Ive got friends in low places.

Justin is coming tonight to finish the trip with us. I pick him up from the airport at 11:50- YAY!

Make new friends, but keep the Old

Years ago I had my first day of work at Borders 417. A friendly face answered the door for me, tall, mildly to moderately handsome, some band t-shirt that I’m sure was a group only he knew of. “Hi,” he said, “welcome to Borders.”

Joe and I became friends in a manner that neither one of us really remembers, and maybe that is for the best. The thing we both do remember is that it was instantaneous. Joe and I have had our ups and downs, our backs and fourths, but we have always found that common ground, even though I would argue that it’s me that gives the 60% while he remains constant at 40%.

When Joe moved to Phoenix it was really hard for me because he became one of my closest and dearest. He is like my brother in a better way to put it, and I was his family when he lived in WA.  I was able to visit him a few years ago in AZ (pictures available in a folder on FB) and I was so proud of him. We had the best time, he had grown so much and was finding his way.

I have looked for every way to make it down to see him, but haven’t been able to until now.

I have to be honest. I was nervous. I hadn’t seen him for a few years, and our busy lives were getting the best of us and becoming an excuse for non-communication. And this trip I had my boys with me, what would we all do? Not to mention he had a girlfriend now that I was equally nervous about meeting in person. I’m so close to Joe, what was it going to be like now with a girlfriend, and what if we didn’t get along or have anything in common?

Well, not to worry. Going to his house was like going home. The boys felt comfortable and happy  hanging out swimming, playing questionable games on the playstation, and eating pizza all weekend. Uncle Joe was a hit, again.

Katie, Joe’s girlfriend, is an impressive addition. I love her. She is beautiful, smart, funny, actually I don’t know why she is with him (haha just kidding, Joe)  I think he was a little upset at how well we got along.  

The visit was really great. Joe and I stayed up til 4 in the morning catching up and it made me realize that I don’t have many  close friends, I don’t have anyone that just gets me or is really concerned with my daily life, and it was really wonderful and much needed to be with Joe and Katie. I can’t wait for them to move to Seattle. 

We made a really great breakfast that Katie and I enjoyed more than everyone else I think, but it was really good, despite killing a chocolate chip waffle by accident.

The rest of the weekend we mostly just hung out but Joe talked me into going to see the new Batman movie with the children. It was a bit violent, but it was a pretty good movie and not too harmful for the tots. 

Basically, we had a great weekend, great friends, and fun. We celebrated Katies birthday with her family and even did a little shopping at an outdoor mall.

After visiting with Joe and Katie, we headed to Gilbert, AZ to catch up with a friend from ELEMENTARY school. Mandie!! 

Oh man, it was so great to see her. She is married with two really awesome little boys. You can imagine what it was like for all the kids to be together playing video games… haha it was crazy, but so great. They made lasagna (even vegetarian for me) and a really great Nilla wafer desert that reminded me of Mexico. We only had a few hours to visit, but I’m so glad we did, Mandie and her husband are such great people and it was fun to talk about old memories and newer experiences. 

I cant wait to hang out with them again!

 

Arizona is really growing on me.. we have had the warmest weather, dust storms, friends and family and the scenery is so different from WA, but all  of it really just makes me realize how much I love Tacoma, and I do love Tacoma. 

Heading out to Vegas tomorrow, picking up Justin, then heading to our resort in Henderson!

Arizona Smerizona

Arizona Smerazona.

After the last five weeks of taquitos and thunderstorms, we have planted ourselves (well, temporarily) in Arizona with my aunt and uncle. 

Sunday we visited with them for a while, then headed out to see my Grandma Hill. Grandma Hill is my father’s mother. Being a southern Baptist, a strict political woman, and well, her and I have never really seen eye to eye. My Grandma Hill is 91 now and she doesn’t remember who I am, she doesn’t remember much of anything actually. Alzheimers is a terrible disease. So we went to have dinner with her, my aunt made spaghetti and we sat around the table reminding her that it was dinner time. My aunt suggested that I play guitar and sing hymns. I did, actually my aunt, who has a beautiful voice for harmonies sang and my grandma who prides herself in her singing chimed in. The three of us sang, three generations, one with Alzheimers, and we had a beautiful time. I recorded a bit of it but I know my aunt would kill me if I shared. 

