Mexico Trip - Day 1 - January 14

My temporary home

This is my first day of a work trip to Tepalcatepec, Mexico, where I will be doing some exploration work for a gold and copper mine in the area.

The day was a long one. I was up at 3:00 AM, packing the last of the clothes and supplies I'd need for the two week trip. I also had a second thing on my mind: making sure my 14-year old son had everything he needed for a trip to Canada. Ironically, the very day that his French Club left for Quebec, I left for Mexico. That's big news in the rjeffy household, where we really don't do as much traveling as we would like.

After a flight to Denver, I met my coworker, Jim, and we caught a nonstop flight to the Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo airport. There, after a painless trip through customs, we met Ruben, who is a local, and who drove us the 4 hour trip to my home for the next two weeks or so.

The scenery is severe and beautiful. We drove along the Pacific coast briefly before heading inland through a low coastal mountain range. We passed through dozens of small towns, with colorful names like "San Juan de los Platanos" (St. John of the Bananas), with venders standing along the side of the road selling nearly anything you could imagine. Close to the coast, I saw a group holding lobsters in the air so passing motorists could see the fare. Later, as we drove inland and the scenery became more arid, we passed a group of vendors holding iguanas in the air, to tempt our tastebuds. We didn't stop for lobsters or iguanas.

The front of our hacienda

In fact, we didn't stop for much of anything. We paused for gasoline once, and at a convenience store to buy water and snacks. Four hours later, we finally made it to Tepalcatepec, where the client has a home for the workers. Three local workers live here when they are on shift, and there's plenty of room for us two gringos to join them. Apparently, a housekeeper and cook stays here during the week as well, but we have yet to meet her.

I went to bed by 8:00 PM, completely exhausted with the day's travels. Jim and I are sharing a room and bathroom, which doesn't look like it will present any problem.

The Spanish phrase I wish I knew today:  "I think slowly in Spanish."*

*(This phrase was a favorite of mine while working in Chile. I used it to explain my confusion and stupidity so often that I hardly needed to think about it, the phrase just flowed from me naturally. Today, as I tried to summon the phrase to my lips by way of apology for not understanding the simplest instructions at the airport, I couldn't come up with it at all.)