The First Night

We had already been in the car for over 15 hours and I was ready to get there and go to sleep! We passed Ario and I was told it would only be about an hour until we got to La Huacana. La Huacana sits at the bottom of a mountain so it was going to be a bumpy drive. Let me just say that the roads on this mountain are paved BUT there is no railing to prevent your car from flying off of it, the roads are narrow, and the people drive like maniacs! They speed around the corners and if you are going to slow they will just pass around you on a blind curve. People would even speed around you when another car was less than 200 feet away, it was insane!!! My heart was beating so fast. Oh, and it was raining and pitch black also!

The trip down the mountain was very scary and my ears were popping so badly. Then I started feeling sick (I get motion sickness in the car sometimes) so I had to lay down in the back.

I think this was actually better than looking out the window because I don't like heights either!! We finally got to his town and it was probably 2 or 3 in the morning. We were greeted by Doña Alejandra and Ulises's Grandma. They were very enthusiastic in meeting everyone and when they saw me Doña Alejandra jumped up and gave me a huge hug. His Grandma Doña Noni also gave me an instant hug while she said things in Spanish to me. They told me that they had both said I was very pretty.

We actually were staying at the house that Ulises grew up in and his grandma owns the property. The houses are set up in Mexico by square lots. So, Doña Noni owns the whole square lot. There is a brick wall that surrounds the lot and in the lot there are two houses and a shop. Ulises's house is on one side and his Grandma and another woman and her child live in the other house on the lot. His Grandma also owns the shop, which sells convenience store type things.

The two of them left to go to their rooms and we loaded in the luggage. I walked around the house looking at everything, it was so different that I didn't even register it was a house. I started getting extreme culture shock and had to sit down to realize where I was. When we went to sleep that night I cried because I was so overwhelmed, I wasn't sure if I could handle it. But, I talked myself through it and decided to make this an awesome experience. I really had to forget about how I live and my routines and learn all over again. I woke up the next morning and I felt great and excited about this trip.