the beach

(yesterday - Thusday 14 August)
Got up and went for breakfast. Not the greatest and went back to the hotel and asked if there was a laundry.

side note:
Don't remember what I said regarding laundry. In Veracruz there is a laundry place near my hotel and Lonely Planet says its open from 8 am till ??. So I went at 8 (being smart I went without my dirty laundry) and they were closed. Went back at 9 and they were closed. Went back to my hotel and asked for a laundry and they directed me to the same place - I said when do they open and she said 10. Went back and they were closed, went to the business next door and they said they open more or less when they feel like it - they really don't have regular hours. She offered if I had my clothes there to drop them off when (or maybe if) they opened. I said thanks and said screw it. I remembered in my toilet kit I had some small packets of tide - so I washed by hand in the sink 3 changes of t-shirts, socks and underpants.

They gave me directions and I found it - so went back and dropped off my clothes (will pick them up this afternoon. Went back to the hotel, paid for friday night, left my backpack and went to the beach (20 minutes max - 10 P) by bus.

The beach is not pretty. Its got garbage issues. Parts are clean and pleasant, other parts aren't. There is a power plant a several miles down the beach and the Tuxpan River empties on the other side. Its a minor port but there is still some river traffic. All that is really needed is a couple of employees and it would be really nice. The water seemed clean enough and it really is charming since it was completely empty of tourists - there was me and only me near as I could tell.

I got off at the end of the bus run and started walking down the beach thinking to myself, 'where the hell are the hotels'

note: use of the word hotel in latin america is different than in the USA. A hotel might only have 10 rooms, but it is a hotel. We think of hotels as big.

I was under the impression there was several. This gal walked up to me asking if I wanted to rent a table (more on that later) and I said, "no, I need a room for the night". She said, "follow me, my mom rents rooms". So I went with her and rented a room for 300 P (my most expensive night). There were 3 rooms above their restaraunt. I had a shower, toilet and a bed - not bad.

As we were walking to her moms place we were talking and she asked me where I learned spanish. This question always makes me feel good - I can speak another language. Of course, maybe she was thinking, boy does his Spanish suck - I wonder who taught him such crap.

Afterwards I took a walk down the beach and stopped at a place for a beer and water. There was an old fart there selling lemons to the owner and he decided to drink a beer with me. Normally I would enjoy this as I like meeting the people. However I could not understand a word he said. But we were lifelong buddies apparently, so I ended up drinking beer with him for at least 1 1/2 hours - understanding virtually nothing. (hmm, I wonder what she meant by, "where did you learn spanish"?)

After he left I had a shrimp coctail (my new favorite food) and then headed back to my place.

The remaining part of my day was spent chatting with the family or dozing on the hammock. I spent probably 4 hours or more talking with the owner, 2 daughters (including the one that took me to the place) and a son in law. These are the memories that I most cherish about traveling - shooting the shit in Spanish with the locals. The most interesting conversation was with the son in law. His impression of Americans is that they come down to Mexico but have no use for Mexicans. Arrogant was a word he used. He said that I am the only American that he has met that wants to talk to the locals - I wonder where the expression 'ugly american' came from. Its really a shame as yesterday was the most interesting day that I spent in Mexico - I need to spend more time getting off the beaten path.

For dinner I decided on shrimp coctail. But the owner also gave me 2 fish fillets - they weren't the greatest but it was nice of her (maybe she felt guilty for charging me 300 P when she found out I wasn't your average gringo).

After the sun went down (8???) I went for a quick swim, had another beer and went to bed.

Took a run in the morning, had breakfast and headed back to Tuxpan. Got back around 10.

Went to the bus station and the only bus to the border (Matamoros) is at 8 pm so I bought a ticket to Tampico that leaves at 8:18 am. Will decide what to do once I get to Tampico.