Boarding the overnight bus

Hey,

We are an hour away from boarding time on our bus out of Mexico. We are taking a killer 14 hour bus ride overnight from Mexico City to the border town of Matamoras, Mexico. From there we have to cross the bridge on foot and hopefully sail back into the states problem free. We are planning on picking up our car and actually driving straight away north! I guess this all depends how strong the coffee is how far we will make it on the first leg. We do plan to be home in 3 or 4 days. I gotta get back to work!!

Mexico City was a whirlwind of activity. If anyone can do it "all" in the limited time we had, we certainly did! We got to the Frida Khalo blue house (hey she has the same address as us 247 BUT Londres st, not Weldon.) We got to check out the Trotsky house too. You know that this Russian revolutionary socialist was in exile here in Mexio, being hunted by Stalin and finally killed with an ice pick through his head! Fun stuff.
We got to see some amazing Diego Rivera murals and the Ruins in the city of Templo Mayor. By the end we were running thru so as not to miss anything! Time seemed so spread out until the end and the departing door just came crashing closed!

Yesterday we spent the whole day at the Temple of the sun and moon, the Teohticluan ruins! WOW! That may have been one of the highlights on the trip, despite the hawking vendors and groups and groups of school kids. We also explored the famous anthropology museum and that was amazing!

Hopefully we can get some photos up of the last week or so of the trip. It has been really some spectacular sights.

I big whopping thanks and love to you all who followed the blog, wrote positive, supportive emails and even offered money!!! Thanks so much! Especially to our incredible housemates who have kept down the fort, watered plants, kept our paper trail and our dog!! Special thanks to Rainbow Ranch folks for keeping Sample as long as they did! We are looking forward to seeing everyone and cooking a dinner (Mexican anyone?) for you all!

see you soon,
get the heating pad ready....
hugs
d

mexico city!

We arrived in DF, which is how the city is referred by the spanish itnitials (districto federal.) We took a 5 hour bus ride from Xalapa, a city we LOVED but did not have enough time to fully explore. We will go back there one day and spend the weeks necessary to explore the hilly sanfranciscoesque city, outlying towns and the diverse natural landscape. Xalapa has very little tourism but has the State University, so the scene is hip and cultural and the main plaza overlooks mountains and a volcano. It was so nice to be back in a city where we felt like the lone tourists. After hoards of tourists in Oaxaca, I needed to feel that we are not doing the same thing that EVERYONE is doing! This is the first place we really felt we got a great dinner and it was cheap! Zarha did lose a precious $20 dollars worth of pesos in xalapa so maybe we are destined to come back and find it!

I have not fallen in love with the gulf coast. I don't feel a need to go back Veracruz (however I heard that is the town to be for Carnival in Mexico!) Most other cities don't celebrate Mardigras festivities in Mexico but apparently its happening there. It was as disaponting as my arrival to New Orleans Many many years ago when i walked to the Mississippi River to find polluted waters and ugly barges. Veracruz is the main export port and has barges and cranes and all kinds of metal nasty contraptions just past the shoreline. There is mostly a lot of Mexican tourism and it was only Mexicans i saw swimming in the water. I heard that Mexico city dumps waste into the Gulf and it didnt seem inviting for me to swim in. The Gulf coast has nothing on the pacific where i would spend my last days on earth if i knew they were coming.

Mexico city is beautiful! The altitude is a bit much for me! Mexico city is about 7400 feet above sea level and i can feel the lack of oxygen but its not nearly as polluted as i thought it would be. It has many wide cobble stone streets and old amazinly huge Spanish architure government buildings and cathedals circling the Zocolo.
We arrived last night to some Aztec drumming and dance in the Zocolo. These plazas are always so surreal to stumble upon around dusk when we are still trying to orient ourselves to a new place. This city is more like an European city, reminds me of Madrid, than I realized it would be. Its less draining and flashy than NYC and it has a grounding feeling. Unlike that Constant billboard flash and glitz of NY that sucks energy this city, (Despite the most populated in the world!) is amazingly composed.

Well for the next 2 days we are exploring all the ruins and museums we possibly can. I plan to hike up to the pyramid of the sun! Andy is remembering and telling us more stories of time here as a boy. It is amazing how little he actually saw of this city when he was here! He lived with an overprotective rich family that often did not let them out of the family compound. I guess the Mexico of the 80s was scary, like NY, but still I can't believe they wouldn't have shown him the pyramids! Its cool that Andy came back with Zarha right around the same age.

I cant believe these are our last few days in Mexico!
I guess will be joining the cold team soon!
hugs to all
d

Traveling on...

Well we left Oaxaca early Saturday morning and headed to Veracruz a gulf coast town east of Oaxaca. We actually arrived to a bit of rain and cooler temperatures. We had heard it would be a bit hotter here and expected to sweat and instead we are feeling chilly and underdressed in the mid 60's temperature and moist, cool gulf air. I think this day is a fluke of cool as occasionally happens in Oaxaca. Our skin has become that warm, thin skin that reacts easily to cold.

Our last week in Oaxaca was great. One of my Spanish teachers is a public school teacher and is part of the section 22 teachers union. That is the union that fought hard to see Ruiz removed (the governer of Oaxaca) and for teachers rights. He also saw Brad filming the day he was killed. Brad had walked past my teachers barricade filming (there were strikers' barricades all over city) hours before he was shot. One day after school he took me, Andy and another student to the street Brad was shot on, in Santa Lucia. I had read it described in papers as both a "slum" and the "Suburbs" of Oaxaca. I didnt see it as either. The street seems like an average barrio of Mexico and had a feeling a very intimate quiet community. The street where he was shot, Juarez, is still covered in strong political graffiti. His name, Bradly, is written large in a couple places and intense statements about keeping up the resistance and bringing the killers to justice. There is also a bullet hole in one of the concrete walls outside someones home. The hole is circled and it says "assasins bullet." It was intense to see some strong passionate grafitti all along the street because in the center area of town (tourist area) most markings of that time have been erased. As we were walking that street a couple of old ladies started talking to our teacher. Of course they knew of Brad and explained to our teacher how on the day of the dead celebration every novemember Brad and the others killed during that time are recoginzed. We even headed to a the hardware store across the street from where the alters are placed for the day of the dead celebrations and very kind people told us they would leave anything at the alter next November that we wanted to leave in memory of brad. I was very touched by the intimate neighborhood and how everyone seemed to know and care about Brad. He was a stranger in a strange land and every year he will be remembered and his spirit cared for and it made me think that that is a fortunate part about the whole bad situation.

We are taking a week now to travel. The bus ride into Veracruz was long and dramatic. Just when I think I have seen enough beautiful landscape I catch a Volcano or steep rocky mountain and incredible cactus and I am ooooing and ahhhhing again outloud.

We also got to a couple great markets on Friday. One is famous for all the wooden painted animals. It was great because we got to see the artists in action and get some deals on wooden painted animals.

I hope its starting to warm up for you all,
March: Comes in like a lion out like a lamb??
I sure hope thats true this year!
hugs
dawn

Hierve el agua and ramblings!

How is it that the week is so slow and drawn out and the weekend flies by?? Well there are less days after all on a weekend. Maybe that was a bad design the weekend should be the weekday and vice versa. Actually the settling in Oaxaca has been such a great idea for many reasons. We do spend less on school days and on weekends we take outings that cost more plus we have included one nice family style sit down restaurant meal into our Sunday evenings. So the price tag on weekend days tend to be double than weekdays so it is a good thing there are only two weekend days a week.

We travelled (in back of pick up truck) up the narrow, windy, steep dirt mountain road to Hierve el agua (lit. ¨the water boils¨) on Saturday. An amazing place with cold spring pools right on the edge of the mountains looking into the valley and mountains surrounding it! The water spills over the mountain side and over time petrifies the surface and makes really cool patterned and textured rock. We made the plunge into the pools and they were far too cold for my taste but I felt it was a necessary baptism of sorts. Zarha says that she felt so cleansed and that is her guarantee that she will come back to Oaxaca!

I ate Chapolines (grasshoppers) tonight! They were served bacon bit style sprinkled on top of a salad I had ordered. I wasn’t expecting it but I got excited when they arrived. I have been wanting to try them and couldn’t bring myself to buy them off the many street vendors who sell them. Our cooking teacher told us that there is a belief that if you eat the grasshoppers you are bound to return to Oaxaca. I feel relieved now that I have eaten them that I will return! Actually it was anticlimactic. Besides the creepiness of the little thread like legs separating from the body into my salad it was really hard to notice. The were not even as crunchy as bacon bits and just carry the flavour of however they are prepared. I may bring some home for all you brave and daring (and heartless eater of creatures) to try.

