Alright, so it's been a crazy few days, and there's a lot to catch up on, but I'll do my best. I'll start where I left off, with my entry into Mexico. I was pretty nervous about the customs/immigration process (importing an expensive vehicle into the developing world is not always the easiest process...There's a lot of red tape involved, and not knowing the language definitely hurts.)

So, I crossed the border into Mexico, which was surprisingly easy because....They don't really have one. They are one of the few countries in Central or South America that doesn't rigidly control their borders. They have a "commercial zone" that lasts for 20-30 Km on the Mexican side, followed by checkpoints that make sure you're supposed to be there. If you don't have the right paperwork, they send you back to the border to get it. The checkpoints look alot like this:

Fortunately I knew this going in, so I immediately found the Customs/Immigration office just across the border. It looked something like this:

Once inside, with the few broken bits of Spanish I actually remember from Freshman Espanol, I navigated through the dizzying process of Tourist Visas, Temporary Vehicle Import Permits, Passports, and Liability Insurance forms... To be honest, the border crossings has been one of the things that has worried me most about this trip. But this was surprisingly easy and really went well! After about an hour and a half I was on my way, with a renewed sense of confidence and pride in my ability to handle the road that lay before me.

Then I got lost. In Raynosa, Mexico. Literally the instant I pulled out of the Customs office I had no idea where I was. I was looking for MEX 40, but it was nowhere to be found. And just to be clear, Raynosa is not a nice place. My confidence was immediately shattered as I was exposed to the craziest driving I've ever seen. (And I've ridden in rush hour traffic in both NYC and LA, and they've got nothing on this.) Nothing is marked, Some stop signs are only recognizable by their octagonal shape, but without enough paint left to know that they were ever red or carried the words ALTO in big white letters.

Another thing about driving in Mexico (and the rest of Latin America) lanes are optional. In fact, I think people actually go out of their way to not use them. Same thing with turn signals. So, there's a bit of adjustment. But I have to say, as crazy and aggressive as the drivers are, they do seem to be paying attention to their driving. Honestly, I'm more scared of a soccer mom in a subdivision sized SUV on a cellphone lazily drifting into my lane than I am a local in a beat up pickup truck speeding through traffic like Dale Earndhardt. (rip #3 w. wings)

So, after about an hour of riding through what is absolutely not a nice part of town, (I forgot to mention it was raining this whole time!) I finally made it to MEX 40. This was the main road to Monterrey, and it definitely took some work to make sure I stayed on it. Roads split, change names, and generally go out of their way to be confusing down here. As I'm planning my routes now, I generally just plan on a solid hour to navigate any major city that I happen to pass through on my way.

The road to Monterrey was a toll road, which is much nicer, safer, and faster. All good things, so I went. And other than being cold and wet, there's not too much to report. Ahh except that my GPS maps were utterly useless, and my paper map flew off the motorcycle at 75 mph. Crap. That would have been helpful in a few minutes...


...when I got to Monterrey. When I finally made it to Monterrey (imagine Chicago except with worse drivers and road that don't make much sense and you're pretty close.) It's an extremely american-ish city, with close to 8 million people. And an applebees. Ugh, I can't tell you how disappointing it was to see an Applebees. Don't get me wrong, I love half priced apps as much as the next guy, but come on! That's not why I drove 2000 miles! Anyway, after getting lost in Monterrey a little over an hour, I continued on to Back2Back Ministries, an organization that helps run Orphanages here in the area. I had been down here litterly 9-10 years ago with my school, but hadn't been back since.

When I finally made it to Back2Back, I was able to reconnect with some friends I hadn't seen in years, as well as make some new ones. I got to spend the next four days connecting with some amazing people- People that really love and care for kids in need-and have shaped their entire lives around this one purpose. I had the amazing honor of spending time both with these people and the kids that they care for. More to come!