thing that has been kind of annoying at the movie theatre here is that the employees wait until almost the start of the movie before turning off the lights… that has to change !

Dora came over in the evening and we went to the Tejado to have dinner. Like all of the other times almost I ordered the Tortilla soup and Queso Fundido. Afterwards I had some chocolate and returned home completely stuffed. Last night Dora came over with pizza and coke from Dominos, and while it was absolutely delicious, I really have to stop eating all of this junk food, especially right before bed. Thankfully I’ve been running most mornings, but that doesn’t give me any excuse to eat bad food everyday.

Living by myself has been so different as there is never any cooked meals here. At home at least I had a cooked meal once or twice a week, but here literally never. I just don’t have the motivation to cook in this city as it’s always so hot and humid. I will be leaving here though on October 30 and going to Monterrey. This decision has been made for a while, but I didn’t get around to booking my flight until just a few days ago.

I will have to fly out of Guadalajara, so I’ll have to ride the bus for seven hours first, but depending on the time I leave Lázaro, this could give me an opportunity to explore Guadalajara for the day as my flight isn’t until 9:00 pm. Obviously I’m going to be sad leaving Lázaro Cárdenas and having to say good-bye for Dora, but I believe this move is best for me. Lázaro Cárdenas is a small city that is growing, and there are foreigners working here, but they’ve been transfered here by their companies from their own countries.

The truth is there are not many job opportunities here for a person like me. I tried the English teacher thing, and while the schools gave me opportunities to do conversation classes, I never got hired on as an actual teacher. And truthfully that’s not bad as I know I am not a teacher, and that is not what I would be best at. Yesterday I started applying for jobs in Monterrey, and within the afternoon I received three possible opportunities.

I have an interview for a representative position on October 31, and I have read that that company helps with visas. Another lady sent me an email telling me to let her know when I”m in Monterrey to set up an interview. And an investment company that is in 20 countries around the world emailed me saying they received my resume and that I seem like I could be a good fit. Personally I think that job would be the best as it’s a corporate job, and it would be an amazing opportunity for me.

So I have one interview set-up for next Wednesday, and I’m really hoping I’ll have a chance to talk more about the job with the investment company as it would be a wonderful administration job. The truth is there are so many possible opportunities in Monterrey, and I have known that for a while. There are always hundreds of jobs posted on the job sites, and for a person from another country like myself, it just makes sense that the opportunities are in the larger cities.

Dora is sad that I’m leaving, and of course I’m sad as well, but I told her that we’ll talk regularly and of course she can visit and depending on what happens in the future with my job situation, I could visit as well. I appreciate so much all of the things that Dora has done for me, and I’ve had wonderful times with her, but I just can’t afford to stay here doing nothing, and I need to go where the opportunities are for me, as I really can’t afford to fail with my plan.

So I’m cautiously optimistic now that I’ll here back from the other company, though I will certainly do my best with the interview I already have, and today I will apply for some more jobs. I can never give myself too many opportunities. I’m thinking I will leave Lázaro Cárdenas late night on October 29 as that will allow me to get into Guadalajara early and spend the day there exploring it. Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, so there would obviously be lots to see.

I will enjoy my final week here and make the most of it and prepare myself for the future to get myself working and see what happens from there. The future is uncertain, but I will do my very best to succeed and see what happens. For the next question:

Have you seen a foreign language film before ? What is your favourite one ? If not, would you be open to watching one ?

I’ll leave you all with some more pictures from Mexico City. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Saturday, bye for now.

Report # 933

Well I just paid 45 dollars to put premium plus on for another year. I never enjoy paying for that, but seeing as I’ve used this site for almost eight years and it’s allowed me to write so many things and post so many photos I guess I can’t complain having to pay something once a year. On Thursday evening Dora and I went to a nice restaurant in a hotel. There were two very white looking people having dinner and we both knew they weren’t Mexicans, but they weren’t speaking English either…. I believe they were Dutch !

