Little update since its been a few days. Still in school although I changed my classes a little. For the first week I was the only student in both my morning and afternoon classes. Then on week two some more people joined in the class. The new people actually knew a little Spanish so it was kind of awkward for me to have to go through the lessons using my halting, child-like Spanish skills. I switched over to private classes so I can cram more learning time in. Picking up everything has been hard. Learning a new language is 100% all about memorizing things and there’s a lot to remember. My sentences are starting to take shape a little and my vocabulary is a lot better. I doubt I’m going to be able to have constructive 2 way conversations with anyone when I leave but if I can get the basics down I can always practice on the road.

The place I was staying didn’t work out so I moved into a school-owned private apartment. The people there were awesome but the room was too loud and I had to sit outside to get internet access. The new place is a 15 minute walk from school but its 100x quieter and it has wireless.

One of the 2 things I ordered from the States via eBay arrived after just a week. It was a GE 26695 VoIP In-Ear Headset/Earphone & Inline Microphone. Got it for when I’m using Skype. It’s crap. The headphone part is fine but the microphone is terrible. Even with the PC mic volume all the way up recorded sounds are barely audible (Skype’s software even warns about it when making a call). The background hissing is also distracting.

The other thing I ordered, the immersion heater, hasn’t arrived but I saw one in a store and bought it since it was only US $2.65. Some of them don’t have a long life expectancy so I’ll hang on to both if the other one gets here before I leave.

Oh, I tried grasshoppers for the first time yesterday. A friend of mine, Beata ordered something off the menu called Delicious Crepe. Well on the English section of the menu it had the real name of the dish: Grasshopper Crepe. She went ahead and ordered it and we all tried some. The little hoppers had been fried up and seasoned with various things. I had 3 and thought they were pretty good. Will I start riding with my mouth open now? No.

After the grasshopper dinner we took a taxi to Guadalajara and watched Sherlock Holmes (in English–good movie too). I’ve had a cold for the last few days so the 40 F rainy weather was kind of brutal but I had a great time. They had a Dairy Queen at the mall too. First one I’ve seen in Mexico.

The pics below are just random ones from different days last week.

Weather in Guadalajara when posted:

Temperature: 9 °C, Humidity: 61%, Wind Speed: 4km/hr, Cloud Cover: n/a

12/29 Lot’s of hills today. Not kidding. They were brutal. None were very steep but they were huge and there were a lot of them. I was very glad to finally get to Tepic. It rained last night so the humidity really kicked in. I burned through a lot of water which was bad because of the route I took.

I cheated and rode on Mex-15D for most of the day. 15D is the toll road vs. 15 which is the free or Libre road. Having a wide shoulder makes all the difference in the world. Being able to ride without having to constantly watch for vehicles coming up behind you makes for the much more relaxing day. I did have to worry about the police pulling up and telling me I couldn’t be on the toll rode but I don’t think they care. Two police cars passed me and kept going and I didn’t have a problem going though 2 manned toll booths. As long as you stay out of the toll booth lanes by keeping to the far right, on the sidewalk if possible, they’ll let you pass. The only real problem with the toll road (Couta) is that it skips all the little towns and there are almost no services. I didn’t hit a place to get water for 35 miles and had that place not been there I would have definitely run out.

I’m missing my Canon camera today. Kept seeing huge lizards and lots of birds I’ve never seen before. They were too far for the P&S camera so I didn’t bother trying.

Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get some sleep tonight. The $7 a night room I stayed in last night had some design flaws: the adjoining walls didn’t quite reach the outside wall or the ceiling. So at 3am and 4am when my neighbors got up to take a shower, go to the bathroom and go to work I got to hear everything.

After paying for my room with my credit card and then sitting down to eat dinner the waitress comes back and tells me my card was declined. My bank’s fraud department said they didn’t see a reason but I’ll have to call back during business hours. I checked online and there’s no balance so it’s not like I was late or anything. What a pain. At least the call won’t be horribly expensive now that I’ve finally embraced using Skype. Two things I wish I’d thought of before leaving on this trip: bringing a 2nd VISA card (nothing else is accepted down here) and bringing a 2nd ATM card from a different bank (for backup). Both things I have; I just didn’t think to bring them.

Update: Tried the credit card for breakfast and it worked fine.

The hotel is called the Zar and its rather fancy. The room is spacious and everything is new and clean. The shower was awesome. The noise for the heavy trucks using their their engines to brake is the only thing that ruins it.

Weather in Tepic when posted:

Temperature: 14 °C, Humidity: 100%, Wind Speed: n/a, Cloud Cover: overcast

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends! This was my first Christmas on the road and it wasn’t too bad. Got a few calls into my family so it was almost like I was there (albeit via Skype).

The 24th or “Holy Night” is the end of a nine day celebration of the Nativity so it was a little louder around here than it normally is. Fireworks were going off (nothing extravagant) and toward the end of the night the kids staying here were outside beating a Piñata with a stick. It was actually pretty fun to listen to the kids yelling and the adults singing. Here’s a good site that describes how the holiday is celebrated in Mexico. A lot of places are closed but not everything and thankfully not the restaurants. PB&J on Christmas would be bad.

I noticed something on the trip map that I posted yesterday that kind of has me intrigued a little. OK, more than a little. Cuba is very close. I did a little checking and there are daily flights from Cancun to Havana. There are some considerations to making a trip like this; especially to a country that is considered an “enemy” of the United States. Legally I can fly there but I can’t spend any money. My status as a dual citizen (Canada/United States) doesn’t help me out here either. Could I get away with not breaking this law by bringing my own food and camping? For the sake of this publicly posted web site… you bet!

Lot’s more research is needed before I pull the trigger on this one. For one thing I’d need to figure out how to pack my bike/gear up for the plane ride over. I’ve read nothing but good things from the other touring riders that have been over there. Columbus even described Cuba as, “the most beautiful land human eyes have ever seen.” How could I not go there?

Weather in Mazatlan when posted:

Temperature: 25 °C, Humidity: 50%, Wind Speed: 4km/hr, Cloud Cover: few clouds