Week 4 and 5 – Party Hardy

The next Friday I was invited to join a coworker named Daniel and some of his friend to an indoor football match. But not just a match, the final of the season, Soles de Sonora vs. Baltimore Blast! It was amazing and the atmosphere was crazy, lots of beer and me trying to scream all kinds of Mexican slang. The match was insane, the score was tied at the end, and then 1 minute into the golden goal round, Baltimore scored… so sad. But still a lot of fun!

A couple days later Daniel told me some people in the stadium were a bit annoyed with me being there, I look like a gringo and people thought I was a Baltimore fan sitting with the Soles fans. Apparently they even threw beer at me, but since that happens all the time in the Netherlands during football, I didn’t think anything of it. After the match we went back to Daniel’s home and we had a nice afterparty after which I crashed on his couch. The next day I was woken up by Daniels dog, Harry, humping my leg, awesome way to wake up, especially since he didn’t stop until I lured him out of the room… Luckily Daniel’s sister, Cinthia, made me a nice breakfast and I stayed at their house chatting with the rest of the family. Apparently their parents were having a party that Saturday evening so I was invited to stay the whole day which was great. At one point a Karaoke machine was delivered and we just spend the whole Saturday singing, dancing and eating some delicious taco’s made by his dad. I even tried to sing Spanish karaoke, which was not a big success, but neither was my English singing.

The next day I had a trip planned to Isla Tiburón with some coworkers from CIAD. Unfortunately I had to get up at 6 am, which kinda sucked after a weekend with a crazy amount of beer and a only a couple hours of sleep. Luckily, after a nap in the bus, I was ready to go. Isla Tiburón was an island and a nature reserve close to Kino bay. Nobody is allowed to go there without permission of the native Seri people who lived on the island for centuries. After a ride in a small boat we arrived at the island which was beautiful. Just this untouched prairie landscape, no tourist stuff, just 3 native Seri people selling some handcrafted things.

After we dropped our stuff we went on a hike through the mangroves. The guide told us all about the animals, the native Seri tribe and the plant live. The water was super clear and you could see crabs walking near your feet and some kind of gello blob which was really funny to hold in your hands. There was also methane trapped in the sand which bubbled up when you walked through it. After the tour we went back to the camp ground and some Seri people came to show us some traditions. I did this local dance with a chain around my ankle made of dried butterfly cocoons filled with small rocks, unfortunately I lacked the rhythm to actually do the dance correctly, but I am sure it was fun for the people watching me. After the sun went down, which was beautiful to see over the island, we went back to the mainland. The sea was kind of rough so the boat ride was pretty annoying, and we lost the kayaks that where tided on the back of the boat, so we had to travel all the way back to find them, making the trip even longer!

The week after I started my experiments, they all failed, so it was not the best week. Later I found out it was because I forgot a comma while translating my protocol to English, I am such an idiot. However, currently the experiments are going pretty well. That Thursday I was invited to join Fernando, a friend of Daniel, to a club. He got us on the guest list and there was free beer until 10:30 pm. The club was great, super fancy, and I had my own waiter. This super typical Mexican guy with a mustache. The two of us bought a bottle of tequila and every time my drink was half empty he would come to prepare the next, freaking awesome! It was an great night, tequila, beer, personal waiter and an awesome club!

That Friday I stayed home, to watch a movie with my roommate. I also made my first guacamole in Mexico. Unfortunately I forgot to wash the tomato, and consequently I spend the next Saturday on the toilet with food poisoning. Sunday the owner of the house came to visit the place, she was an older lady who was super nice. She brought me some stuff for my food poisoning and took me, Gonzalo and Alison for a nice pancake breakfast and a drive around the city.

The next week I took it a bit slow, only a couple beers on Thursday at Daniel's home. However, Tuesday was Kingsday, and of course as a real Dutch guy I have to celebrate it! So I made delicious brownies, got some orange paper and made everybody orange crowns. Some people brought more snacks and we had a nice afternoon Kingsday party at the office, lots of fun! Friday my supervisor and her husband took me and Alison out for some taco’s. To apparently the best taco place in town, although I am sure a lot of people will have their own best taco restaurant. I did eat a taco filled with intestines, a bit chewy but quite nice. After that they took us to the bell mountain, which is this landmark in the center of the city with a very nice view. Apparently it is made of this weird stone and when u hit it with a rock on certain spot’s the rock sounds like a bell. After the nice views we went down to visit a dance show. A group of dancers where showing traditional dances from all around Mexico, very cool to see.

After we got back, Fernando picked me up and we went to a birthday party of one of his friends. Again a crazy night where a met a lot of amazing new people. They party ended at like 10 am, after which we of course went to eat taco’s. After again only a couple hours sleep I had to wake up because that evening it was Alison’s birthday party. Karaoke time! After which we had a nice afterparty at one of her friend’s house. The next Sunday I went to see Captain America: Civil War, a very awesome movie! When we got back Allison decided that one birthday party was not enough so we had another one at the house. Lot of fun, everybody came and I made fresh pizza’s for everybody! One guy brought a guitar and we spend the evening singing and chilling!

They next Monday when I woke up I really wished i had more sleep…

Bart