Plan Updates and general good news

I have purchased another ticket to Mexico City for January 19th. This will put me in Mexico for approximately 3 months, which even though is half of what I originally dreamed of, is still a long time. I'm still in the process of trying to make some dollars for this trip since I have another 4 weeks around here. I've put up ads around the gym as a house cleaner/errand runner/baby sitter/general stuff doer. I'm hoping that I get some calls in the next few days. I also have a couple of jobs that are probably going to call me sometime soon, and a random job cleaning a sub shop in the center of town (but it's totally unreliable). The other thing that I'm spending my time doing, besides job hunting, is going to a cycling class every morning at the gym. It's been really really really awesome. There's nothing like sweating buckets every morning to wake you up. Besides making me feel really awesome and productive, the cycling class is going to ensure that when I do get back on my bike and start hauling me and my 35 pounds of gear around I won't just fall over panting and cursing myself for ever thinking that biking across Mexico was a good idea. Oh I'll be ready all right, at least for the physical part. I've been reading all sorts of bike forums and blogs and looking at photos of other Mexican bike tours and I'm just getting more and more excited. I've been thinking lately that I would also really like to visit Colombia, preferably on bike, sometime in the future. I'll think about this one for some other year. For this year I have plans to return to Star Island (hopefully) and then continue on to some other room and board job for the winter. I figure two back to back jobs with room and board over a year will let me be able to stack up a pretty decent amount of money. Who knows what's in the future for real though, but I have enough dreams to fill up a world of futures.

Wrenches are for fixing bikes, not throwing in your plans!

This morning I headed out to Gear Works, the awesome local bike shop, to get my bike all boxed up and ready to fly. Everything went totally awesome and I couldn't be more impressed or happy with the people over there. I've been able to watch my bike come out of a box, get set up, get heavier and heavier with all of it's gear, and then broken back down again with care for transportation. I have planned, researched, learned, contemplated, day-dreamed, and pined after this trip wholeheartedly every minute of every day for the last 3 months. It's been quite the emotional and financial investment, and I haven't even thought twice about it.
After the bike was packed up I headed home where my carefully packed panniers and lists of things not to forget sat waiting to arrive in Mexico. I decided to double check the package dimensions and regulations on american airlines, which I guarantee I already did, just to make sure I wasn't going to get hit with any extra fines. Well shit, guess what I found out? Between Nov. 21 and Jan. 10 you can't check a box, anything overweight, or any extra luggage. All there is left to do is cancel my flight, kick around and get another weird job for yet another month, and try again in January. Tenemos una cita, tu y yo, Mexico. No te preocupes que no es por un mes mas. Nos vemos pronto, es una promesa.

Always ride in style

There is one week left before I depart this country for the next long while. I've been collecting all the extraneous things that I need and really looking forward to being on the plane so that I can stop thinking about what I should and shouldn't bring. It's a lot easier to deal with what you have than to anticipate what you will need I think. Tomorrow is my last day of chauffeuring, for which I am extremely grateful, and I believe that I will do some work around my house for a few extra dollars before I head out. I tested my spot satellite transmitter today and found it to be slightly annoying to figure out, but not impossible to use. I've sent my first "ok" message with it which is now conveniently located on a map for public viewing. You can see the exact global coordinates of my parent's house if you go here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0RceZhbklfpIYKS5Hs5M9BzqHEZONhM5K

I think that is the link to see all of my future locations. I'm trying to get this all set up so that it's super easy to navigate (which it really isn't by design). Perhaps someday I will make maps. I have very specific desires when it comes to maps, and no map has ever satisfied.

So, below are a few pictures of a bike ride a took maybe a week ago. The weather has been incredible for this time of year. It's really been the perfect training weather. Of course I train in style, but I'll be riding dirty soon enough.

It's time for the countdown

There are 13 days left until my departure and i have almost everything in order. Today I purchased a spot satellite transmitter so that you all can see where I am on a map. It should be pretty neat. In addition to the tracking, it also has an emergency services option should I need it. I hope that this puts you all at ease a little. It's getting too dreary and cold to really do any more riding these days, but I hope to get another couple rides in while I'm here. I picked up a job as a chauffeur to fund the trip a little bit, but the unfortunate side effect of having this job is sitting in a car...and waking up at 3 in the morning or not getting home until 3 in the morning. But, funding is necessary, and I'll do a lot of things I normally wouldn't to make a dollar or two. Oh, on another health note, I'm going to a travel clinic on monday to get an assortment of antibiotics and other fun goodies in case I get sick in the middle of no where. So it seems that I have put away, or at least suppressed, my natural state of "Safety? Ridiculous! Nothing bad will ever happen" and taken a little advice and good precaution. Here's a little hope that this trend will continue in my life, not so much that it squelches my fire, but maybe just enough to provide a nicely controlled burn.

Hasta la proxima! Busquame en los callejones de mexico. Ciao!

And so it begins

Today is a glorious day, full of anticipation, excitement, mind reeling awesomeness all topped off with a little bit of mystery. Today I was introduced to my most sexy companion that will guide me through the back roads of Mexico: The Surly Long Haul Trucker. She's a righteous beast, steel, rubber and sass comprise her personality at first glance. She makes you wonder: can we maintain an equal relationship, or will she show me up? Since we've only been introduced and not even out for a first date, we have a bit to learn about each other but I think we've got something going. Love at first sight for sure. Babe, you and I should hit the road.

