Why I Wrote the Way I Did...

I received feedback from this blog, "life is one big road with lots of signs," and I guess I completely misinterpreted the assignment of what kind of travel blog this was supposed to be. I am truly sorry to the people that expected something different. But I would like to take the time to explain the logic in the format of my journey through Central America.

First and foremost, I was not trying to be the typical "American" tourist driving through Central America and Mexico--there were no other gringos to be found in the majority of the places we stopped and passed through. With that said, I tried to set-up my blog in a completely conversational manner. I wanted to explain who I was, where I came from, what I was studying. Once I spent time explaining me, I wanted to make it clear that my trip was going to be an amazing cultural experience, but also a quick adventure with a date in Baja that I couldn't be late for. My trip was by no means a vacation--although I did spend days sitting by pools talking with foreigners, I also talked to locals when asking for directions, at restaurants and in border crossing. While I could have written a novel on each day's happenings, I was almost constantly on the move and when I wasn't, I needed to unwind.

I am not trying to make excuses for omitting exchanges with border officials, military searches, or the underlying reasons for the corrupt exchanges I had with law enforcement. The majority of my research at UPeace, and at my current internship for that matter, is completely focused on the "War on Drugs" in Mexico. While in Mexico, I would be lying to say I wasn't scared. I heard horror stories at my poolside chats on more than one occassion, but I didn't want to focus on that. There is more than enough information on the atrocities of Mexico's current situation, and it has and continues to consume my research, so I chose to focus on the positive spirit of adventure of the trip.

This blog wasn't meant just for my family and friends. I've had people email me out of the blue, saying that they've followed the blog and think that it sends a positive message for people to not be scared to travel in such a feared region of the world. While it might've been rushed and focused on our experiences, my road trip is an example of the possibility to drive through borders, through an entire region of the world, and experience an array of ups and downs in between it all. I did amazing things I would've never dreamt of doing and met wonderful people on my trip--both foreigners and locals--and I don't wish I would have done a thing different.

Life is one big road with lots of signs, even if they're pointing you in the wrong direction, at least you can rely on the power of human kindness to help get you out of an unkown town and on to the Interamericana again.

Wrapping it All Up...

Even though it's been two weeks to the day since we arrived back in San Diego, this is still the official "Wrap Up" blog from the road trip. Sorry for being absent from cyber-land for a little bit, but I had a week and a half to move in to our new house before starting my internship at the Trans-Border Institute, where I am currently writing this from.

Mike, the dogs and I crossed from Mexico into San Diego two Fridays ago in the afternoon. That Friday morning, we were on the road by 6 am from Santa Rosalia, then drove through a time change, which gave us an extra hour, and got to the border at 4:45 pm. The drive through Northern Baja was similar to that of Souther Baja--lots of cacti, windy roads and military checkpoints. The military, who set-up random checkpoints throughout the only highway up Baja, have each car that is passing in both directions go through a stop where they either wave you through or have you stop to thoroughly inspect your vehicle. Our car was inspected at each of the four checkpoints we passed through that Friday, giving us a chance to look at the bulletin board of photos (or bragging rights) of the contraband confiscated at each particular military stop. After looking through the pictures of grenades, bags of drugs and guns, while the military looked through our suitcases, surfboard bags and virtually every nook and cranny in the car, we were back on the road for a few hours before being stopped again. We waited at the border for just over an hour (not too bad for the Otay Mesa Mexico/Us Border on a Friday afternoon), then had a very pleasant encounter with a US Border Official. As she took our passports, the officer asked where we'd come from--"Costa Rica"--and what we were doing in the states--"I am actually starting an internship with the Trans-Border Institute in a week and a half"--and waved us right through, after telling me that she thought my work was extremely necessary because of the biased view the media has put on the Drug War. This Border Official made my last encounter with a law enforcement official on the road trip through Central America and Mexico all the more worthwhile by admiring not only our road trip, but also the hope I have to accomplish something beneficial in the Mexico/US border region at the TBI as well.

