We are about to pull out of Mexico, and I cannot say that it was the best experience in the world. We sailed down here basically just as a port call. There could have been a number of real reasons behind it, I'm sure it wasn't just for the hell of it. It could have been something along the lines of they wanted to see how we would do in a foreign port so they would have an idea how to treat us for liberty during WestPac, but I think it was more along the lines of they wanted to show the boat off down here, or one of the higher ups wanted a vacation in Mazatlan. Whichever it was, we all came down here.

The first day wasn't so bad. We got there and I caught the first liberty boat to shore. That will be one of the few times I am sure. Anyway, then we hopped on the bus to go to the main part of town. I was out with a shipmate, MM3 Wansolich. He is a guy who is TAD in the same shop that I am right now. During the bus ride, we heard stupid comment number one. A guy on the bus basically was asking a buddy of his, "Why is everything down here in Spanish?" We just shook our heads and ignored the comment. Pretty funny though. As soon as we got off the bus, we were both hungry, so we went to a bar and grill. There I had a shrimp faijita. It tasted decent. We also had glasses of coke. The charged us for both. Guess they don't believe in free refills down there. Anyway, I was still trying to adjust the currency differences at the time. A 9.2 exchange rate can make those numbers rather high. Like this check said something along the lines of 140. We paid it, and it didn't really sink in the value of money down there, and we ended up leaving only 3 pesos for the waiter. Later, after a while and we realized what kind of tip that really was, we both felt really bad because he did do a decent job. We were thinking of going back to find him to give it more, but then figured it was too late and the place was more packed when we went by again anyway. Then we went to another place and sat down and had a beer while we watched a football game. Well, more he watched the football game. We roamed around the town for a while until we got hungry again. Then we went to another place which I don't remember the name of, but it was pretty good. We only had appetizers there. I had the shrimp cocktail which tasted pretty decent. We also got a bucket of beer, just because why not. Then they started bringing us all these free shots and such. After we were done we basically got twice as much as we paid for, and we left rather buzzed, and I did some shopping. I got a couple of gifts and a couple of keepsakes. We thought about going to a club or something after, but I didn't want to go carrying all the stuff I just bought, so we headed back to the boat.

The next morning I got up rather early because I signed up for a tour of Sierra Madre, which is basically the area surrounding Mazatlan. That was really decent as well. The first place we stopped was where there was a one man brick making operation. This one guy handmade about 1000 bricks a day and sold them for about a dime a piece. He makes them out of mud, manure, and sawdust. He lays them out in molds and then lets the bake in the sun for a while. Then he uses those to build a furnace to basically bake them to their red color and make them more solid. I found the fact he uses the product he's making as a tool to help make it rather impressive. He basically has nothing excess and doesn't use any real machinery. Only thing he needs is the wood for the fire. This is also where I heard funny comment number two. If he bought machinery, he could put out a lot more bricks and make a lot more money each day." I told him, "That's thinking like an American!" That's one thing I would think they should value, is the fact they still hand make things. It's always better that way, in my opinion. From there we went to a small village that was nearby. The houses were all made out of brick. It makes for a really good conductor. As hot as it was outside, it was cool inside, and none of them have air conditioning. Our first stop in the village was the bakery. We bought some fresh made bread and rolls and had them for a snack. That is where I saw a dog that looked beyond anorexic. You could clearly see his ribcage, and he was so thin. I guess they couldn't really afford to feed him, but all I could think was, poor dog. You rarely see dogs like that up here, and they were rather common down there. We went from the bakery to a place where a guy handmade tiles. A quick process that required a day to cook after he made it. They were very nice looking. I wouldn't have minded them in my house at all. If only I had skills like that. We looked around a bit more and then moved on. We stopped at something that was like a flea market there, and I bought a couple of things. We were there only briefly. They made furniture and pottery there, but I didn't really get a chance to look at that. Next we stopped at more of a city. I went inside the church there and got a few pictures. They really do put a lot into their religion. By the looks of it, they are mostly catholic. I also saw some high school girls walking around on the streets... all of them in uniform. That lead me to ask what their education was like. They have 12 years of school just like us. But I really didn't find out exactly how much they learned in those 12 years. At this city, I bought a couple of more gifts, although I learned my bargaining skills are not very good! Heh. After that we stopped at one last small village and ate lunch. That was some really great food that I ate there. And then I went into a mine that was carved out years ago by someone that was digging for water, and instead found a bunch of gold, silver, and other precious metals. It wasn't very large by any means. Then we roamed around the city for a while, and the kids chased after us, trying to sell us hand carved houses they made out of bark for 5 pesos. I bought 2. They were actually really cool considering that the kids are the ones that hand carved them. I went inside the church there also and then looked around in a shop. This is where I was finally realizing they really don't have much that is authentic there at all. Most everything there I could buy here for pretty much the same price. That is why I didn't buy much. I only spent like $100 for the entire 3 days I was there, which is pretty good for a foreign port in my opinion. I slept on the ride back to Mazatlan. After the tour I dropped my stuff off at the boat and went back out. Ended up going to another bar and drinking some more with more sailors around. I'm not becoming an alcoholic by any means for anyone reading this and thinking that. I haven't drank like that in a long time. I did get pretty drunk. I didn't puke or anything, but I was feeling pretty good. That was the extent of the evening there.

The next day I had duty, so I had to stay on the boat. But I got picked for Shore Patrol, so that evening I left the boat to go play babysitter for all the Navy personnel that were out that night. At first there was no one around, and where we were stationed to watch over offered us free sodas for the night. I had a few of those. Finally the crowd began picking up. It wasn't that bad. Not a lot of people, maybe 150 to 200 or so, and we only had to take one guy back to the boat who was drunk, by his own request. Only bad thing that happened that night was someone got into a fight on the pier. I'm not even going to get into that though. No one got hurt or anything, and I wasn't involved in it at all, so I don't see a reason to get into it. We escorted our friend back to the boat, came back, sat on the pier for another hour, and I got to bed around 4am that night.

Then, on Wednesday, we pulled up anchor and started heading home. We had to be anchored off the shore a bit because we were too big to fit on their pier. But that was all right. It was quite a site to take the liberty boat to and from. I think the Boxer looks so much different when it is sitting out in the middle of the water.

The after effects of Mexico killed me though. I guess I ended up drinking some of their water via the ice in the sodas they gave us. I got rather sick, having to go to the restroom every hour or so, and I was feeling weak and tired. None of it had to do with alcohol because I didn't drink on that last night. So, word of advice, stay away from water in Mexico, and remember to ask for NO ICE!