9:14 PM
So the real adventure began today. Wow… this has got to be one of the most interesting days of my life. On the night before, I decided to shoot for Mexico. I was already a week behind where I wanted to be when the plan got closer to the beginning date. So I figured, 300 miles from Killeen, Texas to Loreda, Texas should be no problem. The problems would occur when I cross. But I still thought that since Monterrey is only about 100-150 miles away from the border (turned out to be 134), I should have plenty of time if I take off early enough. After sleeping for about 4.5 hours between 3:30 and 8 AM, I left at 9:07 AM, thinking I’ll be in Monterrey by 5PM and would have absolutely nothing to do there. I was wrong.
I met the cutest Latina I’ve ever met named Ana working in the IBC Bank while exchanging some currency. I think if I was going to be around the town a little while longer, I would have definitely asked her out. We were flirting a little bit, and a guy working next to her asked her if she thought I was cute. I was sorry I had to leave so early. This was especially hard for me to walk away from because I usually almost never have any luck with Latinas although I’ve always thought they’re beautiful. This is the town where they held the Miss Texas pageant. But for whatever reason, almost everyone here spoke only Spanish.
So I have 3 milestones that I set for myself before I left:
1. Crossing Mexico. (Today)
2. Shipping my car from Costa Rica (or Panama) to Ecuador. (Hopefully in about a month)
3. Driving to the ‘End of the World’ Ushuaia in Tierra del Fueggo, Argentina. (Hopefully in the beginning to mid August)
And so today, I reached my milestone number 1. Why that was so important was because if I was able to cross Mexico, I could cross any border. That and it marked the moment I had fully and completely committed myself to this trip. The hardest border for you to cross in Latin America while driving is Mexico and Ecuador. Unless you’re just going to Tijuana, Mexico requires a lot of documents. You need to register yourself (tourist card) and your vehicle (vehicle permit), and need to get your vehicle insured by a Mexican company. So I did all of that today, and drove into the part of the world that didn’t care to want to know me or understand me.
2:49 PM Arrive at Laredo, Texas, 1 mile away from the border
4:52 PM Drive away from vehicle registration place in Mexico to Monterrey.
7:34 PM Full 3 hours behind my own plan, at this Hotel 88 Inn in Monterrey, Mexico.
Crossing the border itself wasn’t too hard. I wasn’t even stopped. In fact, I probably could have kept going if I didn’t know any better and ended up in the same place here today. But I had to get the things I listed above, and I got lost twice trying to find the damn place. These Mexicans that live near the border are real sneaky. They can smell hesitance. As soon as I looked like I got lost, someone ran over and asked me if I needed to find a place to get my vehicle permit. I said yes, and he told me the directions, and even insisted he come along with me to show me how to get there. I said no, thanks, and knew he was looking for some money so I gave him a dollar. He then says, please, some more for some lunch. I said, sorry, that’s all I got right now.
The directions in Mexico are horrible. It said U-Turn to Car Permits, but there were two very places you can U-Turn to. It was more like a V-turn to get the Car Permit. So I U-Turned too much and ended up on the road going back to Texas. I pulled over and managed to get myself back into a neighborhood, when another Mexican rushes over and tells me the same directions. I pull out another dollar, and he, too, says “please, some more for some lunch.” I say the same thing to this guy, sorry, that’s all I got right now, and pulled away.
I had a scare at the vehicle registration place. I almost lost my cell phone and rushed back in to try and find it. Amazingly, no one in this place speaks English. Someone at the counter turned around and translated in perfect english and spanish for me, and said “I came here right after you left, there was no cell phone here.” I rushed back to my car, and thankfully, it had just slipped to the side of the seat. So right there, some quarter of a mile into the Mexican side of the border, where I was still getting American cell phone signal, I called Sprint to hibernate my cell phone service for 3 months, on called the Seasonal Plan. I didn’t want to move any further away from that particular location, so I stood around my car under the scorching sun.
You know you’re at a touristy place in Monterrey when:
Mexicans throw water bottles on your windshield and try to clean it for money.
As soon as they did that, I turned on my windshield wiper and he quietly left for the next car.
When I pulled in to Hotel 88, I was actually lost. I was following signs that seemed to say Hotels this way and that way, and somehow, it led me to this one off the street a bit. I went in, looking to get a price, when I ran into a bunch of Americans. I was pleasantly surprised and excited, and asked one of them if they speak English. Eddy was the one that came up to me, asking if I need help. I said well, do you know how much it costs for a room here? It turned out to be pretty expensive at around $450 pesos (they use the dollar sign, which is very confusing because some places here use that to mean American dollars). That was a lot higher than the one I passed by about 3 miles back, for 250 pesos, so I was gonna go back.
Eddy tells me to wait, and comes back and tries to shake my hand with 40 dollars in his hands and says here, take this. I back away, surprised, saying, no I’m sorry, I can’t take that. And that went around for about 2-3 minutes, him insisting I take at least half of it and me saying I budgeted for 3 months, so finding cheap rooms is something I have to do every day. I said thanks so much, and he left, knowing that although I really appreciated his gesture, that was not something I could readily accept.
So I ended up staying at the hotel because I was really impressed with Eddy. I saw a sign on one of the trailers saying they’re a First Presbyterian Church from Georgia, and I wanted to know what they’re all about. I figured they’re doing some kind of a mission here. It turns out that they’ve been doing this for some 17 years, building houses around here in Monterrey, Mexico. So I’m going to take a day tomorrow and help them as much as I can.
Keith is the main youth pastor, and he came out to introduce himself while I was unpacking my car. He asked where I’m from, what school I went to, what I majored in, where I’m going, and what I’m going to do afterwards. He remembered all of that while introducing me to the group of people before his main sermon. Everyone turned around and smiled, and those immediately around me shook my hand. It was one of the, if not the, most welcoming experiences I’ve ever had. It felt very much like my first days in Mission Viejo.
The group of people were so very friendly. I went into their nightly service at 9:30 PM a little late into the praise, and they all turned around pretty much and smiled at me and reached out to shake my hands as I walked myself to the back. I decided to take some photos for them during the service. I don’t know how they’ll turn out, because it was dark in that room, but I’m sure tomorrow I’ll get better pictures. They are a youth group, some 96 high school kids who decided to take their first 12 days of their summer vacation helping the poor out here by building houses. Afterwards, a bunch of teenagers (some who just graduated from high school) came up to me to shake my hand. I can’t remember all of them, unfortunately. But one girl was interested in Berkeley, and I gave her the website for First Pres at Berkeley. I was glad I was of some help to this church group that’s been nothing but great to me. I decided during the night that I’m gonna stick around for at least a day and help them with their mission. Patrick told me to go with the leader Matt’s group tomorrow. We’re pouring concrete.
So that’s it. It’s 11:30 PM right now, and the group invited me to their breakfast tomorrow morning and lunch as well at the building site. So all in all, I’m actually saving some dough being here. The place is actually very nice. At around $45, it’s very comparable to similarly priced motels in America. I need to drive down a bit more, away even more from the border to find some real deals. Anyway, tomorrow, I figure they’ll get done around 3:30, 4, and I’ll drive to Tampico after they’re done. Sunsets around 8:30PM around here, so I should have plenty of time.
Something’s really disheartening, though. My car keeps beeping once outside. I don’t know if people are just brushing off of it or trying to open it. Right now, I’m just really glad I got the alarm system.