Well, it’s Monday night and we have been traveling all day. I didn’t get a chance to write while I was in Veracruz so I”m going to go back to what happened in Veracruz on Saturday. The hotel we stayed at was really close to the port and the beach wasn’t very nice but it was a nice hotel and there was a boardwalk right out front.
The first thing we decided to do was go to the beach. Everyone stared at us because we were the only blond haired, blue eyed, white people on the beach. The first thing I noticed was how warm the water was. It was so warm it was like pee-water. The second thing I noticed was that almost no one has a bathing suit. They were all wearing T-shirts, jeans, dress shirts and even baseball caps to swim in! ¡Que extraño!
I swam for about an hour then saw Rocio sitting on the rocks and went over to talk to her. While we were talking a young Mexican girl kept looking at me and decided to come over and talk to me. Before I knew it I was surrounded by her whole family and friends. They kept firing questions at me, one after another. One girl about 11 yrs old asked me why I could come to Mexico but they couldn’t go to the USA. Rocio just started laughing and I was dumbfounded. I replied that I was just a student and didn’t know much about how that worked. I just couldn’t think of an answer to a question like that very quick.
They were all very nice but so curious. They said they had never seen eyes like mine before. They also had a little girl about 6 yrs old that just stood and smiled at me with her finger in her mouth. She was so cute that I wanted to take a picture.
As soon as there was a pause in the questions and their attention directed to another American, I made my exit and said goodbye. I went back to the hotel and showered but then it was time to eat and we were all looking forward to seafood. After walking for a while on the boardwalk and not really finding anything good we (Tom, Greg, Kyle, Jen and I) hailed a cab and asked him if he could take us to a good seafood restaurant. He dropped us off at a restaurant that served only seafood but the atmosphere didn’t please us, so we went looking for something else. As it turned out there was a restaurant right next door that looked really trendy with neon lights and all so we decided to give it a shot. They had a rope blocking the entrance and a waiter came out, greeted us and gave us the once over.
We were all dressed nice and so obviously American that they let us right in. I was impressed because our waiter spoke (limited) English and our menues were English as well. The seafood selection was unfortunately limited though. I ordered the shrimp and it turned out to be pretty decent. As the night progressed the restaurant filled up and everyone was dressed really well. Also, all the girls that came in were beautiful. We did find the hot spot restaurant!
Next, it was time to go to the discotecs. We scoped out the main strip where the bars were at and one called “Oceans” looked pretty good. So we returned to the hotel to tell everyone so we could go as a group. We waited around for about 45 minutes until everyone was ready. I asked the guy at the reservations desk about Oceans and he said we had to wear button down shirts and khakis to get it. After everyone had put on the appropriate attire I asked the guy how much the cover was and he said 80 pesos. The group wasn’t too pleased to hear that but we were going anyway. We hailed a taxi then suddenly Johanna decided she didn’t want to go and she and Kathy went to ask the guy if there were any other discos. He said that Mexican Boulevard was cheaper and closer. Then the whole group was in disarray. The Farm Boys, Jen and I were bent on going to Oceans and couldn’t believe what was happening. It was like Johanna had just thrown the group into disorder. She had done this twice before. Once when we were all going to Cuernavaca the whole group decided to drop out and it was just the original crew + Matt who went. Then again in Puebla we were all going out and Johanna pussed out again. However it was the original group (fearsome foursome) + Kathy.
This was the last straw and she has officially pissed me off. I went and asked her why she didn’t want to go and she snapped “I just don’t so don’t bother me about it.” That was the second time she snapped at me. The first was at lunch when I asked if she didn’t eat meat because she didn’t like it or for political reasons. She snapped “I just don’t so don’t bother me about it.” Now I see her for what she is which is a whiny, little spoiled sorority girl. I should have known the bratty sorority girl would come out in time. I just let it go that second time but if she does it one more time I”m going to snap. Nobody talks to me like that and the next time she does I won’t hesitate to make her cry and put her in her place. I’ve only put up with it for this long because we have to see each other night and day for three more weeks so it’s wise to keep the peace.
