Viva Mexico!

Hello again! We have been away for a while, but now it is time for us to share with you a bit of our vacation in Mexico. The main reason for flying there was to attend to the wedding of our good friends  Anais and Sergio, two Mexicans who live in Stuttgart and we have been knowing for years, and finally got married in March 15th. But, using this as an excuse, we decided to stay in Mexico a bit longer, and enjoy the good weather and the beach before coming back to the snow :)

Our first experience in Mexico was not the best one, we arrived to the  International Terminal in Cancun airport, and just in the exit you are surrounded by several taxi drivers desperate to offer their service (and charge you 10 times more than the real price, of course). They really were intimidating, and although we had already been warned before, it was still scary. Fortunately, we just wanted to be in Cancun for the night, since the next day we are flying to Tampico, in Veracruz, where the wedding took place, and arranged with the hotel for them to pick us up from the airport. Other German friends didn't do that, and had to play 40 USD for the drive, although it was not longer than 10 minutes. Like I said, not the best impression. But funny thing, the next day we were flying with a national company, and it is located in a different terminal, and the situation was not at all like the first day. It is a bit sad, but it just seems like the taxi drivers know with whom they can make more money, and abuse their power...

When we already arrived to Tampico, we met with the rest of our friends from Germany, that also travelled for the wedding (and as well, stayed longer discovering other parts of the country). It was hilarious to meet all these people in the other corner of the world :) And we had to make use of our rusted German speaking skills and update each other with the news in our lives. It was the day before the wedding, and we spent some time at the beach, meeting Anais and Sergio's friends and family.

The next day was pretty much a relaxing morning until the time of the wedding. Anais and Sergio chose a big hotel to celebrate the wedding, and it was very convenient, because almost all invitees stayed in the same hotel for the night.

We really enjoyed the wedding, the ceremony was beautiful, the dinner was very enjoyable, and well, the party afterwards... I will just say that the Mexicans can really party! The pictures that we share don't really represent the delightful experience that was for us, but at least you can get a small sample of it.

The newlyweds entering the room after all invitees had entered.

The first dance, first both alone, and then with their parents.

This is what happens when you mix happiness and tequila..

Andres should change his picture in the resumé and use this one instead..

The next day, Anais and Sergio had a second celebration that took place in the town she grew up. Since we were around until the following Monday, they invited the whole "German fraction" to attend this second, even bigger celebration. Here the whole town was invited to come by and celebrate with the just married couple. It was really authentic, with great Mexican food, music, and many, many people. It was a pleasant afternoon, and I have to say that Anais and Sergio's family and friends treated us extremely good, we are so glad to have had this chance.

The following Monday we flew to Cancun, and got picked up and left in Playa del Carmen. It was the spring break week, so we were expecting everything full with "gringos", but it was really not so full, maybe it was a good idea to stay in Playa del Carmen and not in Cancun Center. There the story might have been different. Our hotel was a bit outside the town, and we had to walk around 30 minutes to the main streets, but it was a pleasant path along a nice suburb that reminded me of my grandfather's house in Huelva. The see color is this magical turquoise so characteristic of the Caribbean area, that I had not experienced yet.

There were pelicans on the beach, who were not afraid of humans at all. They were hunting for fish.

We used one day to visit the Mayan ruins in Tulum, located one hour away from Playa del Carmen. The place is really interesting, as is the culture. Unfortunately, the bigger ruins of Tchichen-Itza were just to far away, it would have been a four hour drive one way, so we decided not to go, but Tulum really enchanted us.

After that we rented bikes and visited the Grand Cenote. A cenote forms when the limestone ground collapses and falls, exposing groundwater underneath. Some parts of the cenotes are open to the sky, but some also connect among each other underneath the ground. Their waters are very clear, and contain minerals, since the water comes from rain filtering slowly though the ground.



On our last vacation day we headed to a beach called Akumal, well known due to their sea turtles. We rented a snorkeling set and swam around to search for turtles. It was not hard to find some enormous specimens. Since we did not have a water-proof camera, I'll just pull up one from the Internet. It was a magnificent experience.

And the next day our vacation came to an end. This week and a half left us a great impression of Mexico and the Mexicans, even though we didn't have the chance to explore further. However, our sensible skins were not used to the direct sun, we turned red back then, and now we stepped in the phase of peeling of like the snakes. But it is worth it. We are looking forward to the next vacation, hopefully for Good Friday...