Lázaro Cárdenas has people from all over the world working here as it’s a major port city so it’s not too hard to meet foreigners here. A lot of times they don’t speak any Spanish, but quite often there company is paying for them to take Spanish classes at one of the local schools. For dinner I had a cheese burger and fries, but it was a more upscale cheese burger with incredible flavour, so I was very impressed. Dora and I then shared crepes for dessert and we walked around for about 10 minutes to burn off at least a few calories before heading home.

Dora didn’t work on Friday so she accompanied me to Cinépolis where we went to see Paranormal Activity 4. Dora had seen all of the previous films but I hadn’t seen any, but I still enjoyed it. While the movie was far from an oscar worthy film, it managed to be both funny and very spooky at times (though very weird) as well so that’s about all the people can expect from a movie like that. The real reason I wanted to watch it was because there was only one other option this week, and it was a movie from France.

From what I was reading the film from France would have been a great movie, but it would have been a little difficult for me watching a movie in French and reading the Spanish subtitles super fast. One of these days I will get to learning French and German. I just wish I had more time to be able to do everything. After the movie I accompanied Dora to the dentist and then we drove back to the mall to pick up my laundry. We stopped at the Aroma coffee shop and had a very interesting meal.

Dora had a fruit smoothie and a hamburger and fries and I had a plate full of pieces of cheese and some waffles. It was a very odd dinner but it was good so that’s all that matters. Yesterday ended up being a super fun and adventurous day. Dora and I drove to Ixtapa which is about an hour and a half drive from here in the state of Guerrero. Dora wasn’t 100 % confident with her ability to get there, but she talked with her friend on the phone and we followed the signs and everything went great.

Once we arrived in Ixtapa we walked around for a while and had lunch at a restaurant called Casa de Morelos. I had a lasagna and tortilla soup and Dora had some shrimps wrapped in bacon and cheese. They were like the shrimps I ate by the beach in Lázaro, but here the shrimps were so much larger so I think the better deal is actually here, but they were still very delicious. We shared an icecream cup and then walked around some more. Thankfully it kind of clouded over so it wasn’t excruciatingly hot.

Ixtapa is such a tourist city and literally every block there was a kiosk with a person trying to convince us to get a hotel room, have dinner somewhere, or take some type of tour. While I’m sure some of the tours were amazing, we were just there for the day so unfortunately we didn’t have time to do any of the tourist stuff. it’s amazing how insistent those people can be though. And it doesn’t matter if a person doesn’t speak Spanish as they usually speak English too.

We found a beach called Playa Palmar and it was a beach open to everyone, so we headed back to the car to get our beach clothes and some sunscreen. I actually went swimming in the ocean and it felt great. The waves in Ixtapa are much calmer than in the beaches in Lázaro, and there are buoys out to warn people not to go past, so it’s a pretty safe beach for swimming. I swam out quite a ways and it got pretty deep so I headed back. I walked along the beach taking so many pictures.

The whole beach is filled with apartments, hotels and resorts. Ixtapa is such a commercialized resort city, whereas Lázaro Cárdenas, which has many beautiful beaches as well, is more of a industrious port city with huge significance in Mexico. It’s been very cool to see both places and the differences they have. I took some pictures for a couple on the beach and then I tried to get a few more pictures of the sunset and I headed back to where we had our beach chairs.

Technically we shouldn’t have been using the beach chairs or the shower by the pool as we weren’t guests of the resort, but no one said anything, so we got away with it. We left the beach when it was almost completely dark and we walked back to the car, passing more people still trying to get us to stay in a resort or take some sort of tour. I had noticed there was a Lilian’s Coffee which I went to with Dora in Morelia, so we stopped in there. Dora and I had no idea they had a location in Ixtapa, so it was a nice surprise.

We walked around for a while longer and finally headed back to the car to return back to Lázaro. It took us a while to figure out the route out of town, but we found some signs and it led us back to the highway and we were ok. There was hardly anyone on the highway, though at one point it started raining and you could see the steam coming up from the highway as the rain was cool and the roads were hot, so it was pretty neat to see. We got to a point where there were two directions to go.

