visiting puebla, poblano style.

last weekend we had our first long weekend of the year. with high gas prices, flights have skyrocketed in price and our options have become slightly more limited. i shouldn't complain, as they flights aren't really THAT expensive... but they are definitely pricey compared to last year.

sarita and i were able to get a reasonably priced flight to mexico city, so we decided to jump on a bus to puebla, a city about 2 hours east of mexico city. it was a four-day weekend, and to top it off, it was mexican independence... which is always a huge lively celebration.

officially called puebla de los angeles (city of the angels), puebla is actually the fourth largest city in mexico. it is surrounded by mountains, volcanoes and boasts a cool agreeable climate. when sarah and i told people we were going to puebla, people responded with pretty vague answers... "oh..... cool" or "really?" or as jen clarke would say, "i would rather die then go to puebla". well, that certainly got our hopes up. we definitely arrived with low to no expectations, simply craving a temporary change in surroundings.

as it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised by puebla. however, there were certain circumstances that increased our enjoyment of the city: a) we were okay with being extremely lazy. b) we decided we would do some of the lame lazy touristy things. c) through a random connection, we got to explore the area around the city with a local, which is always a treat. d) we slept a lot. e) there was a million things going on because of the independence day celebrations. f) we didn't have to think about work. and it was great.

friday
we arrived late on friday evening and literally fell into our beds, even though the mattresses were hard and the pillows were thin and lumpy. our hotel was an old monastery near the main zocalo, and we got our exercise each day as we had to climb up three steep flights of stairs. the first time we climbed up the stairs we were breathless and out of shape -- by the end we were taking them two at a time!

saturday
on saturday, we slept in and had a lazy breakfast in the zocalo. following which, we hopped on the 1.5 hour tourist bus that gives you a great overall view of the city. it was such a relaxing way to see it all -- from the top of a double decker bus! they even had the commentary in english. we also got to play a little musical chairs on top with locals when our headphones weren't working. it was SO hot up there that people had to resort to creative means to protect their heads - for example: one lady was spotted wearing a burger king takeout bag upside down as a hat. how greasy. puebla has lots of different neighbourhoods, so it was a great way to get a tan AND get oriented to the city. our next stop in the sarah tambien tour was to find a random restaurant. one of the teachers who works at our school is from puebla, and sarah taught her daughter last year. her family owns a restaurant and she insisted that we drop in for a visit! we were warmly welcomed into a cute mexican restaurant called 'rocky's tacos', and we got to taste some of the unique poblano fare. i got to drool over the amazing mole sauces, and we got to try one of the local specialties called chiles en nogada (only available from july to september, it is a pepper stuffed with meat and dried fruit, topped with a nut sauce and pomegranate seads). they wouldn't even let us pay for our lunch. when you get out of the tourist area, you begin to realize that mexicans are truly some of the nicest people on earth. a lovely mother and daughter were sitting next to us, and curiously asked where we were from. by the end, we had a place to stay the next time we decide to visit tabasco. wherever that is. after lunch, we found our way back to the city center and went on another expedition to find the more 'funky' area of town. we rummaged around in an antique market, finding everything from old records for 50 bucks to working cameras from the turn of the century to skeleton keys. sarah even found a large tool for her car. we later found out that it was actually an extremely large bottle opener. fitting. now she can drink and drive in style. by this point, we had really exhausted ourselves and decided we needed to do what all mexicans do: siesta. our good friend anita, part owner of 'rocky's tacos' took us out for a night on the town. we walked back down to antique market, but voila! it had become a meat market of a bar scene. we felt famous, as when we sauntered up, we were propositioned by many young joven bartenders, wanting us to visit their bar. apparently this was normal, because anita took it all in stride and kept saying "gracias. gracias. gracias" but walked on by. we also learned something new from all of this hubbub: apparently saying "gracias" is more polite then saying "no gracias", which we have always done.

sunday
we got picked up by our very own tour guide, anita, in the early hours of the am. I was feeling exhausted, so I made them wait while I went to get coffees in the main plaza, not sure when I decided that coffee became a ‘no excuse’ part of my day. it was amazing having a car. she took us to quickly and easily to all the places that we had been hoping to visit, and MORE! we started in cholula, a city that was freezing, but also had one of the coolest pyramids that i have ever seen. It is actually has the widest base of any pyramid in the world. over the years, it has been built over multiple times, and it actually has a church and a forest on top of it now. but, you can still explore the tunnels underneath and see the pyramid from the inside. after exploring this unique place, we actually climbed up to the top of the pyramid to see the spectacular view from the top. we had been told (and seen postcard views) of the two HUGE volcanoes, but unfortunately, the clouds were obscuring our view. at one point, we think we may have had a glimpse of the top of ‘popo’, one of the volcanoes, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it. the day continued with a drive to two other towns that we would not have otherwise visited, one known for flowers, and the other for churches. and to be honest, I would have to look up the names to tell you what they were called.

monday
on monday, we hit the ultimate jackpot and found the only african safari in mexico. that's right folks, africam safari. and now that wasn't a typo, i think its called africam because african was already taken. lions, tigers, bears.. oh my. all from the comfort of a luxury mexican bus. something did seem a little strange about giraffes in mexico, but i wonder if they even know the difference. hot is hot, right? it was sarah's first drive-thru safari, complete with a tour guide sporting a full 80s style hair wall and silly photos taken in the gift shop. the day was capped off with a revolting half hot half cold frozen vegetable salad from the serengeti cafe. you don't know what you're missing. we returned from africam to enjoy an afternoon of lattes and reminiscing over past journal entries. and then, it was siesta once again.

tuesday
the return journey essentially took all day between the cab/bus/plane/cab, but before we took off, i got my last taste of poblano mole. this time, it was served over eggs, and it was quite possibly the most delicious chocolaty goodness that I have ever tasted. i am not sure I will ever be able to think of puebla without thinking of those mole eggs.

and giraffes, of course.

a love hate relationship.

being in monterrey and asfm for a second year has its pros and cons.

i love...

-knowing how to be a teacher, asfm style. i can't tell you the amount of time i save not having to read every single lesson the minute before i teach it!

-feeling comfortable in my city and knowing my way around.

-the car.

-the tutoring jackpot i seem to have hit. four hours a week at a fairly comfortable wage equals all of my spending money!

-did i mention the car?

-my new classroom. i have windows to the outside world!

-"new recipe" night. i have learned to make chickpea patties and an amazing salad with pears and pine nuts.

-paloma, the dog that ally/sarah/elise adopted. i am her godmother and therefore get all the benefits without the commitment.

-season 1 of melrose place that i purchased and am using for pure escapism. so corny, but decadent.

-super fitness damas VIP, the new gym that i joined with a whole bunch of ladies from work. each machine has a personal tv, and the atmosphere is incredibly motivating! soon we will be super fitness damas ourselves.

-the book that sarah tambien and i want to write on our adventures, or at least talking about it.

-brazilian night: meat served off of swords, karaoke 'til bed.


BUT i don't love...

-the HUGE GIANT DISGUSTING bat moths that seem to have taken over the city. one was on my car window this morning and didn't leave during my whole drive to school. and somehow one snuck into ginny's room. YUCK.

-the politics, asfm style.

-having a broken finger, but that has nothing to do with anything. i just hate it, so i thought i'd add it in here.

