Showing posts with label so this is the USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label so this is the USA. Show all posts
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
crossing arizona, baby!
Next morning, we woke up early, at 6:30 am, and we drove off heading north towards the Grand Canyon. It was a fun long drive through Arizona. We stopped along the way what seemed a thousand times to buy coffees at petrol stations, to take pictures and shoot silly videos of ourselves. That's what traveling with friends is about, about being with each other and having fun.
Sara and I hadn't spent too much time together for some years. We've been friends for fourteen plus years. We met at University. At first, Sara hated me, at least, that's what she confessed me when she finally gave in and became my friend. I grow on people little by little. I know that now.
Our first stop was at Sedona. Sedona's main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona.The Red Rocks form a nice backdrop for everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails. The place is full of North Americans who come for a ride on some strange pink jeeps. We, instead, stopped for a coffee, a very expensive one.
After the comforting cup of coffee we resumed our journey and went through the breathtaking Oak Creek Canyon where we first saw snow and continued north to Flagstaff. We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 14:00 pm after paying a 25 US$ entrance fee (that allows you to enter the National Park during one week).
The Grand Canyon is a stunning place although there was too much snow for the outfits we were wearing. We weren't prepared at all for that weather (-10 degrees Celsius at night). After spending the afternoon there, we left the park.
On the way back, Sara gave in and let me drive her automatic car. It was my first time to drive such a car and I must confess: I didn't like it. Not only did it lack a clutch but it also had the speedometre in Kilometres (the road signs are in miles), making the journey absolutely tense as I was trying to work out what on earth 55 miles per hour was in kilometres as well as looking for a non-existing clutch to change a non-existing gear. At the same time, Sara would shout at me ¨Slow down, slow down!¨ every time we went past a police patrol. Once, she even said to me if they stop us, you do not speak English. I could not understand what the reasoning was behind that statement, anyway nobody stopped us. Luckily.
After the comforting cup of coffee we resumed our journey and went through the breathtaking Oak Creek Canyon where we first saw snow and continued north to Flagstaff. We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 14:00 pm after paying a 25 US$ entrance fee (that allows you to enter the National Park during one week).
The Grand Canyon is a stunning place although there was too much snow for the outfits we were wearing. We weren't prepared at all for that weather (-10 degrees Celsius at night). After spending the afternoon there, we left the park.
On the way back, Sara gave in and let me drive her automatic car. It was my first time to drive such a car and I must confess: I didn't like it. Not only did it lack a clutch but it also had the speedometre in Kilometres (the road signs are in miles), making the journey absolutely tense as I was trying to work out what on earth 55 miles per hour was in kilometres as well as looking for a non-existing clutch to change a non-existing gear. At the same time, Sara would shout at me ¨Slow down, slow down!¨ every time we went past a police patrol. Once, she even said to me if they stop us, you do not speak English. I could not understand what the reasoning was behind that statement, anyway nobody stopped us. Luckily.
Friday, January 11, 2008
coffee machines, holy bibles & tips
"I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."
Robert Louis Stevenson
I could tell you all the facts and dates and none of the flavour, but I'd rather do it my way. I traveled to Mexico for travel's sake. It could have been anywhere else but, this time, it was Mexico because I was also visiting a friend.
Mexico is a contradiction in terms just like many other countries. Considering its GDP Mexico is the 14th World Economy, although until 2005 it had been the 9th one, however, welfare distribution is so unequal in the country that there are towns with Human Development Indexes similar to those in Germany and some others with HDI close to Burundi's; furthermore, Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, lives in Mexico and at the same time, in Mexico there is the poorest town in Latin America.
So that's where I went. I did not know it at the time, of course. I made up my mind about this trip just a few days before New Year's Eve and it was thought and done. On January the 11th I was at Barajas airport with my tiny backpack and my passport. This was the first time I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The first time I was going to America. For those who haven't flown to the USA, I'll tell you: You need have an address, if not, they won't let you in the country. My little hippie way of traveling doesn't fit with the USA immigration law in force, so this was the cause of my first discussion with a ground hostess at Madrid's airport. I don't have an address, I don't know where I'll stay while in the USA, I'll figure it out when I get there *if I ever do get there*.... Well these are the type of statements which are not necessary, just say "Holiday Inn"; it'll be a much quicker check-in . That's what I did when I finally gave in.
I flew to Phoenix, Arizona's capital city. Phoenix is one typical USA city: there are no people on the streets, only cars. So this is why. This is where all that fuss about Iraq came from. This is why, you invaded a country. To provide really cheap petrol for all these fat North Americans, so they'll never have to walk anywhere else.
Sara, my friend, was waiting for me at the airport and so did Arita, a Mexican friend of hers who's been living in Phoenix for seven years, and Aglae, Arita's sister who works with Sara in Mexico. It was a fine welcome.
We went, by car, to get something to eat but it was difficult because it was already ten in the evening. When we finally did find a place to eat I discovered why since I got into the country I had been finding boxes close to the cash desks. To put the waiters' tips into them, tips which are compulsory in the USA. (Traveling is learning, isn't it?) Obviously, I had failed to comply with the non-written law on tips in the USA.
Crossing so many time zones wears one out, so after eating we finally found ourselves a cheap motel and went to sleep. Motels in the USA have two peculiarities: they all have a Holy Bible beside your bed (just for you to read in case of being a little bit lost I guess...) and they all have coffee machines, so you can help yourself any time.
Mexico is a contradiction in terms just like many other countries. Considering its GDP Mexico is the 14th World Economy, although until 2005 it had been the 9th one, however, welfare distribution is so unequal in the country that there are towns with Human Development Indexes similar to those in Germany and some others with HDI close to Burundi's; furthermore, Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, lives in Mexico and at the same time, in Mexico there is the poorest town in Latin America.
So that's where I went. I did not know it at the time, of course. I made up my mind about this trip just a few days before New Year's Eve and it was thought and done. On January the 11th I was at Barajas airport with my tiny backpack and my passport. This was the first time I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The first time I was going to America. For those who haven't flown to the USA, I'll tell you: You need have an address, if not, they won't let you in the country. My little hippie way of traveling doesn't fit with the USA immigration law in force, so this was the cause of my first discussion with a ground hostess at Madrid's airport. I don't have an address, I don't know where I'll stay while in the USA, I'll figure it out when I get there *if I ever do get there*.... Well these are the type of statements which are not necessary, just say "Holiday Inn"; it'll be a much quicker check-in . That's what I did when I finally gave in.
I flew to Phoenix, Arizona's capital city. Phoenix is one typical USA city: there are no people on the streets, only cars. So this is why. This is where all that fuss about Iraq came from. This is why, you invaded a country. To provide really cheap petrol for all these fat North Americans, so they'll never have to walk anywhere else.
Sara, my friend, was waiting for me at the airport and so did Arita, a Mexican friend of hers who's been living in Phoenix for seven years, and Aglae, Arita's sister who works with Sara in Mexico. It was a fine welcome.
We went, by car, to get something to eat but it was difficult because it was already ten in the evening. When we finally did find a place to eat I discovered why since I got into the country I had been finding boxes close to the cash desks. To put the waiters' tips into them, tips which are compulsory in the USA. (Traveling is learning, isn't it?) Obviously, I had failed to comply with the non-written law on tips in the USA.
Crossing so many time zones wears one out, so after eating we finally found ourselves a cheap motel and went to sleep. Motels in the USA have two peculiarities: they all have a Holy Bible beside your bed (just for you to read in case of being a little bit lost I guess...) and they all have coffee machines, so you can help yourself any time.
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