Buenos días y Feliz Navidad, todos!

As y'all might recall, a couple of weeks ago I went to the UMS (United Mexican States). I met up with Joel there and we proceeded to have a blast! Fucking A! I love Mexico! Anyway, this is how it went:

My passport arrived on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006. Thank God I applied for it in November. I had lost my previous passport but it was bound to expire in April 2007, anyway. This way, I didn't get caught in a rush. Apparently, now, the passport offices are really busy because you will need a passport to enter the Best Country in the World by air, as of January 1st, 2007.

I had booked my tickets through fareconnect.com, a travel site based in the Pride of the Confederation which I highly recommend! I got round trip tickets from Ottawa to Mexico city via Atlanta for CAN $531,86 (all taxes and fees included)!

On Monday, December 4th, I arrived at the McDonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) in Ottawa, Ontariario, Soviet Canuckistan at around 5h. I talked with some really interesting people whilst waiting for my flight. One woman was heading to Louisiana for business (she worked for Proctor and Gamble). Another was headed to Ecuador to travel and to recruit students to come study English in Soviet Canuckistan, or something like that... The US Customs agent was a real Stiffly-Stifferson, but whatever...

Our flight left around 7h to Atlanta, Georgia, Best Country in the World. It was a small plane. There were only 50 passengers and one flight attendant. The airplane was operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines as a "Delta Connection" flight. No meals, no movie. I got to look out the window and I noticed how much empty space there was in the world. It made me realize that the whole "overpopulation" thing is total B.S.

I arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) at around 10h30. There was a really nice sista who greeted us as we entered the airport and told us how to get to our next flights. H-J is HUGE! There are several different terminal buildings which are connected by an underground train. I ate lunch with the lady who was going to Ecuador and then went to the gate for my flight to Mexico D.F., UMS. Of course, they changed the gate!

Anyway, this time, the plane was quite a bit bigger. It was a Boeing 737 operated by Delta. There was a meal and a movie. But the movie was "Scrooged" and I got sick of it after about half an hour. One of the radio channels was playing the soundtrack from Hannah Montana, a children's show on the Disney Channel. It has some good songs that The announcements were in Hespaniol first and then in God's Language. Upon arriving at Juarez International Airport (MEX) in Mexico D.F., I went through Mexican customs and stuff. They were rather nice. I also chatted a bit with a girl from Ohio.  By the way, Spanish is the official language of the UMS.  I thought this was common knowledge, but some people have to ask...

Joel was supposed to meet me at the airport but he was late and I got really nervous. I went to find an interweb thing so I could check if he e-mailed me to say there was a change of plans. I eventually found him. Apparently, he and Oregon Rob and Yin Hei, the Chinaman girl, arrived whilst I was on the Interweb and we just missed each other.
Anyway, we took the Metro to the bus station. According to my travel guide, you can't get on the Metro in DF if you have a lot of luggage, but oh, you can... Then, we took a bus to Acapulco. It costed 300 Pesos. A Mexican Peso is worth about CAN $0,106 so 300 Pesos is about $31,80. It was a 6-hour ride but 90 minutes of that was spent just getting out of D.F. The traffic is ridiculous but the bus was rather comfortable. The seats could recline quite a bit and there were curtains. We arrived in Acapulco around midnight and we took a rather expensive registered taxi to get to our Hostel.

Hostel Kingdom was kinda far from downtown. The rooms were half decent and it included water and breakfast which one had to make themselves and wash their own dishes. There was also a computer room with interweb and air hockey. But I don't think it was worth 200 Pesos per person per night. Anyway, that night, we just slept.

The next day, we went to a beach close to the hostel. Along the way, we past by some rather run-down neighborhoods. Some people do, indeed, live in shacks, in Mexico. They're not made of garbage or anything but they're shacks, nonetheless. At first, I kinda thought it was pitiful, but then I realized that these were people's home sweet homes. They live a simple life, but they are happy and who am I to judge. What was unfortunate, though, is that there is quite a bit of pollution in the woods. I don't think these people have garbage pickup at their homes, so garbage gets left by the sides of the roads and stuff. Also, when people do construction on the roads, it seems that they leave old pieces of concrete just lying on the sidewalks and stuff.

