Hey, Where Can You Surf?

Our time in Melaque went very fast, so fast that I often thought I should be posting more about the different experiences we had but I didn’t have the time to sit down and type them up. We were going and doing, but the doing was all part of a normal day.  It didn’t feel like I needed to explain those happenings.

Now that I am home and thinking about some of the things that happened in our normal days, I realize that a normal day in Mexico would not be looked upon as a normal day up here.

Take for example, Caroline trying to set up a surf trip for Chris. As I remember it she started the project via a website called TomZap. This site is the main bulletin board for the region around Melaque and Barra.  She posted that Chris would be down visiting and wanted to surf.  In reply Caroline received tips that if she went to the Surf Bar and asked for Benji, he could possibly help.

Linda and Claudio at Bigote's

We all walk down to the Surf Bar located on Taco Row on the second floor of one of the buildings.  The bar always has loud music pouring down upon Taco Row and usually there is someone standing on the street trying to steer people up into the establishment by offering two or three for one shots of tequila.  To get to the bar you have to enter a flower shop and turn left, walk down a hall and up some stairs. No wonder they have someone on the street selling the good times. 

Caroline disappears down the hall and up the stairs and in a few minutes she reappears following  a young fellow who  leads us down the block and we end up at San Miguel Hacienda where we have to wait while he goes in and gets Benji.  Benji says that he can set the surf trip up but he needs to talk to Lupi and that we should come back the next night and meet Lupi at the Razteca Tatoo parlor. 

The next night after drinks at Bigotie’s , Caroline leads a rag tag group of half drunk Americans consisting of Linda, Don, Holly, Chris and myself down to the Razteca on Taco Row.  We walk in and are greeted by and young girl and we ask if “Lupi“ was there.  We wait as she goes into the back room.  While she is getting Lupi we try to look inconspicuous by scoping out the various tattoo offerings on the walls.  People walking past must have thought we were all going for a group tat to commemorate our drunken night in Mexico.

Lupi appears from the back and takes us all behind the door to a dark back room where his tattoo table sits next to a computer.  He shows us video clips of surf breaks and we talk about what type of surfing Chris was looking for. After fifteen minutes, by the glow of the computer screen, the deal was struck and Lupi told Chris to meet him at 7:30 am the next day and they would surf.  We all walked across the street and had tacos at Pedro’s. 

If you were to watch this on TV, the plot would follow the same sequence of events, but you would probably find the group of Americans being led into the dark heart of the drug world.  In Melaque we were passed from surfer to another surf buddy working hard to help find a board and allow a fellow surfer from the US, add another break to his list of accomplishments.  Everyone was very friendly and helpful and in the end Chris got a chance to surf in Mexico.