the new Midland rule

Would I do that in Midland? No, well then I shouldn't do it in Mexico.

Midland, for those not in the know is most accuractely summarised by this;

Midland is a dodgy suburb near my home...a Harlem of Perth if you will. Now Midland isn't all bad...but there are certain things I would not do in Midland.

So...why the Midland rule?

Well in Catemaco we got robbed...

But it was partly our fault... we stayed in a ground floor room, which you accessed from the street, and even though the window had bars on it, the useless fan and high temps meant the only way to sleep was with it open.

But had we applied the Midland rule (would i stay in a room which had a window and door off the footpath? no) then we probably would have been alright.

We were pretty lucky with what was taken, and now we have a police report, we should be able to claim it all back....the only thing I couldn't bring myself to report was THAT THEY STOLE TWO PAIRS OF MY BRAS...I know...

But Catemaco...

Lonely Planet's description is basically that it is a charming lakeside village. And although my time there was tarnished...it was a pretty cool little place.

The lake is a lake, but it is huge, and brown, but everyone swims in it. There are little 'beaches' with seats and restaurants, and the major front road is lined with restaurants (that are slightly overpriced). We found a great restaurant off the beach with very well priced Mexican food that was delicious..we went there three times!

And the hotel we moved to, after the unfortunate incident, was right on the beautiful Zocalo and was only 250 pesos a night. (We should have stayed there from the start instead of being sucked in by a crazy German lady to stay at her 'b and b'...which was the hottest little sweat box of a room). There was pretty good street food (nothing on Mexico City), but they did sell delicious mangos on a stick covered in lime juice, salt and chilli. Yum.

Most important thing I learnt...

Was that the Mexican people are awesome. I could not believe how lovely the women were. When I was standing outside of the police station crying (I know...but the man was yelling at me, so I decided to yell back...then the boyfriend decided that this wasn't the most appropriate behaviour to get our police report so I was sent outside) two different Mexican women came up to me.
The first came right up and started wiping away my tears, and when I told her my story (with a lot of miming as my Spanish isn't the best) she told me I could stay at her house, and I should come have lunch with her, as she continued to hug me and wipe away my tears.
The second woman took me inside the police station to sit with me and wait, and got out photos of her children and we spoke about her life as an illegal immigrant in America (fascinating).
So really the Midland rule...well it only applies to safety...because I am pretty sure that if I was crying outside the Midland Police Station I don't think anyone would come across to hug me.