January 31, 2023 by Cassandra Johnson
Status: Translating Mexican documents and now being in Mexico (next trip, leaving this city of Merida for Oaxaca) and noting that the next document to be translated is from Oaxaca.
It’s hard not to feel I am where I should be when past experiences and fantasizing about seeing more of the world are now mixing again. Still I can’t say it’s all fun and games, being the life I want it to be is definitely still to come between working nomadically and feeling comfortable and secure all the time. It ebbs and flows. I note the current reality as a beautiful struggle.
So, I wanted to be a freelance translator when I took up traveling again. I had traveled with my non-profit job and had a hard time forgetting I needed to be back and what still needed to be done once I did get back. Though I had fun, those thoughts lingered. This time is different. I don’t have to be back and sometimes I worry that I have to come back. Sometimes, I miss not being back.
For now, I am liking my changing schedule. Not so random days can include lunch with a one-day roomie from France in which speaking the language we have most in common is Spanish, having lunch in a restaurant with larger than life pictures of Gandhi and Amy Winehouse, stopping into the University of Yucateca in Merida and eating green curry Asian and European food with a Mexican spin while listening to US/British American rock and pop like “Maniac”. Yet, this is still nothing to say of what the current city is most notable for including the cenotes, Mayan ruins, Mayan traditions, colonial influences and Yucatecan food. Taking everything in is magnificent and occasionally a feat.
Recall the adventure book where “you choose” the ending as you go if you will. My less than dramatic version means: I take a break here, hit up a museum there, have lunch with friends, hit up a bar, go to Cantina Negrita, go to Tropico to watch Karaoke and have the best margaritas I have ever tasted, go to the nicest most economical Cuban restaurant (La Cubanita) in the area and lavish a bit more on an establishment here in there on the street, Paseo de Montejo. Still, there are shows all weekend, festivals, events, an abundance of pets and strays in a dog and cat friendly city complementing a focus on biking, roller blading, skateboarding, abundant park spaces, and working and studying friendly people all around. Where I am still fitting in is through working, touring, relaxing, stressing, luxuriating and appreciating. That is all for me and that is everything.