Arriba! Arriba!

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After successfully navigating a border crossing I arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico to utterly torrential rain last Monday. Taking refuge in the nearest cafe, waiting to for the rain to die down I turned to the lady on next table and asked 'Que hora es?´ (I wasn't sure if there was a time difference in Guatemala). The lady replied in English, 'it's 6:15 and welcome to Mexico!', soon after the waiter brought me a cup of perfectly made coffee (I have endured over a month of horrendous Guatemalan coffee - they export all the good stuff'. Only 15 minutes into my Mexican adventure, with rain pouring down outside, I knew I was going to enjoy my time here.

San Cristobal is beautiful colonial town with plazas, parks and magnificent cathedrals round every corner. The kind of place you can spend hours drinking coffee and watching the world go by (which I did a lot of).
However, most memorable of my time there was a trip to San Juan, a small town only a few kilometers outside the village. The town has a lot of indigenous people living there and the place has an interesting mix of Mayan and Catholic customs and traditions. Going into the church was one of the most strange experiences of my life. The floor was covered in pine needles and there were candles EVERYWHERE (I almost caught on fire several times). There were statues of various saints but they had their faces painted like clowns. The place was packed with worshipers, kneeling on the floor, playing instruments and crying. Most strangely of all was that everyone was drinking coke so that they would burp (as it scares away the bad spirits). Outside the church men were setting off fireworks in their hands. This isn't a show for tourists, just part of their everyday routines.

After San Cristobal I went to Palenque, a huge Mayan ruin set in the middle of the jungle. I stayed in a wooden cabin in the middle of the jungle, waking up every hour or two wondering what all the crazy jungle noises were (and hoping whatever had just crawled over my foot wasn't too dangerous). The actual ruins were spectacular and I couldn't believe you were allowed to climb to the top of the temples (seems Mexico has the same attitude to health and safety as the Guatemalans).

From Palenque I went onto Minatilan to stay with the family of one of mine and my Mam's ex-colleagues. The town itself was fairly drab and incredibly hot and humid, but the experience was fantastic. I was treated like one of the family and given the best room of the house. The first night I was taken out Mexican style (which meant drinking horrendous amount of beer and dancing until 4am). They took me to a Lake Catemaco where we visited an island with the fattest monkeys I have ever seen (fed mangoes 20 times a day by Mexican tourists). There were no non-Mexican tourists there and for the five days I spent with the family I didn't see another Gringo. My Spanish again was utterly stretched as the family spoke little English (apart from the 6 year old daughter who insisted on naming every animal and food product she could think of in English). Lots of hand gestures and smiling and nodding got me through it and the times of awkwardness were worth it for experiencing such fantastic Mexcian hospitality.

In sum:
Mishaps: Getting the strap of my dress attached to a window frame in front of a family of 15 Mexicans in San Juan. They didn´t even try to hide their laughter as I attempted to untangle myself 'gringa loca'. Outcome was a dress with one severely stretched strap and me having to spend the rest of the day trying not to flash one boob.

Size zero: C'mon I'm in Mexico. The food here is incredible. From street food to restaurants, I´ve eaten some of the best food of my life here. One of my favourite is simply boiled corn on cob, served with butter, Mexican cheese, chili and lime - all on a stick, for a bargain 10pesos (about 50p).

Men: Okay, so Mexican men are a step up from Guatemala (and about a foot taller). But, as with my experiences in England, I generally attract the least attractive and most weird available. I've had a few interesting offers that I am yet to take up. I'm holding out for Cuba, I've heard that's a place to be excited about.

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