wandering

10:14PM, internet cafe, oaxaca city, mexico lindo y querido

this is officially week three of traveling through mexico.

my first week, spent in nuevo vallarta with my family, was admittedly a blur of sitting underneath a palapa, watching the sky and sea change colors, and consuming large amounts of bottled water and banana daquiris, alternatively.

at the end of my time in vallarta, i was whisked away by my aunt and uncle to aguascalientes. the four and a half hour trip (shouldn't it have taken longer?) covered windy mountainous roads lined with big leaved tropical plants and trees, broad bright green spacious valleys dotted with mesquite trees, la tierra roja of Los Altos de Jalisco, the decidedly fluid lines of cars in guadalajara, weaving in and out of their lanes, diverging and converging in unexpected places, through toll both after toll both until we arrived home.

it had been eight years since i had spent any significant amount of time in aguas. during the week i found myself searching for feelings of familiarity, of belonging, but the city has changed so much. and so has my family for that matter. children have grown taller and have graduated from schools and have married and had adorable and otherwise children! (just kidding. they're all adorable, though at times a bit traviesos). a lot can and does happen in eight years. my overwhelming comfort is that family is binding. despite all the years that i've been gone, i'm still "yeni" to them, the one they patiently instructed in spanish words that would come to be my second language as wells and ideas and values and culture that would guide my direction in life.

i said another tearful good-bye to them at the airport yesterday and promised not to let another series of years pass without returning to them.

week three finds me in oaxaca with an old friend, callista. after a 6 hour bus ride from mexico city, we arrived a bit tired and a bit motion-sick to our hotel. we spent the evening meandering through the streets, poking our heads into artisan shops and perusing the vendor stands in the zocalo. we had traditional oaxacan fare for dinner at la casa de la abuela - chapulines as an appetizer and different kinds of mole as our main course. chapulines are crickets! callista insisted i try them, which i did. i can't say they're the best thing i've eaten, but at least i tried! we thought the mole dishes were much better, as did a bee, who continually tried to sample our dinners.

more adventures tomorrow...