We headed home, then we spent the evening playing games and taking walks. My aunt and I stayed up til 5:30 talking about everything we have missed for the last 10 years. I think it was necessary.

The biggest lesson I learned this week was that when you don’t understand someone or something that someone does, it is unfair to judge. Appearances don’t mean everything, and misunderstandings can come easily. 

This week has been a fun week of swimming, talking, playing games with family, and painting. Finally I was able to paint again. I sat down to paint and took  a few minutes to decide how to communicate my feelings. I thought about my travels and about how happy it has made me to see more of the world than I ever thought I could. About how I’ve danced around the Earth and how its freed me as a woman, mother, and creature of the world. 

Wednesday night my wonderful Aunt Bonnie made our famous Boyles fudge. Our family has a tradition to make peanut butter fudge, and no one but us know the recipe, actually, its not even written, its just in us. It was divine, reminded me of dad, and I missed it so much!

Friday I rented a car and our roadtrip is underway.

We are sitting in the one bedroom apartment of one of my closest friends in the world. Joe and Katie have graciously let us take up most of the room in their home just so we can all hang out, play video games, and stay out of the AZ sun.

It has been really great catching up. So great that Joe and I stayed up until 5 am talking how we talk, as Katie passed out on the livingroom blow-up mattress. I realized how much I miss my friend as we stayed up til our eyes could hardly stand to stay open, and I also realized how much I needed a friend.

AZ heat is something else. So hot. Everything we do here is to keep hydrated and try and cool down. Its amazing to me that people can go out in this weather and play sports. Seriously, its incredibly hot.

Im really looking forward to this week. We head out to Vegas where Justin is going to meet us and stay at a really nice resort in the Mojave Desert for three days, relaxing, swimming, and catching up with Crandlebox, before heading to the Grand Canyon and Utah.

Okay. Tonight we are heading out with Katies family to celebrate her birthday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Undefined. This is me after Mexico.

I’m sitting in Sun City West, Arizona, at the dining room table of my Aunt and Uncle’s house. A gecko runs under a flower bus and quail with their offspring gather in the backyard.

My life has willingly become an adventure novel, full of daunting tasks, disappointments and achievements. The last five weeks I have:

 climbed ancient pyramids,

 taught orphan children English, 

shared with my family my love for education and cultural enrichment, 

played guitar and sang at a Mexican fiesta, 

slept on a bus overnight,

 haggled prices with Mexican artisans,

 stood in a 600 year old cathedral, 

ate cactus, 

witnessed political challenges and rallies following a presidential election, 

watched a dung- beetle push poo across a 2000 year old path in the mountains, 

rode in a crazy Mexican taxi on a winding road in the middle of a jungle, 

learned how to make tequila,

 walked thru the same house that Frida Kahlo ate, drank, and slept, 

stood next to a 5 story statue of Christ on a Mountain, 

learned how to cook like a Mexican, 

witnessed a flash flood because of a nearby hurricane, 

hit a piñata with a stick, 

stayed up til 2 AM watching lightning storms out my window with my roommate-talking about life, boys, friends, school, everything, 

walked thru countless museums, 

salsa danced with new Mexican friends, 

and learned that I am kind, I am patient, I am beautiful, and that life is about feeling and experiencing with every sense, growing in love with the Earth and with my children, and that what makes us different, is what makes us beautiful.

Mexico Loved Me, but Its time for a new Love.

Oaxaca.

Sometimes I think I have really good ideas, and sometimes I decide to sleep on a bus for 8 ½ hours. We boarded at 10:30 and headed out of Cuernavaca during a lightning storm. Transformers 3 in Español was playing and although it was captivating, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the lightning storm outside. Finally I fell asleep. The bus was bumpy, dark, and cold, really cold. I had the isle so just trying to not break my neck was a task.  Im not complaining, I have been on worse busses, this one was actually very nice, but in comparison to my nice hard thin mattress at my mexico house, this was like motel 6. We woke up, exhausted and cold but at our destination.  

