May 2 to 8, 2004

Sunday May 2nd, 2004

Sam Paco and us head to the extreme southern point of this enormous city. We arrive at the base of El pico del Aguila Eagle’s peak and begin our climb around 9:30am. We climb in a thick morning fog through pine trees interspersed with cactuses. The ground sports some accumulation of hail surprisingly enough. The vegetation changes dramatically to deciduous as we probably come around to the other side of the mountain. We climb past the tree line and continue through humps of tall dry grass. The earth is extremely black and there are big rocks about. Near the top everything turns to rock. Occasionally the fog clears and we glimpse a stunning view. At the top we snack and Paco prepares an espresso on a camp stove. We head back down. The view is now available for appreciation. We see a valley stretched out below us and sing some wicked Eddy Grant tunes. My knee hurts.

We get to the bottom, and protect Paco’s dog from the advances of a male ¼ her size. It’s time to enjoy a rich barbecued dinner with wine and all, just what our famished bodies need.

In the next week we tie up loose ends, finish an article and venture downtown by metro to see some sights a couple times. We also like to visit Coyoacan, a nearby spot that is very nice, with old buildings, plazas, stone paved streets, and lots of life. The weather is extremely different from on the coast. It’s cold. And it rains almost every day.

Friday May 7th, 2004

Exactly seven months after we said goodbye to our friends from Suck up to God and left Vancouver we head out of Acapulco. But first we must stop at the gas station, we think Jo has a flat, but she don’t. Moving on in the pressing heat we pass garbage, lots of it, on the roadside and see many fields that have undergone their yearly ‘burn until black’ treatment. As for everywhere else in rural Guerrero there are lots of pigs roaming around, usually in conjunction with the garbage heaps.

We pass three women on the side of the road and as usual in our travels we say hello. Their dogs run out after us and one of them gets hit with a loud smack in the opposite lane by an oncoming collective transportation minibus. I stop and look back, the dog is dragging his rear end off to the side, two other dogs are accompanying him with shrill barks. With heavy heads and heavier pedals for having caused this tragedy we push on through the dirty burning heat. That evening when we make camp in a farmer’s field I’m so tired from the reintroduction to high temperatures that I can’t move and a splitting headache makes sure I don’t. Johanne is a wonderful woman and takes care of me most generously. During the night it rains for about 15minutes, the first of the rainy season. We need to get up and put the fly on our tent, and go back to sleep in our nice waterproof sauna named Mary.

In the morning I’m still doing lousy so we have a small day and get a hotel room with a fan in San Marcos. We spend the next day recuperating from our reintroduction to the heat. The Señora at restaurant Ruth overcharges us for a milkshake. We refuse to be stupid and pay extra just because we’re white. She doesn’t agree and we get called some names that aren’t so nice.

Saturday May 8th, 2004

Barely awake we head out early, direction Acapulco in Eduardo’s car. We wake up half way, my uncle puts a CD on, and the rest of the trip is spent learning the words to a song and singing along. We stay in a hotel at Barra Vieja and swim in the sea all day, imbibing mucho beers. The current is really strong and we must take care not to be swept away. Present are Aunt Mari Elena and uncle Lalo, as well as Aurelio and Marta who brought along Aure’s brother Manuel and his wife Tere. We seem to spend the whole day eating and it’s true, we do. The next day a guy and his boat take us to explore the lagoon of Tres Palos. It is really nice, there are mangrove forests and many pretty birds. We get the chance to jump out the boat and paste ourselves in thick gray clay. We continue down the lagoon covered in mudd. Johanne and I are creating various funny prosthesis, notably the big nose and the beard hair-extension (currently very à la mud) ouch. Johanne’s beard is totally fake (not a hair-extension (she thanks me for the addition of that little extra fact)).

We’re back at uncle Alberto and aunt Hilda’s house in El Coloso just outside of Acapulco. A good five days are spent doing mechanics and preparatory work for the project. We repack the bearings in our rear axles. I need a new cone for my rear axle and we spend a full day with my cousin Julio walking around downtown Acapulco in the blazing heat with no luck (we barely manage to find ice cream cones let alone bike part cones). Every morning we head over to the family lunch restaurant, Loncheria La Cabaña, and have a scrumptious breakfast prepared by Hilda (who rocks). The family is really nice. We are accompanied everywhere by Julio who is our host. Before we leave we make a visit to a nearby mechanic to fix a problem with Johanne’s bike that is beyond the considerable reach of our mechanical know how, her cup gets replaced. We also play guitar together for the first time with our mini and the aging family classic, we decide that this must happen again.