One said “Lázaro Cárdenas Libre” and the other said “Lázaro Cárdenas Cuota.” Dora didn’t turn off so we ended on the “Lázaro Cárdenas Libre” route. This meant that it was free as there was no toll both to pass through, but apparently almost no one used that road. As we were driving on the road I could tell it wasn’t used much as it was narrow and dark and each side was covered with bushes. Dora started getting really nervous and telling me we should really turn around and take the other route as there were drug traffickers who steal cars on this route and that it wasn’t safe.

We stopped and Dora turned the car around and we found the way back to the other route. Dora definitely made the right decision, and if she says it’s dangerous I believe her, so it was much smarter to pay the 28 pesos and to take the highway route and stay safe. We got back to the house around 11:00 pm and went to bed and Dora left this morning as there is a birthday party for her son. I’ve already been for a run this morning and I’m just going to have a relaxing Sunday.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how in Mexico they have the military on the streets to protect civilians and fight the drug traffickers and their gangs. No one wants to have soldiers patrolling the streets, but I do believe in Mexico it’s a necessity right now and I can understand why the government decided to summon them. Basically life is still normal, just sometimes when you are walking on the streets you’ll see soldiers standing guard with their incredibly huge rifles, and at times you’ll see trucks passing by full of soldiers.

It was a little intimidating the very first time I saw this, but now I’m used to it and it’s just normal. I’ve never seen any of the soldiers fire their weapons once, and I’ve never witnessed any dangerous event in Mexico before, so I think it shows that having the military on the streets is making a difference. Unfortunately there has been a lot of violence in the country in general since 2006, but obviously it’s impossible to make any progress without any violence at all.

Maybe I’ve just been lucky having never witnessed anything negative before, but it does appear to me that the security situation in Mexico has been improving and I think that is a great thing as the people of Mexico have been through more than enough in terms of violence in the past six years. While obviously in many countries having soldiers in the streets is certainly not something that is needed, I think in some countries in the world they really do help bring law and order to the people and they are making a positive difference in their communities. So for the next question:

What are your thoughts of having the military patrolling city streets ? Is this something that you feel has a positive effect in the prevention and fighting of crime ? Or do you feel it shows a place has more the feeling of an ongoing war ?

Today I have some more pictures from my walk around Mexico City. I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Wednesday, bye for now.

Report # 932

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a great week so far. Monday afternoon was very difficult for me. I felt so weak and without energy it was almost paining me just to finish typing up my last entry and commenting everyone on Xanga. My hives had returned after running, and after taking another allergy pill I was just so tired and without energy. I lied down in bed at around 1:30 and rested for two hours after I almost wanted to throw up. After lying down for two hours I felt better.

I thought it would be good for me to try to get out of the house, so I went to Cinépolis in the afternoon to see the Bourne Legacy. I had seen the very first Bourne movie when I was 17, but nothing since then. It didn’t seem to matter as I still enjoyed the movie, though the ending showed that they will probably make another one in the future. Afterwards I came home and just relaxed the rest of the evening and went to bed very early. I slept almost 12 hours.

I didn’t go for a run on Tuesday as I wanted to have a very restful day and be sure the stupid hives wouldn’t return. I just watched some old Jackie Chan movies and basically stayed inside all day. In the evening there was a rain storm so I went outside and took in some fresh air. It felt nice and cool which is so rare for here so it was very nice for me. Dora came over in the evening and we just had a very relaxing night together.

I took a risk and went for a run on Wednesday morning and while it was a little tough I got back and had a shower and there were no hives. So I think I’ve finally got through everything. in the afternoon I walked up to Oxxo and just had a lunch soup. While I was eating some girls sat next to me and asked if I knew about some guy from New Zealand. We talked for about half an hour and then I went for a short walk and returned to the house.

In the evening I walked up to the close taco place on the side of the road to have something to eat and that was about it for the night. I was up a lot later last night, but after two days of sleeping well over 10 hours, I didn’t need too much sleep. Today I’m feeling a lot better and finally I’m super close to being back to 100 % health. I will go for a run soon and just have another relaxing day.