-the muy expensive flights this year.

-missing friends that left and moved on to other adventures.

-the new strict dismissal policy that was implemented for the school, partly due to safety issues that have arisen in mexico.

-work on weekends. so i still don't really do it. just when i absolutely completely have to.

an ode to grandma.

i never wrote about this on my blog, but last year my grandma passed away. it was expected, but i still returned home from mexico for the funeral and to say goodbye. the connection, though, lies in the lovely 1994 taurus that i have been using to putter around monterrey. it originally belonged to her, so in a way she is with me every day.

so, without further ado, here are the reasons that i LOVE my car (and by extension, my grandma)...

-she lets me sleep in for an extra 15 minutes and STILL get to work on time. (i'll admit, this may be the best part)
-she gets my bum to the new swanky gym that i joined.
-she lets me honk my car horn several times a day to compete with the other slightly mad monterrey drivers.
-she enables me to run errands whenever i feel like it, without the hassle of organization.
-she lets me offer to drive others around who need it! (with a car, nothing is too far...)
-she has given me back the freedom to control my own schedule and decisions, without having to rely on the dreaded question, "can i borrow your car?"
-she is helping me explore more of monterrey and the area.
-she gets me to the nice starbucks on saturdays.
-she adds a little flavour and adventure to my day. never a dull moment on mexican roads!
-she has kept on truckin' along despite being a little old and rough around the edges.

thanks grandma!

drive by numbers.

Two weeks ago, after an amazing and relaxing six weeks off (I was literally thanking the Gods of teaching daily), I had to return to Mexico for my second official year at ASFM. But this time, I didn’t go alone… I decided to have an old friend accompany me.

She was born in 1994.
She is steamy hot with little ability to acclimatize.
She has tacky fashion sense.

Grandma Taurus and I set off to Mexico late on a Wednesday evening, with aspirations of arriving on Saturday. But that was only the beginning of the adventure.

24 – Hours of books on CD that I brought for the trip. I listened to 9 hours of an Ann Patchett book, and got through about 13 of my next novel, Zorro by Isabelle Allende. I have to find a time to listen to the rest!

6 – The number of states the I had to cross: Michigan (terribly bumpy highways and awful construction), Ohio (not my favorite, we’ll get to that later), Kentucky (very green with lovely scenery), Tennessee (I actually listened to country music on the radio for almost an hour!), Arkansas (quick to pass through) and Texas (fastest speed limit, but longest to traverse).

10 – The number of hours that it takes to cross the massive state of Texas. Make that 11 with a brief power shop in San Marcos.

14 - Number of times I had to fill up on gas. Did you know that you have to pay first in the States if you are paying cash?

350 – Give or take a dollar or two, this was the amount of money that I spent on gas.

42 - Number of hours I spent driving. This includes time spent in traffic, which added about 4 hours to this total.

100ish - Number of busted truck tires that I had to swerve to avoid on the interstates.

3 – Number of hours I spent waiting on the side of the highway in Cincinnati after my car broke down.

1 – The number of police escorts I got off the highway.

9 – Number of hours I had to wait for the automobile shop to figure out what was wrong with the car. Note that my mom actually had to call and threaten to move the car to a Ford Dealership in order for anything to get accomplished. How embarrassing!

2 – The grand total of torrential downpours that attacked my windshield wipers, and forced me to pull over.

1 – Stupid sign in Texas advertising for guns: “We AIM to keep you safe.”

4 – The number of hotels who ripped me off to lay my head down for a few hours: in Oakville, Cincinnati, Nashville and Dallas.

2 – The number of times that I made serious wrong turns. And wouldn’t you know it, they were both after I crossed the Mexican border.

2 - The number of hours I spent at the Mexican border getting my car permit. Not bad, all things considered!

0 – The total number of clear Mexican road signs.

3600 – The final count on Kilometres traveled from Ottawa, Canada to Monterrey, Mexico.

It was quite the adventure! I pulled into my apartment in Monterrey late Sunday night, and I felt like I was home. I couldn't believe I had actually DRIVEN there. Since then, a lot has happened, which partly explains my blogging absence.

After arriving...
I had two quick days to set up my new classroom.
Another two quick days of training and meetings.
Then I jumped on a plane and went BACK to Canada for Elena's wedding (more on that to come).
Four days later I flew back to Monterrey and started school 24 hours later. Phew.
I have a new group of kids, I miss my old ones and my classroom still feels like I just moved in. Its been a busy whirlwind, but I feel that it is gradually starting to come together.

And let me add, Monterrey is a whole new world with a car!

I am.

Lots of things: Home. A Canadian. A breakfast-lover. A sun worshiper. A traveler. An idiot with money. A spontaneous spirit. But most of all… I am incredibly lucky.

After my first year of living abroad, I arrived back in Canada late Monday night, just in time for Canada Day. It was a long 28 hours of traveling: involving a luxurious overnight bus ride from zihuatanejo to Mexico City (foot rest, full reclining seat with food AND an English movie!), a chilly wait until I could check in (could someone please explain why they built the cafeteria waiting area OUTSIDE?), two long flights and a LONG wait for luggage in Atlanta (which never arrived… apparently they forgot to tell me that the luggage went straight through to Canada. Lucky for me, I got to see the ‘welcome to the USA’ video approximately 14 and a half times!).

I love my life in Mexico, but I am SO happy to be home for the month. I am proud to be from the country of Terry Fox, lovely summers, cottages, Blue Rodeo and other people who are proud to be Canadian. It is such a sight, after a year in a very different culture to see Canadians flooding the streets in celebration without alcohol or riots, to see people waiting in single file for port-a-potty’s, and to see everyone sitting calmly in lounge chairs during outdoor concerts. In general we are such a kind, respectful bunch, aren’t we?

My dad picked me up at the airport and we had a quick catch-up before I went to bed; which obviously involved a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee. My parents had tried to surprise me with the finished full household renovations they have been working on for the last three months, but unfortunately I was greeted with a surprise in progress! From what I can see it will look great, but the whole house is in a bit of disarray at the moment. They have decided to upgrade to new stainless steel appliances, a gorgeous granite kitchen countertop and new carpet. I am so proud of my very modern and fashionable parents!

My first full day home was Canada Day, which was a flurry of patios, phone calls to meet up with friends and fireworks, which all proved to be difficult without a cell phone! Oh, how we rely on being connected. I may have to invest in a temporary cheap cell phone for my time here. I loved every minute of the Canada Day celebration; it was an amazing welcome back to the capital.