However, three strikes and she is out. In other group matters we have a group nutcase. She goes by the name of Geralyn and is a complete head case. I first noticed it when she told me she was 27 and others 23, 29, 25. Geralyn’s age therefore is somewhere between 23 and 29. That was not that big a deal. Sometimes people are sensitive about their ages. The second strange occurrence happened when Jen (her roommate) was out at a disco and Geralyn took it upon herself to go through all Jen’s things and take her phone cards because she said she was lonely. That right there is proper cause to consider her NUTS!
But it gets so much better. While she was drunk on tequila those first couple nights she took it upon herself to inform me how she had been on cocaine but had to quit because of money problems. She told me how much fun it was and not to knock it until I tried it. OFFICIALLY NUTS SHE IS!
It gets better. She had been going out with a different Mexican every night and didn’t return until 6am. She was also given a ring by one and a coat by another. Now none of this is my business but here is where it becomes my business. I learned that she had said I had “short man’s syndrome.” She also was talking about everyone else in the group and that we could all “kiss her ass.” IT also became personal when she snapped “Push 3” in the elevator to me. I responded in similar tone that it was pushed and she “Thank you” and I “You’re Welcome” in equally harsh tones. But again, we are together constantly and I shall remain passive until she wrongs me or pushes me too far. One person who she has on her side is Professor Guillermo Gonzalez. He had actually asked her out and they spend a lot of time together. What she is, is manipulative. She keeps borrowing money from Prof. Ladman and refuses to call her parents for help. She told me that she supposedly has a loan from OSU that didn’t go through and is the reason she has no money. To add to that her former druggie boyfriend took $5,000 out of her account and her current boyfriend refuses to give her money. She borrows to go to restaurants, wants more to go shopping and so forth.
If I were her I would act with a little more humility and have some class seeing as the professor is doing me a huge favor and try and remedy the situation as soon as possible. She however hasn’t made the slightest attempt. She won’t call her parents simply because she “doesn’t want to.” I have a feeling Prof. Ladman is going to have a hard time getting his money back from her.
In other Geralyn adventures there was the infamous fight between Geralyn and Greg. IT all began when Geralyn went to the front desk and yelled at the woman attendant because she couldn’t figure out how to make a collect call. This made the front desk upset and said we must now all make a deposit to call from our phones. Again, she had caused problems and Greg was
really pissed off about this. Geralyn heard and called up to Greg’s room and asked him “What the hell,” his problem was. He was steamed and told her how she had screwed things up for all of us. She told him to go to hell and also got sarcastic by saying “Oh Greg do you need 15 pesos to make a call?” Well, he certainly isn’t going to get it from her seeing as she is broke. After that incident Prof. Gonzalez gave Greg the stare down when he saw him. I took it upon myself to assure the front desk that we would all not be a problem like Geralyn. I told the lady how she was retrasada de la mente, es loca en serio y en general una cabrona. This made her smile. I did this because I didn’t want to be treated coldly by the staff. Geralyn had caused problems for all of us by acting like trash.
In conclusion I have no respect for her and if she behaves that way again AND IT REFLECTS on the group I will not hesitate to put her in her place. One more thing while I”m on the subject. During the tour we had to make many stops to see things that pertained to class. One stop that was not on the schedule was the “University of the Americas.” I heard this was arranged by Prof. Gonzalez because Geralyn wanted to go. Now that trip was quite strenuous enough without Geralyn causing yet another hassle for the group. EVeryone in the group is fed up with her and she better watch her step because the agitation has been building in everyone.
It seems that I got off on quite a tangent and need to resume with Saturday night. So it ended up just being the four of us. We got a table, but one thing about Mexico is that you must buy a bottle to get a table. A second thing worth mentioning is that they make people wait to get in. They pick and choose out of the crowd (I’m guessing) to keep the guy/girl ratio even. We got in right away because we were dressed nice and American. The final strange thing they do is that they don’t play dance music until around 12. Then there is a big entrance to the dance music. The lighting effects are incredible, however combined with the soundtrack can be a bit cheesy.
For example, at Oceans, they played the Superman soundtrack and the opening lasted for around 10 minutes. They went just a bit overboard. We went through 2 bottles of Bacardi and Coke that night. When the dance music finally began only about 3 couples went up to dance and the guys could not dance for sh*t. That’s when Jen and I decided to show them how it was done. As the night progressed the dance floor filled up and a Latin girl kept looking over at me and signaled to me to come dance with them.
