Texas was….well, Texas. I got my Tex-mex quick fix and some Bill Miller’s BBQ and sweet tea and I was home.Only, I was living out of a suitcase for a week and a half in preparation for my DRIVE abroad. Mexico looks promising and I am in the phase of planning quasi-excursions and ventures in Mexico like the copper canyon, horsetail falls, the cloud forest, and crossing my fingers for a possible climbing venture of Ixtachulli. Ixtachulli is one of two volcano peaks outside of Mexico City. It means “sleeping woman” because of the shape of the slopes. The giant peak next to her is Popocateptl. My father used to climb it as I had aspirations to as well; however, due to seismic activity and the fact that it was spewing hot ash and was closed to climbers in 1994. No bueno huh? I’ll try and meet up with some other students while there to be safe. So after buying a new daypack, water bladder for the dessert and a headlamp and packing until 3am this morning, we were on the road today. Just my luck, I was watching a riveting segment of Lou Dobbs on CNN only to learn that the state department issued out a new warning for Americans traveling in Mexico. Why you ask? The war on drugs has escalated so much on the Border that turf wars between the cartels has spilled onto the streets, 3 police chiefs in Nuevo Laredo have been executed this year (one of them the first week on the job), and 45 Americans have been kidnapped or murdered this year. Friends and family: please don’t be alarmed. The violence is mostly on the border states such as Tamaulipas and Baja California. Monterrey is further into the interior in the State of Nuevo Leon. The drive here was surreal. Nuevo Laredo is like every Border Town, a lost outer province. Corruption and absolute poverty is rampant. Men make a living doing whatever they can do to etch out a living. Men paint the curbs of the freeway 50 miles outside of the city. Every red light is an opportunity for them to earn a few pesos cleaning a windshield. How can a country like Mexico trade with two superpowers like the US and Canada? Hurricane Emily in the Gulf of Mexico has brought a lot of rain to northeastern Mexico and southeast Texas. Nuevo Laredo was an absolute mess because the streets were flooded with water and mud was everywhere. There just isn’t the infrastructure of an actual city like sewer system and drainage systems.
OK, So this was where I had to get processed through immigration. It's 3 steps. 1st You have to explain your resons you're in mexico and not arms trafficing, showing proof of identity (passport and birth certificate) and then you get a temporary tourist pass that last 30 days. Within that time, you have to get your visa squared away OR ELSE. Then, because you can only drive into the country 25 miles, you need a special permit and proof of ownership to drive in the interior. Then we were on our way!
I like to describe Mexico as a kid that’s outgrown its shoes (infrastructure) and it has three options: a) scrunch his toes and wince in pain while staying in the same pair, b) bust though them with his toes hanging out, or b) get some new shoes that fit. Mexico will most likely burst through the shoes it has because no investments have been made in infrastructure in decades. Well, until then, I can’t wait to get to Monterrey!
