The Eddie Kone jiujitsu association is in my mind the most well run, no ego lets train establishments ive ever had the honor of training with. The jiujitsu that is taught by Eddie in London is in my opinion the best in europe with EK Jiujitsu associations spreading from the UK to Europe and into Brazil !. Eddie himself is slight in stature 55-60kg and standing at an around 5 feet 7 inches tall. On the mats he is a monster, relying heavily on raw technique, leverage and intelligence instead of power and brute force. He has trained closely with the most famous Gracie family from Brazil. including the famous Rickson and Royce however most of his time was spent with Royler. In fact, Eddie is the only man outside of the US and Brazil that has a black belt from Royler!!. If you ever get the chance to visit London and would like to train jiujitsu, go check him out he is a friendly, warm and has an amazing sense of humor.
A few days later my things were packed and ready to go a few calls from and to close friends and i left to start my twenty four hour door to door journey to become an educational advisor in Monterrey, Mexico.
Landing at 2145hrs local time i nervously stepped out of terminal B at General Mariano Escobedo airport into the warm november evening air. I was met, by my now Girlfriend Sonia. We travelled by car to my house, during the journey i wound down the window and took in the sights and smells of what would be my new country.
The first thing that struck me about Mexico was the manner in which people drive on the roads. In mexico, it isnt necessary to have a license in order to drive a motor vehicle or indeed pass a driving test, theory or otherwise. So most people dont have license's they just buy a car and hey presto!. In addition to this the vehicles dont have to pass a yearly MOT test like in the UK (imagine the state of some of the vehicles!) So you have people driving around no clue on how to drive and most cars in a bad state of repair anyway..needless to say there is at least bad accident on the news reported everyday!!.
I arrived home safe (god knows how, i had to use the force, majority time i was in the car) I had a quick shower, collapsed on the bed and i fell asleep.
Sunrise outside my house
My home is technically in the middle of a desert, so the temperature can change drastically from cold evenings to extreme heat during the day. Sometimes it gets upto fourty four degrees even fifty in summer. The change in weather, along with the language barrier, is something i am slowly but surely getting used to. Like most things in life there are perks, and having a bbq almost everyday is one of them. Even during the days when it rains like mad people are outside on the streets selling barbecued steak and chicken for a few pesos. The other thing which i find very odd in Mexico, is most people have these BBQs outside their homes also, you can sit on the porch and eat with other random passers by on someone else's property.
Which leads me onto Mexican cuisine!. Most of the "street food" being sold you find in Monterrey is 95 per cent meat...chicken, steak, fish and pork. The other percentage is corn or "elote" which is sold on the cob or more popularly sold in little cups with mayo, cheese and chili powder. Here in Monterrey you will certainly find very spicy food they add chili powder to everything without even thinking! I remember being at the local "store" and seeing chili flavored children's sweets. So if your a meat and spicy food fan.. you would be in paradise here..
In the beginning of the new year i started the process of acquiring something called an FM3. This is a legal requirement to anyone who wants to work in Mexico who doesn't have citizenship here. Apparently this a relatively straight forward process that has a "four week turn around" process.....as long as you have the correct paper work. By the way when i say correct paper work, i mean every month the immigration office reviews what is needed!!!!!. Unfortunately for me, i flew into Atlanta, Georgia first then into Mexico and wasnt given the tourist visa before i hopped onto the plane to Monterrey. My passport was stamped at mexican customs then i was released into Monterrey. So when i asked at immigration to begin the process they asked me for the visa to which i replied "what visa..i just had my passport stamped" After a brief conversation in spanish with his co-worker, he looked at me like i had a chicken on my head and mentioned that i have to travel to the ministerio republico (basically a police station, which isn't the most pleasant place in mexico to be, i can assure you) report it lost and gain an ACTA. After a few weeks of backwards and forwards, taking photo copies of everything in the world, talking to various people and of course crossing the "correct" peoples palms, the process was started. Upon the three week mark i was in possession of the elusive tourist visa. As you can imagine, i was very excited about finally having what i needed to start work legally. I approached the INM building happy as larry but it was to be short lived...
The person of the desk said "okay, now we start the process of the FM3 which is basically the same process...oh dear!!!!. So again more photos taken along with finger prints and photo copies and another 3000 pesos spent on "admin fee's" three weeks later i finally acquired it. Frankly now i will treat it as gold dust!!!!.
INM building Monterrey
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