As surreal as it was driving up the 5 North after such an unexpectedly pleasant border crossing, we actually made it home! Mike and I got to our new house in Pacific Beach (where I lived before I moved to Costa Rica almost three years ago) and immediately showered and drove up to my grandpa's for dinner, picking up a pizza and freshly brewed beer from our favorite pizza restaurant on the way. Although we'd really wanted to get our bed and what little furniture we had out of storage that evening, we put it off and slept on the air mattress one last night, so we could eat with my ecstatically happy grandpa.

We've spent the last two weeks unloading our storage unit, making various trips to Target, Ikea and Home Depot, and making our house look like a home. The ten day result is that the house looks amazing and it really is so nice to have our own space again. The dogs are extremely content in their new pad too, especially since they have been going to Dog Beach everyday and have lots of new dog neighbors that they like to play with. I'm looking forward to my graduation party on July 24, so that the friends and family that don't live in San Diego can see my new home.

I started my internship yesterday and am currently sitting at my very own desk at the Trans-Border Institute at USD. We had an introductory meeting yesterday, where I met the two other interns and the two full-time staff I will be working with as well. Viridiana is a third year PhD candidate from Harvard that is doing research on drug-related violence in Mexico from the late 80s - current day and will be here through the end of the summer; Jesus will be attending UCSD in the fall and will be here as an intern for the month of June; Stephanie is a USD alum and works in the same office as Viri and me; and Nicole focuses on the violence reported in the media in Mexico and the San Diego regions. The director, Dr. David Shirk, is currently (technically) on sabbatical until mid-August, but will be around midday Monday-Thursday to assist Viri and me with anything we might need. On Monday morning, we will be going down to Tijuana, where David will be giving a talk at the Universidad Iberoamericano. On Thursday of next week, Viri and I will be giving introductions of ourselves and what research work we plan on doing during our time at the TBI, to a group of scholars from USD and the surrounding area. It seems surreal that this experience has been planned for over six months and I am now diving in head-first. I am excited and ready to begin my research on drug-related violence in the Mexico/US border region at the TBI, which I will expand upon more thoroughly at the beginning of next week in a blog entry.

I will try to keep up with what is going on in my life on a consistent basis on this blog. I will be working full-time, Monday-Friday, and I plan on spending the rest of my free time working out, cooking, learning to row and stand up paddle board, or at the beach with my dogs, but I have really enjoyed the virtual journal experience. I reread and added some photos to some entries from the road trip and it was nice to go through the trip again and read about what a roller coaster of an adventure it really was. While I was stressed out and mad for more of the time than I'd like to admit, I think that it was all part of the adventure. The good always seems to outweigh the bad on journeys through foreign countries for me, and this road trip was no exception. The people I met--particularly Mario in El Salvador, the Australians in Puerto Escondido, and the Border Agent at the US/Mexico border--all changed my adventure for the better and really made the trip more worthwhile. And while I may feel like I need to rest my feet for a while and grow some new roots in San Diego and at the TBI, I know my feet will be itching to get out and go on another adventure sooner than later...

Goodbye Southern Baja!

It's been a few days since my last post.

We spent the last few days in Buena Vista waiting for my grandpa's boat to be fixed (it had an electrical problem that was finally fixed after three days) and went out fishing on Tuesday. We went to a delicious sushi dinner that night, which was amazing after eating the same style of food (tortilla and cheese in various forms) for almost two weeks. Yesterday, Mike and I left the beautiful East Cape area and drove an hour and a half to Todos Santos. It is on the Pacific side of southern Baja and is beautiful. However, we're here in May, which my mom just told me is known to be freezing (which it is) and with little to no surf (no waves either). So, even though we're staying in a beautiful spot and it's very picture-perfect, I'm freezing and we're all ready to get on the final two-day stretch home.

