Yesterday was a long one – basically the same day that the project team will experience next Saturday. I left the Cedar Rapids airport on American 3570 to Dallas and then went from there to Mexico City on American 433. The layover in Dallas is brief and we were in Mexico City ahead of schedule.
Customs was a bit of a surprise, as they are now X-raying every piece of baggage that enters the country – no more red-light-green-light procedure. The project team should all be receiving an e-mail about this. My understanding is that there is a personal exemption of $300, which I believe means that as long as the value of the goods (i.e., the goods that are not the personal property of) any one person is bringing in is under US$300 there is no problem. Project team members may want to swap donated goods with each other to stay below the US$300 limit. I looked over the list of prohibited items and they are all things like marijuana, morphine, firearms, etc. – nothing even close to anything we want to bring in.
At the North Bus Terminal in Mexico City I got a ticket to “Villa Juarez” (the other name for the main, urban part of Xicotepec); the price is up to 146 pesos, one-way. As I boarded the bus, the woman already in the seat next to mine looked at me and said, “Jim?” It was the sister of Ruben Garcia, Acela. We chatted on the way to Xicotepec.
The new highway goes beyond Huauchinango now, but the public bus exits to the old highway in the usual place in order to pass through and stop at Huauchinango before continuing to Xicotepec. Descending toward Huachinango, we were treated to a spectacular sight: the clouds had settled in around the mountains and looking out over the tops of them, it looked like a vast sea dotted with islands. So we descended into the sea of clouds and finished our trip with low, grey skies and chilly temperatures, perhaps 50 degrees F.
I chatted for a while with Ruben and Marita – mostly about Rotary, the Red Cross and friends – and we went to the Hotel Villa de Cortes and ate a light supper with the Rector of the Technical University, Pedro Ramirez, and his wife Charo. By the time I got to bed, 11:30 or so, I was ready to rest.
Today (Wednesday) we have a lot to do. More later.
This is so wonderful, Jim–your description really brought the place alive for me. Many thanks. I love the blog format!