OH MEXICO!

Having lived 30 minutes away and never been to it for two years now, I finally crossed the boarder yesterday afternoon into Mexico with some good friends. I loved the numerous taco stands aligned in a row, with fresh meat roasting for all to see; the markets where little girls give you flowers for "free" and then ask you for money; and the mexican bakery emitting sweet smelling breads strategically located right next to a modern coffee shop. Baja California was exotic and yet familiar, like one of those strangers you think you've met somewhere before.

I bought a painting in the market, it's a black and white portrait of some part of Paris that's $30 complete with frame. After our market adventure we went horseback riding on the beach. My horse (which I named her "Maddy" and you'll see why) apparently had a grudge against her employer and refused to turn around and go back. She kept going along the beach and eventually they had to send out a 10 year-old kid to coax Maddy back to her employer. The kid tried everything and asked me to control the horse. I pulled and tugged on the reins while screaming my head off and the horse under me started galloping into the ocean. The little kid came around, stopped Maddy in her tracks, and finally used a rope to tie his horse to mine. The kid then started riding his horse back, and Maddy refused to move. Finally, after much effort, I made it safely back to the original point of departure. Happy that Maddy left me alive, we had a drink at Papas and Beer and headed down the Puerto Nuevo for an amazingly delicious lobster dinner. I had two medium sized lobsters, rice, beans, guacamole, tortillas, and a margaritas for a total of $13 dollars! I don't know how else to describe the deal other than amazing.

After dinner we drove across the boarder back to the United States. We all practiced saying "USA" in the car while my friend retold the story of this non-responsive girl he went to Mexico with one time who could only say "Citizensssssss" and delayed the entire group for hours on end. Ah, that story just gets funnier and funnier everytime I hear it *tear*. We all clearly annunciated "USA" and "Deutschlander" without incident. Back in CA now, will update soon on whale watching adventure.