So, Kim and I finally had time to do a map based on the GPS tracks from our adventure so far... the Alaska portion showed just under 19,000 miles according to my GPS tracks. Both of us were shocked and it was good to get a perspective on the miles and saddle time for sure!
Our Czech buds Fanda and Kaschka met up with us here for a day before racing south for Central and South America. They spent a month in San Blas and are all rested up and ready - probably catching a sailing ship in Panama in late April. Officially they are now "Francisco y Caterina" for the Latin countries, having dropped “Frank and Kate” for their north American adventures.
Sorry for the delays in updating the blog, but Kim took me to the doctor due to me being lethargic and unresponsive, wanting to just eat and take naps. I was diagnosed as having a bad case of “Mañana Fever” plus a little bit of boogie-woogie flu.
It has been so interesting in Mexico, in so many ways, almost all positive. As mentioned previously, the colonial cities are beautiful and the people of Mexico have been incredibly kind and welcoming - even from a culture who have rights to their feelings of the gringos - the food has been great, the culture fascinating and the terrain and roads really fun.
I have no claim to any degree of expertise on their culture and lifestyle, but I will share what I've seen and felt. The sense of "live and let live", as we describe it, has been refreshing. The sense that you can do what you want, as long as it doesn't hurt another, has been a great counterpoint to what I feel in the U.S. No one gets freaky if a car is parked a little too far in the street, or traffic has to wait for a truck to dump a pile of firewood in the street and then toss the pieces two at a time to the sidewalk.
We have felt some low-key dislike for us, usually displayed by being ignored in a small shop, or being skipped while waiting for a table, waitresses seating Mexican families from behind us in line, but rarely any open dislike.
The funniest example was the other day in a small, shaded plaza that Kim and I were resting in. There were a few men, a bit intoxicated I might add, one of whom wanted to display his dislike of the gringos sitting nearby. For the longest time he was shouting to his friends, directed for our benefit, in some language I couldn't seem to understand. Finally, I realized he was trying to use curse words he'd probably heard in US rap music, but his native and drunken tongue couldn't quite make the pronunciation. Of course "Tromp" was easy to understand, but the words "MOTHER F*CK TROMP! SH*T!” were entirely unintelligible for the longest. The word "NIGG*Z" was also used. I realized he was trying to use language he'd probably filed away from some radio rap.
I wanted to burst out laughing but kept silent, some of the other park patrons no doubt feeling the tension of the moment. Kim and I sat there like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, or better yet, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, acting oblivious to the ramblings until they got bored and waddled away one by one. I only mention this because I was wondering how the election might have an effect on our travels, and it has been very little.
Trump eventually comes up and of course, they always clarify that they like us, just not our president. However, each incident of minor tension has been drowned by a thousand smiles and warm welcomes. Time and again, we have pulled up to a plaza in a large city or tiny town and someone has come to greet us with a big smile and a warm welcome in broken English. We have been really blown away by the people here. We've been invited into homes for meals and time with families, just sitting and attempting to communicate with no common language other than the spirit of man.