A little foreplay

---

I'm going to attempt to give some history and background to this blog before it really gets started. If you don't know me, I hope you enjoy the read. If you do know me, some of this may or may not come as a surprise. I'm also going to preface this by adding, this is my first attempt at writing (beyond anything done as an assignment), or blogging. I do not claim to be a Writer or a Blogger, in fact if I was to give myself a title it would fall somewhere more along the lines of Storyteller. So, let the stories begin.........

My companions in this story and any others I post, will have their names changed as I believe it is their right to divulge their secrets completely, not mine. If at any point one of them decides to embrace their shame publicly, I will edit said stories to enlighten the readers.

If you've looked at my profile you've seen a small bit about my first steps out of the US. The following is what I remember from that fateful trip, 14 years ago.

I don't recall who's idea it was or exactly how we all came to our decision to go to Mazatlan, Mexico but somehow I found myself staring a the cold grey walls of a cubicle, whilst the Travel Agent we decided to use was furiously hammering away at the keyboard in front of her. Sweat is starting to form on her forehead and years later, I'm certain it was because she was afraid we were going to find out her little scam. You do not need travel agents, period.

So 2 months later myself, Train, The Wookie and Jugs are touching down in Mexico, anxiously awaiting the moment we step off the plane into a land of unbridled dreams. Here is a list of the shenanigans I vaguely remember happening during those 7 days.

-Long bus ride after landing, with no AC and people are less than enthused.
-4 dudes, 1 room, 2 beds. Who the hell set this deal up? I mean, we're friends and all but come on, it's Spring Break. I could kill someone.
-Great food. This was when I realized that we are getting the short end of the stick in the U.S. as far as food goes. Every time I travel I try everything I can possibly get my hands on, including the street meat.
-I remember 2 clubs in particularly from this trip. One was Valentino's, a huge white palace looking building out on the point. Lit up really cool at night and raging until morning (I guess they all had these 2 features). It had 3 floors with different dancing and drink specials on each one. Needless to say they were all tried. The other club was named El Toro Bravo and I will not mention in detail what went on in this club although the name should have given us warning. We arrived on a night when the local college tour operators were promoting what would best be described as a roman orgy gone south, real fast. It was half off but the damage it dealt was not and I've never been the same.
-Being cautious about my belongings I had taken to hiding my cash and valuables when leaving for the beach. There was no safe so I just did what I thought to be clever. I pulled a bag of chips from the box they came in, placed the items in the box, and replaced the bag on top of them. This would allow me to leave them essentially in plain sight, while staying hidden. Unfortunately the maids do not discriminate against full boxes of chips and I came back to find my snacks and treasures gone. Thankfully we had Jugs who spoke Spanish and a couple really helpful garbage men that helped us go through about 50 bags of trash until we found it.
-Coming home from a club with a young lady that could have befallen any number of tragedies had I not escorted her to my place. Only to find Train drunk, half naked and passed out in the room. Remember the part about the room? Damn!
-Inebriated night body surfing. This was scary/funny as hell and ended up with some puking episodes after swallowing too much sea water.
-My first travel love. Met on the beach in front of the hotel, spent all day together as well as an amazing evening. Won't ever forget my first date in a foreign country.
-Tequila slammers/poppers. All you need to know is if the little man with the gun holsters containing liquor bottles, comes to your table and begins to blow that whistle, your done.
-The Booze Cruise. No explanation needed and 14 years later the words "Mai Thai" still make me run for cover.
-The little kids selling Chiclets.
-The grown adults selling Chiclets.
-Senor Frogs and the little golf cart taxi cabs that are loaded with the best rims and stereo systems you've ever seen. He who gets the loudest cab wins.
-Taking a catamaran ride over to another island, scoring, having a local twist one, share it, and let us steer the boat back home.
-Street Artists.
-Para-sailing is LAME.
-Seeing some girl at the airport who was having issues with her flight and could not get home.
-Wishing I was that girl. Okay, wishing I had her problem.

Even though this was far from the type of traveling I like to do now, I was young and didn't know what I didn't know.

---