So, after my Peru journey, I was in a wedding in Atlanta and had Christmas with my parents and brother in Tupelo. Then, it was off to North Carolina to visit family and go snow tubing. After that, I decided to spend the next month or so in Texas, thanks to my good friend Brad who let me stay in his spare room. I studied for the PE (professional engineering exam) during the day, and cooked dinner in the evenings. The weather was nice, as was the change of scenery. I guess I just had to work up to being back home in the States. Just keep jumping around! We had a fun wine tasting party one weekend. A different Saturday, we spent at the beach, but had a bit of an adventure with car trouble. We ended up not seeing quite as much beach as planned, but enjoyed the unexpected trip to the sea turtle rescue center. I was also able to visit the first place I lived, in Texas, and the second, in Louisiana. The weekend before I left Texas, I visited Monterrey, Mexico.
I couch surfed with a couple of girls who live near the old part of town, close to almost everything. In Monterrey, I walked along the Santa Lucia Riverwalk, lined with parks along both sides the length of the manmade river. I toured a couple museums and went to the Mirador del Obispado. It was a long walk back down from there, but it was also a beautiful day. While we didn’t make it to the Cerveceria, Azael and I did sort of the buses and traveled to Cola de Caballo – horse’s tail waterfall. That was nice; nothing too monumental, but pretty, outside the city, and another nice walk. I even got to ride the free-on-Sundays metro to the bus station to head back to Texas.
But wait! There’s one more adventure from Monterrey to tell! Bar Internacional. It’s a dance club that played cumbia all night. From the moment I walked in the door, my entire body vibrated with the music, unlike any other experience…the floor, even the air, vibrated with the cumbia. I went with my hosts Azael and Paloma and some of their friends. It was an eye-opening experience. There are women there that guys will pay to dance with them. Once we’d been there for a few songs, a couple of the guys we were with taught me a few new moves, and we all had a great time dancing the night away. I guess it was close to 3 am when we got home. Fun times!