We went to the history museum next to Santa Domingo (I don’t think we have posted a photo yet of that one) one of the massive old churches in Oaxaca. I guess it is considered the main one. Attached to the church is the old labyrinth, fortressed monastary that was turned into a military barracks for almost a century before it was converted to a museum. A much better use of space! The relics of various indigenous cultures are amazing and the fortress-like stone walls open arch ways to the mountains and botanical gardens was spell binding. Same story…. rich and dynamic indigenous cultures get paved over with crucifixes and bloody saints by moustached armed colonizers. It had powerful energy in there though but the irony doesn’t escape you. The indigenous remains are in the church who more or less wiped out the early cultures and now the living indigenous cultures are still the most oppressed and deprived of the country. Oaxaca state has the most diverse indigenous populations still alive in all of Mexico. I think there are about 14 different indigenous cultures existing here now. They are the poorest people in the state and have the highest illiteracy rate. Why do cultures have to become extinct before they are appreciated and contained under glass with an admission fee?

Zarha loves Oaxaca and even said the other day she doesn’t want to leave! That is big coming from a kid who travels a lot and has never said that about any other place (except maybe California?) and who is a real homebody. We are all taken by the constant music and celebrations that take place here. Zarha loves the music and tonight there was a huge free concert in the zocalo (plaza) performed by this Mexican band, Silueta, and they were incredible. Actually almost every night there is some free performance music, orchestra bands, mariachis, clowns… always a good time. This is also the week of nightly free dance performances besides Santa Domingo church. They are all traditional indigenous style dances and I have never seen more beautiful dances.
The colors of the hand woven exquisite embroidered flowered dresses are amazing! The spirit and energy was incredible. To experience this within context of the culture is way beyond anything you can buy a ticket to at a "cultural event" in the states. I even saw the pineapple dance! It is this dance of 18 traditionally dressed woman in dresses with hand woven patterns (that look like it could take a year to make!) and they hold and dance with full pineapples. At one point they are doing a chorus line dance (like the can can) its so awesome! they seem to be celebrating the pineapple! This may be Zarhas tribe and sadly she missed this dance! We are hoping with a week of dance performance she may catch it again. What amazes me is that despite all the global crap influences of homogenized products and sweat labour prices for cheap threads people still keep their culture and craft alive and strong. I am continually amazed at the indigenous culture and the traditions here. It is so strong and beautiful!

I ran into the political group Witness For Peace that has a delegation here for the week. Rather, I knew they were coming and as soon as I saw tourists that looked somewhat progressive and younger I approached and asked if they were with Witness For Peace. The funny part is I got them right on my first try! Pretty impressive in a town with endless tourists from all over the Anglo worlds but I nailed them. One of the group leaders was very friendly and warm and happy to meet me. I had emailed earlier asking about us jumping in on one or two speaking engagements from their tour. I never got a response but she told me today it is too difficult to integrate folks into the group. I understand negotiating a big group but if we caught a speaker we could have written for Indymedia or made contacts for future projects. Those delegation groups are way overpriced for our budget and I don’t like travelling in groups like that anyway. There should be a circuit for travels to network politically without having to do this whole political "cruise ship" type thing.

Oh well, I have to get up early for class. I still don’t get to tell ya all the details that I would if I could have that phone conversation. Like the presentation I went to about the problem with the contamination of corn down here and seeing the film the Laramie project and a French surrealist film (subtitled in Spanish) that we loved. Well I guess you gotta wait for the phone call on all that fun stuff.
much love,
dawn
PS check the link on our site called The Roving Ruges. That’s the blog of the travelling family we met and their photos of Oaxaca are way more professional! Hey but that’s all the stuff we are seeing and trying to take pictures of with a snap and shoot camera.

FRIDAY!

Hey, even here on what may seem like an extended holiday, I get the "TGIF!" feeling. These are long full weeks of spanish classes and homework (when I do it) and trying to cram way too much information into the rusty old engine one could call a brain. My brain is like an outdated car that still gets around but it shudders and stops and starts abruptly and needs a lot of rests! I do think age and early exposure plays a lot into the rapid acquisition (just stating the obvious) but it is interesting to see it in action. The older folks have more difficulty with pronunciation and get crankier and more frustrated (thats me!) than the younger ones. The only thing I have going for me at this point is my sheer stubborn persistence!
Well, I guess that has always been true about me!

Today was Dia de la samaritana (day of the samaritan) another christian thing (surprise!) but it was a fun, tasty (kind of) and a colorfully decorated day at the school and all over town. Its a tradition on this day to make these fruit waters (among other ingredient still undertermined) and hand them out freely at schools, parks and work places. It represents the day when Jesus was hot and thirsty and given water by the good samaritan. Look, I don´t really know the reference so that's all can say about that and truthfully I couldn't get the stringy textured waters down the old hatch so I probably wouldn't look forward to this holiday if I lived here.

I love english! I love that I can write these words in various orders and you will one way or another understand and make some sense out of this. So refreshing to have a language that fits, even with all the gramatical errors I make, like a glove! I am starting to sign more in spanish class at times becasue as I try to challenge myself and I hit another level of difficulty I again revert to signs hoping that it will fill in the gaps and clarify. Often it does. This tangent is because from the excessive focus on language study it makes me marvel anew at the way the symbols of language make understanding each other possible. Its so great we don't have to grunt and point because otherwise I wouldn't be able to share one story from our travels and if I had to write it in spanish it would take so much more time I would probably write very little.

Another tradition here that happens every friday during lent is that men buy woman they like or want to be with flowers. So if woman hangs out in the parks you may just find yourself handed some flowers by an (lets hope a cute one!) admirer. Would you believe my own guy after spanish class presented me some beautiful white easter lilies! Just in case your wondering this may be only the 3rd time I have gotten flowers from Andy in 17 years! Although I may have joked (like everyday the preceding week) that I was going to hang out in the park and wait for some flowers I didn't think he would come through with such a dramatic bouquet of flowers. He actually got some tears out of me on that one! He was suprised that my expectations of him are so low in the romance department that I would actually cry over that! I think thats pretty funny. I will post pretty flower pictures later.

Zarha finally started to open up to the two other children that have been in Oaxaca studying spanish for the past five weeks, on their last day here! Those kids will not be at the school next week and it is usually rare to find kids at immersion programs so it was nice she got to connect with them before they continue their travels. They were in differnt classes but they made time to climb trees and chase each other and thats what kids should do. I told their mom "your kids are so childlike!" because they seem to laugh and run and throw and frolick a lot. Apparently Andy (Zarha too) thought that was abusrd to say because they ARE kids. Those kids brought that out in our kid and it was nice to see. They are traveling for one year heading to all the places we would go if we had more time. I love meeting families like that, they are fun and adventurous!

que mas??

There was an article in the main newspaper here about Brad Will's parents traveling to Mexico City to pursue the investigation of Brads murder and to see the killers brought to justice. I am so impressed with his parents! They are really doing amazing things to keep pressure on the government and it helps the case of many involved in the oppressive situation down here. His parents have have gotten absurd answers about who killed Brad and they are determined to see this through. They are not just accepting the lies and cover ups of the government. I can imagine how hard this would be for parents dealing with this issues during a time of such grief.

This is our big friday night out and I should get ready to do what I always do, roam the streets and eat too much yummy food!
We have some weekend explorations planned and we are starting to think about our route back north out of mexico. We have one more full week of Spanish classes and then we want to go to the beaches and towns on the east coast as well as Mexico City so we have a lot to do in our last week of travel!

Happy leap year! and happy leap day! I only know one person born on this day our Aunt moe! She is only like 12 years old this year because luckily she only has a bday once every 4 years! Happy bday moe! we love you!

we are moving into the ides of march and I sure hope its bringing nicer weather to all you in the NorthEastern parts of the states!

I plan to post some photos of the day to day views of Oaxaca and the life we see walking to school and roaming around. I havent been able to take the kind of photos I see so many shamless tourists take. These tourists rove in packs with school or tour groups and shove huge lenses in the faces of the people on the street. I am embarassed to even watch them and we have thought of taking pictures of them taking pictures of the local Oaxacans. However now that I know some people that I purchase things from regularly (like my favorite elote stand!) I may just ASK for a couple pictures to remember my favorite places.

Much love to all,
for those who send us comments and emails, we really love it!
love dawn

PHOTOS!

Hey we finally posted a bunch of photos, Rather Zarha (our really good kid, who reminds us daily how good she is and under appreciated!) posted all these photos and took most of them! It takes a lot of time and patience to post all these photos and we have been so busy we had lots to catch up on.

We went to some of the most incredible ruins in Mexico today; Monte Alban. We took lots of photos. I am still trying to figure out all the history of the Zapotec culture and Olmtec culture and how the fighting, ceremonies, sacrifices all went down. It was a very powerful place! The energy and the structures are incredible! I met a couple vendors selling some clay work of imitation ruin pieces who loved gremlin. They wanted to hold him and they laughed at his Mexican spirit! An Italian traveler gave gremmy a lot of attention and had seen the movie and reminded me not to get him wet or he will turn bad. Funny.

