Wednesday, July 14, 2010

This car's not legal

We signed up for an orientation tour through our school. Brian, who owns adn runs the school here during the summer and teaches ski school in colorado in the winter, was our host. Brian picked us up at Casamar in his vehicle. His car is a Chevy Suburban that is many years old. All the windows are at least cracked, some doors do not open, some windows do not open and some windows do not close. We were accompanied by Danny, a young man from Las Angeles who is here to study Spanish and surfing. We weren't sure what the orientation tour would include but we more than got our money's worth. Brian drove us all over Puerto Escondido, pointing out local hangouts, tourist spots and other points of interest. He took us to each of the beaches, where we got out and strolled casually around (no one seems to hurry in mexico, everything is done casually). He showed us beaches for surfing, family swimming, snorkeling, etc. He also drove us to the Adonquin which is an awesome place for shopping, eating, buying local crafts, bars, etc. It is an older tourist area and you see more local artists there. This is opposed to the Zicatella area which is a spot where you see mostly younger people and tourists from all over the world, mostly surfers or surfing fans. Brian told us all about the mercado, where we could buy goods, produce, live chickens, etc. The locals come here and set up booths, flea market style, to sell their wares. Brian hesitated to take us down there.... not because it is unsafe but because his car is not legal and many Policia are in that area. Apparently, until recently, cars in Mexico didn't need to be licensed but that has changed. Brian woudl have to drive his car to Texas, where it was from (he bought it from some Italian guy here in Mexico) and get some paperwork done. I asked if we were all going to end up in Mexican jail and Brian said, "No, but they would take teh car and we would have to walk." Finally, the temptation to show us the market overcame his fear of losing his car and we drove down to that area. We did a quick visit and will return later to shop and soak up more of the culture. Brian stopped any place we wanted to see adn we all strolled around... Angela waited for ten minutes while fresh coffee was ground for her, Danny bought a fan for his room, Tina and I bought sugar. It was an awesome orientation tour and I would suggest it to anyone who visits Puerto Escondido!

No comments:

Post a Comment