Anyway, we got to the beach. It was nice but kinda shallow. Me and Joel went out at first and charged into the waves with a dedication each time. Later, we went out a little further and me and the Chinaman girl went a little too far and the undertow started to get a little strong. I started to head back and I thought I was making decent progress but these "lifeguards" came at us and told us to get on their raft things and they didn't give us much of a choice. When we got back to shore, they told us we should pay them 200 Pesos for saving our lives. They argued with Joel and Oregon Rob for a bit, as me and the Chinaman girl couldn't speak Hespaniol very well. We only brought 40 Pesos with us, but they wanted us to go back to our hostel and come back with more money. I'm grateful for their help, but they shouldn't EXPECT any money, especially not 200 Pesos. Perhaps the City should charge a fee for using the beach and hire lifeguards rather than there being these greedy freelance lifeguards. Anyway, we gave them 40 Pesos and Rob's sunglasses (which he paid 10 Pesos for) and told them that's it. They swore at us. I think the only thing they know how to say in God's language is "son of a bitch". We left.

We went back to the hostel and then downtown for lunch. I had some sort of beef dish and a beer. We then bought some souvenirs (I bought a T-Shirt for 20 Pesos) and walked along this really nice beach. Alas, I had left my bathing suit back at the hostel. I sat down and relaxed though. A lady came by selling juice in bags. They were 6 Pesos each but she didn't have change for 10 so I got her to sell me 2 for 10 Pesos! That's a major problem in Mexico: there seems to be a serious lack of change. I don't know why, but If you carry around bills of more than 100 Pesos, you're going to have a hard time using them anywhere.

That night, we stopped at Botega Gigante (a huge supermarket owned by Wal-Mart) and bought some snacks and liquor. We had some of that liquor, that night. Me and Rob went out and tried to find a club. We asked a taxi to take us to the nearest Entro (club / disco) but he takes us 3 blocks down to some really weird bar where the owner and her daughter pressured us into buying drinks for them. The owner, a 40-something woman sat with me and the daughter sat with Rob. They tried to teach me some Spanish - mainly the Mexican slang words for "dick" and "pussy" by having me touch each one. I got them mixed up and really embarrassed myself when they asked me which one I preferred. Anyway, I found out that "pepita" means vagina and I remembered that really well for next time. *Awkward!* Anyway, I convinced Rob to leave and then we had some Tacos and talked about religion and stuff.

The next day, Rob had to fly back to Monterrey. Me, Joel and Yin Hei took the bus to Taxco. We almost missed it! In Taxco, we got some silver for X-mas presents and stuff and had spaghetti (about 35-40 Pesos)at this restaurant with a spectacular view! Taxco is really pretty. It's in the mountains and there are cobble stone streets and the houses all look really nice and very traditional and colonial. They look just like you'd imagine a Mexican style house to look like: white stucko with red roofs.

Anyway, we took a bus to DF where me and Joel found free accomodation at a French church in Polanco, the Jewish quarter. Yin Hei split from us. She would meet some friends there, the next day. We got settled in, that night. By the way, there was a 24-hour supermarket next to our church called Superama. It is owned by Wal-Mart. They often had apple slices as free samples, so me and Joel would binge on that.

And the next day, Friday, December 8th, we went to Tepito. Tepito is a huge "self-regulated" flea market. It is, allegedly, the most dangerous part of D.F. Police may patrol the streets but they don't dare venture into the stalls or else they would risk getting shot. Güerros (white people) are warned not to go. We left our passports, cameras, etc. at the church and went with about 500 Pesos each, in cash. We spoke to each other in Freedom, whilst in Tepito to avoid looking like total Gringos. Tepito is really funny: you will often see a stall selling porn right next to another stall selling Christian music! Anyway, we got these fruit drinks (1 litre) for 15 Pesos each. I had a mix of Pineapple and "Jamaica" flower. It was delicious. We then did some shopping. I got a gangster T-Shirt (70 Pesos), a Pocket watch (75), a cowboy hat (70 Pesos!) and a Sombrero (50). For lunch, we split an order of hamburgers (2 for 10 Pesos). The hamburger stand said "Hamburguesas! A chinga!" Apparently, Chinga is like the F-Word, so they were basically saying "Fucking Hamburgers! 2 for 10 Pesos!" Only in Tepito... Hehehe...

Then, we went back to the church and slept. Later, we got ready to go clubbing in the Zona Rosa. We didn't know exactly where we were going to go or how much it would cost so we did a bit of pre-gaming. Bad idea. We got to the Zona Rosa and after looking around a bit, somebody (he must have worked for the bars) showed us a couple of places. We went to a club called Light. It was an open bar (unlimited drinks) for 250 Pesos. But I don't think they had a Vagina discount so it was a total sausage fest. I don't really like discos, unless I arrive with a girl, but Joel had fun. I had a bit to much and ended up with some regrets. Joel told me a funny story about me (that I couldn't remember on my own) in the cab going back: apparently we were doing Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got dibs on the WC. I won the first one and then Joel won the second one but I kept saying "I won! I won!" And Joel said "Fine! You win!" and I was just like "Yes! Yes!!!!!! Take that, Joel! I won!"