A few days ago I watched a Colombian movie and at the beginning of the movie was an anti-piracy advertisement that was incredibly cheesy. A family was sitting together and the older sister had told her mom she had purchased a pirated movie.And she was telling her little brother that he should study for his exam. He was telling her that it wasn’t important because he had the answer key.

He said that he didn’t steal it but he bought it. And then the younger sister was telling the old sister she basically had done the name thing with her movie.So a very cheesy commercial but it was funny to watch. For the next question:

Do you watch movies illegally on your computer under any circumstances ? Do you think this is a big moral issue, why or why not ?

In my opinion generally, stealing is stealing, however if it’s an old movie that has already made it’s money and has been put on the computer for others to watch, I really don’t think it’s a big idea if others choose to watch it. However I definitely think those people that are copying new movies and placing them on the internet get punished as they are breaking the law.

Today I’ll leave you all with some more pictures from Mexico City at Xochimilco where everyone goes and takes the boats on the river. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Sunday, bye for now.

Report # 931

Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. I had a very relaxing Friday and I didn’t do very much at all. In the evening I went with Dora to Cinépolis to see Looper, which was a movie about some time travelling assassins. The interesting thing I can remember seeing a movie just a couple of years ago called Jumper, and if I remember instead of Loopers they were called Jumpers, but I think they just teleported, I can’t remember if they travelled through time. So maybe the movies aren’t too alike afterall.

I was feeling a lot better by Saturday but I didn’t want to work myself too hard so I didn’t go for a run. Dora and I went to a nice restaurant called Las Trojes and I ordered some tortilla soup, but unfortunately it was way too spicy. I ate it all but I probably shouldn’t have. Usually the soup is really good, but I’ve had tortilla soup that is too spicy before and it’s just difficult for me to eat. I had some spaghetti after and that was amazing though. Before leaving Dora and I changed tables and watched the live music for about an hour.

Yesterday I went to La Pacanda to have breakfast with Dora. I had some ham and eggs and pancakes. In the afternoon we drove to Playa Azul and we sat at a restaurant by the beach for a few hours. We shared a lobster plate and while it was somewhat tasty, the plate was drenched in some spicy sauce and it I really didn’t like that. I just wanted to try lobster as I’ve never had it before, though I learned it’s just not worth it. Even if it wasn’t drenched in some super spicy sauce, it just doesn’t make any sense to pay a lot for something that doesn’t include much meat.

After lunch we wanted to go swimming in the pool but seeing as most places there don’t take cash, we went to an ATM machine to take some out. Dora tried first and it didn’t work so I tried next and it did’t work so I think the machine was out of money. I had enough money to buy Dora a swimsuit anyways so it wasn’t a big deal, but after we bought the swim suit we had no money to pay the 20 peso per person entrance fee to get into the pool. We walked back to the car and luckily Dora had some bills lying around so we had enough money to go swimming and buy some drinks.

At the pool I saw the taxi driver that I’m always seeing around. Running into people in this city really is super easy. The water temperature was great and it was great to swim for over an hour. Unfortunately after getting out of the pool I realized I was breaking out in hives. (a rash) This happens to me sometimes when its hot outside. I had small breakouts of the hives while I was in Calgary. I’m not sure what causes it exactly, but for me it has something to do with the hot weather, chlorine, and sunscreen.

The majority of the time nothing will happen to me, but I go through some periods that I break out in this rash. The one yesterday looked a little different than usual as it was more splotchy, and didn’t really itch at all. I was fine as we headed towards home though. On the way home we stopped at an overpass where some people had pulled over to watch the crocodiles. Down below there were people at the beach going right near the water and actually feeding them. I really couldn’t believe there were actually people in the water getting super close to the crocodiles.

I could see one guy actually touching a crocodile for a bit, though when the crocodile reacted, the guy ran off a ways. Standing from the overpass I could see almost 20 crocodiles swimming in the water, it was an area where the lake eventually leads to the ocean. Seeing all of the people there I could definitely tell that crocodiles really fascinate people. And I myself was probably more fascinated than everyone else as I had never seen crocodiles in nature before. I took all of the pictures I can, though it was hard to get a super great one of the crocodile itself.

