Tue., Nov. 23, 2010 at 2:12 a.m.
Well, it´s ten minutes to 4 am and I am waiting for my ride to the airport. I have been in transit since yesterday afternoon, though getting ready in the morning, it was almost like waiting for someone to die. The bus ride down the mountain was a bit torturous and a couple of times the driver had to go in reverse in order to accommodate oncoming trucks. I´ve already mentioned that the road is narrow and muddy. Then I was quite nervous at times about missing my stop because the driver had quite a quiet voice and it was hard to hear him make announcements so I had to change my seat a couple of times to get nearer to the front. I could lush on in purple prose about all the green scenery, but to tell the truth I´m feeling a bit jaded towards the colour green these days, and green is the colour of jade, after all these weeks of seeing so much of it. As awesome as the natural beauty of Monteverde is, and as slummy as Alajuela where I am right now is, I am enjoying this transition time. I managed to get around five hours sleep last night, in spite of the noises from the street, and had lots of dreams about travel next year and the year after anyway, so let´s not be surprised if I keep on doing this for a while longer, but in different locations. I still feel drawn back to Mexico City, which I would also like to us as a base for some of my future travels in Latin America. Next year, if I´m able to keep all my ducks in order, I´d like to visit the Mayan ruins in Palenque in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico. I expect to limit my travels to Latin America for a few years anyway because I need these times for Spanish immersion, and it´s also reasonably affordable.
It amazes me the amount of self-discipline and flexibility that one must have in order to travel well, especially on a budget. I like to think of this as aging well.
I´ve also had to be fairly inventive about food in the last twenty-four hours because of lack of time or availability for eating in retaurants. So I packed some bread and cheese and left over Nutella and ganola bars which have been sustaining me since yesterday though I would like to blow a wad on a decent dinner in Mexico City today. I´ve done well with my budget and may have up to a thousand dollars left over to reinvest in my bank balance.
At this point I´m looking forward to returning home. I know it´s cold and Vancouver has just had early snow and a cold snap but six weeks away is long enough for this duck anyway.
Tue., Nov. 23, 2010 at 5:01 p.m.
Actually the only thing that has not gone right today has been my level of energy, and small wonder, given that I´ve been up since 2:30 this morning, though I did spend most of my three hours on the plane sleeping, when I wasn´t eating breakfast, well, part of the breakfast since the main course had chicken in it and I´m vegetarian so once again someone either forgot, or just didn´t get the message that there would be a vegetarian on board of Flight 657 Aeromexico at 7 am today. I was careful not to make a fuss and the flight attendant gave me an extra serving of fruit and a croissant so I was still happy. As far as food idealism is concerned I really often wonder how far I should go when I´m travelling (pun absolutely unintended, but do whatever you want with it!). So far I´m pretty determined to avoid meat, but also not to get cranky just because the cheesecake I ordered has Jell-O on it or whatever. I did not ask my hosts at the Mariposa if the eggs they were feeding me were free range (I don´t buy them at home, too expensive), nor at the grocery store did I try to find out if the avocadoes or the tomatoes I was paying for (here come those damned italics, again) were grown organically, or within one hundred miles of the store. It isn´t worth it. And forget recycling. It isn´t done in Monteverde, so I just prayed an extra mea culpa for every can and glass jar that I contributed to the local landfill.
It is really nice to be back here in Mexico City. Not really like coming home since I could never live here, but like seeing an old friend. The owners and manager of the Red Tree House, where I am again staying welcomed me very warmly and also invited me to the American Thanksgiving dinner they are preparing for their many American guests here this Thursday. Well, why not. No one thought of inviting me for Canadian Thanksgiving. And yes, I told them I´m vegetarian, so no turkey for me but I can have all the potatoes I want. I spent most of four hours walking all over and then my knee, the one that I sprained last summer, started hurting, so I should probably take it easy, but I´m still going to walk. I stopped at the organic place where I used to eat when I was here for a month last year. Both the waiters knew me right away and welcomed me. This area, Condesa, of Mexico City, is very beautiful, with lots of trees and cafes and restaurants and also a couple of pretty good bookstore/cafes. It is warm and sunny, but there is lots of smog right now. Right now I´m sipping a lovely glass of red wine (courtesy of the house).
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