Day 78 November 5, 2009 Mexico!

November 5th, 2009
Day 78


Think of what to write about today all I can think of is: We’re in Mexico!!! THE END…

It’s difficult to capture the culture shock we thirteen gringos have experienced south of the imaginary line that separates the United States and Mexico, but to me, that was the last line that we have seen. Many of us have commented how we have never seen such a place where the new is built next to the old; pride allows progress to grow beside it; and how what is “simple life” to us is simply life here. It makes me think of the basic blessings of my life and most of my thoughts boil down to one underlying theme that, “water is like life: they are both great.” I remember when I used to let the hot shower run for ten minutes before I get in to let the steam build up in the bathroom; today I was ecstatic to have water pressure hard enough to clean suds off my body. Today we also ate at a restaurant owned by a friend of Fransisco where a lot of ECOEE-ians had their first tastes of clams and calamari. We were treated like royalty by our gracious hosts and the amazing food was Fransisco’s words personified, “this is why friends are more important than money…” While we dined there was home video of Dia de los Muertes from four days ago playing on a television ten feet from our table. All I have to say is: this is the way that I want to be remembered. There was singing, dancing, young girls passing out flowers: a true celebration of those who had lived, rather than mourning of those who have died. Watching the celebration was another scenario where this culture lightens the lines that are often times made bold in our culture, by trying to draw the living closer to their ancestors; like the ancient tribes who scribed the cave paintings.
The comic relief of the day was during out 6500+ peso effort to clean out the Mercado. The clerk was as good of a sport as one could be checking out nine carts worth of food at this tiny store compared to the mega Wal Marts that we normally look for. The clerk and other customers may not have been too happy, but the manager was all smiles to see us take over one of the three lanes for twenty minutes to get the stockpile of food that will be the bulk of our food that needs to suffice the majority of our twelve days left in Mexico. The next challenge is for us to fit food, forty gallons of fresh water and, some where, our bodies into the sea kayaks in a few days for our last back country adventure of ECOEE.

I don’t want to end on a depressed note so:

For every road that you risk to cross,
In every maze in which you get lost,
Whenever you don’t think you can pay the cost,
Don’t want to walk to your car to scrape it clean of frost,
Or just want to run from the city and all of that damn exhaust;
Remember to tell yourself: This is my Life and I’m the Boss