There are so many negatives about living abroad: missing out on friends and family, not settling, expensive flights home… but in truth, being away for so long makes me appreciate every minute at home even more. I am loving hearing English, decent coffee, calm traffic, the warm (but not boiling hot) weather, seeing familiar faces, two-way streets, delicious beer, my family, having a car, going to lulu lemon and MEC, seeing Katie and Elena… and having the summer off to enjoy it all. Writing this, I am realizing: it is ridiculous how lucky I am.

one for the road.

so jen and i have been on the road for over a week now. we began in monterrey and have driven across the country and ended up in zihuatanejo on the coast. it is pretty incredible how accessible the world comes when you have a car. it has been a weird, quirky and memorable trip. there hasn't been a lot of internet access in the wilds of mexico, so i'll have to make it up now.



first leg: 8 hours to san miguel, a colonial town in the heartland of mexico.

this was the longest driving leg of the trip, and went really quickly. san miguel was everything i imagined it would be. a town full of gringos and expats; delicious breakfast restaurants and colourful buildings. we slept late, went to bed early, downed a bottle of wine at each of our dinners and even witnessed an indigenous dancing celebration in the main square.

second leg: 30 minutes to hot springs outside of san miguel.

why has no one told us about this? there are warm pools surrounded by well-manicured gardens on the outskirts of san miguel. one of the hot pools even went into a cave. it felt like we were in a turkish bath. except no one was naked. if it wasn't for a thunderstorm we may have stayed all day.

third leg: pushing 4 hours to morelia in the state of michoacan, known for the monarch butterfly migration... which unfortunately have gone home for the summer.

the trip would have taken only 3 hours if we hadn't gotten stuck behind the slowest truck in the world. the roads were windy so the crawling truck was virtually unpassable! we definitely noticed the landscape becoming more lush and fresh. in fact, we stumbled upon our own enchanted broccoli forest on the side of the road! either there has been an unprecedented boom in broccoli production OR a broccoli truck tipped over. people were literally running away with broccoli spilling out of their arms. odd. morelia itself is the kind of city that looks nicer at night. the cathedral was gorgeous when all lit up, but the city itself didn't bowl me over with its beauty. however, i was won over when a lady at the corner store opened our wine bottle for us. clearly the key to my heart is evident.

fourth leg: an hour or so to the small town of patzcuaro.

a chilly town that felt more like being in northern ontario then in mexico. very busy and lively during the day of the dead celebrations, patzcuaro became a mandatory rest stop for us on our amazing race. it was cold and rainy most of the time, so we found comfort in cable television and the greatest steak dinner i have ever eaten. we were the only customers in a beautiful grand restaurant, with overly attentive service (not that i'm actually complaining... they were willing to run down the street to get us the bottle of wine we wanted!) the steak dinner was called "the three musketeers", and it was three beef medallions in different sauce: mustard, roquefort and pepper. thank god i'm not a vegetarian.

fifth leg: 30 minute boat ride to isla janitzio, a small island with no roads or cars, famous for its day of the dead celebrations.

on the way out of the island we got to witness the famous fishermen of the island fishing with their huge butterfly nets. i have a feeling it is more for show now, as the lake is dark as mud... and the fishermen actually asked for tips after showing us how they fish. hmm. fishy. all roads on the smelly, bug infested island (i blame the fish again) lead to the highest point, where there is a huge statue of one of the mexican heros of independence. for a mere 6 pesos you can climb to the top of the statue via a winding staircase which may or may not have caused a few panic attacks over the years. when you get to the very top you can look out of peep holes from the statue's raised fist at the beautiful views before figuring out how you are going to get yourself down again. for some reason these types of things have become very scary as an adult.

sixth leg: back from the island. and an hour long car ride to the city of uruapan, the city of avocados!

avocados are supposed to be big business in uruapan. so our first mission was to eat some. we found a great coffee shop and settled down with our books and ordered one order for each of us! within a few minutes, our mouths were on fire... because we seem to have found the only guacamole served with diced hot peppers. hot! in this town we also witnessed the strangest occurrence yet... an elephant being driven down the street. we couldn't really believe it. it turned out a circus was arriving in town. hmm. maybe now was a good time to leave.

seventh leg: 30 minutes (and a few surprise speedbumps) to the small town of angahuan.

to fully divulge our experience in angahuan... read on:

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Walking wounded.

If you were to walk past Jen and I today on the street today, you would think that we were a) 90 years old or b) recovering from a massive surgery. We are hobbling around, every step is painful – we look absolutely ridiculous. This must be what it feels like to age. Every part of our body aches from our heels to our backs.

No, we didn’t run a triathlon.
No, we didn’t walk the Appalachian Trial.
We went horseback riding.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But seriously. We got a massive pounding from riding a horse! I have gained a whole new respect for cowboys and cowgirls.

Yesterday we drove out to a small town named Angahuan, a small indigenous Purepechan community near a volcano. In 1943, a local farmer witnessed the ground shaking and spurting steam. He tried to cover the earth, but eventually realized he needed to flee. A volcano was literally growing out of his cornfield. Within a year, it had raised 410 metres above the surrounding land and its lava had covered two surrounding villages. You can still see the steeple of one of the village churches protruding out of the field of lava.

The entire day trip takes 6 or 7 hours, including a hike up to the top of the dead volcano. Local horse riders lead you out on horseback from the village through ash-filled fields to the volcano, probably about a 2 and a half hour trip. Except these are not “guides” as you might traditionally expect. Ours happened to be a 14 year old boy named Tomas. And for some reason, he decided it was a good idea to have the horses trot and gallop a good chunk of the way. The first time that we began to gallop, I felt incredible! I couldn't believe it! I was a true Mexican Cabellera! And then it started to hurt. A lot. So much that I felt like my legs were being ripped off from my body. My bum was getting the pounding of a lifetime. My hands were paralyzed from hanging on for dear life. My horse felt it necessary to bite Jen's horse... and Jen. Tomas either loved watching us panic, or did not understand our Spanish... because he kept encouraging the horses to run. By the end, I thought my legs might never leave the squatting position. And that was only half of the marathon day trip.

When we arrived at the volcano (which was incredibly cool... and I don't want to take away from that fact... but this is a much better story), we could barely get off of our horses, let alone hike to the top. So we took the 'easy' route, which Tomas so kindly ran ahead to show us. I don't think he was out of breath once. Jen and I negotiated the loose lava rocks and did eventually make it to the top, although I could not actually feel my legs when we got there. The view was spectacular, and there was steam rising... a truly magical experience. And then the reward: we got to ski/skate/jump down a steep part of the volcano that is padded with sand-like ash. It was the best theme park ride I've ever been on. And then we remembered the hard and brutal truth: we had to get on those horses again. My knees buckled at the sight of them. Somehow I managed to get on, but I knew my body would not sustain two more hours of pounding. We broke the news to Tomas, and the horses slowly took most of the way back... until they got minds of their own and decided to pick up the pace. I don't think horses understand humans screaming, "STOP! OWWW! STOP!". Oh, it hurts to relive the pain. The next stop was at the old church that is the only remaining part of the two towns that were buried by the volcano when it erupted. Sticking out from a sea of lava, you can climb over the lava rocks to the steeple and the remains of the church. And then, it was back on the saddle again. But this time, it was pouring rain. At least the rain helped me to forget how much my bum was hurting.

Somehow we finished the expedition and got our broken bodies back to the hotel. Neither of us could move, as we were bruised, banged and scraped. Starting out the trip thinking that maybe I could be a real horse woman, I now realized that being a cowgirl is tough business... and maybe something that I should leave to someone else. And next time you go horseback riding, start slow, don't commit to the whole day. It is not as romantic as it might seem. A word from the wise.

