Papantla

So I am in Papantla now. Awesome. I guess it is one of the more touristic places I have been in Mexico so far, probably the second most touristic place in my whole trip compared to New Orleans, and that is mostly because the ruins of the Totonacos, El Tajin, is just four miles away. But the energy, the spirit here, is wonderful. This medium sized town is quite hilly with narrow, mostly one-way streets, and a constant two-way flow of pedestrians moves outside the internet cafe as I write. Just up the hill is the ¨zocalo¨ or town plaza center--people hang out there on the benches with the palm trees, the large church overlooking with a large wall of Totonaco engraved pictures and symbols. The presidencia, and many stores line the plaza, and last night was a folklore music and dance presentation.

I wandered through the streets last night until I happened upon a little store with friendly looking teenagers hanging out inside, and I told them I needed a place to pitch my tent, along with of course that I am biking from DC to Brazil. The young man suggested asking the lady across the street, but the young lady went down the street to ask her mom if she would allow me to camp out outside the house. She eventually offered to let me sleep in her tortilleria, where she is making corn tortillas this morning. I slept on the floor there last night, and washed my clothes by hand this morning. They are hanging on the line to dry as I write.

I am now in the tropical coastal region of Mexico. Though it is mid-January, I am in t-shirt and shorts, and I slept in just a silk liner last night. The climate is more humid than in the north-eastern state I left last week. As I head south, I expect it to get hotter and more humid until I hit the hills/mountains of Chiapas. Veracruz is supposed to be a beautiful coastal town with nice beaches. Further north in Tampico, the water was a bit to cold for swimming.

In Tampico, I once asked a family if they would let me pitch my tent in their yard, and they said that their mother and sister were heading toward mexico city in a truck, and the back was empty and they could drop me off along the route for no cost. I said why not, and after a breakdown a couple hours into the ride and a morning of the mechanic fixing the truck, they dropped me off in Poza Rica that afternoon where I stayed a night, and then headed to Papantla and El Tajin yesterday morning. Yesterday I explored El Tajin, and then came back to Papantla.

In Poza Rica, the family dropped me off at a gas station, and the woman who maintains the restrooms and charges uses 3 pesos, or 30 cents, to use them, tried to help me out. Her niece actually helped me the most my letting me pitch my tent on her yard a block away. Out of the front of her house, she ran a little ¨puesta¨, or food service joint. I guess she also takes shifts at the bathroom post as well. I talked to one of the bathroom post workers whose main job was at another food joint, and she said she made about 150-250 pesos a day, or $15-25 a day, after working ten hours. And she said she had to pay for healthcare per service.

We talked about siblings, and she asked if my sister would inherit the family house since she is the oldest. I told her no one was really interested in the house; everyone would really rather live somewhere else, and will probably rent apartments until we get older. And we will probably move around a fair amount until we are older. She said she was interested in inheriting her parents house and living there pretty much the rest of her life.

I am having a decent time here in Mexico, and I really enjoy moving forward, getting on my bike and seeing and experiencing new places and people. Andy and Shelagh are around here somewhere, and Pat took a bus to Mexico City. As Papantla is more touristy, I have seen a few more gringos here--a couple from Idaho last night, some more Canadians, a Frenchwoman who moved to Mexico a year and a half ago, and others here and there. Another couple of Canadians on bike I saw at El Tajin--they started in Veracruz (they didn´t start from their doorstep as I did), went north to Papantla, and will go back south to Yucatan and Cancun. They will be on the trip until March.

I have had fun learning the Mexicanisms of Spanish. ¨Que padre!¨--Awesome! ¨Órale¨--Look/Wow. ¨Ándale¨--Right on! You go! ¨Ha poco!¨--Yeah, right! ¨Nada mas que.../Pura...¨--Only.../Nothing more than... ¨Nombre!¨--No!/My goodness! When answering the phone, ¨Bueno!¨--Hello! ¨Este...¨--It´s that.../Like.../Uh...(filler word). I look forward to hearing how the slang and the vernacular changes as I move through Central America.

Thanks for following. All is well.