I decided to change my travel plans to visit my travel buddies, Leticia and her brother Joe, and stay a few days in Guadalajara, Mexico. It’s sort of on the way home.
After an endurance test in air travel — Havana to Mexico City, then Mexico City to Guadalajara — I finally arrived. The journey included self-check-in again in Mexico City and that ever-present low-level panic about missing a connection.
After resting a while at Leticia’s and Joe’s house, we hit El Jockey Cocina de Barrio later that evening. Over plates big enough to feed half a cow and salad a mere suggestion, we somehow missed the fact that someone swiped both side mirrors off the car parked on the street nearby. Strange choice for a theft, but there it was.
Day 20 – June 27
The morning was mostly spent waiting at the police station to file reports. No hope for quick justice, but plenty of interesting people passing through. One guy even asked me to speak on the phone in English for him, to a relative, their lawyer, or maybe their “distributor.” They were holed up somewhere in New Orleans, dealing with something about a good behaviour bond or something. At that point, I started wondering if I’d just become an accomplice to an international crime syndicate and if my mugshot was already on an Interpol database. Anyway, that made the wait a bit less boring.
A midday lunch on a quiet patio in town: low-fat leafy salads, local Chardonnay, dessert, and coffee. The place was calm and polished, full of business people, wealthy retirees, and soccer mums, their noisy kids off to the side, wrangled by their nannies. The contrast with the morning’s desperation made the whole police visit feel even stranger, like stepping from one world straight into another that didn’t quite fit.
For well-heeled people, Mexico feels like a dream, easy and full of life. For most others, it’s a struggle every day, dealing with problems that sometimes come close to breaking the law just to get by. The system isn’t on their side, and feeding yourself can mean making tough choices most visitors don’t care to see.
By the way, the car still looked weird without its mirrors.
Day 21 – June 28
Today took us on a long trip to the countryside for lunch at an Italian place with open-air seating and a valley view. It was nice enough to make us forget about the car drama for a while, though there was a steady stream of pickup trucks passing by, some clearly police, others… who knows. Seeing 4 or 5 guys with guns riding in the backs added a certain level of “excitement” and a mix of other emotions to the drive. Honestly, I half expected to round a corner and stumble into a gunfight, an execution, or some other delightful local spectacle.
Day 22 – June 29
For my last evening in Guadalajara we went to El Cielo Country Club, where Leticia and Joe are members. The club sits alongside a golf course, nestled within a gated community guarded by security at the entrance and constant patrols. Pristine lawns stretch out under a distinctly slow, deliberate pace of life—far removed from the chaos elsewhere.
The restaurant itself is perched high on a hillside, offering a commanding view over Guadalajara and its wealthy residents spread below like a quiet, well-ordered map. Dinner there felt like stepping into a different world, one where everything runs smoothly and nothing is out of place — although my chicken parmigiana, or schnitzel, seemed like something out of Lost in Space, scientifically contrived and tasting like, and having the texture of, old boots.
Beyond the walls of the club, there are no wealthy residents—just the others I’d seen earlier in pickup trucks and at the police station.
Afterwards, we wrapped up the day at Leticia’s daughter’s place, not far from the country club. It’s a small but comfortable condo, which I suspect Leticia bought. Her daughter has a teenage son with severe cerebral palsy. He seemed like a happy chap and enjoyed the visit from his grandmother and granduncle, and maybe me? After coffee and a snack, it was back home — tomorrow I leave for the ultimate goat run home, probably about 24 hours of flight time, Melbourne via, LA then Brisbane.