Mehican Fiesta

Hola Amigos,

Happy New Year!

In Mexico now!!! wooooohooooooo. Came in a few nights ago to Downtown Cancun to meet Grady in our shotty $12 a night hostel which was fabulous, felt like true mexio... Dirty, smelly and hot. It was really safe though.

The first day when we got up we were both sooooooo jetlagged. We just wanted to sleep but decided we needed to stay awake so ended up walking from Downtown to Zona Hotelera (aka big tourist strip with about 100 resorts... Kinda like the vegas of Cancun, it was really tacky...) what we didnt realise is that it was 10km away. We drank about 3L of water each but didnt end up peeing all day because we ended up like giant sweat balls. We managed to get the bus back downtown, but unfortunately there were no chickens on it.

The next day we went back downtown and snuck into the pool of the Americana hotel... free towels and lounge chairs and no one batted an eyelid. We hung out downtown in the afternoon and ended up going out for dinner with $2 margaritas and cheap cheap food we were fed and drunk for about $20 each. The old mexican owner loved us and we were talking to him for a while and before we left he gave us free tequila. Then it was all about the Sol and tequila at a bar downtown with these really lovely group of random Mexicans trying out their english on us and teaching us a bit of spanish. We´re coping pretty well though.

The next day (the hangover day) we decided to go back to the Americana hotel... Unfortunately there were hotel police and we got sprung. So we walked down to the next hotel, but no free towels.

Yesterday we made our way to Puerto Morelos to meet up with Sarah and Az. We´re staying in this cute little straw roofed hut about 2km north of town which is a bit of a pain but a taxi is only $2. Its lovely down here. A lot less commercial than Cancun. Some of Az´s friends have been down here for a while and know all the ins and outs of the place which is really helpful. Apparently tonight we´ll be partying on the beach for NYE.!!!!

Have a few more days in Puerto Morelos and then we are headed to Merida, a spanish colonial town. Trying to convince Sarah and Az to come up for a night or two. Its apparently beautiful and really festive.

Hope you´re all well. I have seen chihuahuas but unfortunately not all stray dogs are chihauhuas like i was hoping. Oh well.

Muchos love

Mary

Stop 1-LA... Would you like a lawyer with your coffee?

Hello dear friends and family,

I have decided to start a blog... Partly so you can see what's happening in the world of Mary over the next 4 months... Partly so i don't forget what I've done.

So it's xmas day... and has been for the last 39 hours and 15mins. I flew out of Adelaide at 7.30 this morning and arrived in LA at 7.30 this morning... Longest xmas ever.

After the usual American customs bull crap I managed to get this awesome shuttle driver from Kenya. He basically bitched about how crap the people in LA were and how they weren't party because they were too wrapped up in themselves and in money, he was rad. If I were here for longer I totally would have partied with him. We drove past a coffee shop on Lincoln Blvd called 'Legal Grind' advertising 'coffee and counsel'... I must be in the USA.

When I got to the hostel and checked in I walked into my dorm room and into a 50something woman and a Chinese girl in an intense prayer session... It was freaky... I wasnt even there for the beginning and it went for about half an hour after I got there (all up, about and hour). It was really depressing stuff. There was this Aussie girl in the bunk above me who secretly motioned me to be quiet and pulled a 'wtf' face... Turns out the 50 something was a Jehovah's witness from the mid west and the chinese girl was too polite to back out of getting into this prayer thing. Thankfully, both have left... The woman was apparently a total bitch and had told the aussie to be quiet so she could pray. Not sure if I could have handled any more religious freaks invading my room.

Slept most of the day. Went out before to get food and have a walk. Santa Monica is nice but the food is shit and over priced... There were NO 7/11's which broke my heart... Gonna walk to Venice Beach in the morning before I check out. But no real desire to ever come back to LA, its boring and lame.

Off to mexico tomorrow. Grady should be asleep in our hostel when I get in... very excited!!!