We had a great day until my tearful dinner. There is such a sad sad scene here with the street children of Oaxaca who have to sell candies and things for either their parents or maybe the mafia. I was told it was a mafia business and the kids are exploited by these other forces. This adorable girl came up to us tonight with her candy box probably around 8 years old and didn’t try to sell anything but shyly asked Andy for a French fry off his plate. Of course he gave it to her and she came back with a sweet smile for more with her 2 year old brother. They were so excited about the French fries as we piled them all on a plate for them to eat she asked if she could take it go (she had to get back to work!)
I could barely choke down my dinner through the tears, it really sucks that kids have this kind of reality. I saw another boy holding his candy box forced to stand with it for long hours just crying. I just learned all the money you give them for candy or whatever goes to the mob or the ones running the business. I think I will start buying things for the kids as other tourists were telling me they have been doing. It makes the kids really happy to receive anything they can keep for themselves.
Andy is taking a day on his own for a long hike tomorrow and Zarha and I are going to explore other outlying towns and a tree that is 3000 years old! Mexico claims it’s the largest biomass in the world, whatever that means!
Love to all
Good night!
dawn

Oaxaca

We have been in Oaxaca for just over one week and finished our first week of our three week Spanish immersion. I like the school but the curriculum and the teachers are not as good as those we had in Venezuela. Andy and I were put on the same level Spanish (although I think Andy is way better at comprehending spoken Spanish!) however I am changing classes next week. Our teacher is from Spain who was traveling around and then landed at this school and got a job teaching Spanish. She is young and inexperienced (although really sweet!) and the Spain spanish accent is very different from the Latin American spanish. I have struggled all week to understand her and have decided to switch to a Mexican teacher. I also don’t want to pick up the lispy Spanish pronunciation that those from Spain use, Latin Americans mock it relentlessly, and often they don’t understand it! Most my travels will be in Latin America so I prefer to not use the vosotros (a form of Spanish not used throughout Latin America.)As if any of this matters, I just want to be fluent and am so frustrated by the grueling language acquisition process. Of course as an interpreter I should know better, it takes a long time to acquire language fluency. I think I am on the ten year track with this Spanish thing and I hope I live long enough to see it through!


Our days are long and full with the Spanish school so we don’t do all that much after classes. We roam the streets, look for the best coffee places, eat our favorite foods from street vendors (elote!) and browse the shops and crafts. It was while I was browsing (something Andy has no patience for!) that I found the socialists who are involved with the political scene and the relatively new political group Peoples Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO.) I spent some time talking to them asking about Brad Will and trying to find out more about APPO. I bought the Nancy Davies book "The People Decide; Oaxaca’s popular assembly" (sorry Ted I couldn’t find the one you leant me, so I can give you the one I bought when I finish!) It’s really interesting to read her book about Oaxaca and the movement while here in Oaxaca. Nancy is an American living in Oaxaca for the past 8 years who chronicled the events of this new movement. We have bought some great local independent films as well and the socialists (Trotsky branch) have been really friendly and helpful but have not led us to the anarchists yet. They said that they would take us to where Brad was killed (in Santa Lucia about 20 minutes outside the center of Oaxaca in a colonial section of town) and introduce us to people who were with Brad at the time.

Later we met a woman (another expat from the states, lots of those here) who knows Nancy Davies and she gave us Nancies contact information! We are hoping to get in touch with her soon and get more information about the status of things and the history from her first hand. Today there was a march of teachers that appeared quite large. Apparently there are weekly APPO marches still demanding the release of political prisoners and accountability for the murders at the hands of the government. We are trying to talk to as many people as we can find about this situation and struggle to understand all the details in Spanish. We really wish we had an interpreter at times when we are meeting with these political groups. They told us about some upcoming APPO meetings so we hope to attend one of those.

This weekend we have plans to get to more ruins and small towns on the outskirts of Oaxaca with more indigenous history and (I hate to say it) crafts. The pottery, painted woodcarvings and woven rugs and clothes are amazing. It’s less expensive to buy it in the towns where they are made than the craft shops in Oaxaca. I struggle with the tourist identity of buying crafts (as you know I am not buying much) but then again this is the livelihood of people here, and believe me, they really want us to buy it! There is also a town nearby known for its alternative healing arts and has some kind of bathhouse type sauna thing. I am hoping to go there and find the good legal herbs and mushrooms! Just kidding!

We went to old ruins last weekend. Remains of old palace walls with amazing designs, tombs and hieroglyphs. Of course the church put a mammoth church right on top of part of the ruins but parts of the ruins were really dramatic. We got to climb down into an old tomb (minus the dead bodies) Andy almost had a panic attack. It was dark and small and the air was thick and moist. Hopefully zarha can post some photos (not tonight as a heroes is on TV and that’s all I have heard about all week from her!) I have told myself I wont go into anymore churches on this trip or maybe ever! It’s a hard pact I made with myself because I am drawn to them and like a car accident in the streets I can’t help but staring.

I tried to organize a gathering tonight of all the students at the spanish school. There is a pretty cool group of students from Portland OR, who seem to have the party animal streak that I would like to tap into for a night. So we are meeting them tonight at the favorite haunt of these students. One of our classmates goes out every night and comes into school (if she comes) hung-over and drooping and somehow manages to go out again the next night! We are usually in bed by 11pm so this is a big night for us!

Well, I could tell you about all the Oaxacan style chocolate I am eating daily and how fat I am getting not doing any yoga! The last time I did yoga was on the balcony of our beachfront hotel and while I was moaning in frog pose (a painful hip opening pose) I turned my head from my awkward supine position to find a very large iguana with a tilted head and curious expression on his face looking at me from about 2 feet away! I gave a surprised reaction to him along the lines of “holy shit!” and he just casually sauntered away probably thinking “hmmph you think Im strange!” I have found some yoga studios in Oaxaca (mostly slow hatha yoga style) but between meals and spanish class I have not made the time! We do walk lots and lots under the bright Mexican sun so hopefully that counts for some exercise.

I wish I could tell you more details about how hot it is during the days and refreshing and breezy at night (I love the heat!) and how much I love to eat every day the abundant cheap fresh fruit. I want to bring you along to the market with the color and the smells but shield your eyes from the chickens with their legs bound, carried upside-down matter of factly by the vendors and buyers. I have wanted to buy puppies, birds, turtles, bunnies AND chickens just to set them free from there horrible bondage. I even saw chinchillas at a pet store here (they are endangered) for $225.

I do miss people that can talk with their hands (I saw and met so many deaf people and interpreters in Venezuela and so few here!) and black people! Seriously, the first time I saw black people in Mexico was in Acapulco, a couple traveling black Americans, it made me realize how my life had been lacking. I almost ran up and hugged them! Here its mainly just lots of pale skinned gringos and Mexicans. That’s not totally true, shades of darker indigenous folk but the beauty of black people is noticeably absent!

I do have a full time work schedule already lined up when I get back and I excited to work!
Tell me what I am missing from your perspective.
Love to all
d

deliberations

Well after my last post of sounding so sure about staying in Oaxaca we deliberated over drinks and wrote an elaborate pros and cons list and decided (again motivated by Zarhas strong, yet still flexible, desire) again to stay in Oaxaca. We finally walked (as we had been doing all day endlessly searching for a place) back to the hotel to liberate our backpacks from storage. I started conversing with this very cute desk guy at the hotel about our long day of looking for an apartment and only coming up with an overpriced one bedroom. He told us about a hotel nearby that had a small apartment for rent that we would could see in the morning. We tried to walk past that hotel just a few blocks from where we had been staying in the central part of Oaxaca but decided that it was too far from the school (even if the price would be half) so we headed about 20 minutes from the center to the apartment we looked at earlier that day.

After we paid our taxi and got our bags out of the car we were told by the woman working at the apartment we needed to pay a 5,0000 mil deposit as well ( $500.) We tried to negotiate with the management to take a license or passport as security and they wouldnt go for it, so again we were wondering around aimlessing knocking on random doors and making calls and coming up with nothing. We took a bus back to the same hotel and the cute guy with the astec heritage laughed at our story and said not to worry he never canceled the date the next morning to check out the other apartment.

We got up today and went to the hotel with the "apartment." Which as it turns out is a larger room in the hotel off a very pretty courtyard for 200 dollars for 3 weeks. We can put a curtain between the beds and share a cozy space for 3 weeks. We have access to the peaceful courtyard (In this loud and hectic city is a treat) and we can share the familys kitchen. Although we wont do all that much cooking, eating is cheap if you find the right places.

We took our tests at the school today (Saturday) and will be placed in our class levels after a spoken exam on monday. We already signed up for our workshops for the afternoons, I am doing native ceramics, Andy Oaxacan cooking, Zarha is taking an indigenous loom weaking class, all taught by locals with these skills.

