Since Guadalajara was tepid to cold, I appreciate having Merida before and Oaxaca after, all the much more.
There is the possibility I had situated myself in the wrong Guadalajaran neighborhood in a mismatched hostel. There is the possibility I was there at the wrong time with standoffish co-guests and staff. They seemed friendlier to one another. Fortunately, I had not experienced such a feeling before nor have I experienced similar, following this one, save a few people who don’t click or clash within the transient groups.
There were the intermittent nice people in the city, but the overall feeling of being in the way, while doing what anyone else was doing, seemed to be a running theme. I had to suddenly realize how my usual experience abroad had spoiled me with kindness, warmth, and excitement. Other places were not without awkward or tense times. Those times were just so far from the norm.
Nice encounters could certainly be nice throughout my visit to Guadalajara, but I still missed some typical courtesies, which I extend as well in my interactions. I am glad Oaxaca reiterated my good and even flattering experiences in Mexico and that Peru is cementing my affection and joy of continuing my travels.
Was this Guadalajara or the city-particular reception to me or just a coincidence to the spaces in which I found myself. Maybe? There were moments I even felt like some of the truly kind people looked somewhat concerned or particularly attentive to me.
I acknowledged my excited expectations had finally waned and coupling my accommodations with a final hotel stay gave me some needed reprieve, for I could hibernate for a day, doing what I wanted to do indoors plus the staff was friendly. I picked up my personal city walk a day later. I opted out of the Tlaquepaque and the Tequila train tour to put money towards my next good times. I am open to doing both later.
I was momentarily concerned that my own energy would shift into a single bitterness. I am eternally grateful for Merida, Oaxaca, and Lima currently. (I may revisit Cusco and the Ica region of Peru again soon).
I do not want to judge or accept only one 7-day stay as my final impression of Guadalajara so I will leave this here and enjoy the time I have traveling now, while continuing to be thankful for all I have been able to do, including the tough lessons learned along with the beauty of the places and the pleasant people who continue to dwell there.
As I found myself doing my gratitude recognition and being prayerfully mindful of the simple things I have like my basic needs and even many desires, I realized what I can easily overlook. I usually recognize what is recent and constant but had to note, there is something more. There is another more grounded foundation for gratitude. This aspect can be irreplaceable. There is the appreciation for the multitude of experiences passed, places I got the honor of seeing, circles in which I moved, and people who accepted me in the most respectable, affectionate ways and then there are people to whom I had the pleasure of providing help, encouragement and support.
The memories of circumstances, events, past friends and current friends will always have their place. You and I cannot be robbed of these fortunes. There is an appreciation for experiences and circumstances I will always hold dear or from which I was able to recover and learn. We are all fashioned with a unique story. I am sure we can think of interesting people we have met, people that find us interesting, misfortune we have escaped or surpassed, and just simply being somewhere maybe especially fun or peaceful. The fact is no one can take away the moments you were able to live through and the personal way they made you feel. They will always have space and credit for being a part of your process. We get to be here and unlike new developments, there is an irreplaceable gratitude we can affix to the lives we have lived, to date.
Getting to experience the college student’s life was one stand out. Immediately following high school, I got to be the first in my immediate family to go away for this honor. I am lucky my parents and several of my teachers normalized this path for me. You get quite the momentum when people support your progress and or/ treat your path as given.
Being able to explore my cultural interests has been another spotlight. Volunteering freely here and in South America was a reminder of being in a brave and comfortable enough place to decide to uproot my life and provide some assistance for others. I can always appreciate the extended leap I took. Otherwise, I could have never counted so many international people among my friends.
Thanks to my parents, I also feel there is this work and study ethic forged inside my brothers and I, adding to our perseverance and endurance. I cannot say all forms of striving are healthy or necessary (it can go left) but I am happy to see many instances were efforts equal purpose and achievement. The incredible influence that my parents, their parents and our ancestors have on us is something I can be grateful to hold within me, especially when I am down. Eventually, I get back to hope.
I am grateful no one can take away our experience. No one can take away all we got to do and see and who we got to meet. For better or worse, as I get older, I am remembering how I have survived and in what I have relished. I am remembering to have appreciation for moments passed. Different circumstances, different settings, different crowds. Remaining grateful for what comes now, I am pleased we get to have so many priceless gems tucked away.
