As i am stuck here at the truckstop in Denver until tomorrow afternoon I decided to go exploring. I fired up my GPS and inquired as to the location of the nearest bar. It informed me that there was a Mexican restaurant about a half a mile away that had a bar. Off I went.
I walked down to the place and found that it was indeed a Mexican joint. I was the only gringo in the place. I didn't care as I wanted a beer so I sat down and ordered one from the very pretty Mexican bartender who was all smiles and somewhat broken English.
I could tell that the guys at the bar were somewhat tense about my being there but I just sat and drank my beer. Eventually the one sitting next to me, who turned out to be the only one who actually spoke English, broke the ice by speaking to me and asking me about my day and such. Once he learned I was a truck driver who just wanted to enjoy a couple of cold ones, and relayed that info in Spanish to his friends, I could see them relax. When they included me in their next and subsequent toasts I also relaxed as I knew they had accepted me as just another patron.
We had a pretty good time, drank a few brews, and shot a few games of pool. I finally decided to walk back to the truckstop and relax for a while. The guys all shook my hand and showed me off. I am still not sure if they were happy to have met me or happy to see me go.
When I got back to my truck I heard a driver asking about any bars in the area. I keyed up and told him about the one I had just left, making sure to let him know that it was a Mexican bar and if he didn't like Mexicans he shouldn't go there. He said he had no problem with Mexicans so I gave him directions to get there. A couple of other drivers keyed up and said they would like to go too but weren't too sure they could find it. I decided "what the hell" and agreed to lead them there.
As a group we kind of invaded this little Mexican bar. I could tell right off that the regulars weren't thrilled to see so many gringos come through the door at once but they also recognized me as having just left shortly before. I explained to the bartender what was going on as best I could. Luckily one of the drivers I had led there speaks Spanish and explained it to her in Spanish. She relayed it to the regulars and they relaxed.
We all had a pretty good time shooting pool, drinking beers, and trying our best to communicate with each other. It got kinda funny at times as we don't really speak the same language, but I am happy to report that we all got along great and were even buying each other beers.
All in all I would have to say that our invasion of Mexico, held in Denver, went off splendidly.