____________________

eighth leg: a painful 4 hour car ride to the coast.

zihua is an adorable little fishing town in a sheltered bay with beautiful beaches and cute hotels and bungalows. our bodies were happy to see the beach! with the help of our lonely planet guide, we found a little bungalow overlooking the beach with a huge outdoor kitchenette and patio with lounge chairs and hammocks. we have read a few books, eaten some fresh seafood and nursed our aching bodies back to health. we'll definitely be back next year. the ocean completes us. (except for the third degree burns on jen that she got from under the umbrella. explain that??)

and so it is. our road trip 2008 has come to an end. jen and i have had an amazing time. her brother is arriving this evening, and they are continuing the adventure for another couple of weeks. i, however, am getting on an overnight bus to mexico city in a few hours and i fly back out to canada tomorrow. just in time for canada day! as much as i adore and love mexico and all its quirky wonders, i am also eager to have some family, friends and canadiana back in my life.

jen: thanks for a trip similar to the highest quality romaine. i'll never eat iceberg again. xx

free and easy down the road i go.

my lovely friend jen clarke and i decided to get away and follow the road where it takes us. we wanted...

every seat to be a window seat
to wake up to the sound of the ocean and not the sound of an alarm clock
and
to find adventures that aren't on the map

so we left monterrey saturday morning with two starbucks lattes, a fully packed trunk and a map. it felt great to leave monterrey knowing that i'll be back... but that i have no ties to it for a month or two. often monterrey feels very far away from everything, but as soon as you have a car and you're heading down the road... places don't feel so far after all.

the first leg of our journey was planned to be the longest drive. we had hoped to make it all the way to san miguel, a colonial town in the heart of mexico. we had a few factors that were deterring us namely that i was pretty tired (ehem: hungover) from drinking three gigantic mojitos the night before. definite poor planning on my part. however, with some great tunes, healthy snacks (jen cut enough carrots and celery for the week and even boiled some eggs!) and a caffeine fix, i was good to go.

we drove the whole way, only stopping once for gas and a snack and made it to the heartland of mexico in only 7 hours! we saw lots of goats being herded on the side of the highway, watched the scenery change as we travelled through states and began our hatred of mexico's obsession with speed bumps.

things i love about road tripping with jen so far:

1. she has great taste in music and has even convinced me that i should give country music a try! and she loves to belt out songs with me.
2. she LOVES to read. between the two of us we have a library to entertain us.
3. she is a rockin' driver. and while driving is my favourite thing, my second favourite thing is being a navigator to a good driver.
4. she appreciates a delicious meal as much as i do. many culinary adventures to come!
5. we have a loose "plan" BUT she is spontaneous and is always ready for the unexpected.

now we are in colourful san miguel. and i like it.

my affirmations for today.

a.k.a. how i will convince myself to get through the next two weeks. my professor is smart, hilarious and has great stories... but i am still struggling with getting through. here goes:

these are the best two weeks of my life
i am a strong, confident, capable woman
i believe in miracles, and welcome their manifesting
i focus well in class, contribute intelligently and am successful at menial academic tasks.
i am inspired
i am the opposite of bored
i love being indoors and revel in frigid air conditioning
every day, in every way, i get closer to finishing my enlightening masters degree.

bee season.

"you're either on the bus or you're off the bus"

sarah tambien and i took a trip back to the 60s on the weekend. her favourite chicago-based artist, andrew bird, decided to come to a music festival in mexico - and she didn't want to miss it! sarah wanted a partner-in-crime for her little adventure, and since everyone knows about my over-impulsive behaviours, she knew she could count on me.

chapter 1: "do they have hypnotic treatments to cure sleeping through alarms?" - me

our flight to cuernevaca was early saturday morning. friday evening we had celebrated our last night with all the girls with a sex in the city party, so i had gone to bed without packing, and completely unprepared. in true flemo form, i set my alarm leaving lots of time to shower and pack... and then slept right through it. i should mention that i also slept through TEN phone calls from sarah trying to wake me up. she ended up driving over and finding me still asleep when our cab was supposed to be picking us up! i threw a few things into a suitcase and we were out the door in less then 15 minutes. that'll make my parents proud.

chapter 2: "this is what happens when you let me plan!" - sarah tambien

we booked our tickets without knowing much about the concert at all. we knew it was an all-day festival that was only accessible by bus, but that was about it. our plan, according to sarah tambien, was going to be to bring all our luggage to the festival and camp there. uhh, great idea. except for one small snag. there wasn't actually camping allowed at the concert site. luckily, we thought to read through the spanish website at midnight the night before and were able to put some of the facts together. we booked a cheap hotel in cuernevaca, and planned to sleep there even though the concert was about an hour away. somehow, we also missed (or perhaps ignored) the messages that it would be cold, wet, muddy and rainy at the show. so, we showed up in flip flops, without rain gear and only one layer piece. yes, its true, we are THAT smart.

chapter 3: "besame mucho" - andrew bird

the location of the colmena festival itself was breathtaking. after managing to perfectly time our cab-plane-cab-hotel-cab-bus combination, we arrived at the jardin sagrado (otherwise known as sacred garden), which was an ecologically-friendly sanctuary sheltered by bee-hived shaped cliffs and small mountains. the location was idyllic, the acoustics were brilliant and the music was relaxing. having just finished a full year of teaching, sarah and i were exhausted. after we walked the long muddy path into the concert, we put down a sarong and lay down and relaxed for about an hour. we looked more like nappers then concert-goers, i imagine. even with the crowds of people, long lines for food and stinky toilets, sarah and i relaxed and enjoyed every minute. by the time the enchanting voice of andrew bird hit the stage, we hadn't let the chilly weather or on-again off-again rain get us down.

chapter 4: "which way to cuerna?" - both of us

andrew bird's show was short, but his presence was captivating. if you haven't heard him already, please go and download him now. you definitely won't be disappointed and you might even fall in love. sigur ros, a fabulously mellow group with classical influences (and even a brass band in their back pocket) was the big ticket item of the night. the problem remained that there were more then 6,000 people in the middle of nowhere that needed to be shuttled back to their various towns. mexicans are known for many lovely things, but being efficiently organized would definitely NOT be one of them. we really didn't want to be waiting in lines for hours into the night for our bus, so we broke the number one concert rule and actually left early. OF COURSE, in true mexican form, it still took them more then 45 minutes to get the first few hundred people organized! i don't want to even think of what it would have been like if we had been in the middle of the throngs of people that left at the official end of the concert.

chapter 5: "flying solo" - sarah tambien

as quickly as i had arrived, i turned around and left. i was out of monterrey for little more then 30 hours! i left sarah behind for her first solo travel adventure (something i truly believe every person should experience once in their life)... leaving my pseudo 60s adventure behind.

monterrey with mom.

mexicans are some of the most laid-back people on the planet. however, when you put them behind the wheel of a car, some type of magical transportation takes place, and all of a sudden your amigos will be cutting you off left, right and center.

so, it was with this sense of trepidation that i arrived to pick my mom up at the monterrey airport last weekend.

i don't actually mind driving in mexico at all. but my mom, on the other hand, gets white knuckles even when my father drives back home (if that has even happened in my lifetime). i was so excited to show my mom the city, but i was unsure how she would react to me driving in a country where the only rule of the road is that there are no rules at all.

mom's flight was on-time to the minute and the rain came pouring down to welcome her to the city.

with an open-mind and fear in her eyes she smiled at the pedestrians on the side of four-lane highways, slightly cringed at the disappearing lanes, gasped at each honking horn, and had a mild panic attack at the sight of stray cattle...

just kidding.