We met another family at the school with two kids aged 11 and 13. Zarha probably will place higher than them (they just started studying spanish 2 weeks ago) but she could be in their class and it might be fun for her to have some kid energy around. The family is traveling for one year, they sold everything and live out of a truck and pop up trailer and are planning to settle in the southwest after the year of traveling. When we told them where we found a place to stay the wife said "thats the wild part of the city!" It is true that where we will be staying is the more authentic older part of the city and that is the area I much prefer. Many from the school stay in an area that is wealthier with more corporate sprawl. I really dont like that part. This will give us a twenty minute walk each way ever day in the bright mexican sun and I will need the excersize.

The family confirmed our feelings about the school. The school really digs into your wallets and are not flexible about anything financially or with the housing. They wouldnt even help us find housing until we paid. However they have a good reputation for being challenging and dynamic.


Some Oaxacan mother, speaking english, came up to me today looking for someone to read books in english to her 3yr old son. Not a job Im really interested in but for 2 hours a week in exchange for a guide around the area for a tour or two of some places could be fun. She is this really hip woman with a french speaking husband and she could be interesting to get to know. She is going to email me.

We have only seen one booth in the main plaza relating to APPO (Popular Peoples assembly of Oaxaca) that had literature and some cool posters. We noticed them the first night and have not seen them again to talk to anyone. I am hoping to meet someone who new Brad or knows where his memorial is. Brad was an indymedia activist who was killed here by undercover police in 2006 while reporting on the demonstrationsagainst the government. Its hard to imagine the Oaxaca I have been reading about the last 2 years with all the demonsrations, government killings of activists, toture and imprisoned people. You will be relieved to know outside of the normal hectic hustle of the city there is no indication of any unrest. I hope to learn more about the history and activism here and I hope to bump into Brads spirit. I have thought about him often while roaming the streets imagining how he spent his days here, where he stayed how he met people. Which makes me think of the last haunting video he shot, where he captured his shooters as he is being shot and falling to his death, shouting in pain. So sad that he and dozens of other people died here recently in this painful way. I have his conductors train hat that was on a table with his belongings at his memorial. We were all suppose to take a piece of him with us wherever we went and I brought that hat to Venezuela and now to Mexico. He spent a lot of time in Latin America and we shared a love for these places.

Well family and friends, I really wish we could call home to you. Its so expensive! Its almost a dollar a minute (unlike Venezuelas 3cents a minute! And people complain about nationalized services!) and once we started talking the minutes could become long exciting hours. I plan to talk my whole way home from the boarder of the states into Rochester.

Now we are going to move into our new place and then going to another spectacular market. I already went to the organic market this morning and bought delicious breads, pizza and cookies. I found the merangue cookies I love so much that only my mother can really make. (hint.. Ma, can you make those this summer for me?) The merangue cookies here had lime. No suprise everything here is flavored wth lime or chili. I love both. It is strange to see kids candies and fruit leather topped with chili.


I am missing you all, I really want more news from home. I had a dream about maura! Any truth to my dream??? Keep us posted. Also zarha is really bugging to have Kim send a photo of Emilys haircut. She is so eager to see it!
Ted where ya getting all the kisses from? You bad boy!

We miss and love ya all.
daz

Bus stop to reality

Hey,

I am glad to know others adore gremmy (true he is a Gizmo, but we affectionately call him Gremmy) and want to see a gremmy blog! You will be happy to know there is a blog in the works and it should come out right around the same time his first documentary does. stay tuned!

we finally peeled ourselves off the coast and took the 8 hour bus ride, up, over around and down the mountains into Oaxaca. What a sensational ride! Then we got into Oaxaca and although I will probably change my tune many times before I leave my initial feeling is, I know dont get mad... disapointment. I thought it would be smaller and less trafficky more beautiful and economical. However, I think my cranky reaction has been more from having my bliss bubble burst that I floated in around the balmy coast. It is warm and sunny here in Oaxaca and the main plaza is musical and magical as I find many plazas down here. We arrived on Valentines day and vendors had bundles and bundles and bundles of red hearted cutesy balloons. I thought the whole square might float on all this helium! It was dreamy and crowded with people eating and sitting and kissing everywhere.

As all the popular haunts we have traversed down here, there are many tourists. We are like 25 years too late for the sleepy quaint town I expected to find here. In addition to Oaxacas growth from poor rural dwellers moving into the city and looking for a better living its a real tourist attraction. It may be the the craft capital of the country that draws most people and I am really excited to hit the markets. The markets down here are so beautiful! The colors, artwork and smells, I drift around them sniffing and gawking but buy almost nothing. I feel like a baby walking around pointing "what is this? What is its name?" Discovering how to call the things I like and those things I am afraid to try.

The housing is very expensive here. We spent 200 dollars for a studio apartment in Merida, Venezuela the month we stayed there. After searching all day and checking with the language school the best we found here was 500 dollars for a one room apartment for 3 weeks! Andy and I both wanted to keep traveling after realizing the whole staying put to conserve funds would not actually do that for us. Zarha is amazingly eager and excited to do this 7 hour a day spanish school, how can we let her down! These are her fertile mind years for language and she has so much ambition we feel responsible for her spanish language aquisitiuon. without the school we wouldn´t push ourselves in the same way, beyond our daily basic spanish.

So we are staying in Oaxca taking the pricey apartment about a 10 minute walk from the school and trying to find food we like. cuisine is meatier here and much smaller portions. I got quickly spoiled by large diverse fruit platters and incredible juices on the coast. We have yet to find a meal we really like. However the chocolate here is amazing! I think it is grown in this state and it is blended with crushed almonds and cinamon and sugar. That alone can get me through the tough days of study and crowded streets.

Well, I dont have time to get into this or post requested photos of the Grem!
we have to get our bags from our hotel from last night and hike to our new apartment, and then we have to find sheets and some kitchen things because the apartment doesn´t have all these extras.

I think I will adapt, becasue hey its not 4 degrees outside and that would make me a lot crankier!
still grateful for the journey but with a veil of crankiness that could lift after my nap. wait and see
d

valentino amor

Me sweatheartos,

I cannot imagine any other travelling companions than my two favourite sweethearts that are with me now. I am so happy with our rhythms and the way we balance each other. It is nothing but a small miracle that we can spend so much time together day in and day out and come out liking the journey more each day!

Andy in his gracefully easy way guided us from our hideaway to a more remote beach hideaway about an hour and half south of here for a day trip. He navigates so amazingly the buses, (which I am becoming addicted to; the rattling, bouncy, breezy vehicles that deliver us across so much beauty to even more beauty!) He tells us which camione (truck with tarped cover, bench seating in back that we ride along with locals in order to get off the beaten paths) we need to take and how to find the cool places the lonely planet lists, like the old hippy thatched pasadas and trails along the cliffs looking down at the ocean. He has these superpowers of navigation and I find myself marvelling at his skills, even if I forget to say so out loud sometimes. For some reason I think of one of the few Gandhi quotes that I have always remembered “There go my people, I am their leader I must follow!” I adore most how Andy leads me often from THAT spirit. How else could you lead a rebel?
It makes me shout out with gratitude again and again as is the daily ritual here. The universe has matched us so well. If I had been given a wish of 1000 qualities in a companion I would have come up short in comparison to what the universe delivered! I am gratefully for my guy who balances my world.

I have to say the same for this kid of ours. How could I even think to ask for a child with all the positive qualities Zarha possesses? It would seem unfair and unrealistic to ask for so much! She is a sensational traveller, she has been very tolerant and self sacrificing of her needs in many tiring travelling moments. She rarely complains and demands so little. She is thoughtful about our budget and does not ask or long for expensive things. She graciously takes the photos that I request and does a terrific job! She is adventurous and always willing and eager to try the next thing. You should see the kid with these waves! (and she is asking to sky dive when we get home! Yikes.) She observes and learns so quickly she consults us with her great ideas! She is strong, brave, independent and confident. You should see how she navigates a menu and speaks in confident Spanish to get a vegan meal! She loves reading and shares such interesting topics of interest with us! Of course her tenderness with animals and nature is so touching and gentle. It’s so cute to see her dog friends trailing her on the beach. She is so musically gifted that she can buy a dollar whistle on the streets here and make relaxing music for us or start humming or singing a song to bring the tense energy down. She is funny and likes to tell jokes. She is really goofy! Check out the weird self portrait face series! She has more qualities than I can list, but I have to ask how does a mother like me get a kid like that?? Again shouts out the universe for all this goodness!

These are my valentines and the humans that can make my heart swell like no others!
I love you guys!
Thanks for everything!

Lulled

Well I randomly checked the Rochester weather the other day (first time since I left!) and I saw it was 4 degrees (but it was reported to FEEL like -17 below.) That about gave me a near panic attack even from even 4,000 miles away and I have to admit I did feel like air lifting some folks out of there and bringing you all here with us! Also It reminded me why I have to leave that place and makes me wonder how long will I last there.

Although even before checking on the winter reality of NY I have continously grateful for this bright, colorful beachy scene we have landed upon. The Canadian expat who owns the very reasonably priced (cleanest yet!) hotel we are staying at asked us the first night how many days we would be here in this coastal paradise. We told him we we were only planning on staying a night and he chuckled and said "everyone says that but you will stay at least 2 nights maybe longer, I have a couple of Aussie girls that came for a night and they are here 3 weeks later, I came for a short visit and I am here 17 years later!"