Dora dropped me off at home and came back later with some hamburgers. I took some allergy pills and when I woke up in the morning my skin was a lot better. I decided to go for a run seeing as I had gotten through my cold and the hives had mostly gone. I went for my run but unfortunately that brought the hives back so I guess whatever it is in my system isn’t out 100 % yet. I had a shower and took another allergy pill and while the hives have gone down again they are still here. at the very least it’s not the super itchy kind so I’ll be ok.

It’s just unfortunate finally after getting through that nasty cold I had now I feel super tired and don’t have any energy and I’m dealing with this. I think after I’m through typing this all up I’m going to lie down for a while. Anyways for the next question:

Which animal would you like to have an opportunity to see in it’s natural habitat ?

I will leave you all with some pictures from Mexico City. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Thursday, bye for now.

Report # 930

So I’ve been sick the last couple of days. Actually Dora has been pretty sick too, but she actually didn’t come over for three days. I still have managed to catch something though it’s been different than what Dora has been going through. Dora has been coughing a lot and a sore throat and I’ve had more of a fever. I was fine on Tuesday as I walked to a cafe in the evening to have something to eat. Even on Wednesday morning I felt good as I went for a run.

By Wednesday afternoon my body was feeling a little weak and by the night time I had trouble with my temperature as I was hot and cold. Dora came over so it was good to not have to go through it all alone. On Thursday morning I had a big headache and my body was weak and I still had lots of problems with my temperature. I took an aspirin at around 7:00 am and after almost an hour of struggling with being too hot or too cold, I fell asleep and managed to stay in bed until 11:00 am.

When I woke up my headache was pretty much gone, though the rest of the symptoms were the same. Dora came over around lunch time and brought me 3 dishes of jello. I ate one of the strawberry ones and it was delicious. I didn’t do much of anything throughout the afternoon, and in the evening I watched a Colombian movie called Rosario Tijeras about a woman assassin….. I watch some crazy movies sometimes ! I really wasn’t feeling well later on in the evening so I lied down and was half asleep when Dora arrived.

She had more dishes of jello and some types of juice and coconut water. I am so lucky to have Dora doing all this for me and bringing me pills to help with a fever. I would be feeling a lot worse now if it wasn’t for all of her help. Dora insisted that I eat something and drink the full bottle of coconut water, but I had brushed my teeth and I really wasn’t hungry. I promised her that this morning I would eat something and finish off the coconut water.

The pills I took made me sleepy, and I sweat during the night, but that must have been releasing myself from the fever or something I’m not sure. I definitely feel better today and this little fever is on its way out of my system I am sure. Normally I go to the movie theatre on Friday and see whatever new film is out, but I think I’ll wait another day as it’s probably not a good idea for me to be stuffing down tons of popcorn and coca cola yet !

For the next question:

What is the sickest that you’ve been in your life before ? How did you get through that experience ?

Usually I just have very small colds that are so easy to get through, but this one has been a bit more challenging, though certainly nothing serious. The one time I was extremely sick was around Christmas 2010 when I got food poisoning and I was throwing up regularly. Finally after being convinced to go to the doctor and taking some pills and types of drink I would feel better in two days.

I will leave you all with my final set of pictures from Hermosillo. I hope that everyone has an amazing weekend. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Monday, bye for now.

Report # 929

I just got back from another morning run. I missed yesterday, but I have gone pretty much 7 out of the last 8 days so I’ve been doing pretty well. I had a pretty lazy day most of Saturday though I did get out in the afternoon and go for a walk. I found this amazing place that I got a double cheeseburger, fries, and a drink for 45 pesos. ($ 3.42) A price like that is basically unbeatable. I picked up a frappuichino at the cafe and stayed inside enjoying the a/c for a while before heading home.

In the evening Dora came over and we went to a nice restaurant for dinner. I had Queso Fundido and a type of soup. We shared a strawberry icecream dish for dessert and we headed home after. Dora has felt pretty sick lately so I hope she feels better super soon. I haven’t seen to catch anything so I’ve been really lucky. On Sunday we went to another restaurant and once again I had Queso Fundido, this time with a garlic and egg soup. It was delicious, though I really have to stay away from all that melted cheese for a while.