The next morning, we cleaned up my vomit in the bathroom of our room at the church (the church people never found out) and we went to the pyramids. The pyramids were kind of pricey. You had to pay for a bus to take you there and pay admission at the grounds. All in all, for me it was about 100 Pesos. Joel got in free because he's a student. Some of the pyramids were really steep and high. The climb is exhausting but we made it! Boo-yea! I got a few souvenirs and gifts, there. I bought my dad a whistle in the form of a statue of some Aztec god for 30 Pesos and I got myself a poncho for about 70 Pesos.

That night, we went to the Villa Basilica. I bought some gifts for my mom and a gangsta' Virgen shirt. It has Our Lady of Guadeloupe standing on top of a souped-up towncar with Mexican and American flags and a banner that says 'Raza Unida'. We also hung out in the Zocalo. The Zocalo is a trendy square in the downtown core. At night, it's lit up by Christmas lights and there are always buskers, of sorts. We had some Quesadillas and Ponche (a hot fruit drink). Street food in Mexico is usually quite good, safe and cheap. If you're spending more than 15 Pesos for a meal, you're splurging! What's odd, though, is although they make the food on the spot, they're not afraid of making some form of pork, even though that's a rather risky meat. We went to the Hostel that Joel was staying at before and met up with these Lithuanians and a Swiss woman and went to this bar Many of them had been to Canada before and some of them had been to the weirdest places like Abitibi-Témiscamingue in the People's Republic of Québexico. Anyway, we then took pictures of some of our favourite Metro Stations including Zapatas, La Raza (where they have a series of posters depicting fetuses at various stages - no wonder Mexico is pro-life) and Normal (¡No hay nada de especial, allí! ¡Es normal!) Speaking of the Metro, it is really cheap in D.F.: 2 Pesos per ticket and you can transfer as much as you want. The only thing is they can be EXTREMELY crowded at times. Some weird guy started telling Joel about his Nazi philosophies on the Metro. He was a big fan of Adolf Hitler and he said that Hitler killed the Jews because they mixed races with the Latin American Indians. *Awkward*

The next morning, Sunday, December 10th, we went to Mass in Freedom. They didn't have a good speaker system so we had difficulty hearing the priest. We talked with some of the people who went to that parish, including a girl who comes from the north of the French Republic, near the border with Belgium, unfortunately. They had free Ponche and Tamales. I don't really like Tamale.

We then went back to Tepito for a bit and then to El Bosque de Chapultapec, which is like D.F.'s Central Park. We went to the Zoo and this castle. Along the way, we saw this Totem pole donated by the government of Canada. Who would have thunk it? We also went to the Diego Rivera mural and Museum. I think we went back to Zona Rosa and went on the interweb. At the Insurgentes Metro Station in Zona Rosa, it's kinda neat: they have this market square below street level. It's a big circle with stores all around. Above the stores are the streets. Fancy that! We also tried to find a DVD box set for Noah's friend who lives in Mexico. Noah had asked me to. We couldn't find it.

Monday, we went to the Mercado de los Dulces: the candy market! You could get candy in bulk there for really cheap. I got some Ferrerro Rocher for Noah's friend (but we were never able to meet up with her, so we gave it to the church people). I also got some hot spice-covered candies that I've been daring everybody to try since I got back, some chocolate bars, gummy scorpions (gummy candy tastes a little more like Jello down there) and 500g of Chicharron (pork rinds). I kinda regret getting those pork rinds. The shop clerk gave us a free sample and I liked it so I bought 500g at 14 Pesos per Kilo. We never managed to finish them and I think they're the reason I got sick, the last few days in Puebla. We went to the Palacio de Bellas Artes. We also went to Alameda Central. It's a park that doubles as a market, but then again, so does every park in Mexico and every street and every Metro. Believe it or not, Mexico is a rather consumerist society. Everything is always: "Buy! Buy! Buy!" It's fun at first, but eventually it drains you. But I found a few deals. For example, I got a nice yellow tie for 30 Pesos on the street. This wasn't even in Tepito! Anyway, we tried, unsuccessfully, to meet up with Noah's friend again so we just took it easy. We went back to the Villa Basilica that night, as it was the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. The people at the Church recommended that we avoid going during the day to avoid the crowds. They shut the Metros down rather early and we had to cab it back for 100 Pesos each!

