Puebla, Day Twelve

I have reached that point in my journey where I am counting the days till when I get to go home.  Twelve remaining if you must ask.  Yes, I am sick of Puebla, sick of Mexico, taking the dog, love Dorothy.  When I return to Coyoacan I will likely feel a bit better since unlike Puebla I love Coyoacan.  Puebla has been a disappointment and I really think two weeks is too long to stay here but I likely won't be returning so it is just as well.  I decided to stay here for two weeks because of all the postive hype I have been hearing about this city.  I wasn't warned about 1. the lack of green space, 2. the horrible traffic, 3. the visible poverty and disgraceful condition of many of the neighbourhoods, 4. the dreadful air pollution.  This is not my idea of a liveable city regardless of the reputation as a world heritage site.  The old buildings are beautiful, some breathtakingly so, and the magnificent old churches?  In a recent post I mentioned there are at least as many beautiful heritage churches in Puebla as there are Starbucks in Vancouver.  Well, I think now there must be more churches here than Starbucks in Vancouver.  Today on my travels I stopped in at least seven of them. Rather a lovely, contemplative way of conducting my personal tour of this city while exploring hidden corners still unknown to me, and this aspect does help compensate for my general sense of disenchantment with this city.
     So some of you must be shaking your heads and wondering why this poor masochist has opted to spend so much time in Mexico, given his sense of disenchantment.  The answer is quite simple.  One month of Spanish immersion is perfect for improving my proficiency in Spanish.  This is in a way a working holiday for me and not only do I use Spanish at work but it has become a wonderful way of expanding my mind and opening my horizons, plus, it absolutely rocks being fluent in another language.  Maybe I should try other Spanish speaking countries you say.  There are quite a few.  And yes, I am thinking of this but everything has to square with my income and budget.  Did I tell you that I'm working poor? and this of course makes Mexico the most affordable option for me right now but that doesn 't mean that I won't consider other countries.  I should also add that two years ago what I owed nearly a thousand in taxes as well as needing necessary dental work, including a very expensive root canal and crown, along with being so down in my hours at work for a while that it nearly created a poverty crisis for me, my bank account took quite a beating for a while.  I am trusting that if things go better this year that maybe I will go somewhere else.
    In the meanwhile Mexico is not without its charm and I could see myself easily spending more time in the future in Coyoacan and in Mexico City, but I am taking this all year by year.  It also might be nice to spend a couple of entire years again at home in Vancouver so I can appreciate afresh the whole annual cycle of the seasons.  And pine for Mexico?  Pathetic, eh? No matter where you go, there you are, or more accurately, no matter where you are, there you go!