Gambling our Blues Away

Allan and I made it safely back to Playa today from Belize after a long drive. Surprisingly I had enough energy and where with all to drive the whole way considering I got only 4 hours sleep the night before. It was quite an interesting weekend to say the least.

The border zone between Belize and Mexico called the Corozal Free Zone is a rundown, typical looking and acting border town. Walking around I don't feel completely comfortable with my personal safety. Stores - or should I say dilapidated retail outlets, sell cheaply made junk like knock-off suit cases, sandals, t-shits, baby carriages and illegally copied CDs. The merchandise reminds me of that typically pedaled at a typical Mexican fair. To say the least the zone was very disappointing. Interestingly enough there was about 1 Chinese food restaurant for every block, which I guess does not say very good things about Chinese food considering the location.

On a positive note the casinos were wonderful - there were three, and everyone had Blackjack - our game of choice. After a few or more hours on the tables, we gambled our bad feelings away and came away with enough winnings to pay for the weekend trip and a little more.

We chose to stay at the Princess Hotel, not for any particular reason considering we came to Belize blindly having done no research, other than the fact it was the first hotel over the border and it was a casino. We were placed in the closest room to the casino floor, and I must say it was the most noisy and uncomfortable hotel experience ever. The mattress had no support and I practically rolled off the bed every time I moved. Furthermore there was live singing right below us, people slamming doors at all hours of the night, and an a/c unit which made a lot of noise but cooled the room little. I wound up returning back to the casino floor in the middle of the night because I could not sleep, had a few vodka tonics, won some more money, and then returned to the room around 2am and finally fell asleep.

At 8am I woke to confront the car importation issue. When one brings a car into Mexico they give you a 6 month permit and a sticker to place on your windshield. Our permit had expired back in February, but since we have an FM3 work visa technically we're allowed to drive in Mexico on an expired permit. However, crossing the border from Mexico to Belize we were instructed to rip off the sticker essentially invalidating our importation permit. I guess in order to get a new permit and sticker one has to return the old ones. And since it was expired, we conspired to get a new one.

Anyway, the permit office was closed when we arrived yesterday so I wanted to be the first one in line when it opened today. Our hotel was only a short 2 minute walk over the bridge spanning the Rio Hondo river and uniting the two countries. Luckily I ran into my hustler friend from yesterday, who was able to guide me to a supermarket to make copies of all my necessary paper work (FM3, passport, car registration and license). Arriving at the super I realized I did not have my registration, so it was back to the hotel to go searching for it. Well I didn't quite make it to the hotel, since I found it sitting in the hotel parking lot (flash back to 1/2 hour ago when I thought I saw something small and white fly out of my hands). I fear I would not have been able to bring my car back into Mexico without the registration.

So it was back to the super to make copies, and then over to the temporary car importation window. However, one more thing was missing - my car. The lady at the importation window wanted to physically see it. So it was back to the hotel, get in the car and drive it back to the booth. Now she wanted a copy of my driver's license which I forgot to make earlier, so it was back to the super to make the copy and then return to the booth and hope everything was in order.

I should preface all of this by saying since we arrived yesterday I had been thinking the worst about the car - that it would be stuck indefinitely in the border zone. I don't know why - I normally try to think optimistically, but in situations like this I keep thinking "what if?" What if they find out my Mass car registration is not in perfect condition? What if they realize my name is not on the title since I have a car loan? What if, what if, what if??? Needless to say it was a very stressful issue and perhaps a contributing factor to my late night insomnia.

Luckily everything was in order, and we were able to re-import the car. I gave my hustler friend a $200 peso ($20 tip) as a thank you. On the way back to Playa we were thinking we'd like to return to the border zone to play Blackjack but not to stay there overnight. On the way home, about 1/2 hour into Mexico we stopped in Bacalar, Mexico, a small village which sits on an inlet filled with the most gorgeous turquoise and blue water, and lined with wooden docks garnished with beautiful thatched roofs one might see on the cover of a travel magazine. We ate lunch in a seaside restaurant and thought - when we come back, this is where we are staying overnight!

Allan and I would also like to explore more of Belize. The border is not representative of the beautiful country just like the US border is not representative of the US. However, we'll be leaving our car in Mexico since to drive deep into Belize with a US car I've heard is a big issue (complicated to actually import it into Belize). We'll just drive to the border and rent a car in Belize since we prefer the comfort and freedom of our own ride rather than being less independent on a bus.

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