CosalA

(Coh-sah-LA)  The magic town is what it's called.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Mabel and I left for Elena's house (the girl whose family has a house in the town) at 1:20 and got there at 1:40, but she was not there.  We waited outside for quite some time.  In the un-air-conditioned outside.  I was hot, so asked for a raspada.  We drove to the raspada stand and I happily spent my 20 pesos for something cold and icy.  This time I had pineapple and it was so delicious!

As we were on our way to get the drink, we got a call from Elena.  She was at her house, and where were we?  Mabel told her we were on our way back, etc.  Elena left the door open because she had to drop off her daughter at her mom's house...20 minutes away.

We got to her house and made ourselves at home until about 3:30 at which point Mabel got our sandwiches out of the car and went to the store to buy us some Cocas!  When she got back, we ate and she said, if they are not here by 4, we're not going!  Shortly thereafter, Elena and Marisol (the girl whose birthday party was at the Sushi restaurant last week) showed up telling us we were just waiting on Edgar, Marisol's boyfriend.  Edgar's dad was letting him take his truck.  Since something had happened to the spare tire, he wanted it fixed before we left since it's dangerous to travel without a spare.  I totally would've just gone.

At the stroke of 4, Edgar pulls up, Elena and Marisol get in his truck, and Mabel and I follow.  At 4:10, we stop at a gas station.  There waiting for us are two other cars of people neither Mabel nor I know!  We begin our travels...    

The day felt much like a trip I took about a year ago to Destin.  It started with 5 of us in a Civic in Nashville.  We stopped to get gas.  Then we stopped in Huntsville to change to a minivan and pick up someone else.  

Then we stopped 30 minutes down the road for gas.  Then an hour or two for dinner.  It was the least planned trip I've ever been on (and 

I blamed it on the fact that boys were in charge).  Anyway, on this trip to Cosala, we stopped a thousand times.  To buy beer, to replenish the beer, to go to the bathroom (beer is an integral part of this culture).  Finally at 7 we were seeing signs for Cosala.  The "libre," or freeway I guess is a close translation, was closed, so after 30 minutes on the road (having only made one stop at this point), we had to turn around and backtrack, finding a new road.  There was no detour.

The signs at 7pm said welcome to Cosala, the Magic Town.  It was a trick.  We had 45 more minutes of windy, curvy, too narrow to be for two cars, yet for two cars road to go.  The view, though, was amazing!  It reminded me of so many places I've been: Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, Gatlinburg (just the windy and the feeling that we'd just never get there!).

Finally we were to the town, and it was pretty majestic, magical, charming, quaint.  

We drove to the town square while Elena, Marisol and Edgar drove to Elena's grandmother's house to get the key.  This house where we would stay was a house that the family owned, but it was only for weekends and parties.  I don't think that necessarily correlates to the amount of money a family has, but who knows.

While we were in the square, it was a bit awkward.  Mabel and I didn't know this group and Mabel is not a big talker, and I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb again...

Mabel sat and had a beer while I walked through the church. They were doing some work on it, but it was very pretty. We were beginning to get bored with the square and the whole party was headed to a bar to pass some time when Elena et al came back.  We followed their lead to teh house which looked from the street to occupy about half a block.  When we got into the actual house, I realized that the yellow wall outside that looked like the walls to the house was partly for the house, but the other part was just the protector wall, like a fence around a yard.  At this point it is 8 and we have not eaten since 3.  I have had nothing to eat or drink and am tired of being in a quiet car (Mabel's radio/CD player doesn't work) and with people who won't talk to me (nor I to them).  Thankfully, Marisol and company bought meat, charcoal and tortillas while they were getting the keys, so we were set for our cookout.  I was excited because at this point I'd paid my $10 (100 pesos) part to Mabel for gas and nada mas (which is a popular phrase here).  Our only problem was that we had no lighter.  While a few of the guys went to buy a lighter, I got to know some of the girls.  

The ice was broken and when the guys got back, I noticed that one of them looked just like Fount (a friend from college).  I'm sure it's a stretch, but he had Fount shoes, jeans, and most importantly Fount facial expressions.  I told his girlfriend that and they thought it was hilarious and he called himself the clone all weekend.

The guys fired up the grill and they served me first.  The meat was HUGE.  I wish I had taken a picture of my plate.   All we had was meat, salsa and tortillas (no cheese, onion or guacamole), but it was delicious.  The salsa was super-spicy, but so tasty.  It took two tortillas to get through half of my meat, but at that point, I was beyond stuffed and definitely miserable.  

We continued eating and talking until about 10:30 when Elena told us that we should go on to the waterfall then since on Sunday it would be packed.  That we would return on Sunday, but it would be so cool at night.  I wasn't so sure.  I wasn't hesitant, but I knew it would just be water at night.  And I also knew that I had not planned on showering, so I was saving my wet and dirty time for the following day!  I did go along for the ride, though.  We loaded up the truck, Mexican style with 10 of us in the back and Edgar driving with Marisol as co-captain.  The ride was fast in speed, but long in duration.  The waterfall was about 30 minutes down the road back toward Culiacan, and then 20 minutes or so more down a dirt road.  It was fun and carefree to be in the back of the truck, not to mention the beauty of an open sky with nothing but stars.  

However, I felt like I was in a movie staged in Mexico.  Watching everyone jump over the side and feeling the wind, it was surreal.

We got there, and we all kind of just stood around for awhile, as if waiting for someone to tell us what to do.  I perched myself on a rock to be able to see the waterfall, and those wading as well as swimming, but with no danger of getting wet.  We stayed for probably an hour and those who swam (in their clothes, YUK!) had a blast.  They kept asking me if I were afraid or if I didn't like to swim or what, and I kept trying to explain my logical side of not wanting to swim in my clothes, not wanting to get dirty and wet before sleeping in my comforter from my bed at Mabel's house that would likely need to be cleaned if I did that after swimming, etc.  

No explanation was good enough, but we were still strangers enough that they didn't throw me in or make too big of a fuss.

We had a good time and then loaded back up in the truck to head back to the house.  The house, you should know, has three bedrooms, but the only room with beds was a bedroom/living room combo.  There were 3 double beds.  As we were getting settled before we ate, everyone kept saying, yeah we'll all fit.  Um, I'm pretty good at math, but it doesn't take a genius to see that 12 people doesn't divide well among three beds and a hammock.  There were 3 or 4 couches, but not the kind we think of.  These were wooden benches with cushions.  The floor was tile.  And was it ever dusty.  It was not looking good, and far be it from me, the new foreigner girl, to claim a bed upon arrival.  I was waiting patiently to be told what to do!  

When we got back from the waterfall, Mabel was exhausted from the 4 hour drive (and 12 hour day since we left her house) so she claimed a bed and went to sleep.  I had something to prove since I had been the first to bed the first weekend here (Marisol and Elena were at that party) and since I had not gotten in the water.  I hung out for the next hour, but then they started telling jokes.  I love a good joke, but they were speaking quickly for one.  For two, jokes are upper level because of the play on words that is usually involved.  And for three I was tired and ready to put my Spanish brain to bed for the night.  That I did.  I crawled into the bed with Mabel.  The sheet looked disgusting (because there are no panes in the windows.  There are holes in the wall for windows with curtains, but when the wind blows, the house gets very dusty.  You can imagine how often it gets swept when they only use the house for weekend parties.  I put my king size comforter underneath and all around me.

The discussion at dinner had been that we would leave early in the morning to beat the crowd to the waterfall.  You can predict what happened.

To be continued...