i've only seen stray cattle in monterrey once. i've got to give her credit: mom was great! she actually ONLY visibly gripped the door handle a few times. the major car obstacle of the weekend was getting her up to chipinque park for the spectacular view without motion sickness or thinking that i was going to drive right off the side of the mountain.

mom and i didn't exactly ride in the face of danger, but i did get the chance to show her this place which i have learned to call home. cars were only the beginning of what she got to experience!

mom thought my apartment was HUGE. i kind of forget that it is so big. we get used to what we have, i guess.

she brought me some of my favourite magazines, rosemary triscuits and my mail. yaH for visitors!

mom came to school for the day on friday and got to meet my adorable kidlets. they asked her funny questions like, "did miss sarah get in trouble when she was a kid?" and "what was it like to be alive in the 60s? were you a hippie?" she brought them maple sugar candies and played dominoes with them. they behaved. most of the day.

i took her for the ultimate tomato soup experience at genoma. then we joined the ladies for wendy's wedding shower. she happily sat through a quiz of "how well does she know him" and survived chats about sex in vegas and girls being girls.

i wanted her to get a taste of the movies... san pedro style. with lazy boy chairs and waiters, we went to see the new narnia movie. i thought prince caspian was really h.o.t. too bad the row behind me was 8 kids that i knew from school! and we were at the late movie. i wanted to tell the mom to take them home to b.e.d.

saturday we explored downtown and walked the newly constructed riverwalk. sometimes i think that downtown monterrey is kind of ugly and uninteresting, but mom didn't seem to notice! we even had guacamole and margaritas at the river's edge and it felt reminiscent of venice two summer's ago. in the evening we ate at THE restaurant to eat at in san pedro. dropped some big bucks, but it was worth it!

sunday we hiked up in the mountains of chipinque. explored the always amusing huesteca canyon (think donkeys, people making out in cars, and picnics on the side of the highway). got lost in in a random area of monterrey. ate ice cream in the center of santa catarina. drank a beer on the patio. and then finished off the night with a wonderful dinner with one of the best views of the mountains that i've ever seen.

mom had to leave on monday morning, and i had to go to work. it was the perfect weekend! just enough time to catch up, and give her a taste of my little mexican life.

thanks for coming mom!

friends!

ginny and i just got home from the airport... and we have company! our friends jessie and steph have come to visit us for a WHOLE week! it is so great to be showing our lives to people from home. they are taking pictures of the mountains! it is great to have people remind me to appreciate this place. they are SO wonderful and exuberant... and they seem to be fine with the fact that they are sleeping on a bed in our living room. yaH. we will be staying in monterrey for a few days and then heading off to playa del carmen on wednesday. more on our adventures to come!

an open letter.

an open letter to any parents of children who...
a) are not as financially responsible as you would love
b) are still paying off debt
or
c) are growing up.

there seems to be a nagging fear amongst parents of twentysomethings that we're not doing alright. they know we're happy, independent, globally minded individuals, but that isn't what i mean. they are worried that our spending habits are not responsible, and as a result will go bankrupt before the age of 30, soon followed by a long and painful adulthood alone in a shack. you laugh, but its true. (while i know this to be true with my parents, i know they are also not alone in these sentiments).

but seriously: think about it. the kids are going to be alright. at least the large majority of us. and actually, if we're not alright, we'll have to dig our own way out of the hole we fell into. how is it that a generation of world thinkers, passionate about success, travel and new experiences have caused such concern? i know we aren't the most frugal people to ever grace the face of the planet; but most of us are living on our own, making a small living, gradually paying off debt AND managing to learn more about this place we like to call the world.

if you are and adult worrying about your twentysomething's irresponsible spending, travel ambitions or debt repayment plan, let me give you some advice: stop worrying, nagging, and sending reminder e-mails. the only way for a child to learn is to learn for themselves. stop checking their bank account, watching for the debt to drop 20 grand by next sunday. stop lying awake in bed for hours at night picturing the collectors coming to call. stop giving fruitless advice that actually makes us want to run quickly in the opposite direction.

instead...

give us a chance. to grow up. to learn ourselves. to prove you wrong.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

There may no longer be a working silver mine in Taxco, but we found a silver vein with our name on it.

Just coming off a two week holiday for Semana Santa, it may seem that we would not be in need of a travel fix. But yet, with flight prices being dirt-cheap and Amy celebrating her last few months in Mexico before going home to Canada, we just couldn’t miss the opportunity. Did I need to take a day off work? [well… no, not exactly… but we are given a ‘personal day’ to use at our discretion] Did I need to go to Taxco? [again, no, but how could I let Amy go and brave the Mexican streets alone?] Did I need to spend even a penny on silver? [this one is a given, definitely not! But why let it all go to people who won’t appreciate nearly as much?]

In preparation for the weekend, I had a brutal week at work. Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday I was at the office until 8 or 9 each night. Progress Reports were due, I had a pull-out for Unit Planning on Thursday, and I was taking my Personal Day on Friday. These are the weeks that I hate having a job because all you feel like you are doing is working and sleeping.

Friday

Friday began like any other weekday, I woke up at 6 AM ready to go to work. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks: I could go back to sleep for a WHOLE HOUR! There are some people that feel guilty missing their kids, but c’mon. Kids are resilient, and they will be fine. When I am at school, I am full time all the time… but the kids won’t remember in the grand scheme of their lives that I took a Friday off. I worked hard to put my day plan together, but aside from that, any feelings of worry or guilt end there.

Amy grabbed a cab and we leisurely headed to the airport. Funny enough, another Grade 2 teacher was on the SAME flight because she was heading to a wedding for the weekend. It was an ASFM party at the airport [but let’s keep that between us!] Our flight was painless, even though we were completely surrounded by children; this was, only because of brilliant mothers who packed entire suitcases of play-doh and tools. At the airport we also had the luck to run into a lovely young women who was traveling to Taxco so buy jewellery to sell in Monterrey. She took us under her wing, and she actually directed us from the plane to the taxi to the bus that we needed to take to get to Taxco. She traveled in cute clothes, and had amazing taste in jewellery, so I could tell that the trip was off to a good start!

Taxco is actually built into the side of a hill/mountain, and is only really accessible by bus. The roads are steep and full of traffic [mainly VW bugs in vibrant colors], the streets are cobble-stone like with one clear distinction: jagged uneven edges and holes just big enough for your feet to go in and your ankle to go over. There are absolutely no American chains in Taxco [apparently there was once a Domino’s Pizza, but it didn’t survive], and the houses are ALL white with terracotta colored roofs. Jewelry is this town’s claim to fame, and there are more then 200 silver shops in the city as well as endless markets and booths covering the span of the entire city. All of this meant two clear things:
• We definitely made the wrong choice in footwear by choosing casual flip-flops for the downhill slippery treks to the market.
• If I wasn’t poor enough already, I certainly would be by the time I left this place.

We spent Friday afternoon walking up steep hills with our luggage, getting lost in a market, perusing the silver stores to get a sense for prices and sampling some of Taxco’s culinary delights. The sad part was that we were eating in a beautiful town square [called ‘zocalo’ in Mexico], at lovely restaurants on a Friday night… and it was almost empty. According to some locals, Taxco is dying, and is only crowded on holidays and Saturdays. There is always mixed feelings when I hear this, because I love when small colonial towns are undiscovered, but I certainly don’t want them to disappear completely.

