Raleigh Ho! I Went To Mexico!

So it's been another travelicious week for work. I was home from Missouri for about three days before I had to fly out again for a double job: I had a test to administer in Raleigh, North Carolina, and one a few days later in McAllen, Texas. I flew out on Thursday morning, just as the Poconos were getting hit by that crazy snowstorm. It had just started to sleet a bit at the Newark airport as I was taking off, and it was 75 degrees out when I landed in Raleigh. I think that I may have actually suffered from weather lag; it was a pretty weird sensation. I've done that sort of extreme weather change travel before, but I think I wanted to see some snow so bad this year that it affected me physically to all of a sudden find myself in balmy springtime weather. (Is it all of A sudden, or all of THE sudden? The Himmelburgers might be able to help me out there.)

Raleigh is a neat city though. I didn't get any pictures because nothing in particular struck me as photo worthy, but I drove around a bit and it had a really neat vibe. Everybody was really cheerful, as if they enjoyed living there. That's something I've tended to notice more, the more I travel. I think I've gotten a bit sensitive to the overall mood of places. That could all just be in my head, but that's what it feels like, anyway.

My friend John lives a couple of hours away from Raleigh, so he drove up to meet me for dinner and drinks the evening before I had to fly to Texas. Another friend of mine, Jeff Nimmer, also lives very near to there, but he had JUST gotten back from Krampus fest and so was unable to make the drive. I talked to him on the phone briefly however, and he informed me that Krampus had been unusually violent this year, which just depressed me about missing it even more because it's hard to imagine a more violent festival to begin with. Sounds like it was a good year. I'll just have to be sure to make time for it next year.

Anyway, John and I went to a hip little pizza bar in town and had a good time discussing movies, women, and whether or not Scott is ever coming back from China. They had really good beer at this place, and gradually the conversation devolved into nonsense until we realized that it was after midnight, and I had to wake up at 4am to catch my 6am flight. John was too besotted to drive 2 hours home, as I'd suspected might happen, so he crashed on the couch at my hotel, and I woke up at 7:15 am. I have never missed a flight before in my life. I blame John. Long story short, I spent the entire day trying to get on overbooked flights, and wound up arriving in Harlingen, Texas (NOT my original destination, you'll notice) about 10 hours later than I'd originally planned. It's a good thing I had a couple of days before I had to work.

So I've spent the last two days checking out grungy little Mexican border towns, as McAllen is about a 10 minute drive from the Rio Grande. I was really excited about this, because I've never been to Mexico, but it kind of turns out that border towns, at least in this part of the country, are mainly mostly characterless industrial areas which cater to Texan daytrippers. I visited Reynosa, Nuevo Progresso, and Matamoros. Reynosa and Matamoros were kind of grody, though they each had a bustling street market area which was kind of fun. In each of those towns I was pretty much the only white guy I saw all day, which reminded me of walking around in Baghdad or Amman, Jordan. It was actually kind of nice, because I'd forgotten what that felt like, and also Mexicans are pretty laid back and don't really give you a second look. I'm sure they're used to seeing gringos, I just didn't see any in those two towns on that day other than me.

Nuevo Progresso on the other hand, has got to be a made up town. It's not in Wikipedia, nor is it listed on google maps. It's right across the Rio Grande from Progresso, Texas, and after walking across the international bridge there, you find that New Progresso is basically a single very long street made up mostly of Pharmacies, Dental Clinics, and stores selling mostly cheap tourist crap, tobacco, and liquor. I mean, there were other streets, one or two, but I suspect they were made up of apartments to house the people who worked there selling cheap crap and services to Texans. It kind of reminded me of Slubice, Poland, which is a border town that seemed to exist primarily to sell cheap tobacco, liquor, and salon services to Germans.

 Apparently a lot of Texans cross the border to get cheap dental work done. Those Dental Clinics actually made me a bit nervous though, because there were hundreds of them. It made me wonder what the dental standards in Mexico are... I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable hitting a tiny back alley Dentist... what if he pulled out a coat hanger? I mean, that's what it felt like; that kind of shady. OTC drugs are cheaper and prescription free in Mexico also, which was why with all the pharmacies. It all reminded me of how screwed up our health care system in the US is, that you can get the same drugs at a fraction of the cost almost anywhere else in the world. Not to mention cheaper health care.

 The food though. Mmmmmm-mm. Mexican food in small grungy border Mexican towns is still authentic Mexican food. I ate a whooole bunch.

Comments

[Miss Luongo]

I don't know who the Himmelburgers are, but it's "all of a sudden." I've never heard anyone say "all of the sudden." Although I have heard people say "nip it in the butt" instead of "nip it in the bud."

So, a week after food poisoning, you decide to eat Mexican border town food? Brave man.

Nice photo of the Mexican cowboy.

[messiestobjects]

The Himmelburgers are My Dad's wife's family. They had an argument when I was there for Thanksgiving about whether it was "a" or "the", and I remember that the question was settled, I just don't remember which side they came down on.

I've seen it written with a "the" before. I guess logically though, 'the' doesn't make sense as 'sudden' isn't really a noun in that phrase. Good call.

What, is there something wrong with Mexican border food? Are they like Chinese Buffets who don't wash their lettuce?

I got more Mexican Cowboy photos.

[Miss Luongo]

It makes me happy that Mexican street food beats Midwest Chinese buffet.

Oh, I just looked up "all of the sudden" and found a bunch of pages by snarky professor-types who like to berate people about the use / misuse of idioms. Hmm. I had no idea.

Perhaps someone ought to make a page which records how often snarky professor types get laid by berating people about the use / misuse of idioms.

[Miss Luongo]

Oh, your blog looks so fancy! Thanks!

[messiestobjects]

I know right? You're welcome.

[Sissy]

"...it's 'all of a sudden.' I've never heard anyone say 'all of the sudden.' "

My pet peeve is "must of been." It's "must have been." We all have our hang-ups.

Once again, MO, your photographs are stunning. I love 'em!

Keyser's going to Mexico in two weeks. I opted not to join him. Not my gig.

[messiestobjects]

I think that people must confuse when they hear people say "must've been" with "must of", as it sounds. Ah, the progression of street slang in action.

Thanks on the photo comment Siss... where you been?

[Sissy]

Gymnastics. It sucks the life blood outta me. Just this morning, I was asking myself how in the hell I got myself into running a city-wide program. If I'm not coaching, which is every day, I'm contacting judges, writing regulations, pouring over paperwork, coordinating meets, resolving parent issues, sitting in administrative meetings, raising funds, organizing events, and collaborating with the six coaches who work with me. Sorry you asked? lol.

[messiestobjects]

Wow, that's too high energy for me. I'm happy if I can make it to the gym for my half hour on the treadmill two days in a row.

[Sissy]

Yeah. Nothing like getting paid to exercise.