A very cool city, and full of wonders. I met Jorge, my good friend and favourite Blue Shrimp waiter at 2:00 am at the central bus station. We slept on the bus, well, he did mostly. I couldn't quiet relax with the incredibly bumpy ride and turns into curves that sent me over the other side of the aisle. Arriving at 7 am, we waited in the open air station and I was freezing! Wow, imagine that. I hadn't been that cold since San Francisco. With my tights and top and sweater on, it wasn't enough.
We waited because it was too early to call his friend. I took a moment to use the bus station bathroom. It's a thing in mexico and something I'm getting used to: in many public washrooms, they take all the paper out and then a person stands out front and hands you paper for a price; like 5 pesos. Usually there is no soap and no towels, but you've just paid 50 cents to wipe yourself, which you should consider a blessing.
When I finally got out of there, Jorge's good friend Juan Carlos had arrived to pick us up in his fancy sports car which he drove like a maniac through Guadalajara to get us to his house. He and his wife Neoli were kind to put us up in their house. Jorge tells me that his friend has mucha lana (money) and for mexican standards having a house with 4 bedrooms is definitely a luxury.
But really, it was a basic house, small and similar to a two storey townhouse with no yard, just a driveway and small back patio to hang laundry and let the dog out. However, I have never seen a house with a leather sofa, stainless steel oven or walk in closet in the master bedroom. These are the signs of an above average wage earner. Jorge wouldn't tell me exactly what his friend works at, only that it might not be completely legal. I'm getting used to that concept also. Lots of very nice people are working in areas that are not completely on the up and up. Making a living is a challenge here in Mexico. People must be very creative and resourceful to get ahead.
We all had lunch which was prepared by Neoli's mom who was visiting from Mazatlan, and then Jorge and I went off to San Juan de Dios and downtown sites. He borrowed his dad's car. Jorge and his family are from Guadalajara. He moved to Vallarta about 3 years ago because he wanted to be near the sea. He is an accountant but when he got to his supposed accounting job at the Blue Shrimp, they told him there wasn't really a spot available and would he like to wait tables instead. Hm..Jorge tells me that was a great shock, after moving all his possessions, wife and baby to a new city for a new job that he finds out isn't there. So he started waiting tables and loved it. He makes about the same amount of money being a waiter, and has way more fun. So much that when an accounting position finally opened up at the restaurant, he decided he'd rather stay on waiting tables and declined it.
I am so fortunate to have a friend like Jorge. He knows the city, and really wanted me to see the real side of it. I felt in very good hands. I had been told so often to be careful in Guadalajara and don't talk to strangers, to watch my bag, etc. etc. All big cities are dangerous, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. But with Jorge, I was able to relax.
He was very patient, while I took in all the sites and incredibly amazing markets wtih so much stuff, I was overwhelmed in minutes. I could have lost my mind in shoes, handbags, leather, kitchenware, food, fruit, sweets, trinkets, all of it, very very inexpensive. Caged birds, flowers, clothes, jewelry, pirated labels, music, movies, herbs, witchcraft items, pigs heads, all of it a feast for the senses.
I have this overwhelming desire to have my own place in mexico so I can then buy all the cool mexican things that go into one like a big steel citrus press for fresh juices, a wooden tortilla press, guacamole bowls or mortars that are made from volcanic rock, big clay vases that hold water and are designed to make it cold, such basic simple principles that have been efficient for ages. And dishes, dishes, dishes! - all baked clay with the typical same green floral pattern around the rims; also my favourite mexican glass, thick with blue trim. I could get 12 for 10 dollars. None of this stuff would probably ever make sense in my country perhaps, but here it is all sublimely perfect.
We stopped later at a Torta place, a Guadalara speciality. A torta is like a big hard shelled bread baquette, soft in the middle, that has been filled with carne asada, beef and cooked in a rich tomato spicy sauce. It's served in a bowl and kind of like a beef dip in the way you have to eat it. Messy, but damned good. We ate that along with two glass bottles of coca cola for drinks. We could watch the people cooking behind the counter and the place was jammed. Oh, and f you're from Guadalara, then you're called a Tapatio.
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