最後一個學期了，相處了兩年的室友Dustin說春假一起去旅行吧，從南加州、亞利桑那州、一路向德州的國家公園road trip，討論要買哪種睡袋才夠保暖，到真要暖和的話不如飛到墨西哥吧，到申請墨西哥簽證好像很麻煩（畢竟Monterey實在太小了，最近的墨西哥領事館也要跑到一個多小時外的San Jose）、我勢必得蹺課一週（我春假只有一個禮拜但我們覺得要去就該去兩個禮拜）及旅費將激增的難題，到最後想想花個800美金上下玩墨西哥好像也很不錯，就在連墨西哥簽證都還沒申請好之前就買了來回機票（而且買機票又是另一個故事了，由於Dustin想太多搞得我們自己佔了好機票的空缺，被迫買轉機重重的爛機票…不過好處是我們原定10天的假期也就這樣陰錯陽差變成了14天長假）。
It's the last semester. Dustin suggested we spend the spring break together. At first we were thinking about going on a road trip from southern CA to Arizona all the way to Texas, visiting lots of national parks and state parks on the way, and discussing what type of sleeping bags we should get to keep us warm at night. Then someone told Dustin that it's gonna be freezing at night in the states that we planned to visit. If we really want to be warm, we might as well go to Mexico. But then as a Taiwanese student holding an F-1 visa in the US, I needed to apply for a Mexico visa, which is a pain in the ass (because Monterey is too small and doesn't have a Mexican Consulate; the closest one is more than an hour away by car, in San Jose). Also, I had to skip a week of class after spring break since MIIS only had one-week spring break, and I didn't want to fly all the way to Mexico with just one-week stay. And the expense might increase dramatically compared to travelling in the states. I wanted to give up. One day Dustin got drunk and tried to persuade me going to Mexico with him (since he didn't want to go there alone and claimed to want to see Mexico through my eyes), and I thought spending around US$800 to visit Mexico wasn't a bad idea (I spent around that much to visit China and Hong Kong 3 years ago), so we bought round-trip tickets even before I applied for my Mexico visa. Purchasing flight tickets was another story. Dustin was thinking too much and worried too much, which put us in the predicament of having to give up the flights of better itinerary and get the ones with two connections and late arrival in Oaxaca, for we took up our own spots by trying to purchase the tickets first on priceline.com and then on Mexicana airline website. But it turned out to be a good misfortune because it prolonged our original 10-day trip to 14-day long vacation. :)
前天晚上住在位於SJ的Dustin父母家，隔天一早Dustin的媽媽就開車載我們去搭飛機，從SJ到Guadelajara的途中很順利，機上供應一餐brunch，我選了quesadillas，但份量沒有想像中的多，一方面是因為我肚子很餓，另方面是因為在美國生活太久直覺以為所有餐點都會很大一份（美國的越南菜跟墨西哥菜都超大一份，但根據可靠消息表示越南跟墨西哥當地的份量根本沒有美國餐廳那麼多）。
The night prior to our flights to Mexico, we stayed at Dustin's parents' place. Early morning the next day, Dustin's mom drove us to the SJ airport. Everything was fine from SJ to Guadelajara airport. Brunch was offered and I got quesadillas, but the portion was smaller than my expectation, partially because I was really hungry, and partially because I had the dillusion that Mexican meals were big because I had stayed in the US for too long. Like Vietnamese food, Mexican food is not served with that big portion in Mexico either. It's just that Americans like it big.
搭飛機還是穿拖鞋最爽！
Sandals/ Flipflops are the most comfortable for flying!
Guadelajara機場看起來很新，連廁所都頗有設計感，但是我們馬上發現靠腰機場裡沒有飲水機…因為在墨西哥飲用水是要用買的，連機場也不例外。
Guadelajara airport looks very new. Even the bathrooms seem to have been designed and well maintained. However, we soon discovered that there was no drinking fountains in the airport... because people have to buy drinking water in Mexico, and airports are no exceptions.
口渴的我們走了半天，Dustin換了40美金買了以為會很清涼的柳橙汁（結果女服務生表示沒有冰塊…），並且還一直吃本來要當作緊急口糧的牛肉乾（雖然他一點都不餓），這不是會更加口渴嗎…我則決定撐到下班飛往Mexico City的航班跟空姐要水喝。
Despite our thirst, we still walked around for a long time before Dustin changed US$40 and bought a glass of orange juice, which he had imagined to be very icy, but the waitress said that they had no ice... And Dustin kept munching on the beef jerky he brought, originally as emergency food, although, as usual, he wasn't hungry at all. I just wondered wasn't eating beef jerkey make you even more thirsty? As for me, I decided to wait until boarding the next plane to Mexico City to ask water from the flight attendents.
到了Mexico City機場就發現機場比較老舊，我們逛來逛去比對各種速食餐廳跟美國相比的價錢，最後選了一家看起來人很多又經濟的taqueria吃了晚餐。
Mexico City airport is much older. We walked around to see the price differences between the fast food restaurants here and the US. And we (Dustin) picked a taqueria that looked popular and economical to have dinner. After dinner before we boarded the plane, Dustin was going to buy a bag of potato chips in 7-11, but the clerk was just hilarious... he kept checking this and that and disappearing and showing up but still wasn't done with the first customer in line. After about 10 minutes of wait, Dustin decided to give up.