Saturday

If we had brought our alarms, we would have been up at daybreak. Unfortunately, we both neglected to pack them, so we didn’t wake up until 8 o’clock. The day began at a cute café across from our hotel, where the French toast is as thick as a Bible, and the owners were still drunk from the night before. All fueled up, we began our mission for plata. You cannot imagine how much silver is in this town. The markets go on and on: the stalls go down staircases, into nooks and crannies, and on every spare bit of street. Some of it is cheap; some is not; sometimes you can bargain; sometimes you can’t; some of it is fake; and some of it is real. There are really no rules in Taxco until you know how it all works! Amy and I walked and tried on until we really could walk no more. [and I mean this literally, Amy could barely walk by the end of the day because she had worn shoes with no support!] I won’t give you a play by play of our entire 7 hours of shopping, but I will, however, offer advice for others who may want to attempt a similar feat:
• If you want something, buy it. It is difficult to go back and find booths or remember where you saw something in a sea of silver!
• Learn how to ask the difference between plated silver and genuine silver. I got ripped off on one of my first purchases because I did not realize the difference.
• In the stores, everyone wants to be your friend. You feel like Taxco is the friendliest town! Just remember, they don’t want your friendship, they want your money.
• Do not buy something at a booth because there is a cute little one-month-old wrinkly dog there to play with. Amy and I both own necklaces because of that damn dog’s marketing ploy.
• If you want a new career, come to Taxco, buy up a few thousand dollars of cheap silver, and open up a store back home. [and don’t forget to quadruple the price!]

We ended the day after our eyes were glazed over from looking at silver, and we settled into our favorite little café to reassess our purchases. The place was called Café Sascha, and it is one of the only bohemian style backpacker’s places in the city. We sat down with the owners [a strange, overly intelligent man named Javier who had killed too many brain cells over the years, believed vomiting was orgasmic, believed the past was the same as dreams and fervently advocated against democracy] and Sascha [a lovely business-savvy wizard in the kitchen who was also completely hammered] and didn’t get up for 8 hours! They fed us free mescal [similar to Tequila, but you sip it, and it is much sweeter], offered up discounts on delicious food, and introduced us to all sorts of characters who came in to the café. They were backpackers who had stumbled upon Taxco 9 years earlier, and had lived this transient-drinking-hedonistic lifestyle ever since. Amy and I enjoyed that life for one night… but NINE YEARS? I can’t imagine feeling fulfillment from night after night of drinking mescal with new travelers. But eight hours after being on your feet all day? Divine.

Sunday

We left Taxco early on Sunday looking like our very own silver mines. But let me defend myself: I also purchased tons of gifts, and almost finished my Christmas shopping for next year! The 6 hours of bus-taxi-waiting-plane did not even phase us, because we had had such a lovely weekend. Amy and I had a wondrous time traveling together, but this trip in particular suited as both perfectly: we are the only people who could keep up with each other and look at jewelry from sunrise to sunset… without running the other way.

Plata Power!

food for thought. kids style.

there are travel ramblings that remain to be posted, but now that i am back in the land of children, my thoughts have *temporarily* returned to them.

i was doing some marking (GASP!) after school this afternoon (what a concept... perhaps this is something i should be doing all along, and not only when i have marks to submit!), and i got some insights through their eyes. over the break, i had an optional homework assignment (i know, i'm a terrible person; but don't worry, there are prizes involved) which involved writing sentences about miss sarah.

here are a few things they wrote about yours truly. edited for clarity purposes. ha.

"you are the funniest, goofiest and the nicest."

"but most i love about you is that you always don't want to miss school because you want to be with your friends and us."
[if you only knew...!]

"miss sarah told us to write 5 sentences about her."
[she likes to get straight to the point]

"miss sarah is always gonna be miss sarah."
[points for insight!]

"when she is mad she always says, i'm very disappointed"
[oh goodness. i sound like my mother.]

"i hope you could come to 3rd grade, we are never bored in 2F because you always do something fun, like morning activities"

"you are the best teacher in the world!"
[well... i wouldn't go that far. let's keep things in perspective, now.]


enough about me. this next assignment was to draw or write a representation or response to the book called 'the important book'. the kids could really do whatever they wanted, as long as they demonstrated to me how they were thinking about the book. from their perspective, the world seems so simple and clear:

"the important thing about a desk is that you can open it and close it."

"the important thing of an orange is that it is delicious"

"the important thing about a soccer ball is that you can kick it."

"the important thing about a sumo is that he is fat."

"the important thing about a tree is that it gives you oxygen. the trees give house to little slimy tickly creatures, they are bright like shiny blossom but the most important thing is that they give people oxygen in the world."

"something special about a mitten is that it can keep you warm by the snow and you can put it on because if you are going to do a snowman, your hands aren't going to freeze."

and my most insightful words of advice from 8 year olds are last:

"the important thing about love is that you feel fuzzy and you have someone to be with you until you die or separate."

"the meaning of the book is that everything has a use and everything is very important and nice and we should appreciate what we have. the important thing about something good is that it has something bad, and something bad always has something good."

i don't think i could have said it better!

surf's up.

in case you were worried, we did find a place to crash for our first night in puerto escondito. in fact, it was a simple place actually recommended in the lonely planet! other then the fact it was up four steep flights of stairs, we were happy campers.

the best part about this chapter of our trip, is that we just rolled with it. we didn't make any real plans, and when things needed to change, we just let it happen. i was right at home on the oaxacan coast. in terms of vacation (for me), this is when it truly began. everything i did was purely for my own enjoyment: sunbathing, sleeping, watching surfers, drinking mojitos, sunbathing, eating, reading, sunbathing...

i made a REAL effort when:

i read two full books (mostly while lying in a hammock)

we navigated our way from puerto escondito to zipolite (only to immediately find an indent for myself in the sand)

i lathered my entire body with sunscreen each morning AND reapplied (my march resolution)

i walked the whole length of the beach in zipolite (but thought i'd have a little rest before turning back)

you get the picture.

puerto escondito was discovered by surfer's long ago because of the infamous 'mexican pipeline' along the playa zicatela beach. while we couldn't really swim because of the harsh undertoe, we had an impeccable view of all the surfer's riding the waves. it was certainly not immersion in mexican culture, but more of an exploration of surfing culture: too bad neither of us can actually surf! it was fun, though, to have a concentration of healthy restaurants, surf stores and cheap accomodation. it felt more like daytona beach then mexico.

zipolite was a small, hedonistic town that draws travellers and sucks them in, never letting them leave. you lose all sense of time and place in zipolite, and when you leave, you definitely have no idea what day it is. it is the only beach in mexico where nudity is legal and chillin' out is a form of employment. it was the perfect place to forget the world, find a hammock, eat with your feet in the sand surrounding by candles... a definite budget traveller's scene. ginny and i could have spent longer, but after two days of nothing, we sadly left, albeit with sand still between our toes.

out of luck.

when we first landed on the oaxacan coast we thought we were the luckiest two gals on the face of the planet:

*we had avoided the 6 hour vomit express bus that weaves through the mountains from oaxaca city to puerto escondito by flying in a mini plane with a much better view in only 40 minutes!

*we found carmen's cafecito which served the most delicious cinnamon rolls and chocolate croissants on earth.

