The (Not so) Old Man and the Sea

Golzalez – Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Yesterday we arrived in Tampico and we’re staying in a nice airbnb that Diana found near the ocean. 

Today is a rest day – just us, a few errands, and the Gulf of Mexico. 

And I really do mean just us. 

There is nobody around. 

We’re sitting in a little public beach now. We rented one of those cabana things with two Adorondack chairs – probably not called Adirondack chairs here, but you know what I mean – and a thatch umbrella. All of which we rented for the day for 100 pesos – or about $5. 

And there is nobody else here. No one in the other dozen or so cabanas. No one walking the beach. No one fishing. Definitely no one swimming. It’s a little crazy. But I guess Mexicans have no tradition of going in the water. 

Well, we did find one guy down the beach about a quarter mile. Victor. 

He was throwing a net out into the water to catch fish. He says some days he catches 40 or 50 fish. He caught two today so far – but he sold them to another guy. He promised to catch one to sell to us. We’re hopeful!

Mexican food has been amazing, but it was nice to cook ourselves last night and we’re looking forward to cooking again tonight.

Which brings me to the place we rented. Super nice, but very different from anything you might find in the States. 

Difficult to describe because our context is so different – especially in Minnesota – where more than half the year it’s too cold to be outside, and the other half of the year there are mosquitoes. Think of it this way – it’s more of an outside house. You enter through garage doors that swing open and you think you are kind of entering a garage. The garage is covered, and just kind of merges with the outdoor kitchen and courtyard space – but it’s all open air.

There’s a small indoor portion of the house with an inside kitchen, a bathroom and a bed – and air conditioning. If you just count that space it’s maybe 350 square feet. But when you add all the outside space it’s easily 1,500+. 

The other thing that any of us from America would immediately notice is that this place is completely unfinished. There is a scary looking concrete staircase going up – but it is cordoned off with caution tape, and the whole upper level is just the idea of a house – concrete, with no walls, no windows, no doors, no roof. It’s like someone started building this place and then abruptly ran out of dinero right in the middle of the project. No, it’s not like that. I’m pretty sure that is exactly what happened. 

But it’s not just this place. The whole neighborhood is like that. All these dirt paths that form the idea of roads – but with rocks, garbage, forgotten building materials and general debris all around. 

There’s a certain dystopian feel to settings like this. Like they could film a Hunger Games movie here. It’s weird, because from a U.S. perspective this place should be like Florida or Arizona – with old people living their retirement days out here, and resorts around so that people can enjoy the beach. 

There might be a little of that around here. But it feels more like a war zone than a retirement community. (Note that this is not all of Mexico. There are plenty of nice neighborhoods with finished houses and restaurants and such. But there’s a whole other meditation there – because there are a lot of big walls and gates wherever things are nice – which seem to indicate that people do not feel otherwise secure.) 

Anyway – you get the idea. Great for us. Nice place to visit. Super inexpensive. But not so great for Mexico. 

Okay, back to our story. As promised, Victor caught some fish for us. Turns out that fishing picked up in a big way after we last saw him. When we found him again he had about 40 fish, and he told me that the fish come in to feed as the sun goes down (we were approaching dusk by this time). 

We purchased four fish from Victor. He tried to give us more – but we had already bought dinner supplies yesterday. As we walked down the beach to Victor’s spot he told me he was 76 and indicated that he stays in shape by doing things like fishing, walking and, yes, biking (he had his bike rigged up with all his fishing gear and later told us he is down fishing every day). Diana is very impressed by Victor and his fitness level, by the way.

Victor explained that we needed to fry the fish, which we did. Some garlic, salt and lime. Excelente! Victor didn’t have a phone, but he gave us his wife’s What’sApp number and we texted her with a picture of the completed feast. 

I think both Diana and I were feeling a little vegetable deficit since arriving in Mexico so our main course tonight was stir fry. Turns out it isn’t that easy to get all of the ingredients you need for things in your average Supermercado. For instance, and this goes back to the obsession with Diana, there was no soy sauce in the whole place. I guess not only are there are no Chinese people – there is no Chinese food either . . .

But it wasn’t only soy sauce. Last night we made fajitas. But there was no salsa. 

How can there be no salsa in a Mexican grocery store? 

I’m thinking of registering a complaint with the Mexican consulate. (Seriously, it’s funny what we ascribe to different cultures. In our eyes salsa is Mexican. But while there seems to be picante and other sauce type stuff in restaurants, I have yet to actually see any salsa in Mexico . . .)

One other culinary story . . . Melons are apparently in season around here. The last few days we started seeing trucks full of watermelons driving around. So on our way to Tampico yesterday we stopped at a stand in order to buy and eat a cantaloupe. I ate a whole melon – which was super delicious – in about two minutes. Mmm. Good.

There will be more of those in our future . . .

One last news item. Old Dan and Little Ann – our trusty bikes – are always struggling with weight issues. They started the trip on the very hefty side, but lost some pounds along the way – most notably in Arkansas, where we mailed back some warmer clothes and stuff and left some other things with our friends. But they gained some weight back just before we crossed the border into Mexico. 

This is a phenomenon that seems to happen whenever we are up against the unknown. What will the trip be like? Might be cold. Better bring that . . . It’s kind of like the “freshman 15” I guess – throw in a little anxiety and people start eating ice cream every other meal . . .

Thus, heading into Mexico we didn’t know what to expect and we purchased things like a U-lock and a steripen for purifying water – meaning some new weight gain for the bikes.

But after ten days or so in Mexico, and after going up and down some pretty good hills, we concluded that: (a) we are not likely to need camping gear through Mexico and Central America, and (b) it would be nice if the bikes were lighter. 

So today we headed for the local DHL-affiliated packaging service with our tent, sleeping bag, pillows and sleeping pad. Visiting packaging services like this generally makes for a terrible experience. Long lines. Burned out employees. Think the car rental lady in Planes, Trains & Automobiles. 

But this trip turned out to be a highlight of the day. Initial price? I think it was 6,000 pesos – or about $330. That wasn’t going to happen – the stuff wasn’t worth much more than that. Long story short – by the end of the visit the very helpful clerk had found enough discounts for us that we ended up paying about $100. 

The upshot? Old Dan and Little Ann collectively lost 20 pounds today. There will be no emergency camping behind the OXXO station  or under a bridge – but we should have some extra energy to make it to the next town if we need to . . .

P.s. – The Walmart we visited today had some soy sauce, but I don’t think that counts as a Mexican grocery store . . .

Heading toward some ruins and then Mexico City and starting to think about where we’ll land on the Day of the Dead later this week. Suggestions welcome . . .

Onward