home again

Breakfast is better in Mexico. Oaxacan coffee is good, and they serve cut up papaya, pinapple, mango, apple, banana with homemade granola and yogurt . . . usually for about 2 dollars. Of course there are "hotcakes" and all sorts of Huevos, but the fruit usually made me happiest.

Zipolite and Mazunte are too hot in April. Though they are good inexpensive vacation spots, its hard to sleep there now. Probably perfect in February. Solstice, in Zipolite, has a fantastic Yoga teacher named Brigitte. She uses all kinds of props to align you, and give clear Spanish and English directions in her cute Dutch accent. I left feeling an inch taller. If staying in Mazunte, I recommend Alta Mira, privacy and unparalleled views. Also be sure to go to the western beach to see the sunset. Avoid Balamjuyuk, the French couple owners were not very friendly (granted I needed to cancel the 6 day reservation that I reserved). There wasn't much love in the breakfast.

suko and I were able to unwind together and actually talk out our future. She has been very lucky for the past few weeks. She got into Hunter for an MFA and yesterday was offered a job as the Visual Arts Curator or Chashama, a non profit arts organization. She also got 2 weeks of undistracted attention from her boy! Our fall will be busy indeed. Next Question is where we will live and for how long we will live there. Appently, my neighbor wants to expand and buy my place. hmmmmm.

Anyway, more about mexico, average income is about 6 thousand dollars a year, yet basic staples like gasoline and milk cost the same amount as they do in the states. After driving around with Colin and Carla, I realized there simply isn't the same car infrastructure. In fact, to take the highways, there are unafforable tarrifs. I think it cost over 25 dollars to get from Guadalajara to San miguel de Allende. Will that lead to a more sustainable future? Perhaps. Is there enough water there? Don't know.

Deeper in

I take back some of what I wrote about the houses in Mexico. Though the majority in San Christobal are painted stucco, there are plenty of not so attractive cement brick houses too. After my week of study in the center of San Christobal, I found this out over the weekend, while taking a horse trip to the small ¨indiginous village¨ 5k north of the center. I felt uncomfortably like a conquistador, my pronounced moustache and long hair likening me to a colional spaniard, riding a horse, foreign at one time to the ¨new world,¨ into the pueblo of indiginous. When I got there, things got even more pronounced. I was swarmed by 2 little girls who asked for cookies. When I gave them each one, they did not thank me, instead, asking for more. then in the center of the marketplace, home of many chachkas, another little girl persisted for more than 5 minutes trying to sell me a belt. Eventually I bought one, and I didn{t even try to bargain. $2 means little to me.

Then, on Sunday, I took the 14 hour trip to Palenque, an impressive mayan ruin. Unlike Macchu Picchu, 2 and a half months ago, Palenque was filled with carving and paintings. Most interesting is one carving, in a temple that was actually closed when I was there, that has a carving of, what some postulate, is a mayan god riding a spáce ship. Some even think that the Mayans disappeared because they were abducted by aliens, que horror!

I met up with Colin and Karla in Guadalajara yesterday. Today we rented a car and drove to Lake Chapala, is expat stronghold in the center of the country. We arrived and drank a tequila with a bunch of drunks who were telling us, in Spanglish, that we were in paradise. Slightly amusing, slightly sad.

Tomorrow, we may stay here of just go to Guantajuato. We{ll see how we feel.