First stop: Mexico City

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What a long day! I was up at 5am to catch my flight from SF to LA then LA to Mexico City. And just when you want everything to run smoothly, of course it didn´t. As I was getting ready I noticed my Gortex jacket still had the security tag from the store attached. Having seen somebody remove one with a lighter, I attempted to do the same thing. Disaster -- the alarm went off and was still attached to the jacket. The bloody thing was so loud, I ran out to the balcony of Matt´s apartment hoping to stomp the alarm to death. I managed to remove the security tag but the bloody thing wouldn´t stop beeping so the best thing I could do was stick it in a pot plant on the balcony. I checked on it before I left and it was still beeping from the balcony. I left a note for Matt explaining what had happened and asked him to sort it out. Apparently he couldn´t stop the alarm so he threw it in a streetside garbage bin. Just what you need when you´re tired and seedy from 4th July BBQ celebrations the day before and about to embark on a full day of airport hell.

So here I am at my hostel in Mexico City, all in one piece. I arrived at 9pm and it´s now 12.15am. The hostel is pretty cool, I´m happy with the set up and the location. The man at reception screamed ´poof´ so I asked him about nightclubs, then I asked him about gay nightclubs. His face lit up when I asked him about dyke nightclubs and he was most helpful. He´s not working tomorrow night but said that if he goes out clubbing, he´ll swing by the hostel to pick me up and I´ll go with him and his friends. Who said travelling alone would be lonely!

Having said that, I spoke to Libby on the phone tonight for the first time in two weeks. I miss her terribly. I had a bit of a cry but I feel better having spoken to her. Good news -- she sold my car yesterday! She´s such a great friend for taking care of that for me. I´m happy with the price it sold for but it means that I now have nothing (aside from family and friends) to return to. It´s a strange feeling. Libby also bought a phone card to speak to me when I´m in Cuba next week but apparently it´s more expensive to phone Cuba than it is to phone Antarctica! So we´ll be keeping our conversations to a minimum. I read contradictory information about internet access in Cuba; some sites say there is no internet access but other sites say there are some (not many) internet places. I guess ôll find out soon enough. If there is no internet in Cuba, I won´t be able to email or update my travel blog for six weeks. But think of me as I´m touring, romancing, studying Spanish and having private dance lessons. It will be tough 😊

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Comments

[Maree]

Hello Natalie
I would have said hello in Spanish but hey.... So great to hear you are having such a ball. Am loving hearing all your news and am jealous as hell. Missing you heaps but glad you are in your element.