to continue with the vacation posts, kristin and i had a grand time in acapulco. well, except that the water is dirty. we did not actually swim in the ocean, or bay, because it was kind of gross. thousands of others found it ok, but the color and the smell turned us off a bit. so we went to musuems and historic sites instead. i am a nerd and love stuff like, i still remember going to fort sumpter in south cacky and looking at the old flag and of course the fort itself was lots of fun.

as all profs get in for free, this was a score for me. kristin had to pay 3 bucks. not too bad. we saw the cliff divers, which was interesting. it was hyped as something spectacular, and it was pretty amazing, but i think the fact that we waited over an hour and then it was over in 15 minutes kind of killed the excitement.

the two most interested parts of acapulco, for me, were the buses and the volkswagen beatles. did you know that they never stopped making the old beetle model until 2000? there are thousands of beetles in acapulco; they are the taxis for the town. there are millions of volchitos (as they are affectionately known down here) in mexico in general bc volkswagen made all their cars down here until two years ago or so. then they bolted. they heard wal-mart was coming. wise choice.

so the streets are packed with volks bugs, white with blue fenders as almost all are taxis and this is their color scheme.

but the coolest was the bus system. the owners of the buses personalize them with blacklights and airbrushing. from the chronicles of riddick to the predator to the matrix to every comic book character to the chippendales ¨solo para mujeres¨, they were awesome. at night they are all lit up with crazy lights, the insides are moving parties bc the drivers invariably have huge stereo systems and they bump whatever music they like. also, each driver has his own (there were no women drivers) altar at the front. some have jesus and god ornaments everywhere. others have daffy duck dolls stuck in ever open space. i wish i could do these buses justice. they were amazing. on the side was the name of the movie or comic character or whatever and then the huge back of the bus was a giant mural or action scene. the riddick one super cool but so were many others. it is a cool expression for the bus drivers and they all seemed really happy, so that is cool. a great form of self-expression.

on kristin´s last day, i was heading to puebla to stay with my friend oscar for xmas and to see the city. we went to the airport and then i was going to get a colectivo (collective cab) back to town to save some money (the cabs from the airport were outrageous). as the time ticked by and i waited, i realized i wouldnot have enough time to get back to get my bag and then make it to the bus station. i forked over more cash to buy a private cab ride but bc of my penny-pinching i was going to miss the bus. if i had simply paid for a private cab in the first place, all would have been fine. luckily, my cab driver reminded me of this on the ride back to the city. i informed him that my spanish was poor but i did not need help understanding where my cheapness had put me. he relented and went back to inane small talk. luckily he did pick up the pace a bit, but by the time i got back to the room to pick up bag, i had 15 minutes until my bus left. with traffic bumper to bumper, i was screwed. i ran to the street and found a bug. i did not even bargain with the driver as i got in (normally you must ask how much he will charge first bc fare meters do not exist and white skin automatically implies that your price will go up 20 pesos). he gave me a good price anyway and i jumped in.

i look over at my driver and see a kid about 19. i remember being that age and how much i liked to drive fast. speeding was not really an option with the traffic, but i made a bet with myself anyway. i turned to him and explained my situation. then i pulled out 30 pesos extra and told him if he could get me there in 12 minutes, it was all his as a tip. suddenly, there was a new lane and we were in it. he turned off the crowded main strip, explaining that this way was longer but had less people on it. when we used the oncoming traffic lane to slide through the parking lot of a gas station and past a full intersection i simultaneously knew i had taken my life and placed it in his hands and that i had made the right choice.

yet when he answered his cell phone (all bugs are sticks mind you) and carried on a brief conversation, doubt crept in regarding my safety and the time limit.

i slowly put the extra money back in my pocket.
he immediately floored it and took a hard left up a hill. when i noticed that all the cars were parked the opposite way we were travelling, i heard the honking. there was plenty of room (bugs are also tiny) but a sobering reminder to me of what i had done. we shot out onto a familiar street and in the distance i saw the bus station. he again found a new lane of traffic (bugs are very very small) and whipped us into the parking lot. 12 minutes. amazing.

i handed him the money and looked up at the clock. 2:32. my bus left at 2:30. the driver´s clock was slow or the station was fast. it did not matter. i had missed my bus.

dejected i walked to check in. i looked at where the bus shouldhave been and saw an empty space. next to it saw an anglo-looking person and set my bag down. i looked at my ticket and up at the number hanging over the parking space where the bus for d.f. should have been parked. the lady looked at me, looked up at the number, then looked back at me.

¨i can´t believe it either,¨ she told me, ¨these buses are so rarely late.¨

looking back at her through the sweat that had crept into the corners of my eyes, i saw a large shadow moving slowly toward me from the periphery.

ten minutes later i was on my way to d.f. of course d.f. is the largest city in the world, over 19 million people, 1/4 of the population of mexico, so as we got to within an hour of the city the traffic stopped moving. i had to get to d.f. and buy another ticket for puebla (about 1.45 hrs from d.f.) so this was not good news. but as i sat in the air condition and observed the sea of lights and polution that filled the night skyof the valley, which was once a lake until the millions of people used all the water, i felt calm. it would all be fine. there would be time, there would be tickets and my friends would meet at the bus station.

i was right. but this was certainly not the last brush with missing a bus on my vacation. if vacations should be relaxing, i think i am doing something wrong.