*the beach in puerto escondito stretched out for miles, and we had a perfect view from our beach lounge chairs of the mexican pipeline, where all the surfers do their tricks.

*we were so happy about our delicious healthy lunch consisting of hummus and salad that we ignored the fact that our hostel was on a dirt road in the shoddy part of town...

until. our luck all changed.

we returned to our hostel after our day of perfection, and the owner (let's call him crazy steve, as we later found out the locals call him), had still not shown his face. many other backpackers assured us that he was slightly odd, but that we would definitely have a place to sleep. for example, crazy steve had screwed up the bookings for another group, so they had slept on the couch. luvely.

staying calm, cool and collected, we decided there was nothing we could do except continue to ride our streak of luck. it was decided that we should just go enjoy our dinner and hope that there would be a bed to sleep in when we returned. as we were about to leave, as luck would have it, crazy steve walked in the door. crazy steve had given away our room because he did not know that we were coming, even though our luggage was there and we had paid a down payment on a reservation.

crazy steve: 'grunt. grunt. well you should have told me you were comin'

us: 'we did. we made a reservation. look on these papers on your desk. our name is right there.'

crazy steve: 'well, i don't know bout all those papers. grunt. grunt. why didn't you come back during check in?'

us: 'you don't have a check in time. and you weren't here when we came to check in.'

crazy steve: (now talking to his bird) 'oh well, bloody ell, how was i sposed to know that you were comin. what should i do? it is high season and someone told me that you guys were going to be in the dorm room. grunt.'

us: 'well, um, who would have told you that? we don't know anyone here. um, do you have a room for us? or should we just leave?'

crazy steve continued to yell, swear and blame us for coming to his hostel. his solution was to kick out the couple who had our room, but they had also reserved and made an online payment. realizing that he was totaly mad (like the hatter), we packed up our bags and walked out (even though we knew it was the busiest weeks of the year and our chances of finding accomodations were slim). but we were empowered! we were making our statement to crazy steve!

and then it started to rain. and we could not get a cab. our luck had taken a turn for the worst.

and i'll leave it at that for today. check back tomorrow to find out what happens to our two heroines!

the hitchhikers guide to oaxaca city.

in honour of semana santa, school's out for two weeks. YES! i honestly think i may have been more excited then my kids when the bell rang on friday. it had been a rough month. without boring you with the details, it was a mixture of problems that included dumb boys (not my students!), my grandmother passing, beginning my masters, my workload at school and general staff unhappiness at work.

i could not wait to get out of dirty, polluted, crowded monterrey.

for our first week, ginny and i decided to explore the province of oaxaca. it seems fitting that oaxaca city has had a teacher's strike every year for the past TWENTY FIVE years. (this and other turmoil led to a seven month political conflict in 2006... all is safe now, with only graffiti left as evidence)

we flew into oaxaca city late saturday night and had four lovely days in the city. we each did our own thing, but meeting up for our culinary exploration of the city. the heart of oaxaca city is in its vibrant zocalo. surrounded by cafes and filled with buskers, shoe shiners, balloon sellers, candy vendors, men on benches and women selling local crafts, it encapsulated the bustling life of the city.

on our first day, we left the city to explore the little towns which were known for their sunday markets. transportation was a little (to put it nicely), random and unclear. the bus station was more of a street where buses drove by and people jumped on and off and the collective stand were cabs waiting to be PACKED full of people before heading off to their destination. to me, this was what made it so exciting! who knew where we were really going to end up!?? and with a first class seat on top of the gear-shift, who could ask for anything more?

our first stop was the market town of tlacolula. what struck me most were the market bolsas (bags) which everyone carried and filled with their vegetables for the week. i could picture my retired self bringing my colourful bolsas down to the market each weekend. the market was mostly food, clothing and textiles and was full of women in traditional dress. there were live turkeys being carried to their doom, grasshoppers you could buy for a snack, live boxing matches to bet on, and meat covered in flies. yum. appetizing. we picked up a collectivo going back to the city, but i wanted to stop in the weaving town of teotitlan del valle. SO, the collectivo dropped me off on the side of the highway and told me i would have 'no trouble' finding a ride into town. i am standing (ehem... stranded) at the side of the highway as i watched car after car pass by me. how does this work again? eventually a collectivo stopped when i waved and i squished in next to a 90-something mexican dude who told me that canadians were very tall. thanks. like i hadn't noticed that i was taller then half of the mexican population.

next, i tried to get a collectivo to el tulle, where there is a GIANT tree that claims to be the largest in the world (apparently it is not). this also appeared to be a challenge. i walked and walked and walked from the weaving town expecting to have a car stop for me... i began to wonder if i had made a wrong turn on the only road out of town! finally, a car felt bad and pulled over. all of the passengers got quite a laugh out of the gringa girl who thought she could walk to the highway. sigh. i got everywhere just fine that day... but if you ask me how it all works, i still have no idea!

the next three days were slightly less eventful as we decided to stay (more or less) within the vicinity of the city. i perused craft stores, read two full jodi picoult books in cafes, drooled over mole sauces, and even got my fill of history at the ruins of monte alban.

to a critical eye, oaxaca city is a place that appears to be falling apart. but there is so much to offer. including a lesson in sticking out your thumb (or waving your hands madly in the air... whichever looks cooler).

finally!

oi.

here i am. finally sitting at a computer. ready to write the chronicles of sarah.

living abroad and travelling leads to such an odd dichotomy of feelings. on one side, i am living the life i have always dreamed of: i get more vacation then i could possibly count, i have seen incredible places and i have met wondrous people while doing it. but then, i have moments like this. i am sitting in an internet cafe in a beautiful city with a whole week ahead of me, and i feel kind of empty. i am so lucky to be travelling with ginny (who is my one spirit who keeps me feeling connected to my life at home) but sometimes the whole thing seems stupid if you don't even have the people that you love the most with you.

this is not to say that i want to live this life with my mom and dad in my backpack, but it just puts things into perspective. if i don't yet (YET) have a partner to share in my wanderings, and the majority of my friends and family are not experiencing this with me... then i need to make the effort to write it down. this blog is partly for me and for my memory. it obviously helps me to remember details that i would otherwise forget, but it is also a means to keep myself to connected with home, and with those that i love scattered around the world.

so, wish that, i want to wish all my friends (both near and far) a happy easter. remember that just because i don't speak with you as much as i would like, i am still wandering the streets of new towns and cities with you in my heart.

tick tock.

"how long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on."

time has been driving me crazy these days. there is never enough. but WHY? the only reason there is never enough is that we have over-programmed our lives and heightened our expectations, forcing us to constantly feel behind.

there isn't enough time to finish my marking, to write my blogs, to read the book that i want to read. when people say they are bored i am always in complete and utter shock -- what i wouldn't give for a week off to do all the things i always wish i had time to do.

i am at school ALL day, yet i am complaining that there isn't enough time to fully teach the curriculum. but i don't want more time at work, i want less! the whole thing is absurd.

the problem is not time: it is me, or more broadly, my life.

