hello again everyone.
Well, the dust of Mexico has truly settled on my heart and I have not been able to tear myself away - physically, emotionally, socially etc.
I left Isla Mujeres on Monday and finally got to use that cheapo plastic rain poncho I had been considering chucking for about 6 weeks. It had been raining for an hour or so in the evenings for the past few days, but on the day of my departure the intermittent sprinkles had turned into an all-day torrential downpour. Getting off the ferry at Puerto Suarez in Cancun was a sight to see. You grow to appreciate the luxury of gutters when the water is tearing down the streets at knee level - street waste water systems being available in the hotel zone and major intersections only. I shared a taxi to the bus station with some friendly Germans, not being able to navigate the raging river in the road to make it to the bus stop. I was soaked to the bone, and so was my pack, since the water from the street was so high it seeped through the doors in the cab during the ride. Since it was a warm rain, I felt fine, but as usual once I got on the bus headed for the airport I was chilled by the bus' airconditioning and sat shivering violently for about 90 minutes. I arrived at the airport at around 2 pm and immediately bought a ticket to Mexico City leaving an hour and a half later for a great price - about the same as a busticket - minus 26 hours of travel time. On the plane I had a row of seats to myself and happily gazed at the tropical jungle and ocean passing beneath me, feeling relieved to be leaving my shattered boat dreams for new adventures. The flight was quite bumpy going into Mexico City, but pleasant and short. Coming back to the city for the third time made me feel strangely like I was coming home. It has been a rare occasion on this trip to step off whatever means of transportation I am on and walk briskly in the right direction without having to consult a guidebook, map or friendly helper. Considering how intimidated I was by this town in the beginning, I am amazed that we are becoming friends of sorts. I got on the subway at the airport and began my long trek to Sandra's house. It was raining in Mexico City as well, and two subway transfers, a busride, and a drenching hike up Sandra's street later, I arrived happily, though a little dishevelled. It is amazing how much heavier my pack is when the contents are steeped in a day's worth of rain. I was warmly welcomed back into my little Cuajimalpa haven, took a shower, changed my clothes, had a cup of coffee and settled in to a friendly conversation. I felt completely confirmed in my choice to return. Sandra and I talked about travelling alone, romance, school, friends - comfortably chatting away the hours.
I had planned on leaving for Xalapa relatively quickly, but was easily dissuaded by an invitation from Georgina to join her back at her house in Valle de Bravo for a couple of days. If there is one thing I have learned on this journey, its never to turn down an invitation - She picked me up the next afternoon and we happily rolled westwards into the hills.
I have talked about Georgina's house before, and my feelings about it haven't changed. The space itself, as much as everything in it, exudes a spirit of calm and peace and time well spent. I was more than happy to be back in the woods.
Over the next few days, we had some fantastic thunderstorms at night that made the woods smell like Oregon in the morning, and drummed me to sleep at night. I got to know a few of Georgina's charming friends and neighbors, including a cheerful family up the path with whom we had a delicious trout lunch on a sunny afternoon. We spent quite a bit of time in Avandaro, recording
episodes of Georgina's youth radio show called Cambiando Ando - a program funded in part by the state to assist in juvenile delinquency prevention efforts by covering topics such as sexuality, drugs, communication, gangs etc. We saw Whale rider at a very cute little cafe/20 seat movie theater, hung out downtown, went out to eat, made delicious meals at home and generally got to know each other better.
I want to say that the most amazing part of my travels has been finding and developing friendships. I am not generally one who holds on to friends for life in any strong way...I have a tendency to drift apart from people without intending to. But the connections I have made here, especially with Sandra and Georgina, are special and look to be life long. I can only imagine how different my experience would have been had I not made use of the miracle of global online hospitality.
I stayed in Valle de Bravo much longer than expected and returned to D.F. on Monday afternoon, where I was accompanied by G's ex-girlfriend Lilia to get a massage that I had been craving for weeks. Very nice, and quite inexpensive thanks to the local referral. Then on to lunch and a chat session with L. while G. was celebrating mother's day with her family. Lilia is an interesting little bird. Very brisk, somewhat bossy, but charmingly honest and helpful. I was glad to meet her. I returned to Sandra's house in the evening to have one final coffee, the omnipresent cigarette, and goodbye.
On Tuesday morning, after a beautiful breakfast in Coyacan I finally made the decision that it was time to tear myself away from the familiar once again. I had been sending some e-mails to various other hospitality club members over the last week and found some folks to stay with in Xalapa through a long chain of referrals of course. I took the bus at 4 in the afternoon and rolled through the pine forested hills to arrive in Xalapa around 9:30 where I was met by Uriel, an art student at the Universidad Veracruzana - one of Mexico's largest and internationally most well known schools. After dropping my stuff at his house, we walked around town, grabbed a bite to eat and had a few beers with some of his friends and his printmaking professor in one of the art studios on campus. It was a friendly and cheery atmosphere, and challenged me to stay alert in order to follow the conversation. It is my comprehension skills that have been improving primarily, but now that I am with folks who don't speak English for a while, my conversation skills are finally being challenged again. I'm so slow...I imagine it must be a horrible bore to try to keep track of my clumsy fumbling for the right words. But hey, this is how you learn, so I will try not to be shy. I was exhausted by the time I went to bed at 1:30 in the morning, while Uriel and his roomates Polo and Susana, a literature and theatre student respectively, stayed up chatting and doing homework in the kitchen.
This morning, I joined Uriel on campus to make use of the e-mail facilities and plan my day's excursions. We got held up a little by a sudden opportunity for him to present a video project in D.F. tomorrow, went out to lunch at a nice little vegetarian restaurant and then made our way downtown.
Xalapa is very much a University city. There is a young, liberal feel in the streets, lots of cultural events to be enjoyed, and the tourism is mostly aimed at Mexicans on vacation - so no annoying drunk Europeans/Americans, and no aggressive sales pitches to speak of. I went to see a few choice pieces of ceramic sculpture and painting at the contemporary art gallery and the museo agora de la unidad where some of Uriel's professors have exhibitions. It was alltogether enjoyable, but I didn't find much on offer since the main destination, the Pinacoteca Diego Rivera was closed for renovations. I skipped the well known Anthropology museum for the same old reasons and simply continued to stroll about town. Veracruz is known for its music, and I have the lofty goal of finding some on a Wednesday night, but I am due to return to Uriel's house first, and may well get hooked into something else entirely.
Tomorrow I will hop a bus to Veracruz, where I will hopefully be bunking with a woman named Dinorah, but I have yet to make the final arrangements. From there, my journey should begin to rush to Guatemala - if nothing else distracts me, of course.