La Crucecita, Mexico      November 26, 2023

I slept well in spite of the crowd and there was no drama!  I was awake at 5 and rather than have my coffee in bed like I usually do, I went down to the kitchen.  People started moving around 6:30 but everyone is really quiet.  That’s nice!

I was at Playa Santa Cruz-

by 11 after finding a bakery, trying to drop my laundry off - it’s Sunday so she wasn’t open and planning the next parts of my trip.  It’s a short walk on a corredor turistico which is about 3/4 of a mile of sidewalk with a few condos being built.  I guess it’s  a shortcut from La Crucecita to the beach and it was nice not to have to worry about cars.

There’s a nice marina-

with a statue-

At the beachfront restaurant they were way more human with their pricing than in Escondido.  All I had to do was buy something to sit there for 4 hours so I had 2 Victoria. I knew it wouldn’t last- the not drinking. It’s hard when it’s so hot and when you literally have  to buy something to keep your spot.  

The beach is nice-

but it sure was more crowded to the west compared to where I was sitting.  I visited with a couple from Quesnel, B.C. who had been in the Nipawin area this summer.  They couldn’t get over how nice Saskatchewan is.  They thought it was flat and barren.  Dummies.  They are flying home tonight.

I walked back to the hostel-

and then kept going to the bus depot.  I wanted to check on bus timetables to Coatzacoalcos.  I will have to change buses in Salina Cruz and don’t want to be sitting there all day.  It’s going to be a long day because I will leave here at 9:45 a.m. and get in at 10:15 p.m.  After I stopped in at the Soriana gigantic grocery store looking for walnuts and Allulose.  No luck.

I wanted rotisserie chicken for supper and eventually found a tienda.  What a hot job-

For 50 pesos ($4) I got a full meal deal.  Tasteless macaroni salad, pretty much tasteless rice, chicken spiced a way I didn’t like and fire in a bag.  Unfortunately it was a big disappointment-

I had a shower and spent the evening in the quiet on my bed.  Sometimes, a lot of times, I just get people overload and need time alone.

The air conditioning doesn’t get turned on until 8 pm and that’s only if there are 6 or more people in the dorm so I went out just before 8 hoping that when I came back the room would be cool.  I found the zocalo- town square, heard singing coming from mass at the church and saw a party bus.  It was well lit up and blaring music but where were the people?

I thought I had found the zocalo last night and was majorly disappointed but I was 2 blocks away.  it was busy  with booths set up and lots of people watchers.  I’ll check it out in the morning.   Walking there, I saw a man sprawled near the sidewalk but on the street.  I don’t know if he was dead or alive and I didn’t nudge him to see.  There are a few people sleeping on the sidewalks  bc park benches.

As the city adapts to tourism, businesses have popped up randomly on the streets and the houses are just squished in between-

Watching tv outside-

They often sit outside because they don’t have air conditioning but it’s strange to see it.  I took another picture of a young boy drawing at a table out on the sidewalk and I could see the bed in the house and the tv but a young male adult saw me take it and followed me calling “amiga”.  I ignored him until I couldn’t and then he watched me delete it.  I explained about our cultural differences and how I found how he lived so interesting but he would have none of it. 

Not sure besides drop off my laundry what I will do tomorrow.  It would be nice to sleep like a couple guys were doing this morning - sawing logs at 10 a.m. but I am pretty sure that’s not happening.  

P.S.  For my friend Daryle-