My month in Culiacan, Mexico

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I havent written in here for about a month now, so at the request of some you, I have made a summary of my time here in Mexico.

I left Ecuador on November 20th, saying goodbye to Brenda, which wasnt the happiest thing to do so far. But we had a wonderful time together, so it was ok. I flew with Copa Airlines from Quito to Panama City. On that flight I had gayest flight attendant I have ever had. There is a gay flight attendant on almost every flight, but this one was so feminine, he made the Great Garlic Girls look straight! Aiaiai. Arriving in Panama, I wanted to get out of the airport, as I had a whopping 11 hours wait before my flight onwards to Mexico. I walked out to immigration, and asked if it was possible for me to leave the airport when I had a connection. Nobody there spoke English, so at first they told me no. Then they pointed over towards a small room, so I went there.

For some reason, I found myself in the doctors office, with a female nurse looking at me, asking what I wanted. I had no idea why I was there, so she told me to go back out. Coming back out, I could see the people working in immigration pointing at me and laughing really hard. Obviously they had meant that I should go to the table NEXT to the room, where all the immigration forms were. I filled it out, and went over to the still laughing immigration people. They stamped my passport, and sent me through.

I came out to pouring rain, and asked a taxi driver what to do. He told me he could take me to the city for 50 dollars, way too expensive. I asked if there was somehwere closer, like a mall or something I could go. He said that in this weather, there wasnt really much to do. I thought about it for a while, and decided to stay in the airport. I went back through immigration, the guy stamping my passport, saying it was one of the shortest visits to Paname he had ever seen. So i found a chair at my gate, and quickly realized that the airport more or less shuts down between 12 and 5 in the afternoon, so I was left almost alone in there. Luckily I had my computer, and Championship Manager saved me through the next 9 hours.....

The flight to Mexico City was quick and nice, and the landing was spectacular. For about 25 minutes I admired the gigantic city and all its lights. It seemed to stretch on forever and ever. Millions of lights, cars, building, everything. Has to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. So if you come to Mexico city, be sure to land after dark. Down at the airport, I suddenly realized that finding the hotel I wanted to stay at, wouldnt be so easy. The airport was huge, and if you set your foot outside it, hordes of unlicensed taxi-drivers tried to offer their services. I asked around, and people kept giving me directions towards the end of the airport. I withdrew some money, and continued walking. Finally, I came to the exit, where I asked another guy: "Donde estas Hotel Aeropuerto?". Follow me, he said, I will show you. We walked for a while, me being very sceptical, but the man was impeccably dressed in a nice suit, and seemed like an ok guy. We walked for 5 minutes until we came to the parking house. "Let me take you there" he said, pointing at his car. I said no, Id rather walk. Every guidebook I have read have said dont even think about taking an unlicensed taxi in Mexico City, as you probably will get robbed and/or killed.

But he was persistent, showed me some official documents, said he could be trusted, and finally I decided to get in the car with him. I got in the front next to him, ready to attack him if needed, as I was much bigger than him at least. He was babbling on in Spanish, and I didnt really get what he was talking about, but he showed me a flyer for a hotel. Looked nice, 4 stars, everything included. 35 dollars he said. How far? Oooh, around 10 minutes he said. I should have know something was wrong when he did 70km/h inside the parking house, or when he ran the first red light outside of it. But when he got up to 180km/h, and ran every red light in the city as well as passing every car in front of us, it was too late to do anything. So I just held my breath, listening to him babble on about how he could show me the city, how I could rent him for an hour or two, that he was a guide, blablabla. I didnt really pay attention, as for the first time in my life, I drove with someone crazier than myself.

