My Adventures

Merida

jrdenola — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 07:04:00 GMT

so is have arrived in the Yucatan Penninsula and am so worn out that I have decided to stay here. If found a great apartment for 200$ per month and the city is great. Very safe and tranquil. I have made some friends already and everyone continues to be impressed with my spanish and I think I speak pretty well but also the other white people here don't even try. There is a festival going on for the month celebrating the anniversary of Merida so very night there is some cultural event going on. So far I have seen a play, an improvisational dance and music performance, concerts, a whole bunch of stuff. I loved the trove music and bought a cd which I listen to frequently. I live next door to the market where I shop for fresh produce and meat instead of going to the grocery store. Among the highlights I have seen so far are a town called Izamal where all the buildings are painted yellow and it looks fantastic, the beach north of here which is not spectacular like the Caribbean but still a beach, a hacienda where they used to produce henequen which is a natural fiber which made people here rich before the invention of nylon, Uxmal which are Mayan ruins, the Mayan museum which was interesting as it went into the history of the area. This is where the meteor fell which wiped out the dinasours. I bought a spiffy guaybera shirt which I have yet to wear. I spent the day with a nice woman from Michigan and we visited several cenones which are fresh water sinkholes and were crystal clear and refreshing. I also met some cool korean women who I hung out with for the night kicked their ass at pool. When we bet the loser got their forehead flicked with an index or middle finger or had to write a word by moving their buttocks. A little weird but fun. I met a Swedish invetment banker also who was a bit of a douche but it was interesting to know him For one night. All in all I am very happy here. Most of the expats here are retirees so I have to make friends with Mexicans. maybe will post some pictures later. Am trying to decide if its a good idea to take spanish classes. The place I looked at was very expensive although there are others. Maybe will post some pics eventually.

Photos: photos to match the post from 12/31

jrdenola — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:27:00 GMT

This is the second time this site wasted my time

jrdenola — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:54:00 GMT

i just spent 45 mins writing a detailed account of the last three weeks and when I saved it the site did not and it got lost. This is the second time this has happened. Here is the short version. Jesus is Moreno and from Oaxaca. I saw tow super cool craft villages where they show you the process of what they make and I bought some cool stuff. The flowers here are incredible as there are so few but they really stick out. Purple, orange and yellow. I went to the beact at the end of the earth with a spanish yoga instructor who is super animated and I alsmost kind of drowed, I released baby turtles into the wild, met another spanish woman who is retired at the beach and much of her house if painted bright pink because this is the color she saw when she visited Atlantis on a mushroom trip, I stayed in the most hippie Hostel ever which cost 3.50 a night and the bathroom was not spectacular, I went to the nude beach where I freed willy and two gay mexican guys wanted to make a whitey sandwich out of me (I declined), I hung out with the most over the top chicano guy who wore me out with all of the partying, I hung out with a body builder who never stops eating and basically doesn't stop talking about food or other subjects, I visited the best ruins ever, Palenque, I bought a tiny drum made from coconut in an indigenous town that I don't really need from the best 10 year old mexican salesman ever and witness a religious ceremony that included coca cola, booze, candles, pine needles. The indigenous clothing was awesome.

Oaxaca

jrdenola — Sat, 6 Dec 2014 12:53:00 GMT

so I took some Spanish conversation classes this week which were helpful. the teacher I had was great, we had a lot of nice conversations about our lives and pasts and she turned out to be really helpful with some spiritual issues. Sort of a teacher/spiritual guide. The weather here is great and I'm looking forward to getting to the beach where I plan to relax and read some cheap books that I bought in Oaxaca. The woman who have been couch surfing with is great. She owns a hair salon and a home attached to it. I met a Spanish woman who is living in Guatemala and we are going on a tour tomorrow of the surrounding villages. She had some nice things to say about Guatemala and some not so nice things so I'm not sure if I will end up going there, except maybe to see Tikal. I've really been enjoying the cathedrals, temples and churches of Mexico. The architecture and decorations are great! I've met some more nice people to hang out with so I'm a little less lonely. Been away over two months now and although it gets hard at times to travel solo for so long, I'm learning a lot about myself and am more comfortable being alone than I ever have been which is nice. Went to some ruins of Monte Alban and another location called Atzompa which was much smaller but a better view. You can see Monte Alban from there which was really cool. You get a sens of how all the sites on top of the surrounding hills are part of the same system and afford protection and views of the valley below.

