Tag Archives: buses in Mexico

Feb6

It’s Thursday

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It’s Thursday

I started off my day as usual sipping coffee in bed and watching a movie in Spanish. The movie this morning was about hoarders. It was a nice change from the usual kidnapping, stalking and murders. Gracias Lifetime channel.

I strolled through the tianguis on my way to breakfast. Fruit, vegetables, clothes, housewares, tools; you name it and it was there this morning. But the shoppers were far fewer in number than they were before Christmas. I was surprised, as Valentines Day is coming up and that is big here.

I arrived at Chili, one of my favorite breakfast places, and ordered my usual chilaquiles, huevos revueltos and frijoles. I chatted with people at neighboring tables, always eager to practice speaking Spanish. I noticed that others were bundled in sweatshirts and jackets, while I wore my usual short sleeve t-shirt. Early morning 70s are just fine with me.

My upcoming trip to visit my friend Angie in Pachuca is now in place. Yesterday I went to the bus station. Of course the website doesn’t resemble the schedules that actually exist, so it’s always fun when it comes down to actually buying the tickets. I’m not taking my preferred ETN, but I do get to bypass Mexico City so that is a plus.

I’m listening to an audiobook on Libby as I try to stay current with my book club in East Wenatchee. I like listening to audiobooks. It’s a nice change from staring at a computer screen. And I get to color and relax at the same time. But I do miss holding an actual book in my hands.

I have a student coming later today. I’m trying to get him to speak more in English rather than just write. We’ve discussed videos we’ve watched about airplanes, helicopters and cars. His special request for today is a video about tanks. We will be comparing the Bulldog with the Spartan.

I’ve been taking photos of my neighborhood, Las Flores. When I look back at old photos, not too much has changed around here in the last six years. I’ve always maintained that living here is like stepping back in time to an era of mom-and-pop restaurants and shops. And it’s nice to see families frequenting the parks together rather than large indoor shopping malls.

And now it’s time to do some editing.

Nov13

My Bus Ride

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My Bus Ride

I received an email this morning from a friend in Leavenworth. She wanted to know how long I was staying in Mazatlan. Well, you miss a blog post and you lose track of yours truly. Two weeks in Guadalajara, one weekend in Mazatlan, and now I’m in Culiacan. Right now the plan is to stay here for a week, and then your guess is as good as mine. After decades of routines and schedules I am completely caught up in the world of mindfulness and moving along when the time feels right. That’s why I found myself on a bus to Culiacan yesterday morning.

I mus tell you about the bus ride. ETN/Turistar is my preferred mode of travel but my route from Mazatlan to Culiacan has been discontinued. I reluctantly bought a ticket on TAP, on a first class rather than an executive class. The plan was to arrive in Culiacan around 2 pm so that Juan could pick me up after school.

It’s been years since I took one of these, and I forget how annoyingly entertaining it can be. The TV hovered inches above my head. Amazingly enough the movie was in English. No computer terminal at my seat on this bus. I put in my headphones and scrolled through the music channels. Nothing too exciting there. But the air conditioning was blasting and it was only a couple of hours. Suck it up princess.

The bus slowed down on the outskirts of the city and two vendors got on. I’d forgotten how amusing this can be. Vendors are not allowed on the ETN buses.

The first vendor to approach me was a young woman with a basket filled with wind-up toys. I smiled back and shook my head. No, gracias. But she was determined. She must have demonstrated four or five toys before she moved on to the next passenger.

Apparently the toy sales were not doing well. Moments later she was back with chocolate……melted chocolate. After all, the temperature outside was in the nineties before she boarded the bus. Once again I declined her offerings.

The second vendor was hot on her heels. This man had a cooler full of tamales. He wasn’t quite as aggressive and a shake of the head was sufficient enough to send him on his way.

She’s back! Vendor number one was now spouting me the benefits of the cream with marijuana she held in her hands. And then vendor number one was selling honey while she was still promoting her cream. I shook my head once again, reclined my seat, and closed my eyes.

Only another hour………………

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