This afternoon I met a Spanish guy whilst lingering on the free internet at my hotel in San Cristobal. Over a few beers later, Ruben explained that he had been redundant from his bankrupt employer in Galicia last year as a result of the recent economic crisis, and had decided to head to Mexico to do something completely different for a few years. Four months later, he is a qualified dive master taking tourists to the reefs and cenotes around Playa Del Carmen, ie where I was a few short weeks ago.
Several 2-for-1 Tecate cervezas (Dos Equis’s in Ruben’s case) and an extremely persuasive local saleswoman later, I am now the proud owner of a GBP 5 knitted poncho, and Ruben, who already had a Mexican poncho, several bracelets better off.
