Tapatio Land
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2008
1
12
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Guadalajara,
Central Mexico and Gulf Coast,
Mexico
Saturday, October 4, 2008
A few more existential crises under my belt. Days and days of asking myself infuriating questions like "Am I only so happy because I'm actually miserable? Does simple kindness mean so much to me because I'm starved and lonely? Have I come to know God only because I'm so tired of purposelessness? What is REAL?"
As a friend in DF told me shortly before saying goodbye, "the voices in your head are nice, Danielle, just not when they all talk at the same time."
True dat. Who the heck cares why I'm happy? I don't need to find where it came from, deserve it, try to "earn" it through guilt or torturing myself, worry about it going away, whatever. I just am. Unified in a happiness not dependant on anything else. So no more talk of getting my arm chopped off, I promise.
Somewhere along the way, I commited to leaving DF- the city that was love at first sight- by October 1st. I maintained my vow, but smartass that I am (even with myself), I chose a bus leaving at exactly 11:59 PM.
The last three days in Mexico City were a bit crazy, namely because I had tons of touristy things I wanted to do but had put off until the last minute.
One day I went on a tour to Teotihuacan- basically ruins, the most famous of which are pyramids. There was some tradition of human sacrifice at the site and, playing into our morbid nature, the tour focused a lot on that. I was trying to behave myself, but as happened on a couple of other visits to archeological sites on this trip, I started to think about Rwanda. Seeing skulls triggers it in me. The piped in sounds effects of people screaming (really... no exaggeration) didn't help and were more than a little disturbing and over the top. I felt better after I made a solo trek up a pyramid and spent some time being contemplative.
Also went to the Basilica de Guadalupe, a holy place for Mexican Catholics (and also, though less frequently acknowledged, descendents of the Aztecs). The place has a really interesting story behind it involving a now-saint named Juan Diego. (I won't get into it here but is worth some research, or an in-person retelling come November.) In December of each year, pilgrims from all over Mexico come to the Basilica, some on bloody knees. All of it- the legend, the place, the martyrdom- really appealed to the Catholic in me. I felt more than little ridiculous- viewing the pope-mobile, riding past Juan Diego's tilma on a moving sidewalk, etc.- but the next day when someone asked me "you don't actually believe all that stuff, do you?," I had to confess that I wasn't sure that I didn't. I was glad I went.
The next day I ventured into the Anthropology Museum with a Swiss friend I met in the hostel. I had wanted to be serious about it and get there early, plan in hand, but the universe insisted I loosen up. I rode in a petal boat in the lake in Chapultepec Park, shared a brownie with ice cream with my new friend, and had a lot of fun doing a "crash course" through the museum, posing for funny pictures with mannequins. I may not be able to speak intelligently about ancient Mesoamerica, but hooray for yet another opportunity to be a big kid.
...And, of course, I said goodbye.
Spent 17 of my first 24 hours in Guadalajara sleeping (the Christmas movies playing on the bus (already!) kept me from sleeping well during the trip from DF). Have spent most of the rest of the time shopping, which is not at all like me, but has been sort of fun.
Today I went to a fancy mall to buy new running shoes for the marathon, which blew a week worth of budget. Also went to the massive, 3-story Mercado Liberdad in search of yummy street food, and it was just amazing. Then, by mistake (needed laundry soap and the bus dropped me on its front door step), I ended up inside Wal-Mart. Tramatic.
Guadalajara is very clean and beautiful and has everything a girl could want, including (expecially) Indian food. (Comforting, because to have heard me talk before I left DF, you would have thought I was being sent into exile or something... certainly not to a city of 4 million people). There is even a little baby metro that I can ride if I start missing Mexico City too much. There is some of the best food I've ever eaten here. Around town I can see billboards advertising the marathon. There are these road signs everywhere- signs that read "Nogalas" with a little arrow. Yikes.
This is a private blog 