Thanks for reading,

Lita & Andres

Rednecks 101

Last weekend we assisted to an event called Monster Jam, it is a racing and freestyle "competition" between monster trucks (trucks on steroids). They travel around the whole nation, and when coming to Detroit, our Indian pals and we ourselves could not resist the temptation of experiencing one of the many typical "Only in America" things. The whole show is a show, not only the trucks themselves, but also the people attending: families totally dressed up with the colors of their favorite Monster truck, cowboy boots and hats... Also the parking lots in the city were packed with rusty pick-up trucks and other old models that should be museums but that, miraculously, still run on the streets.

That extravagant experience is what made me realize a great subject for a bog entry, Rednecks 101 (for the people not familiarized with the term, 101 simply means an introduction on a topic, it is mostly used for the first course of a subject in university in English-speaking countries). So yes, I'd like to give an express course on Rednecking, how to recognize one, and what is needed to become one or earn more points in that matter.

What is really a Redneck? Wikipedia defines them as the rural white men of Southern United States. The term refers to the back of the neck of the workers in the field, becoming red due to the long hours exposed under the sun. But nowadays, it is more broadly used and it can just refer to any American traditions that are opposed to modern ways.

But on the contrary to what you could think, the "redneck" term is reclaimed by the Southerns, and they use it with pride for themselves. So don't just think it is taken as an insult (which, sometimes, it is..) but also as a complement.

Here are some things that are linked to the redneck. The more cliches you fill in, the higher your "redneckness".

• The vehicle: the car has to be a big, fat, loud, pick-up, with one or more of the following add-ons: lifted chassis, big wheels, rust all over it, hand-painted sections, tape to hold mirrors, etc. It can only be a GMC, Chevy, Dodge, or Ford. In addition, there can have upgrades in redneckness: the engine light may be on for ages, it can only be driven 10 minutes without overheating, and it takes half a week's pay to fill the truck with gas. Also, the redneck has a special relationship with his car (it can have a name), and it is also frequent for a redneck to have several cars, mostly all of them teared apart in the garage.

• The clothes: jeans for every occasion, snickers or boots, and pretty much anything that can get dirty from deer blood or beer. Cut-off sleeves earns extra points. As for the head, a redneck can choose between a baseball cup, or a cowboy hat. And a camouflage jacket complements the whole attire.

• Guns and Hunting: a redneck has one or more shotguns at home, sometimes also in the truck. Hunting is a very important duty for a redneck, and weapons are the way for a redneck to express he is protecting his family. If a redneck can't go hunting, he can show his shooting skills in a shooting range. But it is always better to do it with real deers.

• The drink: Beer is amongst everything, the heal fluid for a redneck. Beer cans are not only used to contain the beer, but also as decoration at home or in the car, or outside at the porch, as a wind chime. If it can't be alcohol, mountain dew is clearly the way to go. 

• The food: Most of the redneck food is cooked by the woman. If it is the man who cooked, he won't brag about it... A redneck eats everything fried, the meat is normally served with beans and cornbread. They also eat prepared food in the supermarket (or, as they say, the Walmart), that need no cooking at home, including, but not limited to ice cream sandwiches, chicken wings, microwave sausage, etc. Once a week, usually following pay-day, they go out for dinner, always preferring "all you can eat" restaurants, although Cracker Barrel is as good for dining out.

• The events: As a redneck, you consider the  Monster Jam as an important event: it is a must-do when they are in town. People travel several hours just to watch their favorite truck. Also NASCAR is mandatory to earn the redneck denomination.

• The media: both in television and radio, the redneck looks for shows with country music. It is very suitable for the car, and at home, the TV must be on all day. 

• The rednecks and women: Rednecks, although they don't have specific requirement on their own body, like to watch good-looking women, the less clothes, the better, short pants, short tees, BUT, they must always wear cowboy hat and boots (you cans search in internet the restaurant called "redneck's heaven" in Texas, you will be surprised to find that in such a conservative state). Bright colored hair scored extra points for a redneck woman, but is mandatory, however it is to have it long and "girly". Pink is an important color for a redneck woman, and either everything in her outfit has to match together, or nothing at all.

Alright, I think this was a good first step to get to know the Redneck Culture, you may like it or not (if not, I don't blame you). I want to share a couple of pics from the Monster Truck event, this was indeed interesting and I recommend it to do it once if you have the chance. Only once is fine.

The one above is grave digger, the father.

Here is another grave digger "the Legend", driven by his son. He apparently always in Detroit, as is did this time, both in racing and in freestyle, although in my opinion it wasn't so good.

El Toro Loco, it even has horns! :)

But by far the best thing, what people enjoy the most, is when cars end up like the image above. It is a sublime sensation that makes the ticket worth it.

I guess this was enough for the subject, hope you find it interesting, at least.

Thanks for reading, 

Lita & Andres