Take me to Mazatlán

I don’t remember the exact hour we got in on Friday night, but it was not early. I remember getting home and wishing we were leaving later than 9am (and that I was meeting my new friend downtown later than 8:20!). I went ahead and blogged, though, because I knew there would be plenty more to remember after the weekend.
I was up at 7 with 4 or less hours of sleep. I probably sholud’ve sent a disclaimer to these new friends explaining what happens to me when I don’t sleep. However, being that they were new friends, I was on my best behavior: no car sleeping, attentive listening, and no sarcasm (which is easy in Spanish).
Because I didn’t want to keep my new friend (whose name at this time I still couldn’t remember) waiting, I made sure to board the bus before 8 in order to be downtown before 8:20. I hit my mark or else went a little overboard. I arrived at my stop at 7:55! I decided to get some bread. That is my new vice here. Their bread stores/bakeries just suck me right in. I got two empanadas: one piña and one guayaba with a corn based breading. It did not take me long to put them away. I walked to Woolworth, our designated meeting spot, and had a seat. I was a bit nervous waiting since I didn’t really know who this was (not nervous like didn’t trust her, but nervous like how was I gong to know which person she was?!). I kept my eye out for all cars pulling up to Woolworth and then realized no need to start watching until 8:20 if that early.  Around 8:25, up walked this girl and held eye contact longer than anyone else had that morning and I could see she was ready to greet me. Must be her. She was in a halter top and sweater, jeans and a beach hat. I had contemplated wearing shorts and a t-shirt thinking the car would not have air conditioning, but it was actually too chilly to do that so I changed into jeans. I’m glad I did because I ended up needing jeans later.
We had to get on another bus and she paid my fare. Mexicans are a very giving culture. I’ve heard this from the US, but being here this year has really made me see it. I think in the US, we go out of our way to make sure things look good (the house is clean, we have enough food, etc.). Here, the appearance is less important, but they are continually giving whatever they have. I often don’t pay for things. After offering to pay back, they won’t let me. It’s just a part of their culture.
We rode my yoga bus past my yoga place and around some hills and through some neighborhoods I didn’t even know existed! This is “the other side” of Culiacán. That holds no extra meaning, just that I had never been to that side before.
We got off the bus at La Normal, a teacher training school. I think it’s training for all kinds of teachers, but the ones I would be traveling with were all three English teachers (We all apparently stick together). Shortly after we got there, Tania called. She was our driver for the day. We put our stuff (I got everything in one backpack which seems easy for one night, but when considering beach wear, pjs [and pillows], going out clothes, shower stuff, and bus ride home, I was swelling with pride at my minimalism) in the trunk and went to the English office to print something off for Imelda (That’s her name! I heard Tania say it and entered it into my memory). In the office, while Imelda was doing her thing, Tania and I talked about why I was here. The typical first conversation I have. She was very complimentary of my Spanish, which was a nice boost. With a small audience, I’m much better.
Not much later, in walked Cristina. She was laughing already and didn’t introduce herself and that led to jokes from the other girls. She’s a giddy, hilarious, crazy girl (and 22), so I could tell it was either going to be super fun, or I was going to want to kill her. I was very comfortable fast with these girls. I’m SO GLAD I went.
We all packed up into the car and got on our way. Cristina had made burritos de marlín and we munched on those (to get the experience- never mind I had already had two empanadas!). They were the joke of the car ride because the marlin had been cooked too much so they were crunchy. Tania said she couldn’t drive and eat them at the same time because they were breaking her teeth. She also said that she had thought it was machaca instead of marlin because machaca is this dried out, but delicious, meaty stuff.
I wasn’t sure where we were as we were heading out of town. Turns out there’s a reason. We were going on the libre, which is the road that takes longer, but is free. In bus it takes a little over 2 hours, including stops for drop offs along the way. It took us a little over 3.5! It actually was fine because it was so much fun! They told jokes and we sang. We kept eating. It was your typical road trip ride.
When we got to the city of Mazatlán, we went straight to Cristina’s house. The house is where her brother lives during the week to go to school. Their parents live in a town outside the city about 45 minutes. We dropped off our stuff, met the brother, waited on some man to bring us towels, went to pay the brother’s cell phone bill, and headed out to the folks’ house for lunch. Cristina had asked us about an hour into the trip if we wanted fried shrimp for lunch. Bring it on.
We walked into the house and it was a typical Mexican house that has the family store in front. No one I know in Mexico has one of these, but all the stores you go into for a candy bar or household supplies (not Oxxo) are attached to houses. There for a while I was buying my coca lights from a parent of a first grader across the street from my school. I guess I do know someone with a store.  Anyway, we were served our fried shrimp, salad, beans and tortillas (as if I needed more) at a small table with a beautiful tablecloth. I had to have a picture (Cristina, Me, Imelda, Tania). Our drinks were courtesy of the family store. For dessert, we were served canned peaches and the girls went crazy like it was their favorite dessert. I of course was thinking, “Where’s the chocolate?” but I shut up and ate my peaches like a good girl.
We laughed a lot at the table. We talked about a lot of stuff. Tania is definitely the jokester/sarcastic soul. Cristina is just goofy. Imelda is the sweet little Beth Swang type. I appreciated their humor much more than I have appreciated any humor yet.
After our lunch (it was after 4), we decided to head to the beach. We trekked back to Mazatlán proper and parked it on the main drag. We walked close to a mile I would guess on the sand. This sand is funny. It’s soft like in Destin (which I prefer to rocky Atlantic coast sand), but your feet don’t get sandy, even after getting wet. It was a strange sensation. Being one who likes to be at the beach but not be sandy, this was perfect!
We enjoyed the sunset and decided to head back to the house to rest. Since this entry is August-style-long, I’ll change to another entry.