2016 Blog 1 - Mexico Trip

It seems like this is slowly transforming from a speedcubing blog into a travel blog. Nevertheless, let’s get to it.

This chapter in the ongoing story of travelling and competing is about my trip to Mexico. I was contacted by three students from the Irapuato campus of the Tec de Monterrey, about 6 months ago, and they were interested in inviting me to speak at their school, as part of a project for their student group. Fernando, Vicente, and Emiliano turned what was a small idea into a massive congregation of Mexican speedcubers at their school, titled, “Live Your Dream 2016”.

It was an awesome day, autographs and photos aplenty, a celebration of speedcubing.

Although my solves weren’t anything to write home about, the crowd still clapped for an 8 as if it were a 5. Family and friends of competitors cheered and supported each other regardless of the time on the competition display.

After the competition, I was invited to give a presentation about speedcubing, and its role in my life. Being a very general topic, I talked about many things, including my cubing history, travel, life outside cubing, before giving a few speedcubing tips.

Linked below is the conference, but just a few notes before watching it. I tried to keep the speedcubing side of the presentation fairly simple, and the tips are very general, applicable to beginners and more advanced cubers – without getting at all technical. At some point I would love to put together some super technical advice.

The other thing to note is that Spanish is the official language of Mexico, and so kept my language understandable. Even as I was reading through my speech, I cut out sentences on the fly because what I had written was convoluted, even in English. Overall it was a good public speaking experience, and I’m interested to hear any thoughts people may have on the presentation – good or bad.

After the competition, the guys were kind enough to show me around to a few places in Mexico. The first stop wat the Teotihuacan pyramids, and the surrounding ruins. I was very excited by these, as I’d never seen anything like it in real life. Apparently they used to sacrifice humans here, by ripping out their hearts at the top of the pyramid, and tossing the bodies off the side - either that or I was lied to.

The next two days were spent in Mexico City. We visited one square which looked very familiar, until the guys told me it was where they shot the helicopter fight scene in Spectre.

Mexico City was an interesting mixture of South American and European style buildings that I can’t really describe without pictures, so here are a couple.

Our final day, before returning back ‘home’ to Irapurato was the city of Guanajuato. Filled with colourful houses, winding cobblestone streets, and underground tunnels, this mining city was pretty neat. Definitely a stark contrast to the Mexico City metropolis.

Thanks again to the guys for having me, it was a wonderful experience. Although sadly I didn’t get to meet my idol, Martin Telesforo. #4.41forever