A Day for Organising & Exploring!!

26th APRIL 2009 - SHARING WITH A PSYCHO, MASKING UP, ORGANISING & EXPLORING!!!
The nights sleep did not go too well. I kept waking up to a girl who kept coming into the room and talking at the top of her voice with no consideration for those of us who were in bed. I assumed she was on the phone and on her 3rd time of entering the room at around 3.30am, I was getting rather niggled by it!! I was going to say something until I opened one eye and saw the size of her. She would have eaten me for breakfast and when she turned around her face resembled what could only be described as a bulldog chewing a wasp. I know I sound harsh but it was the truth! Nat totally agreed!! I kept quiet fearing for my life and continued with my sleepless night! Not good considering that we had not got much sleep the previous night due to flying. I could tell that I was going to be tired and grumpy that day!!

I got up at 8ish as did Nat and we headed down for the free breakfast. Nat had struggled with sleeping too and we discussed the girl who kept coming in. Nat said she never went to bed...strange! Speak of the devil…she was sat at a kitchen table. Talking very loudly again but not on a phone. She was talking to herself. She kept saying the same things over and over on repeat. It was quite scary really especially the content of her conversations which were about death, weddings and blood. Kept swearing and raising her voice as if having an argument. Really not safe to be in a hostel and needed to be sent to the hospital. I did not like to think that we were sharing a room with her.

Breakfast wasn't nice either. Toast was ok but the butter was sweet. It tasted like treacle on bread...yuk!! I managed to stomach a couple of slices before going back to the room to get showered and ready for the day. The crazy girl followed us up...still talking about the same stuff to herself. Not good!! She climbed into a bottom bunk when the girl who had been sleeping there left. Her bed was a top bunk but she couldn't get up, hence the reason why she was up all night. Glad it wasn't my bed she had climbed into.

Once ready we set off out. We walked to the metro station. Loads of people in masks including us...the guy at the hostel had given us some to wear. It wasn't a nice feeling...very claustrophobic as you were constantly blowing warm air on yourself. Better than getting pig flu I suppose. The tube ride was interesting in itself. Sellers got on and off at each stop selling all sorts from clorets to pens. My favourite sellers were ones that came on and played music out of their backpack...trying to sell CDs. I wouldn't like to think that I was having to do that for a living. Then again...I may have to try it on the trains when I get home if I can't get a job! We changed lines 3 times and successfully navigated our way to the bus station. We had hoped that the tourist information stand would have been open but no luck...closed due to the pig flu! We went in an internet shop and decided to do our own research about how to spend our time. We decided upon the following plan of action:
Teotihuacan Village
Puebla
Oaxaca
Palenque
Merida
Cancun
Cozamel
Tulum
All in 2 - 3 weeks. We were going to be very busy. From there we went and booked a bus to Puebla for the 28th April 2009. Not sure how we managed it as no one spoke English and we certainly didn't speak Spanish. Hand signals were the best method of communicating and I even tried speaking a bit of French and kept saying Oui instead of yes. Not sure how I thought that would help but you know...if English fails then try another language. Nat just laughed at me and the Mexicans gave me a few funny looks but I didn't care. We were getting by and that’s all that mattered! Once we were satisfied that we had a plan and were organised we navigated the tube back to the hostel. Successful day so far!!

At the hostel we spoke to the guy on reception and I asked for a locker key for the room. He said that they did not have a key for that room but we could move rooms if we wanted. Even better...away from the crazy girl and a locker! We took the key and moved our stuff to our new room straight away. The crazy girl was still in bed talking to herself and the room smelt!! The mask may come in for other uses as well as the pig flu!! Once sorted in our new room we headed back out and into the small town nearby. It was Sunday and so the market was on again. We strolled around the stalls and then sat in the sun for a while. Some music playing and a few locals were having a good dance to it Mexican style. Fun to watch and something you would never get at home. Watched another entertainer as well and though he had a massive crowd around him, he picked us out straight away and asked where we were from. Weird to think that we stood out as being foreign that much in a big group of people. At lunch time we went in the fruit and veg market and sat at a stall. We ordered a Toastada with Pollo. Again...not really sure what we were getting and was more of a case of point and hope. It wasn't really the best. Chicken in some sort of dark paste with sour cream and cheese. It was more the colour of the paste than the taste that put me off...it was so dark!! It doesn't sound bad and I ate it but I never want to repeat the experience again...ever!! We then navigated the fruit market and bought some fruit and some veg and rice for tea. We did really well again with the communication thing...point, shrug and smile....worked every time!!

Once we had done at the fruit market we strolled around the town some more before heading back to the hostel. We sat in the courtyard for a while writing our journals in the sun. Very hot and really nice place to sit. Reminded me of being in a Spanish villa. As it got darker we went to the room to lie down for a while. I fell asleep for half hour. A girl from the Czech Republic came in. She had also been moved from the room we were in earlier and said that they had sent the crazy girl to hospital and were now fumigating the room. I know it smelt but fumigation...ha!! We do meet some characters!! The Czech girl seemed nice and we chatted to her for a bit about Mexico. At 7ish we went to cook tea - rice and veg stir-fry. Not cracking but healthy and filling. After that we watched ´Dodgeball' with the Czech girl. Funny film...love it!! Following the film we went to the room, read for a while and then went to sleep. I hoped for no crazy interruptions that night!!

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