District Breakfast Weekend

The 6th to the 8th of February, the last weekend I was with my first host family, the Dazas, I went with the Police Capitan Pablo Rios and two of the other three exchange students in Mina, Claire from France, and Inah, the Brazilian girl who arrived in January. There is also little to record about this trip, and nor are there photos. However, the character and behavior of the Capitan seem of some passing interest. He is a Federal Highway Policeman, and apparently as such earns a respectable salary. Always very confident and self-assured, he is one of those men who seem to have everything thought out and, though they admit they don't understand the world, at least everything in it has its place and its value for them (many Rotarians are this way, especially with young people, and especially with exchange students).

During the trip from Mina to Veracruz, we never once payed a highway toll. The first one, in Acayucan, we drove the wrong way up an entrance ramp and reentered the highway on the other side, having a policeman there let us through the barricade (he was given a coin for his trouble). All the rest, we simply drove through quickly behind the car in front of us before the gate closed. Once in Veracruz, we frequently went the wrong way down one way streets (by accident) and passed red lights. The thing that is in any way notable about all this is that he is a policeman, and a man who has everything figured out. As such, he frequently expounds on the virtues of the rule of law and that sort of thing.

The weekend itself was rather uninteresting. We stayed with the family of Pablo's godchildren, who were extremely nice people with a nice comfortable bed (I always sleep more deeply and cozily in these situations). We spent most of our time at the beach with a few other exchange students.

Another note: Pablo paid for everything the entire weekend for all of us from Mina and any other exchange student who was around. Since he went with us on the Ruta Maya, he has gotten along well with all of us and they are very familiar with him. He frequently makes invitations to them and is almost certainly the reason (along with Claire, his host daughter for most of this time) they have come to Mina so often.