Juice Took Me Out

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Disclosure: Do not take my blog entries too seriously. I'm attempting to lace them with a little humor. This one isn't funny. Not feeling too good.

Veracruz. A big bustling city located on the east central part of Mexico off the Gulf coast. It has a port where imports and exports are handled. Although I didn't see much action when I cruised by the harbor a few times. They might have been taking their siestas. The water on this side of the coast did not entice me to go for a swim. Kind of murky. The sand on the beaches are of grey color. Coming from Tulum I was spoiled. No swimming for me here. No tanks.

A little history about the city. Did you know that the U.S. attacked Veracruz on 1847 and then again on 1914? On both attacks by the Americans, the Mexicans had to surrender. In the 1847 attack, the U.S. bombed the city for five straight days leaving the city in ruins and killing many innocent civilians. This occurred during the Mexican-American war. In 1914, U.S. Marines were held by Mexican authorities at Tampico, Mexico. Despite Mexico’s apology, President Wilson ordered the U.S. fleet to attack and occupy Veracruz, Mexico to assert the rights of Americans. I learned this at the Naval Museum they have in town.

At night in Veracruz, there was always something going on at the zocalo (central plaza). There are tons of restaurants with outdoor seating and bands playing in all parts of the plaza. Most of them playing salsa tunes. You would see people dancing in random places. It was sort of funny. Latinos got some moves! Even the old dudes were getting down. I was impressed. On one occasion, I saw a couple walking as if they were heading home, then a band started playing and all of a sudden they just stop and bust out with the moves. Reminded me of that Chappelle Show episode where Dave Chapelle and John Mayer go a barber shop and start playing music then everyone busts out dancing (check out the episode and fast forward to 3:00 minutes:

). Yeah, it was like that. As I strolled to another part of the plaza, I saw a heavy set dude eating a torta (Mexican sandwich) with one hand and dancing salsa at the same time (by himself) as his friend was leaning on a tree shooting the shit with him. The big guy would nod at his friend's comments, shake his hips, and sometimes go into a spin. Ah man, that was funny! I should have recorded it on video.

On my last day in Veracruz, I wasn't feeling too good. The previous night I went to a local eatery and ordered a natural juice that they call "El Campeón" (The Champ). Since I haven't been eating many greens, I felt I needed something healthy. The juice is made of beets, carrots, celery, and orange juice. Let's just say I didn't feel like a champ after consuming this juice. I think they call it The Champ because it takes people out. El Campeón - 1, Alex - 0.

I decided to check out the capital of the state of Veracruz called Xalapa (or Jalapa). I read that the city has a good museum and there are dormant volcanos nearby. We'll see what I find.

Lates!
alex

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Photos

Graffiti
I liked this. It says, "With the soul of a pirate."

Woof
Cool looking dog at the Naval museum.