The next day, Tuesday, December 12th, we left for Puebla. The ride was 100 Pesos but ADO only accepts cash. (Bastards!) Anyway, when we got to the Bus Station in Tepito, we noticed a poster from the mayor of Puebla, he wrote his title as Lic. (Licensiado) meaning that he has a Bachelor's degree. Joel remarked that he is just as educated as I am so maybe I should be the mayor of Puebla. A cabby offered us a ride. Joel told him no thanks, we'll take the bus and then asked him for directions as to how to get to the bus stop and he told us how to get there. That's what I like about Mexicans. They are usually really helpful even when they don't stand to benefit from it, financially. We then got a double in a Hotel for 120 Pesos per night. Not bad. We went out and had chicken with Mole Poblano, a traditional sauce from Puebla made from chocolate, sesame seeds and stuff. We also got some beer at the Oxxo (a Mexican dépanneur) and watched a bit of the festivities for Puebla's 475th anniversary where somebody was rallying the crowd: "How old is Puebla?" "Cuatro ciento setenta y cinco!" "I can't hear you!!!" "Cuatro ciento setenta y cinco!" They had a camera positioned behind the crowd and they were showing it on the screen. There was a kid in his mother's arms that you could see on the camera. I positioned my cowboy hat so that it looked like it was on the kid's head and we all had a good chuckle. We also got interviewed by these high school girls for their God's language course.

My last full day in Mexico, we just bummed around Puebla, mostly. We went to the store to get some things and then we just mostly walked around town, sat in the sun and relaxed whilst watching cute Poblana girls go by. But they were rather short, for the most part and usually taken by Poblanos (guys from Puebla). They like to put a lot of gel in their hair to make their bangs stick up, just like Ginos! We also saw the site where the Mexicans defeated the French. Silly French! They lose to everybody! For lunch that day, we got some Tortas (nice big sandwiches). My Torta was with Pata, a gelatinous meat made from cow's hooves or something. We had this wonderful 4 course meal for supper: vegetable soup, macaroni salad, beef stew and jello... all for 28 Pesos! I also got my hair cut for 30 Pesos. That was about it. Well, that and we got really sick!

The next day, Thursday, December 14th, I took the airport express bus from Puebla to the Airport in D.F. I actually arrived at the airport rather early. I waited for hours by the gate for my plane but they switched the gate again!
I was listening to my iPod so I must have missed the announcement but about 10 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave, I went and asked the guy at the info desk if they were boarding yet. He said yes but at the other end of the airport! "Run!" I just barely made it and I got to watch "The Illusionist". 'Twas a very good film. I highly reccomend it. Upon arriving in Ottawa, I got selected for a more thorough search at customs, but the lady was really nice and friendly. I chatted with her about my trip and my adventures. Thank God we had a warm front or I would never been able to re-adjust.

A few things I noticed about Mexico:

