Mexico Day 1

First day in Mexico and some long time cravings have been filled. REAL tacos de pastor, cerveza Victoria and some good old fashioned Mezcal.

James and I left Joplin at 8 am for our noon flight in Tulsa. That was a mistake, Tulsa's airport is much like Kansas City's you can get checked in and on your plane in ten minutes. So we had a few hours of sitting on our ass twiddling our thumbs...people watching. The security measures in the airport didn't seem too arcane. So what? They have a semi-nude xray picture of me? I'm not known for my modesty so it doesn't particularly bother me. I didn't get the infamous pat down because I wasn't an ass who protested against the screener. The flight was a bit bumpy, but we made it to Houston and had to wait a couple of more hours before the long awaited flight to Mexico City. We landed during rush hour and were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half. A common scene in Mexico city, even though the government tries to curb the traffic problem by restricting certain cars from driving on certain days of the week. It doesn't seem to help. I can only imagine if LA or NY tried to implement a similar rule, people would literally shit a brick and maybe even stage a violent coup. James' friend Carlos and his girlfriend Lorena picked us up, they are very nice and speak perfect english. Lucky me.

We went to Condesa, which is an upscale neighborhood loaded with restaurants, bars and shops teeming with night life. We followed the scent of slowly roasting pastor and pineapple to a corner taqueria a few blocks from where we parked. It was about 10 pesos for a taco, approximately .85 cents. They gave us a hopper with about 6 different types of salsa, all of them spicy and delicious, so we ordered about 8 tacos apiece and gorged ourselves over Negro Modelos and Cerveza Victorias. Lorena had to go meet up with some friends, and Rat, one of James and Carlos' buddies arrived to go drinking with us. We hopped around to a few bars and stopped by a hookah lounge for a smoke session and finally stumbled our way to the mezcal bar down the street.

Mezcal bars are a glorious invention. Imagine sixty unlabled bottles filled with a strange clear liquid. And a seedy looking guy standing behind a bar that is completely filled with Star Wars figurines. The place was packed, even though it was monday, and we had to get a table outside. The waitress came with menus, which were just pieces of old cardboard that had been ripped to a roughly equal size with some rough handwriting that displayed the choices and prices. There were dozens of choices, all mezcal, ranging from 30 pesos to 70 pesos, or about 2.50 to 6 dollars. The difference between mezcal and tequila is like the difference between scotch and bourbon. Tequila = bourboun, mezcal = scotch. Each variety has its own unique flavor and strength, and most have a delicious smokey flavor that reminds me of my favorite Islay scotches.

I picked one with an interesting name, far too drunk to know what it meant or recall it now, and the others ordered their own along with a round of beers, and a block of queso de oaxaca. Wine and cheese? Fuck that. Mezcal and cheese is better. Not quite as cosmopolitan, but a hell of a lot more fun. Especially with the queso de oaxaca, which is the white cheese that most queso dip is made out of in the states. It is like extra delicious mozzerella with a texture like string cheese. The waitress brought our shots, the beers, the cheese and some fresh orange slices that had been dusted in salt and cayanne pepper, and we proceeded to indulge for about two hours until the place started winding down. Lorena returned with a few of her friends and we cracked dirty jokes and traded stories (although mostly in spanish, my ear needs some work still) until it was time to take James and I to the hostel we were staying in. After about a thirty minute drive (Mexico City is fucking enormous) we made it, checked in at 2 am, and promptly crashed. Now, I'm pissed off that we passed out so early because I missed my chance to see the full lunar eclipse that was just beginning. Anyways, it was a fantastic, albeit a little bit too expensive start to the trip. We will be spending the next few days in Mexico City, then after Christmas making the journey south to Oaxaca and then on to the beach at Puerto Escondito. Carlos has the break off and has a car, so no need to get robbed or stabbed on a bus or pay a boatload for a taxi. I'll keep everyone posted and try to get some pictures, although I'm pretty sure my camera is a piece of crap so I'm not sure how good they will turn out. Adios, we are off to explore the beautiful city!