It is amazing how this place has pulled us in and we are becoming like other travelers, now we are like barnacles on the pacific coast of Mexico. So we did extend another night, and then 2 nights some how has become five. Maybe the owner cast a spell on us or maybe it is the magic of the ocean! It is the most powerful place on the ocean I have been. The waves, even in this off season (I hear summer is more intense for waves!) are huge pounding and crashing walls of water. Yet most of the time when they crash on me it feels more like I am being blended with all the fruit of mexico to make one of those yummy smoothies we drink daily. The water is so soft and creamy when I emerge from the strong dunking I feel relaxed and not anxious. We came out of the internet cafe the other night and I momentarily forgot where I was and said "wow, it sounds like a storm is rolling in, that thunder is intense!" Uh, That would be the ocean. That is the sound that lulls us to sleep and wakes us up and mezmermizes us for hours along her shores during the days.

This is know in surfer lingo as the "Mexican Pipeline." The big time surfers come from all over the world and ride these Glass wall waves. We have been body surfing and rented a boogie board and have spent lots of time in the water. The days are so hot and the water is refreshing. Its not cold and hard to swim in like the califronia pacific. We also get out when the lifegaurd comes whisteling. Although we have had our share of intense waves.

I couldn't sleep in this morning and ended up walking the length of the beach towards the huge bolders that separate this beach from others. It was a world I am not normally part of. Morning culture. Couple joggers, early morning stollers, and the first wave of surfers. Sunrise and sunset seem to bring the most intense waves so with it the surfers. The mini tsunami waves leave our mouths gapeing as we watch the surfers survive it and often skillfully navigate the pipe.

I was walking as the sun was just beginning to emerge over the palm trees and thatched buildings, the temperature was already warm and the waves were fierce and the breezy air scented and lush. I thought I ought to drop to my knees in the sand, naked allowing the cleanisng waves to wash me and raise my hands to the sun in gratitude. I didnt. Over and over in my thoughts I DID, I am a shameless hippy pagan flake. I know, I know.

Walking back some time later I noticed all the people transfixed sitting on the banks watching the surfers. Those surfers who had been mostly alone at there ocean alter genuflecting before the waves had somehow become the highpriests/priestesses of the morning. All eyes were on them as they navigated the water gods and held a ritual that kept the congregation silent and reverent. Cameras as big as the ones national geographic must use, also lined the shores to capture the incredible work of those that know the ocean spirits the best.

My gate is so slow here, I am so relaxed, we have no phone (sorry no calls in mexico! its way too expensive! email us!) no tv, few cars travel here. I love sharing my space with this tantalizing water it is about two thirds of our environment here and it does something to me. When I returned from my walk zarha said "you look different!"
i know what she means, I feel different. We all do. I am also grateful we share this love of this space. When a transformation can be felt on this level after only a few days, you know this place holds special powers. Although I try to explain what it is, I really dont know.

Love D

Hideaway

We took an 8 hour bus ride from Acapulco south to a town called Puerto Escondido, which means hidden port. Well apparently once we find it, it no longer is a hideaway. It use to be a big surfer place even before roads were put in, well now it reminds me of a Florida key but with lots of Europeans. The hotel we managed to score is the cheapest and cleanest we have found so far, right across from the beach. The owner is Canadian; we see like 20 tourists for every local Mexican. Its really different from our Venezuela trip this way, I didn’t feel like a tourist in the same way. Tourism is really happening around Mexico. The tourism economy largely seems to be doing well. We have been comparing it in our minds to the changes NYC went through from the 7os and 80s. Mexico may have been more dangerous and had worse poverty but it really seems in many areas to be on the upswing and even the homelessness is not any worse than the "reality tour" we got from Luke in Houston. Luke drove us around Houston and showed us where all the homeless sleep between shelters and under the overpass bridges. Just in case you thought poverty wasn’t an issue in the States.

We love the coast and have shifted our plans some the past two days. We found a language school in Oaxaca we decided to study at, because we spend less money if rooted in one place and we are all motivated (luckily) to improve our Spanish. This school is a month full immersion with 7 hours a day of study! Its really only 4 hours of language grammar and book work then 2 hours of various "workshops" all in Spanish like Oaxaca culture, music, cooking etc. Then one hour every day is doing an intercambio (language exchange) with a local Oaxacan. We had decided to do the month language program and then realized that would rush us off the coast and we are certain we haven’t seen some of the best parts here. According to several people beaches south of where we are now are even more incredible. So the new plan is to stay along the coast lounging in hammocks in our next paradise (this place is fun but still too busy.) we will stay five days and then head to Oaxaca for a three week intensive following the above schedule. This will give a lot of structure to our days, but give us evenings and weekends around Oaxaca to explore. We are probably not going to move south after Oaxaca to Chiapas. It is too far and the prices for travel are too high.
So we will make our way back to our car after the language school which should take about a week of travel with the stops we have in mind.

Oh, I did mail postcards and those will be the last ones anyone receives until I can mail them from the states. I mean postcards are not all that exciting anyway I just thought it would be little gifts of colorful mail while we were travelling and thinking about you all. Then I went to mail them at the post office and it cost me like 20 dollars! I had about 5 dollars (50 pesos) on the ready and then I realized I needed 180 pesos (18 dollars.) Sorry the budget doesn’t allow postcards yes I know, they are cheesy anyway.

More creepy news, someone asked Andy while he was out to breakfast with Zarha "are you on a honeymoon with your wife?" Andy was disturbed by that and wanted to say "maybe marriage is legal at age 12 here but that’s my kid!" He just said "no that’s my daughter." Then I was trying to figure out if I am thought of as Zarhas sister and Andy her husband that makes Andy and I like brother and sister in-laws....well anyway that’s just a random bizarre interaction and creepy thoughts.

I do love VW beetles even more after one magically managed to fit all three of us and our huge backpacks today. It felt like we should do the Flintstone trick of pushing it along with our feet but we didn’t need to.

I knew we hit family harmony on the trip when all three of us left, the fancy hotel Andy was reminiscing about, through the spinning glass door and we stumble out laughing because we all squeezed into the same one! We certainly spend many close days and I really like it.

Lovin yas from my happy place
d

Acapulco

Arriving to Acupulco is everything I dreaded and more! Ghastly dominating hotel after hotel and beaches so crowded you are tripping over people. It reminds me of how I felt about Las Vegas when Andy and I hitch hiked into that city 14 years ago.
We left the untouched wide open spaces and landed in similiar suffucating artists of scam city. Both have been necessary hubs and there is a fascination and disgust with it all. I hate the way we are preyed upon, its really the first time I have experienced this being here. People practically chase after us to give us taxi, restaurant or something else we dont want. Everything is way overpriced and the quality of goods is down from what it has been. Cut throat capitalism is thriving here. Funny because people flock here as a vacation retreat and it is the most stressful toxic place I have been. The hotels crowd the tame Acapulco bay you can hardly see the best part....the ocean.

So we found a dive of a place that was overpriced and haggled with the guy at the desk he made us pay extra for a TV that we DIDNT want and turned out NOT to work. Welcome to Acapulco.

Andy is remembering places he stayed here when he was 12 years old. He had a summer exhange with a mexican family and the father was a wealthy, overprotective (the norm here) father. They stayed at this fancy resort that we revisted today. Its plush!
it has a circular pool with a bar in the pool and amazing views ocean front. We took some photos and checked the prices. One night at this place is about 5 nights at our budget level rates.

We are heading out soon, we mostly just used this place as a practical layover. Easy access to internet, wash and hopefully a post office. I have been draging post cards around this whole time, unable to send them. We want to get to the beaches south of here less developed and less chaotic. We ought to be in Oaxaca Monday to start our Spanish class if that all works out.

The weirdest thing of all here is the big metal statue of Gandhi! He is walking in robes his gauntly legs, bones showing he has fasted and renounced longer than anyone could and still survive. This hindu saint is here in the country of excessive devout catholics, strolling down the most hectic consumeristic place in all of Mexico. I am trying to figure out why. i like that he is here. and that we are leaving soon.

We got our wash done finally. we will not be such stinky dirty Americans. we had 26 pounds of wash, i only had 3 items, and it cost 20 bucks.
oh all the taxis are VW beatles here, which seems impractical for travelers with lots of luggage.

Talk to you from Oaxaca.
love
d

Pacific coast

We made it from the near coastal town of Colima (which I think is the town with the portal to another dimension,) to the coast. However, I never did enter the other dimension some would say I am already in it so how could I find it. Either way, I know have found the dimension of my dreams! I love the coast like I knew I would. As the California coast is my happiest place ever, I think I found a new happiest-er (I need to invent new superlatives in this case!) place. Its a cabana with hammocks and a drift wood forest in front, waves so strong that when they receed over the rocks it sounds just like a gigantic rain stick.
the area is so undeveloped and uneffected by light and smog pollution you can fall into the deep stary night sky on the tidal pulls. All the cells in my body sway here with the rythm of the tide and when I meditate I feel like I am rocking, but I think I am actually still.