We'll drive from here to Guerrero Negro today, which is about half way up Baja. And from there we will head all the way through to Pacific Beach, San Diego, California! Finalmente! I'll try and blog tonight from Guerrero Negro, but it'll be at the end of a long day of driving hard roads and I doubt there will be internet. I am planning on sitting down in San Diego to write one final (and probably really long) entry with my final thoughts and feelings and also upload pictures on the posts I haven't been able to.

Here are some pictures of grandpa, Mike, Maecito and my last day in East Cape, aboard grandpa's fishing boat:

• The first picture is of the last sunrise I'll see coming up over water until my next visit to East Cape.
• The second picture is of Maecito--who conveniently escaped from Kimberly's house and found us right as we were boarding the boat for the day--aboard grandpa's boat, the Dottie B II.
• The third picture is of a dolphin swimming alongside our boat.

That's all for now :)

Grandpa Time

Sorry about not writing since we arrived in Baja. I've been spending time with my grandpa and am thoroughly enjoying being in my second home in East Cape.

Last time I blogged, we were about to get on the ferry in Mazatlan. We checked in around 2, like we were supposed to, and were loaded onto the boat around 4, then left around 5. Although the ferry wasn't very full, they still packed us in amongst all the big rigs on one side of the boat. We took all of our bags out of the back of the car, wrapped them in a big blue tarp we didn't have stolen from us, and inflated our air mattress to lay in the back of the car on. Max (who weighs around 100 pounds) usually sleeps on the floor by the bed but decided that he was terrified of the ferry and had to get in the car with us. So the five of us squeezed on the air mattress for the night and I don't think one of us slept more than a couple hours.

We got into La Paz around 8 in the morning, then had to get our car searched by the military. They really thought they'd found something when they opened my bag of female products, but instantly became mortified when I told them that their good find was in fact tampons. Giggling about the tampon incident the whole way, Mike and I went to Wal Mart in La Paz to get a few things, then drove the hour and a half trek through the desert mountains to East Cape.

I've been coming to East Cape, located between La Paz and Cabo, since I was in my mom's pregnant belly. The Hazards have been coming down to Hotel Spa Buena Vista, in East Cape, since before me. My grandpa owns a fishing boat that he keeps at the hotel and comes down to fish on, with his captain named Vicente, one week out of every month. The rest of the family tries to make it down at least once or twice a year--usually Thanksgiving or Grandpa's Birthday/Mother's Day. This year, my aunt Nina and I were here but my mom and Derek weren't able to make it. My brother is busy in Virginia planning his wedding and my mom is in Florida and was unable to come because she is battling Post Polio Syndrome (for more information on the relatively unknown syndrome, check out http://www.postpoliosupport.com/). I wish that they both could've been here, but I hope that my mommy is feeling okay, resting in Florida and that Derek's wedding planning is coming along. (See you both soon, love you!!!)

Here are some pictures of the ferry ride, Grandpa's 88th birthday party and fishing on Grandpa's boat:

• The first picture is of our car on the (cargo) ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz--can you guess which car is ours? ;)
• The second picture is of my grandpa's birthday marlin--he reeled it in, then Mike and Nestor (the deckhand) held it while I took a quick picture, then it was released back in to the ocean.
• The third picture is of a Mako shark that Mike caught (and ate for dinner that night) with my grandpa's fishing boat in the background. Yes, the water really is that color!
• The fourth picture is of my grandpa, wearing his #88 San Diego Charger's jersey, drinking out of his special birthday margarita glass, and wearing his special birthday hat. Adorable, right?
• The fifth picture is of my grandpa, my aunt Nina and me at my grandpa's party.

We are staying a few houses down from the hotel, with my good friend Kimberly, since the only dogs allowed at the hotel at my grandpa's two shi tzus. We'll be here until Wednesday the 19th and will keep on doing what we always do when we're here in East Cape--fish, snorkel, paddle board, and dinners with grandpa. I'll blog again soon, promise!

That's all for now :)

Time to Catch the Ferry!!!

