Back from Pizzeria Uno. Didn't have deep-dish cause I got scared from all the cheese. Just had thin crust instead. I had this pizza with eggplant, red peppers and artichokes. It was really dry - could have definitely used some sauce. It's good though...I satisfied my craving. For whatever reason - I had this inkling for pizza when I got home from the gym and I wasn't in the mood to cook so we went out.

Now - back to my stories from last week. Sunday was great seeing all those sites. And that night - the conference (called Leadership Essentials) actually began. It was cool cause there were about 80 people attending the conference and they were from all over the world and all the different business units that we have like medical, industrial, aircraft, power, etc. There were people from Canada, America, Mexico, Hungary, France and Italy so that was really cool. Every day of the conference started at like 8:00 am and we were working pretty hard till about 10:00 pm most nights. Monday night of the conference - there was a huge group of us who went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Monday night football was on but it was so crazy. All the Mexicans in the place were making so much fun and a bunch were all dressed up in crazy costumes like the devil and other really crazy-looking stuff. It was pure madness and it was so loud. Really a wicked atmosphere.

During the week, I went out every night and I don't think that I've ever drank as much as I did over the past week. This was definitely some of the first times that I've ever woken up and still been drunk. That was quite a funny feeling. I had all sorts of tequila and cerveza and I also had these crazy shots called Cucarachas (tequila and kahlua) and Bandaras (three alcohols, red, green and white - look like the mexican flag) - both shots are lit on fire and then you suck them back through a straw. It definitely made for an interesting evening. Especially the time my hand caught on fire cause the flaming Cucaracha spilled on me. That was pretty funny (scary looking back now...but funny at the time). I didn't even realize that it was on fire (it had all this blue smoke around it) until after about 5 or 6 seconds when I freaked myself out. The night ended up well but pretty much every night thereafter were more of the same. The next night after drinking, I was really hungry so I had a couple of "pero caliente" which were okay - Mexicans have mayo on their hot dogs...that was definitely different. Another night, I went out for tacos and had Tacos Al Pastor - some of the best damn tacos I've ever had. The meat (usually pork) is cut off of something that looks like the middle eastern meat you see hanging on that big skewer. The shave it off (just like for shawarmas) and then put it in a tortilla. To that, you mix salsa, guacamole, coriander, onions and pineapple. SO YUMMY!!!

This past weekend, I left Mexico City and flew to Merida (on the coast) about 2 hours from Cancun. On my flight, I was sitting next to this really nice old guy (probably about my father's age). He was retired from his job as a former Sales Territory leader for Pharmaceuticals. He was based out of Mexico City for that time and now lives in Merida where it is much more peaceful. We got to chatting and he was telling me all the stuff I had to do while I was down in Merida. He was so nice and friendly and then the best part was that he offered to give me a ride from the airport to where I was staying in the city. It was awesome cause I got door-to-door luxury service (I forgot to mention that he drives a brand new fully loaded Audi A4 wtih leather interior). I went to Merida to visit my friend Reva for a couple of days cause she's down there working on an Engineering project. I haven't seen Reva in a really long time so it was great to hang out with her and see what Merida was all about. Merida is a really relaxed coastal city (about 30 minute drive from the Caribean Sea). It's so peaceful and the people are so nice and helpful. Reva and I danced salsa in the middle of the street while a band was playing so that was really awesome on Saturday night. We then went to this club where they wanted 60 pesos as cover but somehow, we managed to convince them to let us in for free. We got in around 2:00 am and stayed till 3:45. I woke up the next morning (yesterday) for my flight home at 6:00 am.

Mental note to you all - when flying international, always have a minimum 1 hour in between your connection flights. I arrived in Houston at 10:03 am and my connection to Milwaukee was at 10:35. Customs, changing terminals, security and one last sprint were not enough. I managed to get to my gate at 10:36 but the doors were already shut so I couldn't get on. I had to wait till 1:55 for the next flight to Milwaukee. While waiting, I was sitting and talking with a U.S. Security official who was telling me about all the crazy U.S. security measures at airports nowadays. He was telling me the stuff he has found like people trying to sneak pen knives aboard. Then, he started telling me about idiots who (in Texas noless) forgot to declare their handguns and proceeded to try and get through security with a concealed weapon because they totally forgot they were carrying them. This leads me to my thoughts about the damn American constitution and the fact that anyone and their freaking mother can carry a gun down here. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS DAMN PICTURE???!!!??!! Why is this allowed and why won't they ever learn?

Overall - I would have to say that my stay in Mexico was an absolute blast. The culture, the people, the food, the drink - all were fantastic. And - my religious habit of drinking litres upon litres of water before going to bed totally paid off every night.

I am not going to re-read this entry so I hope that it makes sense. It's late, I am ti-red and it's time for the sac. Good night everyone. And, a special thanks for the kind words on your site Christine.