Adios Mexico

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After traveling for a month through this great expanse of land, we say ''Adios'' to Mexico... for now. After consuming nearly 5,000 miles of road under our black treads, we have become accustomed to the sights and cultures of this land. The familiar image of cinder block houses, run down cars and brown skin provides a recognizable continuity from day to day as the kilometers rush past the windows and the landscape changes between deserts, mountains, and jungle. We have become fully comfortable with their loose rules of the road, perfecting the art of tope (speed bump) passing, using the shoulder as an extra lane, and spotting pot holes and unmarked obstacles from a safe distance. On a two lane road a left hand turn signal means it's safe to pass, but make sure they're not actually turning left which usually is not indicated with a turn signal, but happens occasionally. In Mexico a van comfortably holds fifteen people and a truck between 4 and 25 depending on whats in the bed. Phrases like ''hola, buenos dias'' ''gracias'' and ''por favor'' instinctively flow from our lips. Our skin has browned and our mustaches thickened to blend in with the locals. Also our ears have become more perceptive of the Spanish tongue as we slowly adjust to our surroundings.

For the most part the people are friendly, hard working and family oriented, often intrigued to converse with traveling drifters from California. The rugged proletariat can often be seen with machete in hand, clearing brush by the side of the road, working farmland or fruit plantations. A noticeable level of poverty is seen in the crumbling paint on buildings, trash in the streets, stray dogs and weathered, tired faces. I often feel guilty, having so much simply form the luck of my birth, unearned wealth allowing me to trespass through these foreign lands. It seems that the dice of destiny have been weighed in my favor as I play the game of life. Maybe one day the odds will be evened and relative equality will prevail. Unlikely without extreme political and economic changes, the willingness of the elite to release their strangle on the world and be content with just too much. The Utopian ideals of bread for all who are hungry, water for all who are thirsty and medicine for all who are sick seem to be squashed by the greed of the system. The necessity to exploit others in order to maintain our wasteful way of living. Simple changes like cutting back on amount of meat we eat or carpooling could alleviate some of the burdens of our society. Concepts such as viable public transportation, universal recycling and moderating our wants seem to be currently just out of our societies reach. A slow change in the daily habits of our citizens is needed but seems unlikely accepted by the majority of our people.

For Andy and I, there has been a considerable shift in our daily routine. We've become much more in tune with the rising and setting of the sun, waking each morning for the sunrise and falling asleep after an hour of two of reading by headlamp. Habitually we eat oatmeal with raisins and green tea for breakfast, fruit, bread and peanut butter for lunch, and vegetable pasta or rice and beans for dinner. We seldom use water for anything other than drinking or cooking. Our roof is usually the twinkling stars or swaying palm trees. We do consume a considerable amount of petroleum, but it's unavoidable with this being a road trip. For the most part, living simply has been a comfortable and satisfying way of life.

I've realized that native Spanish speakers have an enormous difficulty saying the name Ian, so I decided to introduce myself as Juan to locals. Thus began the adventures of Juan and his trusty compatriot Andres, wandering beach bums drifting through Latin America.

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Photos

Cenote
Andy our savior

Agua Azul
Travertine Waterfall