Our First Bribe!!

We´re in Mexico, in Ozuluama, just south of Tampico, on the east coast. We crossed the border yesterday. No one really asked us where we were going or inspected our car, or even looked at the car. Instead, we were told to park and walk from office to office, paying small fees to various people. I(Douglas) really liked the small private enterprise that only did photocopies, which are needed for one of the offices (different building of course). One dollar and he of course knew exactly what needed to be copied. The only person who resembled a customs officer was the woman at Migracion, and she was really too motherly to be a customs officer. She was very patient with our broken spanish.

Once we crossed the border, everything was different - there were no lines on the road and drivers drove wherever they felt like it. Horse-drawn carts trundled along the side of the highway. Every building is a different shade of BRIGHT.

We camped in a small coastal town called La Pesca. A recomendation from RV Camping Mexico by Mike and Teri Church. La Gaviota turned out to be a dump, but the town is super cute. White Pelicans and oyster catchers by the hundreds. A bike ride this morning disproved my fears of biking on the roads here. I think the drivers are used to slow moving horses, peds, and bikers. Of course we love the old school bikes that many folks are riding here, although there´s lots of cheaper mountain bikes too.



Driving through Tampico today, a cop steps out into the road to make everyone stop, and we all did. The only difference between us and everyone else is how white we are, and so we were motioned to the side. The cop explained that we were supposed to stop behind the line - the obvious question is what line. Nonetheless, he tells us that its going to be a 3000 peso fine ($300US), but conveniently, we can take care of it on the side of the road rather that go to the police station. Hmmmm, what to do. We balked, and he asked how much we could afford for this traffic violation. Not being the best negotiator, I (D) said 300 pesos ($30). This seemed reasonable to him, but we then had to pay him through the passenger window, out of sight of the road. hmmm. Well, it was a first for me, Kim and La Tortuga, a bribe. We had been gazing happily at the Mexican countryside, the happy cows grazing in their fields and the brightly colored houses, people walking and talking to each other everywhere, and saying that America could use a little more Mexico. This has balanced our view. And whats with rose tinted sunglasses anyway?

We´re really enjoying having the van - we can go wherever we want, whenever we want, and at the end of the day we´re in our own cozy home, instead of an unfamiliar hotel room. Our stuff is shaking down (and out), each thing to its own particular place in the van, and lots of living space left free. With a few small exceptions, our fully-loaded van looks like we´re on a trip to the grocery store. How did we ever live without a VW? The question of the day yesterday was - Is there enough room in the van to play hackey sack? We decided no, but not by much!

We´re planning to speed through Mexico, so we can relax in Xela (Quetzaltenango) in Guatemala. We plan to start language school there on Jan 15, and stay for 2 weeks. Tomorrow we plan to spend the night on the Emerald Coast, or maybe a little south of there. Cross your fingers that the cops we meet are honest!!