Afterwards we took the car to the car wash and we tried to go to a cafe, but they were closed on Sunday. Dora wasn’t feeling so well so she headed home and then I walked home as well and relaxed for a while. I watched an old Jean Claude Van Dame movie from the 1990′s. (The Quest) I always enjoy those martial arts types movies even if there isn’t too much story to them. Dora came back over on Sunday evening and we walked around the central part of Lázaro Cárdenas for a while.

We went to a place and bought some juice and it was really sad as there was this girl probably only 5 years old walking around barefoot wanting us to buy her something or give her money. There was another boy as well, maybe her brother, and he might have even been younger. Dora told me their parents basically get them to do that, but either way it’s incredibly sad, especially knowing these kids probably don’t get to go to school. These are the kids that the government here needs to be helping and if they are unaware of this issue the politicians are completely blind.

I stupidly ordered a super cheap hamburger, and not like the one the day before, this was just a super cheap flimsy piece of meat and if it was any smaller it wouldn’t have existed. Not all the people selling food on the streets have great products. We wanted to go see a movie, but we couldn’t really find anything playing that we wanted to see so we just called it a night. I got up at 8:00 am on Monday morning as I had a job interview at another language school.

I met with a guy there and he was very friendly and the interview went well. He said he will talk to his boss about me and things about the visa, so I will have to wait and see what happens. Afterwards I walked quite a ways down the street and stopped at the cafe that I wanted to go to with Dora the other day when it was closed. It was a great place and I enjoyed a vanilla frappuichino and pancakes. I’ll definitely have to take Dora there !

I had a pretty boring day the rest of Monday aside from walking up to the Oxxo for a while to have a snack. I learned that convenience store donuts imported from another state really are disgusting, though I probably should have known that beforehand. So I will get through the next few days and find out if I hear anything back from the school, and if not I’ll definitely have to have a talk with Dora and tell her what I am thinking.

I’ve been drinking a lot of water while I’ve been here as it’s a hot climate and I’m usually thirsty. I’ve also drank a lot of gatorade. It’s refreshing and I’ve been putting it in the freezer as it never would freeze, though this morning there was a giant piece of ice inside so I’m not so sure what happened this time ! Water is definitely the most important thing to be drinking, and when it’s super cold and fresh with ice cubes it’s incredible.

Though here I have to buy the water, and there are no ice cubes…. I really miss the water and ice cube machine in the fridge at home. A lot of people seem to not enjoy drinking water because of the taste, but to me it’s clear and refreshing and at times I want to drink water more than anything else. I’ve known people who drink coke like it is water and that can’t be a good thing. I really don’t think coke or any soft drink is actually very good at helping someone who is super thirsty.

And of course there is the drinks people have for energy such as gatorade, powerade, or more recently the energy drinks. Energy drinks I refuse to drink. I’ve never tasted one in my life and I never plan on it. To me energy drinks are dangerous and in terms of a beverage, for me they are as banned as alcohol in my system. I’ve never enjoyed hot drinks such as coffee or tea, but as most people probably know I’m addicted to great frappuichinos.

As if anything too much of a certain drink is not a good thing. Too much alcohol and you have a drunk alcoholic, too much energy drinks, and you have someone so wired they are out of it naturally and can’t sleep and who knows what else. Too much soft drinks and your teeth start to feel the effects of all that sugar going through your mouth everyday. Too much dairy products causes all sorts of problems for some people. And too much coffee ends up causing much more harm than good to a person’s body.

And with me the frappuichinos, a lot of times they don’t have much if any caffeine, but I know I’m drinking a lot of sugar and fat. And even too much water I’m sure can be a bad thing too. So like anything else we just have to do everything in moderation. We can all enjoy the drinks we like to enjoy, but at a reasonable level. If we start not feeling so well on a fairly regular basis, there is a good chance that it has to do with what we are drinking. So for the next question:

What do you prefer to drink normally ? Have you ever had issues from drinking too much of something ?

I will leave you all with some more pictures from Hermosillo. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Friday, bye for now.