• It's not as dangerous as people make it out to be. Honestly. Even Tepito isn't that bad...
• Nobody speaks God's language. If you don't speak Hespaniol or you aren't travelling with someone who does, stick to Cancun.
• They really stuck to their culture. Nobody eats at McDonald's. You can get great Mexican food for much cheaper on every street corner. And they also listen to Mexican music, Including Banda Norteña: "cowboy" music with a brass band - it's fun at first, but it gets old fast. I bought a disc on the Metro just to annoy Joel, but he put it on once we got back to the church and pretty soon I was begging him to turn it off. But in any case, they've stuck to their culture much more than we have. For example, Mexicans listen to Spanish music much more than Québecois listen to French music.
• Advertising is everywhere and is less intelligent. For example, on the Metros there was this picture of a hot lady in lingerie lying on a couch. The caption said: "If you'd like a woman like this, use simi-power". Also, Lays chips are called "Sabritas" in the UMS and you always see these ads saying "El Tubo es Mejor con Sabritas", "La escalada es mejor con Sabritas", etc. : the Metro is better with Sabritas, the escalator is better with Sabritas and so on... I kept joking with Joel about everything we did: "Las pyramides son mejor con Sabritas", "El banco es mejor con Sabritas", etc.
• Mexico is not as poor as I thought it was. I came down there thinking I would come face-to-face with poverty and learn from the experience, but I didn't really notice much poverty. Yea... It didn't always look as rich as Soviet Canuckistan but it wasn't bad... And the people are really happy. So many "liberals" seem to say that when you go to a country like that, it really makes you appreciate what you have at home, but no. I think I'd rather live in the UMS and I can learn more from the Mexicans than they can learn from me. Also, people say that Mexico City is an example of an "Urban Catastrophe" where too many people move to an urban centre and overload the infrastructure. But I don't find. In fact, D.F. works. The Metros are crowded but they work. It's far from a "catastrophe".
• Mexican food is delicious but not really that healthy. It's always greasy and fruits and veggies, except for hot peppers, are used sparingly. So it is really a myth that indigenous cultures always had it great until the white men came and ruined everything... Maybe they struggled with obesity too, or maybe they got more excercise...
• Things ARE cheaper in Mexico. Yea, we had to buy water cause it's not safe to drink from the taps, but we could get 1,5 L for 5 pesos at Superama. I turned down pairs of pants that costed more than 100 Pesos. Whereas, at the SAQ, it costs $11 for 375mL of Baccardi, I got a 695mL bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila for 89 Pesos.
• They take security rather seriously down in the UMS. Here, you just pick up your own bags off the caroussel at the airport and leave. There, they check your passport to make sure it matches the name on the tag. Also, on busses, when you check your luggage, they give you a tag with a number that you need to present to claim your luggage. Also, sad but true: I've been frisked more in Mexico than ever before in my life! Once, we were taking a bus and they stopped the bus to let a cop come on and frisk everybody.
• Mexicans are crazy drivers. It's not based on right-of-way, but rather right-of-balls! There is no pre-established order saying who goes first, it's just the one who is the boldest. Red lights are treated like stop signs and horns are honked frequently! Riding in a Mexican cab is exhilerating. At first, I would always look for the seat-belt but after a while, I got used to the fact that they are always broken or missing and just enjoyed the ride...

What I really loved about the trip, though, was seeing Joel again and hanging out with him. We revived some of our favourite jokes and stuff. That was a lot of fun! "Es lo que dijo ella!" We also talked about politics and Teresa and stuff and it really helped put me in a good mood. I'm so glad I went!

Guess which mofacko is heading to Mexico?  I'll give you a hint: his name starts with a J and ends with onas "THE STEAMROLLER" Graham and he's FABULOUS!

I really can't wait!!!  I am soooooo happy about this.  Somehow, I used to feel that even this wasn't enough to make me happy but now that it's almost here, I feel absolutely ecstatic!  A few months ago, I was thinking that maybe I would go to Mexico, but now, well, I'M LEAVING TOMORROW!!!!  That's right!  Tomorrow morning at 7!

I will be back on Thursday, December 14th at around 22:30.

In case I haven't told y'all already, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!
Fucking A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 ~ Jonas "LA APISONADORA" Graham, B.A.

A few remarks:

• European washrooms almost always cost. Generally about E 0,50. So its not too bad. The advantage is the washrooms are almost always clean and you dont have to feel guilty about going in somewhere to use the washroom without making a purchase because you have specifically paid for the privilege of using the WC.
• French cops have huge scary-looking guns.

Howzit going, y'all?

I'm super! I recently got the opportunity to go to NYC! It was so much fun. I've wanted to go for soooo long. It's the real center of the universe and thus, it puts Toronto, rightfully, to shame!

It's the economic and cultural capital of the best country in the world and thus it's one of the most important cities to see, in the world. Tied with Vatican City / Rome in my mind! And it's awesomeness totally makes up for the fact that it's a northern city.

Unfortunately 3 days is not nearly enough time to see the awesomeness that is the big apple. Especially, when we arrived at 17 the first day and left at 15 the third day - so it's more like 2 days.

Anyway, here's what went down:

- Slept in a hotel on the upper west side. 80th at Riverside. The neighborhoods not bad. But the hotel was pretty sketch! They were renovating so there was Pieces of drywall and rolls of paper to collect paint drippings scattered randomly across the floor. The cable was so split that the reception was terrible. The lobby was tiny. Etc.

- Went to Gray's papaya (71st at broadway). Had some hot dogs with a great sauce and a papaya drink for only $2,75!

- Was supposed to go to a bar that the tour guy had arranged for us to have access to but the bouncer said that anyone with sneakers had to leave the line. Shucks. But i later found out that whatever he said didn't apply to us we had VIP access. Shucks! But I didn't miss much. Other people in my group only stayed about an hour as most of 'em were not yet 21 and they had a wristband system and even if they were to proxy drinks, said drinks were $10 EACH!!! Oh well. I got to ride in a cab on the way there, at least. That was Saturday night.

