Friday, Feb 20 No travel

It rained most of the night, into the morning, and stayed overcast after that, so it was an easy decision to spend another night camping here. Noone else is staying here, and everyone is hidden away indoors, so it fels like an abandoned village.

So far, being in Mexico, there are things that I haven't experienced that people at home told me I would. I haven't yet:

1) got in an accident

2) got arrested

3) got pulled over by cops who want money

4) got diarrhea or vomited for at least 24 hours

5) got robbed, or

6) got yelled at and attacked simply for being an American

Instead I've gotten curious looks, cops who want to know how many CC's the bike is, people who try to speak english to me, and people who just think it's funny that I don't understand a thing they're saying.

Since it was still raining and I wasn't going anywhere, I sprung for a nice lunch at the hotel "restaurant". It's in quotes because it's a few tables, a kitchen, and one woman who cooks many more meals there for herself and her family than for people like me. I gathered up enough spanish to ask for something spicy with shrimp, so I ended up with Camarones Diablo. It was very tasty, came with fresh tortillas out of the oven, and my only complaint was that it might have been more pleasant to peel the shrimp if the heads weren't still on.

Some trumpet playing, a walk on the beach (I finally saw the Gulf of Mexico for the first time today, after having been so close all week), and I'm about ready for bed. I'm studying the map to see if I can find a route that doesn't take me through Veracruz. After Veracruz, no more big cities until Guatemala City, if I even go through that.