Chilpancingo, Guerrero

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Well, this weekend was certainly eventful. Where to start?

I was invited by a friend, Paula, to her house for the weekend for her birthday party. Her family lives in Chilpancingo, which is the capital of the state of Guerrero. We went by bus from Cuernavaca to Chilpancingo, a trip of about 3 hours. We left Friday night.

When we got there, it was around eight, and Anthony (an American, from New York) and I mentioned that we would like to eat 😊. Paula and her family brought us to a church event. Quick explanation, September 15 is the Independence Day of Mexico. The entire weekend, there were parties and general rowdyness. So, we were at this church sponsored Independence Day event, and there was dancing and music and free food. This is, I was told, how many Independence parties are, anyone is invited and there is free food. I tried some of the food, and of course it was delicious. And finally, with a little persistence, Paula got me to dance. I didn't know the dances, but I learned pretty quick. They were pretty basic steps...for the most part. When we left around 11, it had started to rain.

It rained very hard all night. What I was told later that day, is that a tropical storm was hitting the Pacific coast. Since Chilpancingo is only about 2 hours away from the coast, we were getting rain. I figured that was fine, and Paula's family lives on a hill, so any water just ran away from the house anyways. Saturday was very calm. We got our bus tickets for the journey back (Anthony and I were to leave Sunday night, while Paula and her brother Irving were to leave Monday night), and set up for the party in the afternoon. Don't worry, there was no school Monday, because of Independence Day, but my story gets better. Just wait.

The party was awesome. Very Mexican :P. We had a live Mariachi band, with three singers/musicians. They sang for the majority of the party from around 3 to about 7. We were fed very delicious food from Paula's mother and grandmother. Anthony even got to cook a little bit in the earlier part of the day. We ate tamal made of corn, which is, I am told, a traditional dish from the region. Tamal is what we would call Tamales, but it is nowhere near the same. It is like a sweet corn paste wrapped in corn husk. I have never had the chance to have the real thing in the USA. Whatever we have is a knock-off. With some sweet cream and cheese on top (after you unwrap it, of course) it is super delicious and very filling. There was also Chicken and various finger foods.

I got to dance a bit with some people I recently met, but they were part of Paula's family, so at the very least I got to dance to mariachi music :D

That night, we cleaned up and put stuff away, and around 11pm watched the boxing match between Mayweather and Canelo. USA v Mexico. The USA won. It was a big deal in Mexico. Twice in the same week, Mexico was beaten by the USA. First in soccer, next in boxing. Just not their week :P

Sunday, we had a lazy morning, followed by a bit of cleaning. Also, during this whole weekend, Friday, Saturday, and now Sunday it had been raining. Nonstop, heavy rain. The power went out in the morning around breakfast time, and we assumed it was because of the rain. We just talked the whole morning with Paula's family, it was lovely. Anthony only speaks a very little bit of Spanish, but I think he learned a lot this weekend. I played Dominoes with Paula for a while. It was a very lovely morning by all accounts.

When we got to the bus station later that day, it was still raining cats and dogs. Our bus was supposed to leave at 3:13 but didn't get to the station until after 5. We said our goodbyes to Paula and her brother (who drove us to the bus station) and got on the bus. About 15 minutes into our journey back to Cuernavaca, the bus stopped. The highway goes through the mountains, and so there are many areas next to the road that are susceptible to landslides. Just such a thing had happened not long before we headed out on the bus. Half the mountain seemed to have come down across the road, and there was no way around it. This highway was one of the only ways out of the city. We turned around (on the highway, on a mountain) and I don't know how the driver did it, but he managed to durn the bus around on a mountain, even though we almost ended up DOWN the mountain...

We headed back to Chilpancingo, driving on the wrong side of the highway. When we got back to the bus station, we found out that all buses were stalled for at least the night. Anthony couldn't really speak at all, so I had to go to the counter and get our money back for our tickets. In the entire city there was no internet and no communications via cellular or landline phones. My phone is from the USA so it works, somehow. Anthony had the number for his host family (I must have put mine in wrong because it said it didn't work) and we let his mom know that we couldn't get ahold of Paula's family, as we did not have their address (which would have worked for a taxi) or their phone number (which might not have worked anyways, seeing that none of the phones worked).

