In Colima, Colima

Update (12/30/11): Home for six months, which feels like six weeks in Mexico. Time flies when we're having fun. Rereading this post now, we need to add....

We had had a precariously balanced sense of comfort at Lucio's house in Tecoman, but when his daughter showed up unexpectedly with her husband and baby and one eyed, drug dealing mother and acted like we were intruders, we were ready to flee. Jose told his uncle we were going to visit Colima for a week with vague promises to return (which didn't happen.) The Colima hotel was low quality and miles from downtown. The bed was hard and the room was freezing, because Jose set the thermostat to 50 degrees after living in humid heat for weeks before. I was miserable in Colima. No matter how much I slept, I couldn't get rested. All the food was terrible. I felt sad, mad, lonely, and desperate; one night I cried so intensely that Jose heard the cleaning staff asking if they should see if I was ok. That was embarassing enough that I wanted to leave the room even less, and we so we went to stay in Comala, a small town outside of Colima, soon after. Colima was definitely one of the lowest points of our two months of travel.

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We are having a great time in Colima, but so far it has involved very little of the city. We are thrilled to have air conditioning and the luxury of a hotel. It is almost like we are somewhere in the United States. We have not felt this kind of comfort since we left the US, so we have been taking full advantage.

The weather here is so much better. It was warm today, but it was not humid, which makes all the difference. We have taken our first hot showers in Mexico. When I got out of my first shower here, I thought we had amazing soap, because I was so soft, but then I remembered that that's how skin is supposed to be. I was just so used to being sticky from the humidity, I'd forgotten how great clean skin feels.

Jose keeps our room freezing cold. I have needed to use an extra blanket at night, but being cool puts him in a great mood, so I don't mind. There is cable TV in the room, and sports have been taking much of Jose's time. He has been switching between football, tennis, and golf. I swear there is more NFL football in Mexico than in the United States, and Jose has watched every game. I even woke up to an NFL rerun this morning of the game he had watched the night before. Plus, the U.S. Open was on. I did get pretty into that.

We have been eating better since we got here. We ate at the hotel restaurant the first night, and I had some delicious shrimp. For our other meals, we have been eating at restaurants within a block or two of the hotel. Last night, we had flan for dessert, our first in Mexico. Besides lunch this afternoon, we have not eaten at any taquerias. It has been very nice to have a break from tacos, and to eat at places that are a little more quiet and relaxing.

We ventured out this afternoon towards downtown, but then we ate too much at lunch and I had to come home for a nap. The streets were nice and pretty. We are excited about making it all the way downtown tomorrow. It is supposed to have a good center. We found a bus stop less than a block from our hotel that goes straight downtown, which greatly improves the chances of me making it down there!

Tomorrow, on the 15th of September, most of the Independence Day celebrations happen. In the last week or so many cars have donned flags, and there are stands selling flags all over the place. Jose is really excited about seeing the celebrations. Hopefully we will see some interesting things.

-Emma