Welp, I got to Mexico a little late because I came down with some incredibly horrible illness that had me bed-ridden an entire week, almost. My ears felt like someone was constantly piercing them with needles, painful to the point of hearing loss for almost 3 days. But, with a few antibiotics, a pharmacy in my purse, and determination like you wouldn’t believe, I made it across the border on Saturday the 24th. And enjoy myself, I did, indeed (even without a camera to document).
Crossed the border after about an hour of walking around with packs and luggage in probably 90-something degree weather with at least 100% humidity. Pretty disgusting, we were. Started the first night with dancing and all the other necessary shenanigans.
Took a boat ride down a river through the Cañon del Sumidero with walls 700 meters straight up, a crocodile, spider monkeys, neat birds, crazy rock formations… very beautiful. Topped that off with a 60:40 rum:coke (the only way to do it right) and the world’s best shrimp ceviche with the world’s most painfully spicy raw jalapeño. Ended that day trip with a live serenade of La Bamba, requested courtesy of our good friend Des.
Saw some Mayan ruins (Palenque) and swam in some unbelievably beautiful waterfall pools (Parque Nacional Cascadas de Agua Azul). The water was an aquamarine blue because of the sediment deposits in it, which formed pools you could walk around in and hop from one to the next barefoot. So serenely beautiful. Loved it.
Trip ended with Cha Cha’s birthday and carrying all our crap very hungover across the border. Very worth it.
Enjoyed pretty much every moment of the trip, even with ears still plugged from being sick the week before. One of those treasures you never forget.
ALMOST back to reality. Home for one night, then back on the road to a welcome party for some newbies and then to In-Service Training for the next week. Much needed girls’ night at Shani’s before a week learning how to make organic compost, lombri-compost, tire gardens, strawberry jelly and pickled veggies. Picked up lots of reading material on rural and small businesses and simple accounting and felt ready for work at the end of it. Finally.
Work should be good, now, with all the information I have to share and practice with my counterparts and the association.
I spent today baking cakes with a group of ladies in a nearby aldea and am very enthused to return two weeks from now with another baking project. They sounded pretty excited about maybe commercializing the practice eventually, and I got pretty excited to help them maybe achieve this developing goal of theirs. Even more excited that they want me to come back, and that I want to go back. Something else to look forward to.
I will spend the rest of this week helping my counterpart elaborate some project proposals to submit for review to several contributing NGOs and am thankful for the more open and comfortable relationship I’ve developed with myself and also with my counterpart. I feel SO MUCH better about the prospect of actually accomplishing something while I’m here.
I am thankful for the brothers I’ve found that I have here, I am thankful for feeling like I belong in this town just a little bit more, I am thankful for the enthusiasm and excitement I have for the life ahead of me, and I am thankful for all of you who continue backing me in this crazy endeavor to change the world, one small step at a time.
Oh, and I’LL BE HOME IN ONE MONTH. Four weeks from today. For ~two weeks. Can’t hardly contain my excitement.
I love you.
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