- Sunday morning I went to mass at St. Pat's Cathedral. It was nice. Not really spectacular, though.

-Then I went to Rockefeller centre. Got a tour of NBC studios. Saw the statue of Atlas and a plaque where John Rockefeller Jr. lists all his values: see http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=6595

Inside Rockefeller centre I had a great sandwich from "On the Grill". It was like Subway except more fresh. For example, they cook the meat from scratch right on the spot. Saw a bit of the Puerto Rican day parade outside. Got a Puerto Rican bandana.

- Went outside of the USA for a while to go to the UN. It was fun. I learned about stuff. Apparently the scandinavians are really into the UN. Two of the big rooms, I think it's the security council room and the trusteeship council room were donated by the governments of Denmark and Norway. Crazy Scandinavs!

- Saw Grand Central Station on the way to the UN.

- Got lost in Central Park. Hey some trail forks would really help!! Ended up at around 103rd street Around 5th its alright (Museum Mile) but past 5th it gets really seedy. Everybody was looking at me. They could tell I didn't belong. (Being white and all) Nothing bad happened. Just it was the only place where I felt a little scared. The rest of Manhatten was pretty safe although I didn't leave Manhattan.

- Went to the Empire State building and the NY Skyride. Was fun! The sista operating the skyride was new and she kept screwing up at first but she eventually got it.

- My favorite part was Time Square. Flashing lights and stuff. But it was much more amazing than I had imagined. WOW! On the way to Times Square at around 39th and 5th some brotha sold me a two string mini-guitar, some incense and cologne for $10. In retrospect I think I got ripped off. In NY, people don't beg they do business.

- Monday I went around downtown. Saw ground Zero and then I went to FAO Schwarz, a famous toy store (59th and 5th I think).

- By the way, I got tonnes of newspapers: NY Press, NY Daily News, Sunday NY Times, Metro NY, AM NY, The Onion (Paper edition) and the Wall Street Journal. A lot! mdr.

- Thats about it. Didn't have nearly enough time to see everything I wanted to see. Next time, I have got to see the Empire State Building by day, get a guided tour of rockefeller centre, see Ellis Island, Stroll through the neighborhoods, see coney island, etc. Hopefully I'll go with a girl next time so I can take a romantic stroll thru central park and get her a Prada bag. Of course, not a real Prada bag. A fake one ;)

A few remarks:

- Sad but true: everywhere I went it seems like brothas and sistas were occupying the lower level jobs and gay white boys had the higher level ones. Like at FAO Schwartz, the cashiers were sister whereas the product demo ppl were all gay white boys. The brothas and sistas didn't seem upset about it but it looked kinda unfair to me.

- The brothas driving the subways were really friendly but they talked fast. "This is the downtown one train headed for south ferry. Next stop is 72nd street. Good Morning Brothers, Sisters!"

- All sorts of funny signs. "Don't even think of parking here", "No standing anytime", and on the subway: "Don't forget to take your bag or we will" and they show a bomb squad robot reaching for a bag. Speaking of the MTA, They are really concerned about security. They have this major "see something say something campaign" It's hardcore.

- NY is pretty safe. Cops everywhere. Annoying barricades everywhere. In downtown, i saw someone do a canine search of a truck. NYPD, Port Authority Police... Possibly even safer than Ottawa. I heard bad things but they are simply not true or at least no longer true.

- The New York accent is different for women and men.

- A lot of hispanic people. Lots of ads and stuff en espanol.

-I got lost at bowling green subway station. The signs were confusing. And somehow managed to wind up outside the barricades. I couldn't get back in. Apparently even though I had an all-day pass, I had to wait 18 minutes before scanning my card again!

- In NYC they don't sell Dole Drinks or fruitopia or Tropicana Twisters. For juice its just Snapple. It's good but kinda weird that in such a BIG city they have less of a selection.

- The best place to get stuff in the city is at a pharmacy. Theres prolly a Duane Reade or a CVS every couple of blocks or in the upper west side: Super Saver Pharmacy. Good deals and many are open 24/7

All in all, I had a great time and I can't wait to go again. I'll post some pics as soon as they get developped. (I'll get Photo CD). In other news, I have not yet seen star wars 3. Has anyone else not seen it yet? Wanna see it with me?

Cheers.

-Chuck W. Percival