BUT please tell me how i am supposed to be completely unaffected by the world around me? how i am supposed to ignore the administration at my school that constantly wants more more more from me? how am i supposed to ignore my body telling me it wants more time to sleep? how am i supposed to balance the little free time i get between cooking, reading, working out... essentially ALL of the things that i love?

if you have an answer, please send it my way.

educating kathryn.

i got my first visitor in mexico!


my lovely, wonderful, amazing friend katie hutchinson came and joined me in mexico for a vacation over new years. we have been friends since the end of the grade 8, so not having her regularly in my life has been tough this year. SO many people have told me that they will come and visit me in mexico, but i knew katie actually would. the thing is, katie and i have actually never travelled together. we have, however, done a lot together. we have cried over boys, gotten drunk for the first time, and watched each other grow up. she understands me because she has been there through it all. i have always known we would travel well together because her preparation and caution would nicely counteract with my spontaneous wanderings.

a little of this...
in a lot of ways, our trip was reminiscent of a quiet trip appropriate for 80 year olds. and that suited us BOTH just fine.

*one night, we went to bed at 8 o'clock and slept right through until morning!

*we found divine pleasure in wandering around in the garden outside of our hotel in playa del carmen.

*each night before going to bed we read out loud to each other from a little question and answer book that i got for christmas.

*playing scrabble at the bar WHILE drinking margaritas. perfection.

*enjoying new years eve dinner in french with a lovely couple from paris. they were accidently served our guacamole, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

*getting massages ON the beach!

*the most exciting part of each day was deciding where we wanted to eat for dinner! a culinary extravaganza. homemade italian pasta, a religious experience with nut crusted pork at john gray's place in playa and generally fabulous food. yum.

and a little of that...
in many other ways, we lived life on the edge, braving the treacherous mexican highways and still emerging in one piece.

*after visiting grand cenote, a huge underground pool, we were unable to find a cab to bring us back to town. SO, we had to brave a five km walk on a highway, almost being swiped by passing cars and buses. a young man cycling by offered us a spot in this little metal pushcart buggy, but we passed the transportation over to a young family who needed it more then we did. so humble and kind, don't you think? we felt pretty good about ourselves!

*there was no room left on the 1st class bus, so we had to settle for being packed in to a 2nd class bus all the way from playa to tulum. katie compared it to being squished into a bus in india, all that was missing was the chickens. i sat on the floor of the aisle, thinking "katie is going to kill me for this"! luckily she thought it was quite the adventure.

*because it was only a 2nd class bus, the stops only lasted for a few seconds. BUT, we had to get our luggage from off the bottom of the bus in those two seconds. first, the bus driver would NOT open the other side of the luggage compartment, so we had to literally climb into the bottom of the bus to get our suitcases. i could hear him revving the engine and i could just picture him driving away with us stuck in there. we yanked the suitcases off of the bus and at that exact moment he drove away. phew. i laugh in the face of danger now!

*our hotel on the beach in tulum were little palapa huts with only a lightbulb for electricity for a few hours a day, and a bare-bones twig bed. it was all very romantic until it dipped into the single digits at night and we had to go into town to buy blankets so we wouldn't freeze!

*living in little jungle huts come with some risks. little cucarachas were found in our clothes, shoes and suitcases! one even joined katie for a trip all the way back to canada. lucky guy.

*we had been waiting all week to eat at a delicious thai restaurant that was recommended in lonely planet. unfortunately, when we got there, they said they had no room for us because we had not made renovations! we begged and pleaded and they ended up setting us up on the ground, on pillows, on the windiest patio in the world. in the end, we felt more genuine, sitting on the floor, enjoying our scrumptious food (even though we were almost blown away). que rico!

*we had a few days of bad weather (cloudy and windy), so the beach was becoming out of the question. we decided to make the most of the situation by taking a day trip to chichen itza, one of the most famous mayan ruins that i had wanted to see for years. we had more then 2 hours in the car in each direction, but it was worth every minute. on the way home, the bus stopped at a huge famous cenote (a freshwater sinkhole) and gave us 30 minutes to explore. just as on the amazing race, we decided we had enough time to go swimming, even though it was freezing and crowded! i felt a soundtrack start of fast-paced music in my head as we quickly changed, ran down the stairs and jumped off quite a high cliff, without enough time to think about what we were doing! good thing we moved quickly, because the cliff was actually quite high. a few minutes later we were changed again and back in the van. another day, another adventure!

*while we were staying in tulum, we decided renting bikes during a windstorm might be a good idea. we were trying to have a leisurely bide ride along the coast but ended up essentially standing still as we fought a wall of wind. we always have the best ideas! the wind also affected our sun-tanning mission. we were being attacked by a sandstorm so we set up a barricade by turning a kayak and using it to shield us. only slightly successful, but very ingenious!

and a lot of...
*amazing friend catch-up time, bonding and memories.
gracias mi amor!

fly away home.

i almost didn't go home for christmas. for the most part, i have been very happy here, and felt that part of growing up was potentially having to miss my traditional canadian christmas. but, when the school offered me the trip home (on them!) i realized that even adults have to admit that they could benefit from a little taste of home.

it was a jam-packed week full of family, catching up with old friends, new random encounters and good old canadian comforts. and here, with no further delay, are the best parts of going home for a fleming canadian christmas:

1. travel, with an edge: i booked a flight with a so-called illegal connection in houston that is known for being an impossible flight to make. but the secret to life is to truly believe, and you will succeed. ha. and with a little luck thrown in, a long sprint through the airport and some good research done beforehand (by a friend, not even myself!), i did manage to make the three flights and get home for my mum's official bday. nothing like a little adrenaline to prepare for holidays with the parentals.

2. santa claus: no guitar hero 3 video game for me, but santa clause is still definitely alive and well at our house. he is getting better and better at following requests, and even still wraps his 'big' gift under a blanket on the couch. and mrs. clause must have been helping because i managed to acquire a hot diesel purse!

3. trippy traditions: christmas wouldn't be christmas without dad's eclectic creche covered in fake snow, opening stockings on my parents bed, eating croissants for brunch and wrapping presents while watching old movies from circa 1990.

4. a little bit of canada: in order to expose me to as much canada in one week as possible, i was served beavertails, walked around downtown to see the christmas lights, ate mini wheats for breakfast (i can't get them here), got to see a few snowfalls and had to slip back into my winter boots.

5. everything is eclectic: christmas dinner was totally random and turned out splendidly. the spiess family joined us, which always leads do some good laughs, but this year we also had some interesting additions. a young family who recently moved from africa came with their one-year old bundle of joy simba. along with other friends, we had about 15 people over! to me, it fully encompassed the christmas spirit of sharing joy and spreading love. my mom ended up on the floor when the table fell over, simba kept trying to be DJ and we played an out of control game of outburst - in other words, it was perfect.

6. foooooood: my mom certainly knows how to make home attractive for us. she went on a cooking spree and made ALL of our favorite meals in one week. i got my favourite comfort food (lasagna), my all time favourite side dish (broccoli casserole) and even a beautiful sky-high yorkshire pudding! she certainly makes it hard to stay away.

7. friends: while i did not see everyone that i wanted to see while i was home, i did get some quality time with many of my friends. since i only had time to visit ottawa, there were lots of people that i missed. i felt so regenerated to have had some quality time with people who have known me for more then six months. i introduced kristin to the famous 'works' burgers (try the sweet ride), met erin for brunch and a visit to lululemon, had a quick catch-up with elena on the run, and went and saw the kite runner with my brother.

i can't believe i almost did not go home.

i hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing and rejuvenating holiday season. feliz navidad!