WHATS TECOMAN LIKE

So many of you are probably wondering what its like here. Fair enough I say so here goes an attempt at describing it.

Right now it is not hot, warm but not hot, not yet anyway. So its quite nice really.

Tecoman is flat but is surrounded by mountains (active and inactive volcanoes actually) very pretty. It is the Lemon (lime really) capitol of Mexico.

There is a strange smell that linges in your nostrils, is it onions from the street vendor or is it toilet, or maybe its both, yes thats it. Dont get me wrong its not putrid at all and not competely stinky but it does have that faint, hmmm what is that odor, about it.

The sounds surrounding our current rental are, cars with no mufflers, trucks with no mufflers, motorbikes with no mufflers. The odd dog barking, the odd siren as a emergency or police vehicle zooms by. The squeak of suspension from the cars as they bounce through the holes on the road. Music full of drums and rhythm, some loud, some soft. Roosters, yes roosters. People chatting loudly while enjoying life in the slow lane. Oh and the little green man that tells you when to cross the road, he beeps 10 times slowly and then 4 times fast when you are running out of time. (this is what you do when you are awake all night) Now imagine that all happening at once, right up to about 1am! All I will say is this rental is great, but we cant wait to get to a quieter one!

Now the roads, yes the roads.......... so far we have not seen a single dirt road! Bonus right, WRONG the roads here are paved, well sort of. Some are paved as we know it in NZ others are paved Mexican style. This means that years and years and years ago they put large and small stones on the roads and poured sand around them to hold them in place. Over the years the edges have been rubbed smooth so you wont cut your foot but it makes for an extremely bumpy ride. Not sure how this will go on a push bike but in a car, well its shakes you and the car to pieces so much so that stuff falls off them. This also makes it very hard to walk as they are so uneven. That will take a bit of getting used to I think.

About 10kms away is a massive surf beach with huge waves and a rip to go with it. Not so good for swimming they say but the surfers all come here, as it has a great reputation.

There are little street vendors everywhere, on each corner almost, the smells are amazing. You look for the one with the most locals and you know it will be safe to eat from.

The housing here is pretty rough really. The house really are right ontop of each other, they are all joined together and are that way for the whole block. I havent seen one yet that is a stand alone one. Oh I lie, out in the new area there are some massive houses being built and they do stand alone.

It is very very common to see elderly ones sitting out on the street just watching the world go by. They sit in the shade of a tree with a dog near by normally, both of them sleeping enjoying the cool breeze at this time of year (make the most of that its nearly over).

There are some strange stores which I really cant describe, you have to see them to believe them. Im going to try and get some pictures of them so you can sort of see what I mean.

The people in general are wonderful. Very friendly and kind, more than happy to talk and they love the fact that you are trying to speak their language. Very welcoming

Overall I think there are many many things that are going to take some time to get used to. But these are not break it things at all. Time and an open mind are just required.

Back out witnessing tomorrow, which will no doubt yeld some more stories for you. Meeting on Friday at 3pm as there are 5 congos that use the one hall! (mum and Robin, one of them is a sign lang congo!) We are very much looking forward to our first meeting and getting to meet the friends we just havnt met yet. Oh yeah I already have a part, whats with that! The day we got here I was given it, now thats a need!

So folks I hope that sort of gives you an idea of what the towns like, it might sound worse than it is, I havnt decided that yet! he he he

Post ya later!