The meditation retreat

jrdenola — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 11:18:00 GMT

just got back from the retreat, which was arduous. 10 days of silence and meditating seated on a cushion on the floor for 8-10 hours per day. Getting up everyday at 4am and eating only a vegetarian diet. Its difficult to sit for that long and my body was aching a lot and I considered leaving at least twice, but once the silence ended and I talked with the other participants, many felt similarly. For the first three days you do nothing but try to sense your breathing in your nose and on your upper lip. Then they teach you to scan your body for subtle and gross sensations to teach the idea of impermanence as all physical sensations as well as everything else in life comes and goes, rises and disappears. I learned a lot about having emotional equanimity and my body is less tense and my mind a bit slower as well. The other participants were very friendly. They we're mostly mexican but one mexican american guy was from Houston and another foreigner originally from France. we all went for a day afterwards to a neighboring pueblo called Valle de Bravo, which was awesome. It has a decent sized lake and the plaza full of tress with Orange and yellow flowers, beautiful. Overall the retreat was painful but really a helpful experience and I plan to make it a daily habit. Should reach enlightenment just about the time that I die. Right now I am fifteen percent more enlightened, ten percent less tense physically and fifteen percent more equanimous than before. The best part of the course is its free and you can make an optional donation based on your means and benefit. They put their money where their mouth is. Flying to the coast this sat to enjoy some warmer weather and the beach eventually. Am having a good time still now that I've connected with more people. My spanish is more fluid but it's still hard to really connect with people who don't speak much English. Adios.

Photos: the Bajío

jrdenola — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 07:52:00 GMT

The last ten days

jrdenola — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 07:30:00 GMT

The last two days in Guadalajara were not good. Did not enjoy the big city, second largest in Mexico, and the hostel I chose was not the best. The woman who ran it was great and I was the only gringo there. It was not very clean and everyone smoked in the room which I found foul. The last day I was there I had planned to go to Tequila but it rained and I couldn't go to the agave fields although I saw them from the bus which was nice. I did not get the best vibes from some of the other people staying there as well. So I moved on to Guanajuato and met an eccentric Argentinian women who I hung out with for a few days. We shared the nicest room in a hotel which was decorated with Angels of all sorts. 23$ each for a nice huge room with a super tall wooden ceiling. I have some great pictures which I will try and upload as soon as I find a terminal that accepts and sd card. My micro sd is full now so I can't upload from my phone until I buy another. I went to this museum full of mummies and it was rather macabre. they were not that old, about 100 years and basically the soil they were buried in was what mummified them. The smallest mummy in the world is there. Other than that went to museums and to a nice place called the Presa de Olla, which is a dam a little way outside the city. At this point I am glad to be back in DF, Mexico city, having tired of moving around and being alone. Am looking forward to the meditation retreat and getting farther south closer to the beach. I think I'm going to do some language classes there as I neEd to devote some time to improving and I want to put down some roots to feel less isolated. Overall, I'm glad I came although there were some serious emotional trials with The isolation and language barrier. i definitely feel more self condfident at this point. Will post some new pics.

Día de Los muertos

jrdenola — Tue, 4 Nov 2014 15:31:00 GMT

so I am in Guadalajara and dia de Los muertos has been the last two nights. It was pretty cool. Lots of skeletons and people dressed up with their faces painted. Guadalajara is nice. I am staying in a hostel that is owned by a woman whose grandparents owned the home it is in. It was thirty percent more expensive than the one down the street which was nicer, but this one seemed more interesting and has been. I am staying in a room with 4 other guys acutally. one is 19 the other 26, the only ones I have met. They are both living here for an extended period, both being students. in keeping with trying new experiences and so forth, I ate at a Chinese buffet last night and had more vegetables in one meal than I've had over the whole month, literally. At the travel clinic they give you a brochure which explicitly says NOT to eat at buffets but since I've been here a month and have mostly broken all the other rules like brushing your teeth with tap water, consuming drinks with ice cubes, and eating salads, i went for it. Had a tiny bit of stomach upset a few hours later and was worried for a little bit it it turned out ok. Probably not going to do it again. I went to a Mexican boxing gym tonight and went through an hour workout which has left me depleted. The guy in my room goes and he told me about it. I am having difficulty typing right now and can barely lift my arms. It was a killer workout. May go to the town of Tequila tomorrow and I spent most of the day today wandering aroung the university and the center, looking at murals. There are also a ton of cool stret performers here.

I get shitfaced

jrdenola — Sat, 1 Nov 2014 08:03:00 GMT

sitting on the roof of my hostel with a mild hangover. I went out last night with several people to drink and dance. My dancing needs a little work but I also was too drunk to probably have the best coordination. Three people were from France, one from Italy and one from England. I had a great time but drank too much. The Italian guy, Julian, and the French guy, Roban, plowed me full of cheap booze, "agua ardiente". Costs 20 pesos for a shot which is about a buck fifty and it isn't that bad. A twenty year old Mexican woman was really drunk and came over to flirt with me at the club. It was flattering but I told her I am old enough to be her father. It was a fun experience though. I'm staying in Zacatecas for a few more days as it is really beautiful here and I for the first time got terribly lonely yesterday having not been around other English speakers, so I want to stay at this hostel longer. It's the Day of the Dead tomorrow so it should be a fun night. Have seen several people with their faces painted like skeletons today. Am feeling excited about the upcoming meditation retreat and eventually making it to the coast and ocean. my spansh is coming along as all the Europeans were saying that I speak decently. The problem at this point is that I have difficulty understanding people's pace of speech. looking forward to not having to see any snow this year. hasta luego.