We made it to Mazatlan yesterday in less than twelve hours from Toluca! It was a really long 24 hours of driving, with only ten hours of rest between, but it was worth it because we made it on time and got to stay in Puerto Escondido an extra day. We drove through Guadalajara yesterday and it brought back lots of memories of my summer there almost four years ago. I can't believe it's been that long, but I guess a lot has happened in my life since then...

We didn't have any police stops yesterday because we stayed on toll roads. The toll roads ended up being over $150 US, but saved us over a day of driving. Plus, you can go 85 miles an hour, legally, on the toll roads, and they're four-lanes most of the way. We passed a giant military convoy that was at least thirty Hummers long a couple of times because every time we had to stop at a toll, they could just keep going without stopping. It was crazy to see all the men, with their hands on their triggers, some donning ski masks and some manning massive machine guns. It was a little creepy being amongst so much gun power, but we felt a lot safer on the toll roads than on the 200, that's for sure.

We got into Mazatlan around 6, which was 7 to us, but there was a time change. We tried looking for hotels in a nice part of town, but none of them took dogs. So, we stayed across the street from where our ferry departs this afternoon and parked our car in the ferry lot for $50 pesos overnight. We woke up early and took the dogs for a walk, avoiding the rabid-looking strays, then I checked us in to the ferry at 9, and we're now sitting on the malecon (boardwalk) at a breakfast place that I randomly saw a person using wireless internet at, waiting to board the ferry at 1:30. We don't actually leave until 4, but getting the big rigs on the boat is a hassle, and we get in to La Paz between 6 and 8 tomorrow morning.

Here are some pictures from the road:

• The first picture is of me (still) driving...
• The second is of agave fields between Mexico City and Guadalajara. Agave is the plant tequila is made from, and we also got to drive through the city of Tequila.
• The third is of our "radio"--it's the iPhone plugged in to the car charger. I really miss volume, but at least we have music still!
• The fourth picture is our (good-for-nothing for the most part) map of Mexico and all of the receipts from the tolls.

Goodbye mainland Mexico! Hello Baja and grandpa's 88th birthday fiesta!!! :)

On the Road Again = Paying More Bribes

Written May 10 from a drive-in motel called The Suites on the outskirts of Toluca, Mexico:

This isn't going to be a long post because I drove for over twelve hours today, but here it goes.

We didn't leave Puerto Escondido until this morning, a day late, because we were having such a great time relaxing and were really not looking forward to getting on the road again. Plus, it was the weekend in Puerto, so a lot of cool travelers came in and we ended up spending most of yesterday hanging out poolside with six Australian guys. They were really funny---two sets of two brothers and two other life-long friends--and their jokes and accents kept Mike and I in a good mood most of the day.

We also met a man that I'm upset to say I didn't exchange contact information with. Julio and his wife were staying in a cabana a few up from ours at the Rock Away the whole time we were there, but we didn't talk until yesterday. Turns out, Julio is a Federale (part of the Mexican governmental police force) in Ciudad Juarez (the most deadly city in the world, and definitely the most dangerous in Mexico during this Drug War) that was on vacation from the insanity of the front line for a week. We were supposed to talk more this morning before we both took off, but I am assuming he got called up in the middle of the night to report back to duty. He got into a conversation with the Australians and us poolside, where he showed us extremely gory pictures out of a magazine, including photos of brutally murdered friends and colleagues of his. Having just done a report on Mexican drug cartel propaganda, I helped him translate some of the narco-banners pictured in the magazine and to explain the situation a little bit to the Aussies. They were definitely shocked by the level of violence, but they had also just been in Pascuales (north of Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast by about ten hours) and had witnessed two US citizens get arrested (actually kidnapped) by men dressed in Federale uniforms but, luckily, they escaped. It seems the Drug War is occurring in each and every part of Mexico--from random surfing beaches along the Pacific coast line to Ciudad Juarez.

Last night, we went to dinner at with friends we'd met, Nisa and Chaz, at their condo they were renting for the month. It was nice to have a fun-filled day at the pool, a chat with Julio on the Drug War, followed by a home-made dinner of shrimp and pasta, then a final night in our bed at Rock Away. Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night to a dead rat in our bathroom (it wasn't mauled by a dog so I'm still wondering how it died/ why the dogs didn't wake up) and a cockroach trying to get into our toothbrush bag, yet again.