The bus ride into this place was a four hour race at the foot of a classicly overconfident mexican bus driver. We took all the curvy turns at what felt like 80 mph, but I was so happy that I resolved early on if my death comes over the cliff of this lush and alluring coast, I will feel complete. It was impossible to capture via photos, at that speed, but we tried. as the evening descended and the bus was still cruising it became an evening at a planitarium ride where the seats spin faster than the shifting sky. It made me a little delirous, it was exhilirating and despite the seats hardly attached to the bus and the nails poking up from the arm rest where the padding had been long ago peeled off, I was in the perfect postion.

the bus dropped us off in pitch black (no street lights out here) on the side of this cobble stone path road. we walked backpacks in tow (yes i carried my own. sigh) for just about a mile. laughing at ourselves that we were jumping at sounds in the bushes, (its not like we are in the safari) and tripping over bumps and dips until we decided to keep the flashlight on.

we stumbled on paradise (ok the Lonely Planet book kinda guided us there, but underestimated the place in my opinion) and found a cabana at an excellent price considering paradise is priceless.

we stayed two nights and contemplated how long and easily we could stay here, if we were not traveling. the money would last much longer at a sleepy coastal hideaway with just a couple family lived in and run restaurants, one store and internet that cost $3.50 hr. Thats too expensive to use, so we would just stay disconnected from the world. average cosgt is about 1 dollar an hr or 150, that was overpriced!

Honestly, I am marking that place with many many stars in my notebook, but traveling on with my itchy feet. I love the constant movement, and new discoveries. I am a natural gypsy and feel so good at this pace.

This coastal paradise did come with a strange expat travler scene of grungy surfers, old hippies and budget conscious youth. Guess what category we are fitting in these days? Folks here really stay to themselves, as we notice a lot while traveling. People are escaping something it seems in most the places we go and dont want to readily recognize fellow citizens of a shared nation. once in a while someone breaks that mold but mostly we quielty pass each other occasionaly nodding or smiling. We thought it strange we had no interaction though we were in close proximity with others.
I imagine that could become a bit of a community scene if we stayed longer, but we are not looking for that. I am looking for a future hermitage and this place could provide both. In the meantime, we pack our bags and keep heading south.

Trying to send postcards. Much harder to find a post office than I thought.
loved ones, know that you all have some chicken scratched words on a crumply postcard full of love, coming to you soon!
love
dawn

Different Latin Americas

I find it pretty facinating how non-stressful Mexico is. Of course Venezuela and Mexico are going to be very different from one another, but I really was prepared for a more Venezuela-like experience. So far, Mexico has been incredibly kind, relaxed and peaceful. There's this open gentleness that makes me realize how tense things can get and stay in places where the culture in more wound up.
While I loved Venezula, and the pace of political life there was absolutely stimulating, this taste of the Mexican spirit is making me realize how rough it was there. I just thought this was the nature of landing in another world.
The Spanish here is much easier to understand, and Mexicans are familiar with Gringo spanish from generations of being neighbors with the US. Our Spanish is certainly better than it was, but people we talk to here wait for us to finish a thought before giving up on us. I would highly recommend these parts of Mexico for those wanting to learn Spanish through immersion for these reasons. The language also reflects the pace of life here, its a pace suitable to listening to each other. I'm know that I'm over generalizing, but its a definite impression.
The other major difference it street safety. Almost every Venezuelan warned us about walking anywhere in most cities and towns there after dark. Our freind, Carolina, told us 'the middle class don't walk the streets at all after dark'. She was very objective, not prone to exageration, and it points to both the sharp class divides in Venezuela and the different histories of the 2 countries. Mexico feels safer than most of Rochester, NY. The border towns might be the exception, but we've been throughout a number of central Mexican cities and every one strolls the streets, Markets are open late, and theres lots of people hanging out in public space.
Anyway just some pleasing impressions to go with the photos,

Andy

Guadalajara

I really liked this town. It may go on the list of places we can live for our year out of the country. Its well located in Mexico between many other places. We walked a lot and zarha and I took the double decker bus with the guided headset tour to get a braoder view of the city and history. It may be the most bike friendly city in Latin America I have seen thus far. The main avenue across the city is closed every sunday for a 6 mile radius and opened to bikers. Also roller bladers and pedestrians take to the streets free of cars. That was great to see. The city has a high youthful enery and lots of street performaces. Of course the architecture, museums and amazing market could have kept us there many more days!

The night we arrived to Gaudalajara we ate dinner in a plaza in front of a mammoth cathedral settled zarha into our room at the friendly family run hotel and then Andy and I headed for the Zona Rosa (the gay hip area.) We had heard about "Sexys Bar" (a transgender gay bar that has evening AND morning drag shows)from our Lonely Planet guide book. Footnote, lonely planet really is our bible while traveling, as many travelers say! We only stayed at the club long enough to have a soda, it was very smokey and crowded. The dance floor was packed booty to booty with gay lesbian transgender locals. A cute dyky woman approaced me as soon as I walked in and asked, what I thought was.. "Are you a dancer you look like someone I have seen blah blah blah" I am not totally sure what she was saying through the screaming disco music, which made the language barrier greater. I bowed out of the conversation wondering if it was some clever pick up line as the scene had a classic meat market bar vibe. We finished our drink and walked around the many blocks of clubs. There is a dynmic hip night life and for bigger parties than us, who can bear the smoke, lots of fun to be had in these creatively lit and decorated spaces. We never did see a drag show but the street life provided us a show of its own. I quess Guadalajara is the San Francisco of Mexico. I found the intersection of this progressive social scene and devote historical place fascinating.

WARNING: potentially irreverent sacrilegious writing follows. Read at own risk****

Holy cathedrals! I enter these garatuan oppulent "holy" places and I genuinely try to feel the lovin´ vibe. I sit, trying to meditate, really trying to tap into whatever the presence is or feel the inspiration. I can never see past my aggetaion and I last at most five minutes before I take the fast track out the nearest door. Sitting at every door of the cathedral and dotted around the city are disabled, sick, old beggars. I recall what Don Timmerman (radical catholic worker ex priest) said to me once about cathedrals in Rome "Why not open them up to house the homeless or dismantle them to build homes and feed people!" It made sense to me then and still does. I sit on these stiff wooden pews surrounded by those morbid images of Christ and other alleged saints preserved in glass coffins and the feeling in there is as dead, fake and pretentious as the display cases. How many tortured martyrs do we create everyday at the hands of greed, intolerance and hatred. Maybe these cathedrals could rotate the saints bodies with those tortured to death daily. If they want to reflect on suffering, torture and injustice why not bring in any or all of the many wounded and homeless and glorify them?
Why not connect this history with similiar issues of today and inspire resitance and change to this degredation of humanity?

So five minutes is this heathens limit within any of these places and then the looming pillars, gold oppulent statues, dead and rotting images freak me out and again im out the door. This has been my pattern many times in this land of Cathedrals and it happened in Spain too. However in Spain I didnt seem to enter as many as I do here. Here, they seem to be the main stay of any town no matter how small.

saying all this, I still need to recognize the heart and emotion I felt in Gaudalajara. I seemed to weep all day like a maudlin devote, sad and reverant full of compassion. I cried around town not becuase what I felt in the churhces but for the suffering outside. A friend of mine gave me 5 dollars and told me it was a Jewish tradition to give 5 one dollar bills to needy street people while traveling. I have not really sensed much poverty unil G. which in general does not seem worse than poverty I have seen in poor areas of the US. I followed the Jewsih tradition in the dripping catholic town and I gave the money she gave me to others.

One old man, possilby mentally disabled sitting on legs bent in an unnatural way had such a sweet and accepting face I wanted to sit and talk with him for a while. My own dis-ability with Spanish prevented me from engaging me, but he thanked me so tenderly for this little money I gave him, I felt my chest tingle and tears flowing and I wondered "is this Christ?" This happened throughout the day I would marvel at something beautiful and become totally absorbed and then I would have a heart felt thought that brought me to tears. I was immediately face to face with the sadness I feel with many relationships, peoples loss and suffering on many levels.

maybe I didnt get "it" in the cathedrals and I have huge reactions to the imagery there but I did feel penetrated by some spirit of this place and I loved it! Any place that can provoke that much emotion, compassion and thoughtfulness, is a place I want to be.