When he turned around and looked at me while talking, I suddenly realized the guy was high as a kite! His eyes were all shiny and the guy was clearly on speed, ecstasy, lsd or all of the above. I was constantly rejecting his proposals for a guided tour of the city, telling him that it was almost midnight, and probably not much to see. To my enormous relief, he gave in and stopped at the hotel. A ride who took normal people probably 25 minutes, had taken us 12. But I made it into the lobby, and the people at the hotel made it clear to me that I was lucky to get there considering the drivers condition. I paid him, and he left. And I hope I never see him again. Now I REALLY needed a bed, and I was delighted to find out my room contained a huge bed, tv and a nice bathroom.

The next day was again spent at an airport, this time from 12 to 8 in the evening, before my plane to Culiacan was finally ready to leave. This time I had a local airline, Aero California, which had small and old planes, but nevertheless got my safely to my destination. Waiting for me at the airport, was my Mexican friend, Elizabeth, and her brother Javier. We said our hellos, I treated them at KFC, and then they drove me to my room for the next month. It was a nice, but dark room in a house a little bit outside the city center. In the house lives a mother and her daughter, I would guess they are 50 and 30 years or something. The daughter runs an internet cafe at the front of the house, meaning I have easy access to the internet all the time. But she charges me the same rate as everyone else, so no discount which I find a little odd.....

In my three weeks here, nothing much has happened, I have just been enjoying the beatiful weather and the nice people here. Culiacan as a city is never mentioned in any guide book or tourist brochure, but it is a nice city in my oppinion. It is much cleaner and nicer than I expected, actually it reminds me of American cities. Sure, it has its poor neighbourhoods, but most of the city is middle class, and there are some wonderful houses and mansions, especially in the area I live. Many of them are decorated very nicely now at christmas times, and there are enough malls and fast food stores to keep everyone happy.

The city has a dark side though, being notorious as one of the drug capitals of Mexico, and thus also, the world. I must admit I feel totally safe here, and I dont see anything that would make me feel differently, but the locals say the city can be pretty dangerous, especially at night. Luckily, I live in a safe area, and spend all my time in safe areas. There was however 7 people shot and killed in a mall here in November, all gang members. And last Monday, we went to the language school here to ask for some Spanish courses, only to find the street outside closed of by police, as they had found 3 bodies in the trunk of a car parked outside......

So what am I doing here? Well, I am spending my days with Elizabeth and her friends, trying to pick up some Spanish and some Mexican culture. I eat lots of good food, and see lots of nice girls. Hehe.
We have been to the beach once, and I wore my swimming wear and brought suntan lotion and all other accessories needed for a beach day. To my surprise, the Mexicans didnt bring anything as this time of year is "too cold" to go swimming. The just went to the beach to sit in the sand and talk.... I mean, it was only 30 degrees in the air, and maybe 22-23 in the water.... At least I got some sun and some swimming! All the Mexicans on the beach wore jeans and shirts, and there was I, running around white as I am in shorts. Nice!

Also, I went to a fair here, similar to Handelstevnet at home. It was totally similar, except for all the Mexican music, played by the Mariachis, and the big rodeo they had in the middle. Also, all men there wore cowboy hats, and the Tivoli was 3 times bigger than Lunds! I actually even took a rollercoaster, after group pressure (from one person) made the rest of us go unwillingly along. It really sucked, and Im not doing it again......

Mmm, what else, Elizabeth had a birthday, and being the only boy in a party with 11 girls, I became a natural centerpiece there. Not that I could actually talk to any of them, because only Liz knows English good. Highlight of the party came when the birthday cake was brought out, and all the girls yelled "mordita" meaning bite. Elizabeth then had to bend down and try to take a bite of the cake before I could push her head down into the cake. You can kinda guess who won that duel, to the girls great delight. Liz wasnt all that happy, having a serious amount of chocolate cake plastered all over her face. Fun tradition, need to bring home.

This upcoming weekend, Im going to Mazatlan, which is a famous beach resort here, full of Americans. But it will be nice with some beachtime before I go home next week.
To those of you in cold, cold Norway, first of all, HAHAHAHA, then, see you soon;)

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