Anthony was hungry, so we left the bus station. I feel he wanted to do this mostly because there were some people that gave him a hard time earlier, before we left on the bus. I hate to say it, but he acted like a stereotypical, hotheaded American. When we got back, they were still chuckling at him, so he walked up to them and called them pendejos and "fuck off" (in English). A little far...

We went to a place not far from the station and ate some food. Kind of a sketchy place, but when you're hungry you're not picky. Anthony's host mom called us back and said the best thing to do would be to find a hotel, and that there were several nearby to the bus station. The first one we went to was full, they gave us the address to another one several blocks away. Remember, it is still pouring rain this whole time. We walked four or five blocks and found another hotel, also full. The next three hotels were also all full. Finally, we found a place that had rooms. $600 pesos. Around 55 US dollars. We used the money we got from the reimbursement of our tickets to pay for a room. We were wet, tired, hungry and just wanted a hot shower. The hotel delivered. There was hot water at least. No WiFi, but we were in the same boat as the entire state of Guerrero, with no communication.

Around 11, Anthony's mother called us back. We had already been checked into the hotel for several hours. Paula's family had heard about what happened to the highway and they were looking for us! After several frantic calls and a run to the reception to ask for the address, we were found! I was happy to leave, and I don't even care that we couldn't get our money back. At least I was with people I knew and trusted. So happy. Wet, but happy. It took three days for my sneakers to completely dry.

After our adventure, the highway was closed for all of Monday. Meaning, we had to try to get back to Cuernavaca on Tuesday. At this point, I didn't have any money to pay for another bus ticket, because I had used all of it on the hotel room. And my luck, none of the ATM's in the city were working because of power failure. Therefore, Paula's family had to pay for Anthony and myself. Monday we went to WalMart, and it's somewhat comforting (and just a little bit scary) to see that some things don't change from country to country.

Tuesday we got to the bus station at about 10:30 and we got a bus that left at 11:30. Thankfully, we got back with no problems, although parts of the highway are two lanes because the entire north-bound side is buried in rocks. We got back to the school just before my host mom left, and I managed to get home in one piece.

The entire country is under water right now. A hurricane in the Atlantic and the tropical storm in the Pacific crossed paths at the same time, causing widespread damage and flooding in major urban areas. Almost all of Acapulco is under water. The tunnel that connects Chilpancingo to Acapulco has collapsed, cutting off land transport for most people there. Some planes are in the air again, and they are evacuating tourists and others that are stranded in Acapulco. The center of Mexico (where I live) is the only place not really being affected by the storm. There is rain, but not torrential, never ending rain.

I want to take the opportunity to thank Paula Avila and her entire family for their kind hospitality, and for looking for us when we were poor, lost foreigners in their city. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, I will never be able to repay you for your kindness, but I will try. Thanks to you I am home safe and sound.

Muchisimas Gracias <3

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Photos

Food!
Me at the Church party, with some free food!

Anthony and Paula
Anthony, from NYC and Paula from Chilpancingo also a friend from school

Tequila?
This couple came around the party with a hard hat, a shot glass, tequila, salt and Squirt. What happened? You put on the hard hat, then they fill the shot glass with tequila, Squirt and salt (in that order). They cover it with a cloth and then crack it over your head to mix it. You have to drink it fast before the carbonation gets out of control.

Paula's Family!
Her grandmother and mother! Aren't they lovely!

These are delicious
Frulatto and Kahlua. Not together, but both are delicious with milk.

"Agua"
They called this water. Obviously it is more than water, but it is given the name "Agua". It was delicious, whatever it was

Mariachisssss
OMG!

Chilpancingo
Where the bus dropped us off. This is a river that has overflowed tremendously. This is how most of the country looks right now. Terrifying..

All the ingredients
For a delicious Guacamole