Some Activities

sorry i haven’t been very active on here the past couple of weeks. been busy, been happy, been lethargic, been out, been homesick, been sleeping, been learning. been a lot of things. i’ll spare you the emotional content you endured in my last post and tell you about a few of the particularly cool things i’ve done lately.

mazunte:

two weeks ago some classmates and i went to the beach. most of you probably know that i am NOT a beach person, but it was really fun overall. getting there was an absolute shit show. first, some members of our group were late, then we lost one on the way to the bus, then we couldn’t remember where the bus station was, then we got there late and stalled everyone because we still couldn’t find one of our friends, etc etc. three of the six ended up staying behind to catch a later bus. we all survived the six-hour trek and had a ton of stories to share with each other once we were finally reunited. several other things went wrong on the trip: i spent the rest of my money on a hammock i was guilted into buying and the only atm in the area was broken; the tents and hammocks my friends slept in were miserably uncomfortable/hot; the only restaurant that took debit cards didn’t open until four; my butt cheeks got burned to a crisp, and so on. looking back it was all pretty hilarious, although not so much so that i’d want it to happen again.

the beach itself was beautiful. the sand was soft and the water warm. our first morning we took a boat tour farther out into the ocean and swam with dolphins and sea turtles. don’t have many pictures from that, but believe me when i tell you it was gorgeous. the rest of the trip was fairly normal—alternating between eating, drinking, swimming and tanning (burning). the views were great and the company was even better.

el grito:

september 16th is independence day in mexico. the night before the entire city is lit up and people gather in the streets, eating, drinking, celebrating. around 11pm in the zocalo the governor comes out and gives a speech, after which we all scream (el grito = the scream). the whole night is one giant party. some friends and i bounced around various bars, laughing and dancing until some ungodly hour. a few hiccups in the night regarding boys, but i’ll let the machismo attitude here have a post on its own.

tlacolula and teotitlán:

last sunday my group went to these two pueblos. the first had a massive market with vendors selling practically anything you can imagine. i can’t tell you how many women i saw with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a live chicken in the other. we tried various foods and drinks as a group before splitting off to do some shopping. got some cute stuff. it was fun but way way way crowded.

my time in teotitlán was one of the best experiences i’ve had here so far. the town is known for its woven textiles, which is probably the thing i wanted to buy more than anything else while here. we went to the women’s weaving cooperative, which is composed of a group of awesome women who work to empower other women in the community. it’s easy to get bogged down by the machismo attitude so prevalent here, so it was really great to see some strong, creative ladies working to change that. i learned so many things. the natural dyes were really cool. i bought an absolutely beautiful rug. definitely want to go back.

birthday:

ok, yes, it’s not my birthday yet. but who wants to celebrate their 21st on a monday? my host family (mom anita and son chucho) threw me a party friday night with food, drink and all my friends. admittedly i’ve been feeling a little homesick this week, so it was nice to be reminded that i am loved by people 4200 mi from home. i’m so thankful to have met everyone here and am incredibly appreciative of their kindness and generosity. but enough with the sap. after some chatting, dancing and mezcal drinking, we went out to a few of our favorite bars. i’ll spare you the details, but it was a nice night. would’ve liked to have teleported some people from back home, but i’m trying to not let myself focus on that too much.

this post wasn't particularly insightful but i thought i owed it to y’all to explain a little what i’ve been doing lately. i’ve got a few ideas for upcoming posts and hope to not wait so long until my next one.

more later...