¡Viva Mexico! - Part 1

I thought that the plane ride was rough. We started out at 6am to catch an 8:45 flight out to Harlingen, TX. That's Harlingen pronounced [Har Leen Gen]. After a 2 hour layover in Austin we arrived in Harlingen at about 2:30. Our ride met us and took us to the Hotel there in town. We had thought that the plan was to go straight down to Mexico. Our client, Edward, explained that by the time we got there, it would be dark, "And we don't want to be driving after dark because the militaria and the Federalis get a little funny after dark." Wow. Confidence instilled, we sat in our hotel from about 3PM until the next morning.
They were supposed to pick us up at 8am. They picked up me and Ryan at 10AM. 5 of us were crammed into a quad-cab Nissan Truck, Edward, Freddie, Johnny, Ryan, and I. We crossed to Mexico with ease. I guess paying the Rio Grand Bridge toll is all you have to do to get into Mexico. Once inside, we picked up Bam-Bam at the local office there on the other side of the border. Now there were 6 of us crammed into the pickup. I was starting to feel like a real Mexican. We then proceeded to drive through the city of Matamoras and down the highway to Ciudad Victoria.
An interesting note about the streets in town: They are very narrow, there are a ton of street vendors, and people drive like crap. If you have ever wondered why those Mexicans suck at driving, it is because in Mexico you drive offensively instead of defensively and there is little traffic enforcement so people just go wherever they want, whenever they want. You have to be really careful when driving. The highways are just as narrow. The shoulder is painted with a dashed white line in a passing zone. This means that if you need to pass a car. The car in front of you should move over onto the shoulder so that you can pass. Also, the posted speed limit is around 100kmh. But everyone drives 160kmh or about 100mph.
Once we broke free of the city life of Matamoras, we headed down the highway at about 160kmh. About 20 miles out of town, we reached out first checkpoint. These checkpoints have been set up all across Mexico to try to foil kidnappers. Kidnapping is a great sport in Mexico, second only to futból. So we stopped because we were chosen to stop. The Federalis asked us to step out of the car and they lined us up on the curb of the station. They began to rummage through the luggage in the back. That's when they found it. The pills.
Ryan trains for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) think Ultimate Fighting Championship. He takes energy suppliments from GNC to enhance his already rippling muscles. So they questioned us about his pills. It was really tense until we told the officers that he trained to be a cage fighter. The cops loved that and asked him several questions about his discipline. After a good laugh and a healthy dose of Judo information, we were sent on our way. I guess Federalis are people too.
The countryside of Mexico looks a lot like West Texas. Rolling hills and plenty of cactus, brush, and other foliage. Every so often we passed a village along the road. These villages consisted of a gas station, cinder-block houses, road side stands, and chickens -- lots of chickens. They all looked the same and the image that was received was one of poverty. These villages were full of farmers and ranchers whose main source of income was road-side sales. We did slow down in these towns to about 70-80mph. You, know... just to be safe. People also tied live-stock up to fences along the road like horses, goats, and cows. We saw shepherds moving their herds along the road. It was really fascinating.
We finally made it to Ciudad Victoria. There were some familiar sights upon entering town. Sams Club, Home Depot, Office Depot, McDonalds, Church's Chicken, Pizza Hut, etc. The difference was that thee was a 10 foot high razor wire fence or gate around each establishment. The place did not look too primitive, but it did look like a run-down ghetto. And there were chickens -- so many chickens.
We got to work. For lunch, we had Applebees.
...more later.