¡Buen día, Colima!

¡Buen día, Colima!

That’s how I debuted on Mexican Radio. Cliché, I know, but fun to say. We met some friends here in Colima and one of them, Daniel, has a sports talk show here on University of Colima radio, Radio Universo 94.9 FM. He thought our trip was impressive, as well as the intention behind it, so he brought us in for a live interview. People seem to be impressed that we wanted to travel through Mexico without polluting it, so we discussed how and why we travel in an eco-groovy fashion. Obviously, bikes don’t pollute like cars, but what else do we do to have a smaller impact on the globe? Well, we charge our batteries with a solar panel, but I emphasized on the interview that the most important decision you can make that will change your impact on the planet is choosing a meat-free diet. Today, I saw this article and it explains why quite well.

Inevitably, the conversation waxed political when Daniel mentioned that we were the antithesis of the commonly held impression of people from the U.S.A. You know, people who consume with reckless abandon and get fat on hamburgers and corn syrup while they support wars of aggression and elect neoconservitive imperialists. Well, that’s okay – we are kind of like ambassadors for our good people up north (There are lots of us!). One must tread lightly however; political activity by foreigners is banned in the Mexican Constitution. So why do people always have to mention bush, forcing you to defend yourself? I feel like this will go on for a long time, kind of like how Germans always feel the need to defend themselves and their country against preconceived notions people retain from their experience with Nazism. How could you let such crimes take place in your name? Etc…

Anyway, we had a fun photo shoot afterwards and will be featured in an article in the sports section of some statewide newspaper. There have been some great photos of us taken by strangers in cars, in town, at sweat lodges, anywhere, but we don’t have copies. Oh well, they’re out there somewhere (send me some if you have any). We also have taken quite a few – be sure to check out the photo page on www.flickr.com/photos/simini
Our most recent jaunt was up the mountain in Colima to the base of the Volcano of Colima, the most active volcano in Mexico. It’s a beauty and it gasses (not full on eruptions, but cool) a few times a day. However, it did erupt as recently as in May of 2005. We climbed to about 2000m on our bikes with our geologist friend Laura and camped up at a lagoon with a great view of the volcano. It turns pink during the magnificent sunsets that happen as a result of the particulates in the air (some ash, but mostly from burning sugar cane). It took us all day to climb up to the lagoon from Colima (about 400m up) but only an hour or so to tear down the mountain back to the city. Good clean fun.