Mexicanos and Comidas

I have been here for a couple of days now and it´s been fun staying in Cancun. It is touristy but it still has some traditional flavor left. We had lunch one day at a concrete park which appeared really bleak but at night, it comes alive with families playing in the park at night. There are children everywhere. Food stands are open selling tacos, tortas, empanadas, tlayudas, and flavored waters. Everyone is pretty friendly. Most men usually want to come up to Shaniquoa and say something and touch her (on her shoulder or some place similar). Partly due to culture but mainly probably due to the fact that they have not seen many Black people. One girl came up and introduced herself in the park saying she was her first encounter. Cute girl.

I´ve driven past the hotel strip a couple of times and I am really glad I am staying downtown. The hotel area is aweful. It reminds me of a watered down version of Vegas. Chain restaurants -- Planet Hollywood, Bubba Gumps, Houlihans, etc. Multiple huge hotels which are not fully occupied. These hotels were built so close to the edge of the water that nature is slowly taking the sand away. Supposidly they tried to move the sand from one side of the beach to the other side, but it only lasted 6 months. Instead, they use sand bags to keep the water back. Really attractive when you´re sitting on the beach chair in a nice resort. Haha.

We did the Anthony Bourdain thing and tried tacos from a cart. There is a little section where there is hardly any traffic and there are 2 to 3 stalls setup. They all sell the same things--tacos and tortas. I tried tripa (tripe) and lengua (tounge). They all taste similar but I liked the texture on the lengua. You also put salsa and picante and onions on top.

When we went to Isla Mujeres, a woman was selling tamales by the ferry. It is one of my only favorite Mexican foods. It was really good. Smooth and almost creamy. She put a little bit of the picante and OH MAN, my mouth was on fire. I don´t know how they eat such spicy foods. I still liked it though. I probably noticed the kick more because of the citrus in the sauce.