Good Vibes

thought i better get this down while i’m still in such a good mood.

today was an awesome day. hiked and swam at hierve el agua—a beautiful natural spring nestled in the mountains about an hour and a half from oaxaca centro—visited ancient ruins in mitla and ate the best nieve i’ve had so far, and ate/decorated/mostly ate bread (pan) made special for el día de los muertos in a local, family-run bakery. i’ll talk most about hierve el agua.

it was absolutely beautiful. took me at least ten minutes to decide which picture to post here because they are all really that amazing. yes, this is not a surprise, but i’ve been pretty homesick the past two weeks. i feel back on track after today. we started our hike from a ledge that overlooked the spring, mountains and grassy valley below. though more jagged, the blueness of the mountains in the distance reminded me of my beloved blue ridge mountains at home. the sky was like a watercolor painting—shades of blue streaked with faint white, the smoothness broken by several soft tufts of clouds scattered across the horizon.

i’m not exactly sure what type of rock made the massive formation—which was very reminiscent of waterfall—along the way, but much of its cool, wet surface was textured like a coral reef or pumice stone. at the base of the stone waterfall was a black caterpillar (anyone who knew me as a kid knows my love for caterpillars) with yellow stripes, a bright red head and pink rear dotted with black. the spring itself was cool and teal and aqua and green—one of those colors only nature can make precisely. the land around it made me think of the cratered surface of another planet. i’ll stop describing now. no way i can do the place justice.

i’m not a religious person and don’t expect to become one in the near future, but today was incredibly spiritual. i don’t see god (or whatever/whoever, if anything, is watching over us) from a church pew but there, in the trees. in the water. in the mountains and cloud-speckled sky. today really reminded me how small but still meaningful i am. it reminded me how minuscule my social problems are, how unnecessary my anxiety over my body image is, how silly i am to stress over good things that i know will come but haven’t quite yet. most of all, today reminded me of why i’m here.

anyways, if i was ready to leave mexico yesterday, i certainly am not ready today. more later...