MEXICAN MEMOIRS: From Guadalajara, Mexico with love

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sports

Guadalajara, Mexico:

Hola amigos, buenos días.

Finalmente encontré el amor de mi vida en Guadalajara (translation at the end for non-Spanish speakers).

After six days here I have finally found a Chinese restaurant with all the dishes that I know and love. It's goodbye to hamburgers, fries, etc.

And now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the sellers of hamburgers and fries here. They are all good, honest people. In fact, I say muchas gracias (many, many thanks) to them for keeping me going since I left home last Wednesday.

Surprisingly, the Chinese restaurant was just five minutes walk away from the main press centre. On Tuesday afternoon, while waiting to cover swimming and badminton, I decided to take a walkabout on the streets adjacent to Expo Guadalajara, the headquarters for the Games. I was walking a little over five minutes when I saw the sign 'Lucy's restaurant' with, I assume, beside it the words in Chinese to the right.

It was not the name one usually associates with a Chinese restaurant but the food was very good. Perhaps it tasted that well because I had not had any 'good food' since I have been here. Now I can eat to my heart's content.

Imagine this! A buffet lunch for 70 Mexican pesos (just under US$6). I resisted the urge to overeat, as I had work to do which would take me up to 10 p.m. but my first dish was not my 1998 World Cup favourite (sweet and sour chicken) but pork chop suey (no disrespect Paul-André Walker). It looked good in the serving containers and tasted just as good. So as far as food is concerned, I am okay until October 31.

Frustrating internet

I had said yesterday that I would not write anything negative but the Internet at the swimming venue is frustrating, to say the least. I am not blaming anybody but it is slow and goes down repeatedly. Perhaps it is my laptop which is the problem, I do not know, as I am not a computer whiz.

What I do know is that most times, in order to get reconnected to the Internet I have to reboot. Now this rebooting may not take very long but, as most reporters know, when it's deadline time, 60 seconds seem like 60 minutes and then your train of thought has been interrupted and that could be even worse. Hasta mañana.

Translation: I have finally found the love of my life in Guadalajara.