Lord of the flies

jrdenola — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:13:00 GMT

its the third night in my hotel and they offered me the room with a balcony over the street. There's a nice view actually. I noticed a few flies on the wall though just now. The funny thing is they are not flying around. As I looked up there are a few dozen probably on the ceiling but they are not moving or flying. I went down to the office but there is no one around. It's 9:30. Guess I will just have to deal with it. As long as they are not moving and bugging me then I guess it's not a big deal. More unique experiences to grow from I guess. See accompanying picture. Good night! Bzzzz....

Real de Catorce

jrdenola — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 12:34:00 GMT

im in a little town that is a throwback to the mining days. You have to go through a tunnel to get here that is through the mountain. It's about a mile and a half long. It was pretty crowded with mostly Mexican tourists. My hotel had really hot water and was affordable which was nice. Had another interesting encounter with a local last night. I went to this bar after getting into town late and this guy gets up from his seat and comes over to me and starts talking. Turns out this is the first time he has spoken English in a conversation with anyone and he learned it all from movies. He spoke really well even and understood when I was speaking at a pace I would speak with a nactive speaker. He bought me a few shots of tequila and a few beers and again invited me to stay with him in Monterrey which is the third largest city in Mexico but I don't think I'm going any father north at this point and it is a ways from here. This place is what you might think of as a stereotypical Mexican desert town and they shot a few movies here, one with Brad Pitt. I went for a hike today to the ruins of a small town and it was a great view. I'll put a picture up if the app to upload photos from my phone ever works. Enjoying myself despite the fact that I'm spending a lot of time alone. Moving on tomorrow or the next day and planning on going to Tequila...

I've been adopted, kind of

jrdenola — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:46:00 GMT

So I decided to go stay with the mexican family I met while touring in the Sierra Gorda. They have been very generous and hospitalbe. They own some local businesses and are involved in politics. Two interesting experiences I had are hiking into a little pueblo with David, who owns a construction firm. They are building ecological toilets for the eight families who lives there, subsistence farming. It was a muddy two hour hike each way, with donkeys carrying the toilets and other supplies. Two of his employees, both named Alberto, went with us and are going to stay there for the next two weeks until finished. The mexican version of Casey Afflect lives in the pueblo. Sounded just like him with a Mexican accent, hilarious. The other adventure was with a woman named Gloria, David's sister. One of their friends is running for mayor of the town they live in and Gloria was the intermediary between him and a man in the military who is the most important person for security in the area. they don't have the narco problems here because the police and officials are more honest. It was held at this man's COMPOUND, complete with high tech security cameras, large trucks, completely walled in and camo netting. It didn't seem to be a military base though but a private trucking company. There was a movie poster from Scarface in the office where we met, not kidding. I could understand that they were talking about bringing a military base here if he gets elected as the military man knows the secretary of defense apparently. It was a bit surreal and felt kind of like a movie scene. Earlier in the day we went to a luncheon for donors to the local school. I met the commandante of the federal police. Other than that, I got montezuma's revenge again. Not too bad this time but annoying...

Photos: Mexico

jrdenola — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 11:08:00 GMT

Photos from the first few weeks

The beginning

jrdenola — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:45:00 GMT

So far the trip is going well overall. At times, there have been moments of great beauty and excitement and oh my god what the hell am I doing here moments, and I want to go home moments. I was nervous when I first got here but after almost a week really off the beaten path I feel comfortable. I am not on the gringo trail at this point having been in two small towns where it is obvious that I am the only foreigner and I´m forced to speak Spanish. Overall, I really haven´t spoken much English except for one day when I hung out with a Czech guy at Teotihuacan. People tell me that my Spanish is good gramatically. It´s frustrating have such a small vocabulary though. Mexican people are really friendly and I have been invited to stay at the home of one woman I met and an entire family that took me along with them today to Las Posas and an entire afternoon of sightseeing and dinner. I met them through a shopkeeper where I bought a cheap plate and a knife so I could eat food not prepared in restaurants, beacuse I am trying to save some money having spent a lot on tours of the Franciscan missions over the last few days. The shopkeep basically invited me back to his store for breakfast this morning and his whole family was there, visiting from out of town. They were so generous and friendly. I´m thinking about going to stay with them at their home for a few days. Nothing like Spanish immersion to inprove my language skills. I do not miss Salt Lake at all at this point. I´ve done a ton of stuff so far and am going to slow down some so I don´t burn myself out. The hotel I am staying at right now is the cheapest in town at 150 pesos which is about 11.50$. It´s not nice but clean enough. With dinner I bought at the grocery store last night the entire days expenditures were less than 20$. Mexico City is a crazy place as well. I went to the Mexican pro wresting, an american football game at the university where I think I learned every dirty word in the Spanish language. american football is quite popular here. There are a ton of murals and cool art in Mexico City as well as great architecture. I will post some photos but the terminal i am at right now doesn´t accept SD cards. Signing off now...