晚間九點半左右終於抵達Oaxaca，因為機場很小，所以上下飛機是直接架一個樓梯，出機場時安檢人員讓旅客按鈕，如果綠燈就可以直接通過，如果紅燈就要打開行李讓他們檢查。機場門口站了很多計程車司機想拉客，不過我們問過機場工作人員，只要走出去到大馬路上再攔計程車就會便宜很多，所以坐在機場外面的路邊等Dustin抽完煙後我們就拖/背著行囊穿越一片黑暗，當時已經感覺到熱帶氣候的溫暖，渾身血液似乎都蠢蠢欲動起來。
Around 9:30pm we finally arrived in Oaxaca. It's a small airport, so they just put a ladder for passengers to board and unboard. Before our exit, the security personnel asked us to push a button, and if it was the green light, you could pass; if it was red light, you needed to get your luggage checked. Lots of taxi drivers were standing at the door and trying to attract (lazy? stupid? rich?) customers. Dustin asked around, and one lady working at the aiport told him that if we just walked out to the main raod, taxis were going to be a lot cheaper. So we sat outside, took in some first breaths of the Oaxaca air while Dustin had his first cigarette, and then we dragged and carried our luggage to cross a swathe of darkness. We could already feel the warmth of the tropic. Something in my blood was already excited.
走了大概10~15分鐘才到大馬路，不過叫了計程車以後司機說只要50 pesos，跟機場外面的100 pesos相比真是划算多了。在車上我就已經興奮地開始左顧右盼，一路很仔細地觀察這個跟我去過的所有國家都截然不同的地方。途中突然發現左前方一台卡車後面站了好幾個持槍黑衣人，頓時嚇得我不知如何是好，再看發現卡車後面寫了警察，就想起曾經讀過的墨西哥腐敗警察敲詐旅客的新聞報導，又想到如果此地需要警察全副武裝四處巡邏治安不知會是怎樣，就更加擔心了。
About 10 to 15 minutes later, we got to the main road. It only cost 50 pesos, a lot cheaper than the 100 pesos called by the drivers waiting at the airport. I was very excited and looked around in the taxi, carefully observing the place that was totally different than all other countries that I had visited. At one moment, I was so scared to discover a truck with several people fully covered in black clothes carrying machine guns on our left slightly ahead of us. Then I saw "police" on the back of the truck, thinking about the articles I had read about how corrupted Mexican police blackmailed tourists, and that if this place needed the presence of such police force... I got even more worried.
不過司機順利把我們載到市中心，馬上看到非常有歐洲風味的建築物，還有類似鹹酥雞攤位的小販跟顧客，覺得又陌生又親切。
But the driver took us to the downtown without any trouble. I soon saw buildings of European style and some street stands that look like the fried salty crispy chicken stand in Taiwan with busy vendors and lots of customers. I felt strange and yet familiar.
但我們訂的pochon hostal太偏遠，司機繞了好幾圈才找到，要求多收30 pesos。進了hostal以後發現我們身上的peso不夠，所以把行李放下來後就出去找提款機了。剛到的第一個晚上就跑出去其實讓我不大安心，好不容易看到提款機我們看著外面圍了好幾個本地人，就也不敢貿然提款，在市中心的廣場zocalo晃了一圈又一圈，終於找到一個看起來比較安全外面又沒人盯著的提款機。
However, the pochon hostal we booked is kinda far from the downtown where the driver was familiar with, so we didn't find it until the driver had made several detours, and he asked for 30 more pesos (but it was still reasonable). After checking witht the lady on duty, we realized we didn't have enough pesos with us, so we put down our luggage and went to find ATM. I didn't feel safe just going out on the first night of arrival. We decided not to pull out money from the first ATM we saw, for many locals were surrounding that single booth which was overly lighted. After strolling around zocalo, we finally found a safer ATM booth.
之後我因為好奇買了一根玉米，玉米跟台灣的一樣沒什麼甜味而且帶點嚼勁，煮熟了以後先沾一層美乃滋，再抹上粉狀queso（墨西哥乳酪），再灑上辣椒粉，相當特別，Dustin買了一份很難吃的熱狗。
Afterwards, I bought elote out of curiosity. The corn tasted like that in Taiwan, not sweet enough and kinda chewy. Mexicans first boil the corn and then put on mayonnaise, and then roll it in queso powder, and then sprinkle some chili powder. It was very special to me. Dustin ate a hot dog that wasn't delicious at all...
我們邊吃邊觀察四周的人群，最後終於回到hostal稍微打理。因為時差的關係並不感到疲睏，所以直到凌晨兩點才睡。
We watched people around us while eating our night snacks and finally went back to the hostal. Due to the time difference we didn't feel sleepy and didn't go to bed until about 2am.
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