I'm back! I have been in back to Mexico for a week today, but this is only the 2nd time I'm sitting down at my computer with a bit of spare time on my hands. What happened to the laid back, go with the flow schedule of Mexico you ask? Well, it was on vacation.
I got home (the tropical one, not the chilly one) Sunday morning at 9:30am after having left home (the chilly one, not the tropical one) at about 10:45 the day before. 8+ hour bus ride to Chicago, extremely pleasant mini-reunion with a friend in Chicago for dinner and a trip up the Sears (or Willis or whatever lame name it has now) Tower, train to the airport, tram to terminal 5, flight to Mexico City, bus to terminal 2, flight to Zihua... phew. I'm tired just typing about it. I think I'll take another nap. Nothing like a 22 hour travel time to remind you that you are not 21 anymore. (Ok, that's crap, even at 21 I would have been knocked out! People always say (and by people, I mean my dad) that it's a good thing you're young, well dad, young people get tired too!)
That night we went to see Lorena dance at "Domingo Cultural" (Cultural Sunday) in the Municipal basketball court. She's getting certified to teach folkloric dance so periodically we all get to benefit from her hard work. She did great, lots of feet stamping and the like. I was in a mildly catatonic state and thus forgot my camera. She has some good pictures, but they're at her house where there is an inconvenient lack of internet.
Then on Tuesday Pako and I went to Acapulco. Pako's cousin, Ada Alberto, passed away the Sunday I got home and so we went to pay our respects. The bodies are not prepared, so they are buried the next day. Then a prayer vigil is held for 9 days, while the family leaves the door open of the house for 40 days for the spirit of the deceased can pass through unhindered. We went to one day of the prayer vigil, which consists of a large group of (mostly) women sitting around an altar
and saying the rosary with some other prayers that my heathen-self had difficulty recognizing. It was really quite nice, but a TON of work for the family. The pray-ers must be given food first (if they show up early enough) and juice (agua fresca) and cookies at the end of the rosary. Then there is all the cleaning, the arranging of the altar, etc. It certainly keeps the family busy. It was nice to see all of Pako's family, in spite of the circumstances, and pretty cool as a cultural experience. Also, I got about 83 mosquito bites. Pako got 1.My trip back to the USA was all together too short, I'm convinced. I know 5 weeks sounds like a lot of time, but it's really not. I spent two weeks in Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Green Bay, Appleton, Campbellsport, Madison. Not really enough time at any one spot, but one does what one has to with such a limited amount of time.
My time in Minneapolis FLEW by too. I saw a lot of people
, 
had a lovely, lovely bridal shower thrown for me by my Mama and my GodMama, Gretchen, which was SO much fun and so thoughtful. 
I went to Target Field 
for the first time and saw the world's longest baseball game ever. I walked around lake Nokomis with my dad, ventured to Chaska, went to Target about 79 times (and still forgot stuff) and tried to soak up as much friends and family as I could. I also ate at Dairy Queen about 46 times and had about 200 Caribou Coffees. All in all it was a thoroughly wonderful and filling trip. A wonderful and filling trip that FLEW BY.There is a ton more I could say about my trip home such as the fact that while cleaning out some of my things that I had in storage I found some candy circa 1998 or that while driving roads I had driven confidently for 7 years I made wrong turns over and over again or that walking through Office Max made me want to cry for the plethora of cool school supplies that just cannot be found in Zihua or that THANKSGIVING IN JULY
is pretty freaking cool, but I won't because it would take up too much time and space. I did have a surprisingly small amount of culture shock, slipped right back into my old routines (except for the the aforementioned driving - that was weird) and it was like I had never left. But leave I did.It's been over a year that I have 'resided' in Mexico and the following are just a random sampling of what I have learned over the past year:
*hair gel is not just for hold, it's an artistic media used to display one's creativity and style
*sometimes, when you turn the tap, water does not come out (most seemingly obvious, but biggest shocker for me)
*working does not automatically amount to getting paid regularly
*hot water and Caribou Coffee are great, but it's the friends and family that really make a place 'home'
*it is possible to get sunburned through an umbrella
*some people just don't go to work when it rains
*it's best not to think in terms of 'better' or 'worse,' but rather as 'different' and 'new'
*salsa is APPARENTLY a universal condiment that can go on everything from fresh cut mangoes and/or cucumbers to hot tuna casserole (yes, the kind they eat in the midwest)
*one can buy a wide array of merchandise by simply sticking one's head out the window and yelling
*when living in a different country, what were once considered comfort foods become precious commodities to be hoarded and doled out in only the most dire of situations
*internet is absolutely necessary to one's mental health
*one CAN adjust to cold showers if one sets one's mind to it
*time is a concept that is culture-specific. Expecting an exact time frame is just silly and will only lead to considerable frustration and temper tantrum inducing miscommunications
Actual conversation JUST had with Yair (literally, he just called):
Yair: Que van a hacer en la tarde? (What are you guys doing in the afternoon?)
Me: No se, Pako anda en la playa. Por que? (I don't know, Pako's at the beach. Why?)
Yair: Ahh, anda surfeando, que raro. No quieren venir en la tarde, para ver el video? (Ooh, he's surfing? Weird. Do you want to come in the afternoon, to watch the video? ** Yair just got married last week, so the video is of the ceremony that was held in a small pueblo in Oaxaca, about 24 hours away from Zihua)
Me: Si, claro. Como, a que hora? (Yeah, of course. Like, what timeish? - Silly me, asking what time, this is obviously a left over from being home for 5 weeks)
Yair: Uuuuh, no se, en la tarde (Ummm, I don't know, in the afternoon)
Me: Ah bueno, se me olvido que estaba en Mexico y no se hacen esas preguntas (Oh, right, I forgot I was in Mexico and we just don't ask those questions here)
Yair: Asi es... yo digo que a las 7 o por ahi (That's right... I'd say about 7 or around there)
Me: 7?? 7 ya no es la tarde, hijole ustedes con sus conceptos raros del tiempo... ahi estaremos (7?? 7 is not the afternoon... sheesh, you guys and your strange time concepts... ok, we'll be there)
I was supposed to start at Montessori tomorrow, August 2nd, but apparently that has been pushed back to August 9th. How do I know? Well, I tried to call the school, multiple times, but clearly no one answered. So I went to Jeanne's house. She wasn't there, but I talked to her neighbor who told her to call me. At 9pm last night (Saturday), she calls and tells me to be there at 8:30 on Monday (tomorrow). Then, in the middle of the conversation, her neighbor yells that Ricardo (they all live in the same apartment building) told him to tell her that high school starts the 9th. So, awesome. One more week of summer vacay. Sweet! Except for that whole money thing, but it would be decidedly un-Mexican of me to worry about that so I won't!
Until next week my friends! If I saw you this last vacation, awesome, it was great, I wish we could have spent more time together. If I didn't see you, dang, that sucks, let's hope for next year! Happy August to you all! What a wonderful month it is! After all, it is the month that gave us... ME! The big 2-5! That used to be my scary age, but I'll let you know how I'm feeling as the actual day gets closer!
Adios amigos, los quiero mucho!
Leyah
PS. This is what happens when I'm forced to abandon my (mother's) bug:
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