Often this is the way money changes hands in Mexico. Newspapers are full of stories of corruption here. The photo above was on the front page of a local newspaper yesterday. Today there were student protests in the streets because it was discovered that a a respected Oaxacan university is accepting bribes from parents to gain admission for their kids and also to increase their marks.
There's a restaurant in town, "La Casa de la Abuela" (Grandmother's House) that routinely ties bibs around your neck for everything you order.
Yesterday I suggested we go north to a well off residential city, San Felipe, to see nice houses because we were told it was a wealthy town. But we were disappointed to find just dusty streets. I forgot that of course the wealthy people live behind huge gates or have houses off in the hills. So instead, we found a hacienda that touted itselt as five star on its website. It was a good 3 star.
The dusty main drag.
On the street as well.
The hacienda.
The servings.
Lots of blooms.
The Sierra Madre
The Sierra Madre mountains run parallel to the Gulf of Mexico and form the southern part of the Rocky Mountain chain. Finally our weekend ecological trip there is planned. It turned out to be a bit complicated because you can get from one village to another on horseback, mountain bike or on foot.
We optioned for mountain bikes forgetting that we'd actually have to cycle in the mountains and somehow get our stuff from one village to another. Duh. So now we've chosen a less steep route and have a guide coming with us on horseback to carry our backpacks because it's no fun cyling on rough paths with a lot of stuff on your back.
The scenery, flora and fauna is supposed to be magnificent. So I should have lots of photos for you. We leave by car up to climb another 5 000 feet to the first village late Friday afternoon and set out by bike Saturday morning for the next village.
The mountains (internet photo).
Hasta luego.
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