If you read this far, you too are compassionate....I blather on and on
who ever you are reading this
I LOVE YOU!
peace
dawn

Different Bed Everynight

Well we are now in Colima, a beautiful central mexican sunny (nice and hot now) town about thirty miles from the pacific coast. More cathedrals (sigh or yawn) beautiful plazas, fountains and fun shops. Zarha has been doing great maintaining veganism here, beans and rice everywhere. She eats that for every meal. I found a new fruit that I love and never new about. I will post the name later, I can not spell or pronounce it yet. I discovered in Gaudalajara, Elote, this is boiled corn on a stick smothered in butter with shredded cheese and chile powder. Find the picture of me eating it like a rabid amimal. I will make this when I return and a vegan option too! It was rich (que rico!) and cheap, I could eat that every day but some foods are specific to certain areas and then we dont see them again. The fruit is abundant and easy to access and now that we are farther south we noticed the prices are dropping some, which is really good news for our budget. An american expat who we met in the caves told us about the grasshoppers they eat in Oaxca and how DELICIOUS (she really emphasized that!) they are. Cover your eyes you fair of stomach or vegetarians out there.... I plan to try it. sorry.

I did complain about the hotel in Monterrey and that is still the stinkiest night yet, all our accomodations since have been rather comfy. Even so I would take many similiar nights at that stink pit in exchange for all we experience during the days. We are here in Colima which is our cheapest most comfy place so far. We have our own balcony, the beds are comfortable the air is fresh!

Zarha is the main photographer of the trip taking most of the beautiful pictures you see. She is also the only one with a time piece so she has become our time keeper. She seems to be a more flexible easy going traveler this year and besides our once a week guarenteed family fight we are all getting along well and things are generally much more relaxed than last year.

Sorry we can not easily call folks, the phone centers are not as common or abundant as they were in Venezuela, but once we settle in Oaxaca next week, we can try to call.

The town we are in is surrounded by mountains and volcanos off in the distance. We plan to get closer to the volcanos tomorrow. We will probably not be hiking them because they are VERY high and cold. You need to take guided tours to get the the top and those are pricey. The town we are in is also on some fault line and the town is recovering from a bad earthquake that struck in 2003. We have only seen pictures of the damage everything seems restored. There are also more caves nearby and we may try to explore those. I would rather crawl into a cave than a cathedral, I can endure longer periods of time in the caves.

love you all
d

converted in the caves

We left Monterrey for Grutas de garcia, a very old tiny cobbled stone street town with a very old cathedral surrounded by mountains that led to the caves. It was eerily quiet but peaceful and beautiful. We thought the quiet was a result of arriving mid week and wondered if it was a town that hosted weddings and celebrations on the weekend. We stayed in a posada that Andy called¨"his favorite place yet" out of all our travels I thought that was pretty high praise. This building reminded us of an old abbey with high solid wood doors that opened with one of those 2 pound looking huge metal keys. Andy loved the key too, try to find the pictutre of him holding it. The courtyards inside this building were tidy with plants and ceramic sculptures and the cielings were so high it seemed to open right into the night sky.

The time spent here was very calming and we thought often of our close friend Paul who has been dealing with the loss of his mother. The days we were at the caves and this magically town were during the memorial and gathering at our house after the funeral for Pauls mom. We had just been reading about Mayan culture and how many rituals are perfomed at the mouths of caves to help aid and encourage spirits to find there way to the next realm. The inside of the caves were a walking meditation throughout, it was breathtaking and grandiose. We stood inside this natural forming cathedral of mineral sculptures and statues and it was one of those moments, like hiking deep into the grand canyon, that brought me to this place, through such wonder and amazement, of believing. It cant be described but I sure hope you can get to these kind of transforming places. It was in this place that I remembered Paul and his Mom and how sad I felt for him and for us for our loss, how grateful I was to have met his mom and how even being so far away, in places like this we can call on those we love and feel very close.

we landed in Zacataras, this old colonial town. Little Madrid or some european town. I feel like a grungy traveler for this hip and rich little city. the woman are beautiful and the night life is happening, the narrow cobble stone streets are a theme in many cities outside the US. I get that now. We rode another teleferico (cable car) we are becoming addicts to those things. we get to the highpoint of the mountain and oooo and aaaa about all we see.

we are heading out to Guadalajara tomorrow and have discovered that this weekend is a long weekend for Mexicans (candalmas) so our uncrowded peaceful easy traveling experience may heat up. we have been warned. either way, we are going to Gaudalarja just in passing on our way to the magic pacific coast or hidden coast as it is called and we are ready for the open undeveloped beaches. The weather is significantly cooler here but not cold. days are sunny and warm high 70s and nights are high 50s. so it feels.

for those wondering about gremmy he just got a sombrero stay tuned for photos.
much love
dawn

Travelling

Well it has become a regular occurence for us to compare our expriences within Mexico with that of Venezuela. Usually it is all the differences that suprise us. It has been easier for all of us to enter a country that speaks spanish and pick up our spanish where we left off. We are not nearly as frustrated as we were in Venezuela but still we have a lot to improve on. We are good at getting basic needs met and Andy has been amazing at getting us all around the country. He checks the map regularly and plots daily routes for us. We follow him wherever he says and he hasn´t really led us wrong. Now that I am here I just love letting the suggestions of others or feelings of the day move us to the next place. Again Andy and I marvel at how are differences compliment each other, I was determined again on leaving this year and travelling and I had to inspire and motivate him that this was the right thing to do, now that he is here he loves discovering new places and leads us to them with ease!

we first arrived to Monterrey and stayed one night at a very dirty pasada (hotel). I refer to my "sleep" that night as "meditation on discomfort." The room was stale with smoke and clung to everything in the room. We saw those bugs that are common in cities and the fan seemed to be only loosely hanging from the wall. It was loudly creeking and shaking and zarha didnt feel comfortble sleeping with it on. we left it on anyway because the air was so bad, the bed was hard and we worried about touching the bedding. As I contemplated the beginning of another traveling stunt on the low budget plan and how I dragged my family out of our comfortable beds and familar tastes of home, I actually had a ting of guilt. yes for all those that know me, be suprised, that is a rarely display emotion on my character. I woke from the last pieces of sleep I was able to achieve and was ready to graciously take any morning crankiness and complaints that came my way. The first words Andy said to me was "you really are my adventure woman" and I asked if he was mad at me. He was genuinely suprised I asked that and responded with "this is amazing you inspired this to happen and we are doing it!"
That meditation on discomfort was replaced shortly after with the¨"Meditation of gratitude" for all we were experiencing and how quickly life can ossilate between those poles.

we had been trying to decide whether to spend time the next day really exploring the city or heading to caves in a small town outside the city. I knew after that restless nights sleep the caves were a must. Zarha was eager to do the caves so we only briefly explored the city center of Monterrey and an art museum with lots of work by Diago Rivera. Honestly we are happier out of cities, and generally we all agree on that.

Monterrey, overall (just not our hotel) was a very clean and beautiful city. It had some water fountains that reminded me of Spain and we never saw those old style cathedrals and architecture in Venezulea. Mexico has plenty thanks to the colonizing Spainards. The most noticable difference has been the friendliness of the people here. We realize more intensly now as we compare Mexico to Venezuela, how edgy people in Venezuela were, how on edge we were and how we NEEDED to be on the alert at all times in Venezuela. Here we rarely get approached by people not even taxi drivers come up to us as we leave the bus terminal. We feel much safer and less stressed. Possibly not until we hit Mexico city on our way out of Mexico will we know that edgy dangerous, loud and over polluted city life. People still smoke way too much indoors here for my liking and the American dollar just does not buy what it used to. Especially not how far the dollar lasted in Venezuela, but we can find cheap food. Lodging is expensive and bus costs are killing us! We had no idea how quickly that would add up with the 3 of us and we are only one quarter into our traveling distance. Gas prices here are not at 3 cents a gallon as it was in venezuela its almost the same price as the states.

we are determined to make the dough last even if we have to settle in one place longer and not travel as much.

Crossing the Border

Every night I lay awake thinking about all the stories and thoughts I want to share about our travels then a new day begins and the layers go deeper and I haven´t expressed any of it.

I am going to take you back to the day we landed in Brownsville the Texas/Mexican boarder town where we met Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a friend of a freind of ours and had agreed to have us leave our car in her yard. She provided us warm hospitality with a room for the night, breakfast in the morning and a ride across the boarder into Mexico and our first bus station.

Elizabeth works for Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) which is a non-violent direct action religious group that brings people to witness and intervene where human rights are being violated. Elizabeth is a CPT guide leading tours in Palestine every year showing people the realities on the front lines where human rights are violated regularly. Her tours are organized with the intent to recruit more people to work with the many activists on the the various projects that CPT is engaged in.

She told us many details about the wall along the southern boarder of the US that the Bush administration is trying to rush to complete before he leaves office. The wall would be constructed by Boeing corporation who also built the wall in Palestine that brutally imprisons Palestinions daily. Similar to Palestine if this wall is erected both sides of the boarder will live in more of a militarized state, as areas around these types of walls do become heavily militarized. The wall in Texas, if erected would cut through a section of the University campus of Brownsville. Does that mean students would have to scale the wall to go to classes? The logic can´t be explained because there is none. It is also very discouraging to hear that workers in the Maquilladores factories still only make at the highest wage about 50 dollars a week. That is impossible for anyone to live on, as we are finding out here in Mexico prices are not that much cheaper than in the states.

