Once Upon A Time In Mexico

So once upon a time (err a month ago) I quit my job and moved down to Mexico to be with a wonderful man. And now we are engaged! The above photo was taken a few minutes after he asked me. Whether the wedding is here in Mexico or the US and when is still up in the air. But besides that exciting news, my sister flew in about 2 weeks ago and we started taking spanish classes together here in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. We'll be here in this picturesque town for another 2 whole months. I best be fluent at the end or I want my money back....I kid. No but really I better be fluent - my life kinda depends on it now. But, more updates on the trip to come.

New Years

Yes I know New Years was like 4 months ago but I'm just now getting to it. The night started out with a special dinner and slide show and Andrea and I were pretty much the stars of the slide show. We had our own paparazzi the whole trip. When I sat down for dinner, I was ready to party. Afterwards there was a dance and firework show. Above is a picture of a crafted cow/bull with a person inside with fireworks shooting off of it. The day before I had busted it when I had kicked a soccer ball and it went crazy. Found out later I totally broke it and they had to start over. Oops. At least they thought it was funny.

Two boxes of Chilean wine later - we were up on the roof again shooting off fireworks of our own. We joined in with the town of San Lucas Toliman and brought in the New Years. After the crowd had left we hung out and enjoyed the first night of 2009 next to a volcano with a cool breeze and clear sky cluttered with stars till 4 am. Bliss.

My Favorite Village

Scenes from my favorite village near San Lucas Toliman. And to get there you had to travel on a narrow dirt road through fields of coffee beans. It was a hidden little paradise.

This village had also been cleared out by a mudslide off a volcano. But these people were lucky enough to receive their very own well built home - as you can see in the 2nd photo. And the kids there were so happy!

I Bite My Thumb At Birds & Swine

So guess who is going to Mexico for 3 months in as little as 15 days? That would be my sister and I. Yep heading to ground zero of the Swine Flu. This was a lovely piece of news that flashed on my screen this morning - gooood morning to ya. But you know what, there are cases of it here in my home state, so you can't always let things like that stop you from doing your dreams. I actually had the flu 2 weeks ago......never want that to happen again. So I'll just have to think twice about everything I do and hope and pray I stay in good shape. Now I'm off to go buy some Airborn, Tamiflu, hand sanitizer and maybe a flu shot for whatever slim chance it may help. Wish me luck!

Santiago Atitlan

Boat ride on Lake Atitlan to the town of Santiago Atitlan. I always nab the front seat for the awesome views. Here we visited projects, walked around town, spent time in the crazy market with the locals, did some shopping and visited a town that is still in horrible condition after an attempt to recover from a deadly mudslide. The government decided to build temporary homes right back under the deadly volcano and 3 years later - no change. Way to put forth some effort.

Inspiration #8

Our Rooftops

In Guatemala, rooftops were our sanctuary, our hang out, and it was our "no trespassing zone" for those over the age of 30. It was a place for quiet moments as well as celebrations. It was a place were we would soak in the wonder around us, breathe in the fresh cool air and then smoke a cig or two. It was also our time to reflect on the day we just experienced. The chilled midnight wind would run through our bones but we were ok because it was our time to make new friendships, let loose, be immature and even sneak in a little of our friend - Ron Botran and raise our glasses and chant "here here Guatemala, salud!"

Side Note: We thought that 2nd photo would have been a cruel cruel email to send back home to the folks. ;-) It did cross our minds.