Mexico

This week I got to travel to Mexico for work.  It was a really great trip, with some new experiences.  It's great to visit Mexico as a tourist, but I got to see (sort of) what it is like to live and work here and it was invaluable. Mexico City reminded me of Barcelona, Zacatecas and the countryside reminded me of Peru, and to some extent Jamaica. 

On my layover in Mexico City, I left teh airport, with our VP Ops, and met our lawyer who has been doing our Mexican work for years but I've never been able to meet in person.  We met him at a restaurant serving authentic Mexican food.  I did steer clear of the ants eggs and grasshoppers, and ordered rib eye tacos.  They were very tasty.  The tortillas came warm in the little pouch on the top left of the photo.

I was a tad underdressed than my dining companions, but it was a travel day *shrug*.

Then back to the airport to fly to Zacatecas.  We arrived around 8:00 and went to the house our company rents. 

There are two houses side by side and some of the permanent expat employees stay next door to the house where I was staying.  We went over there and had a beer.

Up bright and early to find the kitchen well stocked.  I was able to have the breakfast that I usualy eat at home. Those little crackers were like tortilla chips.

Then we stopped in at our office and warehouse. We have a really great space there.

Then we hit the road to visit one of our projects about 2.5 hours away.  It was a beautiful day.  I tried to catch some photos along the way.

Quick pit stop at the gas station, this little guy was hanging around.

The topography was something to see!

That's our headframe in the distance for the shaft we are sinking.

Ready for a site tour.

This is the mine proper with housing and other facilites.

Not regulation safety glasses.

Got my harness on ready to go down in the shaft (wearing the correct goggles now).

In the bucket on the way down.

There is a bottom part that is enclosed and an open part at the top.  I rode in the bottom on the way down.

Standing at the bottom.

Heading back up

Mexican and Canadian flags at the top.

This is the snake wrangling gear, some poor soul has the job of collecting the snakes, putting them in a bag, and relocating them. 

Heading home.

Then we had dinner with a bunch of people.  About half of us were visiting and the other half works there all the time.

We did watch the Leafs game (ouch!), and had a delicious meal.

I tried some mescal, which is made from agave but is not tequila.  It reminded of scotch a bit (like the bite it has in the back of your throat).  I had one straight, with an orange slice, and then one I mixed with soda to make a Mexican version of a scotch and soda - Mescal and Topo Chico.

The next day we worked in the office and we fly out this morning. We definitely felt welcomed and enjoyed the warm Mexican hospitality.