There will be a week march in protest of the wall and for migrants rights, from March 7th until March 12th, the marchers will walk over 100 miles along the designated wall site eductating and rallying more resistance for this disastours project. We had considered joining the march and possilby reporting on it but that would mean having to rush our time in southern Mexico which we decided not to do.
However if others can join or cover any part of this critical event contact CMP and find our more information.

Off the bus and awed

Its a bit late to start writing now, its almost 1am and we have just come off an exhuasitng bus ride to our next destination, Zacatecas. we have not had great internet access because we have been traveling and exlporing a new place everyday.
just wanted to let ya all know we are having a great time, and have many stories. We are back in that traveling reality where one day is like 3 days. We are staying at a hostel owned by trilingual gregarious mexican brothers in a very old european-esque colonial town. We will write more tomorrow the details and thoughts of our trip. It is so nice to hear from our friends and family that posted on this blog. Glad to hear sample is doing well and being an attention grabber! we miss her. Hey, tonight was a very memoriable night because this is the FIRST time ever someone thought I was zarhas sister! ha! i loved it! she was less than thrilled. Her hair cut is very cute but it makes her look considerably older and somehow me younger! yea! she will have to keep the cut, mother enforced.

we have much to share and great photos coming, stay tuned.
stiff from the bus and yoga is sadly sporadic, but life is exciting.
love to all
daz

Off to Mexico....

We arrived at our destination in Brownsville Texas last night, a boarder town of Texas where we are leaving our car with friends of friends. Throughout Texas we have been driving past all the massive oil refineries and as they say "everything is bigger in Texas!" including those damn stinky oil refineries that look the skyline of large cities at night. I actually thought a refinery was the Houston skyline as we neared my aunts house, but it was just the lights it takes to mine the earth for our excessive oil consumption. I was grossed out and we just kept DRIVING. Ha. oh well the contradictions do not escape me. so we decided to bus through Mexico and not drive my old car, too many unknowns with the driving and we can interact more with Mexicans and the culture if we are not trapped in the bubble of our own car. so we will bus to southern Mexico making many stops along the pacific coast.

we stopped in Corpus Cristi Texas yesterday, that was a very abandoned town. The only thing i know about it (more creepy facts for our creepy fact file) is that is where the little hottie blond teacher got acquitted for sleeping with her middle school aged student. The plea was bi-polar disorder and as a friend of mine said "that disease doesn't effect your vagina!" But the town had a nice gulf coast water front walk and boats and a balmy breeze. Yesterday was the warmest day we have had so far sunny and almost hot! we actually used a fan last night when we slept. things are warming up!
If you want post cards from our trip and if your not immediate family (or housemates) send me an address. I am not buying gifts like we did in Venezuela not enough money and too hard to travel with. So email an address if you want a postcard.
much love
dawn

Zarha's Haircut per Emma's request

Articles on Demand, ordered by Emma

Road Trippin' thus far...

Well alas we are back to the world of high speed Internet. We have been in the mountains of West Va and the woods of North Carolina and i guess some places are not accessible to high speed Internet yet. Imagine! We visited our dearest Uncle Bill, at his hermetic retreat center in the rolling hills of West Va. We all shared our dismay and disgust over the workings of the government during luscious meals of Bills own preserved garden vegetables and while walking through snowy crispy clean air in his expansive woods! It has been almost 12 years since we visited Bill at his home in the woods and he seemed as energetic and defiant as ever!

We proceeded from there to North Carolina to visit more radiant family members that live among trees. Zarha got her hair cut while in NC and looks like a different person! she donated her old mane to Locks of Love, and she now as an adorable SHORT easy to maintain hair style. We got to meet the newest Kitty member of the family, Jelly, who it turned out ate my shoes by cover of night. Mischievous Jelly is a fun and playful new addition but not to be trusted with shoes!

we drove from NC to Atlanta Ga where we found a great Indian restaurant, coop and radical feminist bookstore. We hung out in the "Greenwich village" of Atlanta to avoid rush hour and I bought new shoes for my trip. We have found many cool places from suggestions of radical grassroots gems as listed in the Slingshot organizer.

so far we had to get a hotel only one night and that was in Mobile Ala, heading from NC family to family in Houston Texas. Currently we are spending the weekend with my Aunt pat and her partner Luke. This is where Internet has been discovered again!
We are being royally spoiled here with my favorite Aunt who took me in when I was both kicked out and a run away during those turmultous high school years! My aunt proclaimed "I will buy all your meals and we will eat out becuase I dont cook!" We have been eating at 5 star restaurants, one with a 70 thousand gallon aquarium and some fancy Italian restaurant. I think I will gain 5 lbs alone of the 15 lbs I imagine I will gain this trip right here with our generous family that hates to cook! The philosophy here is always get dessert because dinner isn't over until you do! The dessert has been amazing!! I have a feeling we have a few more meals ahead of us before we leave.

while in Houston we discovered the ART Car museum, which was also found in the Slingshot organizer. I am inspired to come down here for one of the art car parades and i got a great art car book. My mind is reeling again about ideas for my next art car. There were not as many art cars as i imagined there but i did love the one covered in peaches, a political piece about imPEACHING Bush. And.. "Bush is the Pits." We got the driving tour from Luke our "grouchy" tour guide who told us and showed us really creepy places like where the jealous dentist woman ran over her husband several times and psychiatric hospital where the insane mom lives that killed all her kids in the bathtub. Along with all that creepiness we saw the Enron building! it was all too much creepiness then we found a parking lot full of presidential concrete heads (and the Beatles) larger than cars!

i am hoping to catch a Jacuzzi tub soak because my aunt has one right in her bathroom! we know how i love those!

the ride has been smooth my car is holding up terrific, maybe even better now that we have a ceramic Buddha cat (gift from Andy's sister) adorning our dashboard.

we have been reading about Mayan culture and interesting stories about places we will be going and we are eager to get to southern Mexico!
we will probably be heading into Mexico on Tuesday!

i hope you are all doing well,
tell us stories from your worlds.
much love
d
ps gremmy loves meeting many relatives he hasnt met and loves having his picture taken in strange places. Gremmy reenacted the dead husband in the scene of the reenactment of the dead husband run over in the Hilton parking lot. gremlin has a morbid sense of humor and he is hoping to get a piercing on this trip.

Leaving in the grafitti car....

Here we are again, another blog another country another escape from winter in Rochester NY. This year we are leaving later for a several reasons: 1. there was no particular reason to be in Mexico earlier (Venezuela had the elections happening in November last year) 2. We needed to save enough money 3: Andy didn’t want to be gone as long as 3 months this year, so I decided to make the trip for the worst winter months of all... February and March. Well they are only the "worst" months because by this time the winter just drags on! We leave Jan 21 and return March 21st, it’s a little arbitrary but that is the first day of spring. Andy and Zarha may come back earlier and I may not come back at all! Just kidding.

So really is this only about escaping winter? Certainly not! I imagine a pilgrimage to this amazing neighboring country that I ought to know more about. I want to feel greater solidarity with the people of this country who struggle for dignity and their lives at the borders of "my" country, but I don’t believe in borders so I don’t believe in "my" country. I want to learn Spanish and see beautiful old magical places; I want to absorb spiritual and radical energies from the most inspiring cultures of all. The Mayans and the Zapatistas. I want to meditate at Mayan ruins and unite with people behind barricades fighting for justice! I want adventure. I want to challenge my comfort zones and confront the privileges I take for granted and depend on everyday. Ok, ok, I want sun and warmth and beaches, but I don’t want the tourist traps. I want to break out of work patterns and material accumulation and live appreciating that this is all we got. Right now. I want to give up on "future" and live now, I want to "retire" every year and work and explore until I die. I want to liberate myself from the confines of expectations and I want THAT to make me a "richer" person. Not rich in money but rich in experience and understanding. I want to share stories with others, and seek insight from political radicals and alternative healers. I want to indulge in the celebrations of another culture and talk my baby talk Spanish and accept myself for trying. I want more time with my best friend and lover ('husband' for all the traditionalists reading this) aka: Ando Calrissian. Don’t ask, but it does sound sexy like I have a new 'boyfriend.' I want to get cozy AND argue with the coolest kid I have ever known! Zarha can also protect us if we need it, with her black belt skills. I want to feel grateful and think about how my life can be of service to others. oh and... I want to travel with gremmie for his first trip out of the country. Can gremlins get passports??

So the trip could go something like that. We are leaving Monday driving down to Texas visiting some of our favorite family members along the way! We will get to the border of Texas and Mexico leave my Graffiti car (yes it is still running at 232, 000 thousand miles!) at the border with folks who do border support work. We will be busing into Mexico and have absolutely no itinerary as of yet. Stay tuned.
Any ideas or suggestions...we are open!
Peace and kisses on both cheeks
Dawn