Finally after a few more rum+Cokes I did. NO sooner was I there than Kyle and Greg had taken over. We all took turns dancing with the good looking one and eventually all sat down to talk. It turned out that she was from Arizona and married to some guy who played baseball. I swear almost every single girl that has hit on us is married around here. What is going on?? IT didn’t matter though because I have a girlfriend who I love very much and could never hurt her. That’s all that’s worth mentioning that night.
I didn’t wake up until 12 o’clock the next morning and just really wanted to rest. I asked Tom my roommate what the rest of the group had done. HE said that they got 40s and went swimming in the ocean in their dress clothes. I am now convinced that most of the students in this program are on drugs. How in the hell is going swimming in the ocean IN DRESS CLOTHES more fun that going to a discoteca? I have three conclusions:
1. The rest of the group is doing drugs
2. They are mentally challenged
3. They are embarrassed at their decision to not go to the disco and really can’t say they had a bad time for fear that we would gloat.
Maybe now would be a good time to profile everyone and their cliques in the group.
Geralyn – Completely crazy. I think she is just trying hard for attention. She probably didn’t get any as a little girl. Kathy is always cheerful and fun to be with. She is attached to Johanna by the hip though and you need a surgeon to separate the two. Johanna can be fun if you catch her in the right mood but I consider her a stereotypical sorority girl. She has no regard for anyone but herself. She gets bitchy if she doesn’t get her way. One minute she is talking about how she can’t remember her boyfriend’s face and is going to break up with him and the next how much she loves him and how cute he is. This happens every other day.
In short, if I”m around her too much she drives me up a wall. The Farm Boys are cool. They are both real in their interactions with others and good guys. Tom my roommate is alright but kinda has a nervous tic. He prides himself on his intellect yet brags how he knows nothing about sports. I think he jumps at the opportunity to let us know how important his father is and how much he knows. More often than not though he is alright. Matt reminds me of Rainman. He is highly intelligent but doesn’t have very good social skills. He also drinks every night but would rather avoid the discotech because there are people there. Actually he doesn’t like people. But now that we have gotten to know him he talks to us and is a good guy. He is so mild mannered and it’s funny when he gets pissed off at Geralyn.
Angela is like Tom in respect to the need to show off intelligence but she is a fun girl although a bit odd. I think she is cool though even if she does go to Type-O negative concerts. Jen is a fun girl and came on this trip to have fun. She is part of our fearsome foursome. Nadia is a Fem-Nazi classic case: anti-gun, vegetarian, huge feminist, yet can be social. She is independent but does at times socialize and has fun with us. I think she is ok even if she is a fem-Nazi. Rocio is probably the most mature of our group. Then again, to define what mature is can be difficult. She rarely goes out but does on occasion. I I think Rocio is great. Hisam is the one who is here to really get the most out of it. He is always asking questions (many times to the dismay of the other students) but is really mellow and a good guy.
It seems I got off on another tangent and need to return to Sunday afternoon.
Greg and I rented a wave runner for an hour and we were on it for half an hour each. I had never been on one before and it was a blast. Poor Greg ran out of gas and was stuck out there for about 10 minutes. After that we went swimming for a bit then I took a nap. Around 7 Angela came to get me to grab some seafood. I forgot to mention that the restaurant we went to before the wave runners was good. They didn’t have a great seafood selection either but they did have Paella de Mariscos! That was my favorite in Spain and the restaurant did an OK job with it.
Anywho, we all went out for dinner to the barrio Boca del Rio and found some excellent looking restaurants but they were closed seeing as it was Sunday night and late. We went to a small family owned restaurant and I had Sopa de Marisco. That night I was too tired to do anything and was looking forward to some relaxation. So I just went to bed while others went to do some night swimming in the ocean. Weirdos.
All today we have been traveling back to Texcoco and not much to write about other than Prof. Gonzalez is still giving Greg the death stare and Geralyn has been puking quite a bit in the bus bathroom. IT was nice to get a burger and fries at VIPS for lunch. Well, I need to hit the sack.