We hailed a taxi for 50 pasos and headed to our hotel Posada del centro. This was a quaint hostelesque hotel. Orange walls surrounded a central garden area, complete with umbrella tables and fresh water. There was a second floor in the back portion of the hotel with a veranda for drinking tea, chocolate, or mescal (like veronica and I did).

Our room was quaint. We sprang for the private bathroom, but rooms were available without. Our room had two beds, a tv a couple dressers and a bathroom. I was pretty happy with it except for the rank smell of the bathroom, it often smelled like a porta-potty although it was really clean. (actually many different parts of Oaxaca reaked of poo).

We sprawled out on the beds in heaven. Kendra took a small snooze and I facebooked. The boys were just happy to be off the bus.

Sooner than later we headed out into the town. The taxi ride to our hotel was quick and I was in a daze so the city was a blur. We headed toward the zocalo. Here is the verdict:

Oaxaca is beautiful.

The streets are all one-way lined with beautiful clay buildings of different colors.

They have sidewalks (wide ones)

Oaxaca is more or less flat throughout the whole city which would make it really bikable.

The archetectura is the most beautiful Ive seen.

The streets are lined with venders for everything, and for cheap(we ate tamales for 10 pesos, like 70 cents)

People are more used to tourists here (I even saw a few whiteys, which made me realize how much I stick out)

There is a huge cathedral on every corner.

Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in mexico, and yet one of the most beautiful.

There is a different street Mercado everyday, in a different part of the town, yet everyday there is one huge central one.

Things are cleaner in Oaxaca, food is covered, and usually kept out of bees way.

The city is very person friendly. I mean its so easy to walk, and eat wherever.

You need water all the time, it gets blistering hot.

The zocalo is always a party. Always.

So ill get on to our story.

Everything was overwheliming. The sights, smells, sounds. It was exhausting and exhilarating. We found a breakfast stop and stumbled in. We were not disappointed. We were greeted with fresh bread and tortillas. I ordered a crispy chicken leg with spicy sauce and tortilla chips. It was wonderful really.  During our breakfast we were serenaded by a live mariachi band. After our bellys were full we headed out to explore.

The city is hard to describe. I suppose it is the perfect mixture of a cultural experience and a honeymoon destination. Its so beautiful, romantic, fun, exciting, cheep and full of life.

We immediately hopped a tourist bus and headed out to Monte Alban. Monte Alban was built by the Zapotecas in 700-1500AC.  It is an archeological dream. Pyramids, tombs, stones of slaughtered nearby leaders, and the view to rival Machu Pichu. We met an amazing couple from Seattle. They were retired and boating from Seattle to Ecuador and back, and taking two years to do so. They started in October and just started learning Spanish as well. So awesome.

After leaving Monte Alban we headed to the Zocalo to check out local happenings. We watched a political rally, elderly salsa, and ate dinner at a small spot similar to taco time.

We headed to bed early since we didn’t have much sleep on the bus the night before.

Saturday morning we got up early and we jumped on another tour bus, but not until we bought tamales on the street for 10 pesos.. yeah, breakfast for 70 US cents.

Our tour bus was crazy. Filled with People from all over Mexico and also a guy from Columbia.  The tour bus driver was hilarious and made our 10 hour tour of Oaxaca a blast. We first headed to see the Arbol de Tule,  a tree that takes 50 men to fit around the circumference. 

Then we headed more into the desert to Mitla. Mitla is the most important archeological site in Oaxaca.  It also belongs to the Zapotec culture and was significant for its role in religion for the tribe. Monte Alban was strictly a  political center while Mitla was a place people in power went to ascend to the next level. The architecture here was some of the most mystical Ive seen and I wish we had more time to explore.

Next we headed deep into Mexico, up into the mountains, thru the windy roads, and small pueblos,  to see a petrified waterfall. It was beautiful and worth the trip.

We made a few other small stops then headed back to Oaxaca for some relax time.

We spent Sunday running around the markets and visiting churches.

The Verdict:

Oaxaca is one of the most beautiful cities. One in which I would love to return someday.

This week has been a bit of a blur, the final hurrah. Ive been incredibly sick but thankfully today Im getting better. Now I am packing and getting ready to begin our new adventure starting tomorrow when we head to the states to roadtrip thru AZ, UT, NV, ID, CO, OR, and make it back to WA.

Catch you on the flipside.