Muchacho Polaco

Yun and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning. Due mostly to our inability to sleep further. We speculated that it was due mostly to the excitement of being here and wanted to see the city. So we got up, got ready, and took an early tour. It is surprisingly cold here. This morning was in the low 40’s. And we are not exactly prepared for this type of weather. But still, we were able to endure the cold and enjoy the sights.

We found a nice place for a morning snack and coffee just off Plaza Mayor. But it was hard to find anything open here before 8 a.m. Spaniards have very different traditions regarding the time in which they eat. Made a very late breakfast, a very late lunch, and dinner doesn’t start until around 9 p.m.

After spending an afternoon touring around town, we stopped to enjoy some local beer and tapas. I really like this sort of thing and the beer here is great!

It is now 29 hours past the time we departed yesterday. I have not yet slept. So it would be fair to say that I’m a little bit tired.

We arrived in Salamanca shortly ago by bus from Madrid. The bus ride was roughly 3 hours long. Upon arrival we had the task of trying to find our hotel. Not an easy thing to do, and it took about an hour to discover where we would be staying. But it was an enjoyable walk and there are a lot of nice things to see here. We are staying in the center of the old town right next to a convent.

Our room is really nice and the hotel is beautiful. But now I am hungry and we must do something about that.

We are having our first meal of the day here at Chili’s in Mexico City. I customized my plate.

We leave for Madrid in 2.5 hours. It has been quite the journey to get here. And the surprises continue.

First I realized my passport was expired just days before departure. Then we got our tickets yesterday and they mispelled Yun’s name. We had to go to Aeromexico’s headquarters in Hermosillo. They were able to fix it. But then they advised us that because we only had one way tickets, we would not be able to board today. So we had to frantically get our return flight for next week. Now we return from Madrid to Bogota in Columbia.

An hour ago we were told I needed immigration paperwork (one of the disadvantages of being an illegal). So we had frantically make our way to an immigration office and get the necessary permits. Then we had to make our way to a bank to pay for the fee (as of course the immigration office couldn’t possibly handle that).

Upon returning to the gates, we were told there might be a problem getting back right away as we are on a “secure” flight and they can only let a few passengers from this flight through security at a time. We really didn’t get clarification on what the non-secured flights entail, but I’m glad we don’t have that. After a short wait, apparently we were allowed to pass through a side area.

So now we’re hoping we can actually board and get on with this trip!

* the bathtooms in this airport are absolutely disgusting.

Mexico would never have a 24/7 hour service to make a reservation for a passport renewal meeting. It’s nearly midnight and I just made my appointment for tomorrow at 1pm. That means I need to leave the house around 6am and make a fast trip to Tucson. I need to find a place to get a passport photo first. I just printed my itinerary to prove my need. I also realized we’re not leaving until Wednesday. I need to pay more attention. I thought we left Tuesday.

If all goes well and I get my passport tomorrow, then I will race home as I have a meeting later in the evening that I cannot miss. Tomorrow should be eventful.

I was scanning Jeff and Beth’s blog moments ago to find some helpful information regarding their trip to Spain a couple years ago. In the process I found Clara’s passport photo which prompted me to check the expiration date on my mine. To my horror, it expired three weeks ago. This is going to be a challenge now as the plan and the tickets we have to travel to Spain are for next Tuesday. That means I have to find my way to Tucson before then and get my passport. Assuming of course they let me back in the country with an expired passport.

Anyway, thanks Clara for helping me avoid that moment of awareness in Madrid after 20+ hours of travel (we depart from Mexico and there’s no way they would have caught it).

We went for a walk after dinner to Abe’s new house up the street. This was a helpful remedy to the earlier overeating. 
The house is looking awesome. It will be exciting to see it done. Here’s the future pool.

Tried this for the first time yesterday. It was an amazing experience. Four potatoes cut in under 30 seconds.

We are in Guaymas now. I ate far too much carne asada. This remains one of my favorite things to eat. The weather is perfect for being outside.

It’s Mother’s Day and Yun and mi suegro are making a cake before we depart fir Guaymas. Some beach might be in today’s itinerary.

I met Marcos tonight. He wanted money. I told him he should get a job. It’s complicated apparently. He likes to drink wine and enjoys sniffing paint. I suggested he stop doing that. He had an interesting story. I asked him to give me his best look for the photo.