I’ve been home from Mexico for 32 hours now. Do I feel like I want to go back? … eh, not really.
I arrived at Intercontinental Airport at around 4 PM or so, just in time to see my coworker Anderson come down a courseway. You know you’re working for a company that requires a lot of travel when you encounter coworkers at the airport who are on different business trips than you. After having dinner at Chili’s Too (the airport terminal’s small Chili’s), I met my coworker and fellow traveller Brent at the gate, and off we went to Villahermosa.
In a way, I wish I had thought to start taking pictures with my cell phone’s camera as we arrived in Villahermosa. We had quite a light show as we made our final approach into the airport, with storms coming into the area. When I was last in Villahermosa, the airport was undergoing renovations; they apparently finished them since then, as the airport looked a lot nicer and there was no construction to be seen. We grabbed a taxi to the Camino Real hotel, checked in, dropped off our bags… went to the bar for a few drinks, and then retired to our rooms.
The next morning, we were picked up from the hotel by our Mexican coworkers, and taken down to the plant. I won’t get into details of what was discussed there (my bosses won’t appreciate that), but the facility was quite out of the way in Cardenas. It’s always fun to enter a facility with guard towers… heh. (I didn’t dare ask if they were manned.) Anyway, after a long day at the facility we returned to Villahermosa. On the way back… I wish I had thought to use my camera AGAIN, as we passed a movie theater, and one of the movies being advertised was “Serpientes a Bordo”. :-) Anyway, after being dropped off at the hotel so we could put away our equipment, we were picked up after an hour or so to go to Rodizio’s, which is a Brazilian steakhouse similar to Fogo du Chao. Although, I WAS surprised… when we arrived at Rodizio’s, I saw that in the year since I had last been there, a Bennigan’s had been built and opened next to it. It’s the first time I’ve heard of a Bennigan’s outside of the United States. We had a good meal there, and then retired to the hotel for drinks.
The next morning was rather uneventful, as we made our way to the airport early and then returned to the United States. The only thing that really puzzled me, though, was the fact that I had my bags searched twice. The first time was when going through security, which is to be expected. The second time was when I was boarding the flight itself. *sigh* Was it because they thought I’d be bringing liquids from the secure part of the terminal onto the flight or something?
I think I’m going to start putting my suitcase in checked baggage. Having to throw out both my shaving cream and my deodorant was not something I really wanted to do, and quite frankly buying replacements I’d only use for a couple of days was a waste of money. As long as I don’t have to put my laptop in checked baggage, I’ll grin and bear it. If that happens, I’m going to look into shipping my damn equipment. I don’t trust the airlines with my electronics.
Ah, well… at least I’m back home, and getting caught up with work. Now I can just relax and enjoy a drink, and hope I don’t have to go back anytime soon. :-)