Blogs from Mexico, North America - page 744

We spent a lot of time today in the internet café, with Gemma spending many hours getting our photos online. It's still work in progress but for those of you who are interested - and we've had a lot of people suggest we do this - we should have details for how to view them on the blog very soon. Other than that, today was very similar to yesterday, with a big chunk of it spent trying to learn Spanish whilst sitting outside cafes. That's unfortunately very much work in progress too. The most important thing to record today though is that it's exactly 2 months since we left the UK. There's a couple of contrasting emotions, both a feeling that time is flying by (... we're a sixth of the way through our trip) ... read more

Just a quick update: Mexico is undergoing political crises. I last mentioned the election problems when i first arrived a month ago. To recap: The July 2 elections were close between conservative PAN candidate Calderon and leftist-populist candidate AMLO, or Lopez Obrador, who was mayor of Mexico City with Calderon ahead by 1/2% of votes. But there are charges of corruption, ballot stuffing, lost votes, etc. Long story short, AMLO and his supporters have been camping out in the center and streets for over a month in protest, demanding a recount. Just like Democrat in 2000 remember? :) He seems to have widespread support among various sectors of the nation, even the police of MC. But it is hard to tell. Some are weary of Obrador´s campaign and rhetoric and seek normality. The election tribunal finally ... read more

And because I have some pictures to post and a couple of you have bothered me about updating, here's some eye candy and the latest from Monterrey. This past weekend, I headed downtown with an Austrian, an Australian and a Czech. Oh, good times were had all around and memories were made. We wanted to see some sights, check out some museums, and explore Monterrey a little bit more in depth. We arrived downtown, took some pictures and walked through Macroplaza or la Gran Plaza, in the middle of downtown. It is one of the biggest plazas in the world, with an extension of 400,000 square meters consisting of various monuments, smaller plazas and gardens. I had been there before, but I hadn't walked the entirety of it, which seems more like a serious of parks ... read more

This was Vince's 16th birthday and unfortunately very little we could do as there was still rain and clouds throughout the day. The hotel was busy mopping up anywhere water came in and repairing any bits of damage. However, we were all very thankful that nothing serious happened and made the best of it. By the end of the day we became quite silly and to Vince's chagrin I am adding in a picture of our silliness. A poor translation of the hotel rules suggested in English that it was illegal to iron in the room - being 16 now Vince decided to be show his rebellious streak. ... read more

This is the day that the clouds and rain finally rolled in. The english international version of CNN was the only reports we had. Other than the constant tourist gossip in the lobby. There was internet access but as you can imagine the line ups to the computers were extensive. Just being in that little room with other worried tourists could get you wonder about your sanity in this place. The staff were all exceptional and tried to keep people informed as needed. However Hurricanes as any weather are not always perfectly predictable. The hotel tried to give us a time frame of John making landfall and suggested that we all be in a safe shelter during that time. John however slowed considerably and they kept pushing this time back until finally it was realized that ... read more