Travel – Amber's Nomad Pad

There are many ways to get around in Guadalajara whether it be through bus, train, car, or by foot. On the second day of my trip, a volunteer from Projects Abroad named Lucas showed me the 604 bus to take, the Siteur train, then another bus that arrived to the hospital where I would be working. However, he ran out of cash for the train so we took the bus, walked for awhile, then went to eat at a restaurant. But then by day three I walked with another volunteer named Mathilde. Every morning we walked at least a good mile to the train, took it from Colinas de la Normal to Zapopan Centro, then walked a few blocks until arriving to the hospital. I personally enjoyed walking and didn’t mind it. Plus, the bus rides can be rough. Often when the last person boards the bus, the driver pulls off right away and you gotta hold on for dear life! I felt myself sliding back a couple times after boarding.

There were basically local red green and red buses and intercity buses. I don’t know by heart how they ran but it seemed that the green buses ran more locally than the red buses and the intercity buses were for more long distance trips. Green buses stopped more often. Out of curiosity, I rode a green bus one time to see how far it would go and it ended up taking 2 hours to get to the destination and back!! Buses only ran from 5am to 10 pm, and I got on the bus at 7:30pm and got off at 9:30pm! Man I got lucky.

Taking the train was a much better experience. I would just place my card on a scanner, it showed my balance, then I proceeded toward the train. I had to go down or up quite a series of stairs and escalators to reach the train stop, but afterwards I went right on and went right off my stop. There are 3 train lines and then one I rode was line 3 which was the newest and was completed in 2020. I only rode line 2 once and it felt a bit nostalgic seeing how this train ran compared to line 3.

Source (right picture): https://twitter.com/siteurjal/status/521321602060156928?lang=de

To take the train and the bus, one would pay cash or there’s an electronic card available to add money to. I only needed to swipe it at the train station or put it on a scanner in the bus. A ride would cost $9.50 pesos bus or train (which is about 50 US cents).

It took me a bit to find my way to the hospital and back by foot. Walking to work was always more challenging because the roads were all on an incline. It felt more of a climb than a walk. That and the fact that it got pretty warm during the day (it gets to around 83 or so in October) with the hot beaming sun and sweating made the walks a bit more treacherous. Thank goodness I had my Brita water bottle handy and some comfortable hiking shoes!!

Ubers and taxis are also available throughout Guadalajara. I would recommend taking Ubers more personally because the vehicles are cleaner, its cheaper, and even the drivers are more professional. Taxis also like to take longer routes to jack up the price, a big tourist trap. I had a couple uncomfortable experiences when taking a taxi. One time I was chatting with this guy and we were talking about relationships and stuff. I told him how I was single and was into Latino guys (just out of fun). He was single also with kids and wanted me to give him a kiss instead of pesos for a ride. I had to keep telling the guy no even as he kept refusing. Another time I was taking a taxi all the way from Guadalajara to Tequila which was a good hour or so ride. I remember my host mother Leslie mentioning that there’s a bus station that can be reached after taking the train. But once I got off the station I didn’t see buses that ran to Tequila. I asked around but nobody apparently knew about a bus that went to Tequila. So I was a bit desperate and took the trip by taxi. The guy took mainly the scenic route to get to Tequila and it ended up way overpriced! I ended up with not a lot of pesos by the time I got to Tequila. I had enough to do a tour of the Jose Cuervo factory and maybe get home. Thankfully, after some sightseeing and exploring I did manage to find the correct bus station that led back to Guadalajara. So I decided to take that bus getting home and made it back to Guadalajara Centro. And it was only 90 pesos!! I was a bit angry at myself for not finding this sooner back in Guadalajara. Oddly enough though the bus took me to a part of Guadalajara Centro I wasn’t familiar with. So after some more walking, I found the Siteur train and took it back to Colinas de la Normal and walked back home. I was pretty exhausted after that experience.

I found that food in Guadalajara was very delicious and rich. It was so filling that I often couldn’t finish a plate in one sitting. The portions are also large, so you really do get your money’s worth. Given my pescatarian diet, I was afraid that my options would be limited and that there would only be meat. But boy was I wrong!! There were many seafood restaurants, even some vegetarian and vegan options (sorry to disappoint meat eaters!) There’s still many dishes I have yet to try in Mexico (and I shall return soon!) It’s also true that with every dish there’s some chile either on the dish or on the side. I couldn’t handle any Mexican spiciness whatsoever!

Here is one of my first meals at a restaurant known as Santa Lechuga. It has nice healthy options, including the salad that you see below. It has tuna, pasta, peanuts, carrots, pita bread, cheese, cucumber, and lettuce. Looks like a meal for 2! This would cost a little more than $6.00 (125 pesos). I had this with some agua fresca (fresh water), which is water with fresh fruit. I believe the one I had was citrus flavored, but sadly it’s not pictured.

Mollete, a dish that looks like pizza bread, it’s something I encountered both at my host home and at a restaurant with a friend. It has refried beans with a layer of cheese on top. On the side I had an iced mocha (what a combo!) The salsa was surprisingly too spicy (it was the green pepper in the salsa that gave the spice). It’s another dish that I could finish in 2 sittings.

Mollete (pronounced moh-yay-teh)

Here is a homemade Quesadilla Mexican style. My host mother would heat the tortilla on a flat pan known as a comal (pictured right) and melt it slightly with Monterrey Jack cheese in the middle. Tomatoes or other ingredients were placed on the side. Not quite the same as how we make Quesadillas in the United States with melted cheese and ingredients everywhere. The quesadilla was very good. Oh, and that small green thing below it believe it or not is called a toona (and no not the fish). It’s a fruit very similar to the texture and taste of kiwi, but you have to swallow everything including the seeds. This helps with your digestive system.

Quesadilla and Toona.

Another interesting thing to try is called pulque. It is a drink that consists of fermenting the maguey agave plant and has an acidic taste. The plant used looks similar to the agave plant used for tequila, but it’s not the same. The drink comes in a bag and involves drinking through a straw. My amigo here Luis and I decided to get some and it was my first time trying it. However, our straws broke and we decided to tear a small hole on one end. He had the regular flavor and I had a pineapple flavor one. Salud!!

Here are some more pics of foods worth noting here:

Chilli Relleno (stuffed chili pepper)
Sabritas (like Lays with less grease). Something neat often on snack labels in Mexico is that they state if there is excess sugar, calories, or fats. This one lists excess calories.
Coca Cola zero sugar in a glass bottle.
Ceviche Tostada. Tostadas are eaten as appetizers and the food is placed on top of a nacho chip such as this.
Salmon with a salad
Garlic shrimp with rice, vegetables, grapefruit slice, and bread.
Mini tacos with chili spice. Only 5 pesos!