La Casa Luz update

Hola de La casa Luz! I'm going to be back in the states in...9 days. See you then.

ok, so here are a few...like 5 photos of my trip last weekend. It took somewhere like 45 minutes to put these up, so i´ll try for the rest later. These are of palenque, agua azul, and a view from the road. More to come.

una historia

Las primeras fotos son de La Barra de Coyuca, un poquito norte de Acapulco en el estado de Guerrero, la tercera estado mas pobre en Mexico después de Oaxaca y Chiapas. Fui allá por 3 dias con Jack y Daniel de la quinta piedra una semana antes de salir a chiapas. En un lado hay el oceano, y por el otro es una laguna. Estabamos en la playa durante de la luna llena, y los pescados estaban tratando nadar de la laguna tras de la barra y en el oceano. Entonces...debajo de la luna llena, Jack, Daniel, y yo se attrapabamos los pescados con nuestas propias manos. Que chido es eso no? Nosotros comimos los pescados por desayuno la proxima mañana, y esa mañana se encontremos un hombre que se haya atrapado una tortuga y tuvó ganas que matar esa tortuga. Matar una tortuga es illegal porque estan en peligro, entoces una persona pudria ganar un chingo de dinero por una. Yo via eso hombre mató la tortuga, y estuvo increiblemente sangriente. Ick. Las fotos siguientes, después de la playa, son de una finca de cafe aca en Ocosingo Chiapas, pero primero hay una foto de mi cara después de una lucha contra el boiler...y el boiler ganó. Se me quemó. Mira a mis ojos y mi cabello y verás que pasó. Otro de estas experiencias, mi vida aqui en San Cristobal es muy tranquilo por la mayor parte. Tomé un curso de masajes por 2 semanas, 4 horas por dia y en las mañanas tuvé 3 horas de clases de español. Wow, estaba cansada esas dos semanas. Pues, espero que tú disfutaras las fotos!

Thoughts of late

So I have no pictures just yet because it takes so long to upload them, but I thought I´d share my thoughts about language, about the things that run through my head when I let them spill over into the reality of a piece of paper, or a piece of cyber paper. What would you call this place anyway? So...the thoughts on language are thus: How can a person convey themself truethfully through words. There is so much more to existence than language. There must be some kind of universal all encompasing way of communication that conveys the deepest most hard to reach thoughts and feelings, the things that are buried away where words can´t touch them. Or maybe there is a solvent, a cleaner of sorts to pour into the crevices of your soul to loosen the emotions, let them stick to the words. If only I could speak in color and sound. But i guess that is what an artist is. And am i not an artist? Can I not speak like this already? Sometimes I think not, but in reality I am more capable than I think I am. I have an incredible resource of talents than only need to be recognized by mi misma. The brain is a powerful deception. The heart, sometimes powerfully silent. How do you harness a heart? Can you mount it? Ride into the sunset happily ever after, just you and your heart? No, I think not. Everything that you can ride you need to nourish...problem is, what does a heart eat? What nourishes the thing that nourishes you? Mostly, I don´t want some fabricated brand name bullshit factory made heart food. I want the raw ingerdients. Maybe I can find them in the markets of mexico.

Long time overdue...maybe like a month or so

Soooooooooo... where to begin? I suppose I`ll have to give you the run down later because I actually need to go to a party!!!! There`s a fiesta in Yautepec tonight and I`m going with Gabby, La Doña (cook, maid, awesome woman). Tomorrow I`m off to go back to San Cristòbal to take more classes and maybe to learn how to fix bikes. We`ll see. I`ll lable the photos later, but they are of the abandoned mansion here at La Quinta Piedra, where I am right now in Morelos. Also they are of Oaxaca, the ones at the bottom. More to come later. Well, not that much later. Turns out I can`t go to the party tonight after all. I have some packing to do and I need to talk to Jack, the guy that runs the project here. So... I`ll just update some stuff instead. I have been working on a project here in Tepoztlàn, Morelos for the last month if you were wondering. There is this really amazing piece of property that belonged to a former president in the 90`s and has since been abandoned and torn apart. The project that`s going on is to restore the buildings to make a school for anyone that wants to learn about permaculture and agriculture. It`s a pretty neat project, and the people that are working on it are amazing, inspiring, and down right quirky. I think I`ll come back here some day to see how things have progressed. My time in Oaxaca was really really good and found me living with a really nice woman and having a friend named Lalo who taught me all sorts of slang and expressions in spanish that I wasn`t learning in my classes. It`s like almost half way through january now so that means I have been in Mexico for 3 months just about. Time just keeps on going at it`s own pace whether you notice or not. I feel like I have been here forever and like I just got here simultaneously. Well, tomorrow is a new adventure, and right now is pretty awesome.

Bats in the basement of the mansion

the staircase that goes to the basement...

Alice standing at the entrance

danger

the interior of the mansion

A view into a room

Best grasshopper ever!!!

The ceramics I made in Oaxaca

Lalo

y

Yo





Me hanging upside down from a really tall bridge.

A view of the mountains in Oaxaca

My house in Oaxaca

Me incase you forgot what I look like

My toilet in Oaxaca...sorry no cucarachas in this photo

My room