More Friends, more steps

Greetings from the Malecon

We meet more friends, Rey and Getulio at breakfast. They are in the hotel for only one night while in town checking out Getulio’s home he rents out. Rey is originally from Venezuela and Getulio, from Colombia. Both are citizens of Mexico now, residing in Mexico City. Both well traveled and speak better English than we. Ha.

While speaking of our travels, we tell them about taking The Armchair Socialist’s ashes to Havana to be with Fidel and Che, as well as the bonus of placing ash at the Ho Che Minh tomb in Vietnam. This information is fascinating to them, especially since Rey grew up under the leadership Hugo Chavez. I can’t repeat the things of which we spoke, I don’t remember, but it was all polite and respectful. How wonderful to speak freely and honestly without argument and anger. One just doesn’t get that in the states. 

Home renovated into Condo's

 
Onward to today’s 10,000 steps. We consult the map and head into an unknown direction. Passing hundreds of dogs, the homes become newer and newer, the street dustier. Most of the casitas have large shared backyards for horses, chickens, and gardens. 8000 steps in, we arrive at the countryside. Most of the fields are fallow now but with the mountains in the background it makes for beautiful scenery. Ahead we see a new development of semi-detached homes and hate, in our hearts, that soon all the pastoral scenery will be swallowed up by development. Laughingly, I say that maybe this is Getulio subdivision. It makes sense, given the side of town he described where it resided. We laugh about it, because it’s such a small town. Eventually, the lovely country lane drops us onto a main road, following the massive lake. We have to walk on the side of the highway, but you know the roads here are made for foot, horse and bike traffic. So, we feel relatively safe. 

Abuelo eating lunch with his cats, in the fields

Suddenly, ahead, there is a small SUV headed straight toward us. We start looking for a place to jump toward the grass. When SUV screeches, fully to a halt in front of us, the window is rolled down and it’s Rey and Getulio. We all scream and laugh. Getulio asks,” how the hell did you get so far from town?”  They are headed out to the rental house. Harvey asks if we can come too.” Porque no?  When we’re in the car, Getulio turns to us and says very sternly “you should not be getting into a car with any strange Mexicans!!!”

“Of course,” we reply, “but you’re not Mexican.”

St. Micheal, ready to kick ass

They take us to the subdivision, we just passed and commented on. Hahahah. We get a grand tour of the house, wandering thru the rooms around the worker dudes and house keeper.  Rey offers to take us back to the hotel. But as we were not finished with our walk we just say, “Take us back to where you found us.” Rey is horrified.

“No, I need to take you somewhere. I cannot drop you on the side of the road.” I guess he didn’t think dropping Zaida and GrandMarte in the middle of nowhere was a good idea.

We acquiesce and ask to be taken to the train station Museum, which Rey approves. 15,692 steps.

The train has not run for many years now.