We got on the road at 8 this morning, then took the 200 about six hours to Acapulco, where we took toll roads almost all the way to Mexico City, and now we're in Toluca, which is just north-west of Mexico. We got stopped five times today--twice we were searched at military check-points, twice we just got stopped to chat, and one time involved a bribery. We were in Mexico state, almost to Toluca, and apparently we weren't allowed to drive out-of-country plates on Mondays in the state. It cost us four hundred pesos and our information written down on a white piece of paper, but the cops had me write down "Comandante Ruiz: facilidades" on a piece of paper so that we wouldn't have to "pay" any of their friends in the area more money for driving with Costa Rican plates. I still don't know if it was a real law or not, but being nice and paying the "fine" are easier than being difficult with Mexican law enforcement, or any law enforcement for that matter.

That leads me to now. We stopped about 45 minutes after the bribery incident, and like I said, we're at a drive-in motel that men usually take women that aren't their wives to. But, we have our own private garage, and to tell you the truth, this is the nicest place we've stayed at yet and it's only $300 pesos a night. We're just trying not to think about what goes on in this place on a day-to-day basis :)

I'm exhausted and don't have pictures to upload from today, but I'll post some tomorrow. Buenas noches!

One More Night in Escon

We are rapidly approaching our time to get back on the road to make it to the ferry to Baja from Mazatlan on time. Crazy we've already spent four nights here in Puerto Escondido--they've gone by quickly for sure. We've spent our time at the beach mostly, but also re-stocked some of our kitchen supplies at the Super Che (grocery store) yesterday and the car is currently getting a thorough washing for less than $7 US.

I have been engrossed in my book, Shantaram, while Mike has been engrossed in surfing the left point break at the south end of the beach. We met a nice couple, Nisa and Chaz, and her dad, Nick, and their dog, Buddy, who were staying across the pool from us at the Hotel Rock Away. They had moved to Puerto Vallarta (a few days drive north from here on the Pacific still) from various parts of the US and decided to drive south to look for a new place to relocate. We hung out with them all day yesterday and are going to the condo they rented this morning for dinner tonight. It's been nice meeting more travelers and having someone to hang out with on the beach while Mike surfs. They've asked me lots of surfing questions and it's been nice to help them learn about what a cool culture it really is.

Two nights ago, I woke up to a loud splash in the toilet of our hotel room and opened the curtain (not door) to see a giant rat swimming around in the bowl. I screamed, while Mike and the dogs barely woke up, then went to the reception to get someone to do something about it. By the time we got back, no less than a minute later, the rat was scurrying up the bamboo wall of our cabana and making his way out between the wall and the palapa ceiling. Now, every time either of us go in the bathroom, we've definitely been a little paranoid about swimming rats.

The waves were insanely huge three days ago and have been steadily getting a little bit smaller each day. Mike and I took pictures two mornings ago (posted below) and a couple yesterday as well. After the dog walk/picture taking of the surfers, we came back to the room and slept in a little longer, until the heat woke us up again for good. Yesterday, when we re-woke up, Nisa told us that a surfer had drowned when we were sleeping. His name was Noel Robinson, from Northern California, and the link to the Surfline article about him is posted below. Where he drowned was literally across the street from our hotel. RIP Noel:

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/rip-noel-robinson--underground-norcal-charger-filmer-drowns-at-puerto-escondido_43204/

It's time to go and pick up the car from the wash, but here are a few pictures:

• The first is of a massive wave three mornings ago, right in front of our hotel.
• The second is of a surfer getting out of a giant barrel.
• The third is of Maecito digging a hole, trying to get at a burrowed sand crab.

Remember that I also have a Facebook album with more pictures. The link is posted on the last blog entry.

I'll write more tomorrow from a new location in Mexico. It's been nice Puerto Escondido--until we meet again!