Leon First Impression

The taxi ride to the hotel took about thirty minutes. I would tell you that it was exciting and the views were spectacular, but I can’t. It was quite frightening, you see the driver was driving so fast I had to close my eyes, it scared the shit out of me. As I got accustomed to the drive I suddenly realized that everyone drives fast. So I managed to pull myself together and open one eye and enjoy the rest of the ride.

I was able to glance out the window periodically, noticing the mountains and the rigged terrain as we gradually entered into the city limits. I looked in amazement at how people lived, houses, and what some may call a shack embedded into the side of a mountain. Stacked upon each other like Legos. They fit so perfectly.

I put my bags on the bed, washed my hands and face grabbed my room key, and headed out the door. The only thought that came to mind, was I made it, I was in Leon Guanajuato Mexico,

I arrived at my hotel. My check-in was relatively painless. The valet carried my bags to my room, I offered him a tip, and he thanked me and closed the door behind himself. I was finally alone to collect my thoughts. I drew the curtains and looked out at the view provided to me from the tenth floor. After taking in the view from a window, I decided I couldn’t wait for the next day I wanted to see what was out there, now.

I was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn, located on Blvd Adolfo Lopez Mateos. This is one of the main Blvd in Leon so I decided to walk it. Its sidewalks are big (only the ones on a wide big street) After all, if you want to experience a new place then take a walk. It’s a way of interacting, in incognito. It was around 3:30 pm, so I figured I could hand out about an hour or two before it started getting dark, and I had to head back to the hotel.

After sitting and flying, flying and sitting, it felt good to stretch the legs. The air was clear a little warm but pleasant. It didn’t take me long to realize that Leon was just like any other big city in the USA or the world. It had pavements contrary to public belief. Money was being spent on infrastructure. And the people appeared to be going along with their daily lives. The first thing I noticed was the number of people who worked for the government be it state or local I couldn’t tell.

Like, I have stated I never have any preconceived ideas of any place that I may visit in my travels, So, to see all the things Leon had to offer wasn’t a shock or surprise. What did surprise me, was the amount of American influence that was here; banks, manufacturing, distribution, car dealerships, and more. But with all that, I could still see the things that made Mexico, Mexico.

They have their bodegas (neighborhood/corner store). Corner food stands are equivalent to our food trucks. They also have these bread stands on the corners where they sell all kinds of freshly baked bread. So me being me, I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave some a try. I believe it was made from cornmeal. It was round and fluffy like a pancake, it had a sweet taste to it, like sweet bread. And yes it is very good. They came three to a pack and cost around 30 pesos, about 1.30 USD ( sorry I didn’t take any pictures).

I couldn’t help but think about what brought me here, I don’t mean the plane. The Universe brought me here just because I asked for it. A thought occurred to me about fear. We live our lives through other people’s fears. Not willing to take a chance on a desire or a dream. Believing in what someone else may or may not have experienced, Honest fears are based on some traumatic or unpleasant experience. Don’t get me wrong things do happen and it can leave a nasty taste in your mouth. We are different travel on the same road at this moment, but we all did not get here using the same guidance system. So your individual experience is going to be different.

During my walk, I noticed that there was a large number of Farmacias. They are the equivalent to our CVS, Rite Aid Walgreens, and even some compounding Pharmacies, but on a much smaller scale. I have to. It was kind of funny me walking around reading signs spelled in Spanish and trying to figure them out. The experience only confirmed that I was here, so I just smiled.

It was getting late and time for me to head back to the the hotel. I noticed that they had a restaurant maybe I’ll stop in get a bite to eat and plan my day for tomorrow. I started thinking about all the things I needed to do if I was going to stay here in Leon for any length of time. Looking for an apartment, finding a nice community, and trying to understand the transportation system and the language.

It was about 7 pm when I arrived back at the hotel and walked straight to the restaurant, I sat a that bar and ordered a beer while I looked at the pictures on the menu. There was no way I was going to figure this out tonight, but a hamburger is the hamburger all over the world, I guess it is like baseball. My Spanish was so bad they had to get the chief who spoke a little English to take my order.

I noticed a man of color sitting next to me. First person like me I saw in a while. We greeted each other in English. And started exchanging stories about who we were and what we did for a living. The normal things we do to establish our pecking order. The gentleman lived in Florida and was a mechanical engineer. He travels solving manufacturing and distribution problems through mechanical engineering.

We also shared our thoughts and experiences as men of color traveling the world. I did tell him that this was my first experience traveling out of the USA. But so far my experience has a good one.

I started to feel the tiredness, my body was finally catching up with all the different time zones I had gone through. I said good night and asked for my check. My new friend offered to play for my dinner and beer. I was very surprised and accepted gracefully.

After stepping into the room standing in the dark looking out the window looking at the neighborhood being all lit up. I just stood there being grateful. That I created this opportunity in my life. As I lay in the bed looking out the of widow falling asleep in Mexico.

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