My heart is heavy with all the many lives, now lost to Coronavirus
(COVID-19) in China and throughout the world. With my company’s new option, starting
Monday, of being able to work from home for a week, I will do so accordingly.
As someone who takes public transportation for quite some time to get there and
back, I want to diminish the chance of being a harm to others or myself. Not
everyone has options like I do, and I think people are commendable in all the
various situations they are facing.
The gym has been a good healthy outlet for me to visit daily
(save one alternating day). Working on my healthiness has done some work for my
psyche in general and a nice bonus is that it is within walking distance. I
also find it healthy to be able to be out and about and socialize in these
continued smaller ways – being out – getting to the stores and the gym has been
nice.
Ironically, I already imagine I will get more done working
from home. I already know, per the chance we got to do so for about a month
during our renovation. It has been quite the year already, well actually two
years, I would say, starting with the flood that totaled most of my coworkers’
cars in the parking garage. We’ve had many ups and downs as a team.
Cuba. I coincidentally got a loving message from
Dignora yesterday. I recalled her in my spontaneous
audio suggestion on Wednesday as the first casa particular in which we stayedin
2016. She reached out to check on me and let me know they were okay. I think going
through our tasks with extra special precautions is key. I think deeply even
more of my fam in Ohio (where I grew up) and friends everywhere. I thought I
had some gratitude before but I’m really appreciating life and how friendly and
well-intentioned most people can be.
A lady asked me if I found any food as we were leaving the grocery store today😊. I said, “some” and asked her how she did? We’re lucky, in this particular store in DC, in Friendship Heights. I can’t speak to the whole DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia area) but it wasn’t rough at the store just a little up the street. Even when the toilet paper section was starkly bare, next to a lot of other products, there was a considerable number of items left. You only had to reach further back than normal for what you would normally get or settle for brands or items, close enough to what you might desire. Also, there was plenty of food stocked in the perhaps not so healthy areas😊. Then, lo and behold, a smiling Safeway employee rolled out a skid of toilet paper next to the self-checkout line to which I was heading. Even then, people only gingerly started taking one 12 pack two-ply at a time. I don’t know what happens after I leave or what’s going to happen but did I ever really know? We’re just kind of very accustomed to life being a certain way – and that’s okay too. A journey is a journey even when we’re close to home.
At past and first glance, I thought about looking forward to what weekends are supposed to be and especially to those extended weekends and random PTO days, here and there. Then, I had a moment. Something different occurred to me, with the help of some hardworking YouTubers, writers and other creative people. Maybe I’d much rather capitalize on these times and power through, in an effort to have my future consist of what feels more like endless Saturdays, commencing and ending with volunteering, writing, translating, traveling, family, friends, discovery and soaking up forever suns and restful nights. Not a bad challenge that leads to that finish line.
I’m fortunate to have a birthday that ends in my favorite month, February. Reflecting on everything, every person I’ve met, knowledge of every ancestor paving the way and all my personal experiences, painful or dear – knowledge of what got me here is padding my steps.
I’ve worked hard before but for some different errant objectives. These were not regretful. Many were quite commendable, but rather for another time and another me not as ready as this one (probably even less developed for the me to come).
Being altogether better at meditating, resting up, working and chilling in between… I’m curiously excited about what and who I get to meet and of course, revisit. More to be shared. More to be seen.
Before my current travels, I left you with a taste of or rather a lot of my life in the desert of Peru. I shared heading a bit further to Arequipa and Cusco, and especially Machu Picchu. Well, back then, a younger me had decided before my 183-day stay was up, I needed to follow the best advice I knew on how to extend my time in Peru. I knew in order to continue or rather stay again; I would need to leave. I would need to leave the country and reenter it to reset my time. I had planned ahead, at least mentally and although it would cost me some bolivianos (as a US citizen), I knew Bolivia was my next abbreviated stop. I selected it for various reasons before I left the US for South America and for some additional ones once I was there.
People especially get to worrying about you when you’re away in a land foreign from the one you share with them and I imagine there was some relief knowing I was around new friends in various spots. