I found the hole!

The "Goat Whipper"

"Palacio National"

"The Hole"

Well, I'm just past my first 24 hours here, and things have been fairly interesting...

The plane ride was pretty mellow, and I honestly don't remember much of it. That could have something to do with the fact that I took a Xanax AND a Dramamine prior to boarding, but that's just a theory. After I boarded, I slapped on my noise-canceling headphones and awoke only when I heard a woman screaming some guy's name. THAT'S not something you ever want to have to awake to...that or opening your eyes and seeing this large man bounding down the aisle towards you. After he passed (and crushed my foot in the process), I turned around to see a horde of people surrounding someone who was obviously in medical distress. It got a little crazy for a while...people were in a mild panic, but nobody really knew what was going on. In the end, it was a teenage boy who I can only assume went unconscious. In the end, he was fine, and I decided to let the foot-squashing go seeing as it was the guy's son. That, and I was afraid he'd pummel me if I brought it up...

Getting to the hostel was really easy. I'm situated in the nicest/safest part of town. This place is really cool; it's got an awesome location right in the middle of all the nice bars and restaurants. I shelled out the $30/night for a private room as I'm not much into the whole room sharing thing. Been there, done that. I dropped off my stuff and headed straight out to find some food and a beer. That didn't take long. I found a cool Mexican spot which had delicious food...homemade corn tortillas (the lady was making them right in front of me) and amazing guacamole. I washed my food down with a couple of beers and went back for a nap (a 5-hour "nap" to be exact).

After getting up, I found another cool Mexican restaurant and took in the scenery. I decided I might as well eat dinner there, and did just that. After being seated, the server asked me, "Te gustas beber?," meaning, "Do you like to drink?" I only wished the whole "Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls?" line would translate. Oh well. So yeah, I answered appropriately, and before I knew it, I was in a 3-hour all-you-can-drink situation. Cupa libres flowed, and life was good.

This morning, I set out to buy tomorrow's bus ticket, check out the city, and of course, to find "the hole." I thought about grabbing a taxi, but thought better of it. I mean, a bus is SO much more exciting (in a "I might die today" sort of way). I asked a few people on the street and jumped on the bus. Then I was on my way. After riding for perhaps too long (and strangely, never paying), I basically rode to the end of the line where I was ushered off the bus. Normally, being dropped off in a random location can be a little unnerving, but I just remembered tips I had learned over the years: 1. Look angry 2. Act like you know where you're going and 3. Walk quickly.

I had the address of the bus company, so I started exploring the streets. But please keep in mind, I have absolutely no sense of direction so this was challenging. I walked for about an hour, and when the road I was walking started going steeply down a hill into shantytown, I decided to hail a cab. This was the best decision I made all day. Not only was I eight billion miles away, but this dude (Oscar) was super friendly and took me exactly where I needed to go while putting up with my very rusty Spanish.

After buying the ticket, I told him I wanted to see "the hole." He took me there and unfortunately, it was all blocked off by the police. Oscar to the resuce! He told me that some police are nice and pulled the car over so we could ask them if they'd let me get closer and take a picture. And what do you know? They did! We went past the gate, under the caution tape, and got right up on it. I could literally feel my heart beating through my shirt as I slinked close enough to get a good pic, but far enough away that I didn't think I'd fall in and meet my fate. In the end, it only cost me one Coca Cola for each of the six cops!

After that, I basically just wandered around the downtown, which is exactly what every guidebook tells you...a complete DUMP. I could go on and on with the ridiculous things I saw people doing or the complete third-worldishness of it all (like the dude whipping his four goats stopping only to occasionally milk them (and drink it himself), or the guy with no legs pushing himself down the street on a skateboard) but unless you've been to this type of place, it's difficult to describe. And if you have, you don't need me to tell you...

So now, I'm back. I've seen enough of that crap. Time to go to an Australian bar with a couple of guys I just met here in the hostel to drink beer and watch some World Cup action!

I'll write more once I've gotten to Xela...adios!