Here in Zihuatanejo

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

After an interesting four weeks our group has arrived in the city of Zihuatanejo. There’s a unique contrast here compared to the places we’ve stayed so far, Cuernavaca, San Cristobal de las Casas, The Lacondon Jungle and Palenque.

The apartment we’re renting is close to the Ocean and the majority of the people we see on our 5 minute walk down to the beach are white and speak English! The majority of others are upper class Mexicans on vacation or lower class Mexicans working the beaches selling jewellery and homemade baskets. All of the houses on our street are large and beautiful, fenced in with gates, barbed wire and barred windows.

The women who owns the place we are staying in, Joa, says we must be careful to always lock the doors and not leave anything of value in open view of the windows when we leave. As the majority of locals know this area is mainly for tourists it is a great target for thieves. Those who are not aware of their surroundings let their guard down.

Walking along the beach with my feet in the sand I sometime forget exactly where we are. Our last four weeks in Mexico have been spent in rather rough conditions, visiting families sharing a one bedroom house between seven people, have no toilets or running water, living in squatter settlements or in fear of harassment and abuse by the government. Looking around the only houses in view are big and beautiful with balconies and patios, gardens and pools and some even have two car garages. The others belong to hotel chains.

It is difficult to imagine we are even in the same country as the places we’ve been visiting until you head away from the beach and further into the city. Passing through the streets to pick up groceries and explore, the colour of people’s skin turns darker and the size of the houses get smaller with less detail and expensive design. The streets are more cluttered with garbage and Spanish again becomes the dominant language surrounding us.

It’s also interesting to see the shift within myself and other members of the group. At one time on this trip the sound of English and the colour of white was a comfort and something we would try to seek out. Now the sound of English and sight of white skin represents tourists. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something we aren’t necessarily accustoming to with the way we’ve been traveling and the places we’ve been going. We appreciate that type of travel more and definitely prefer it.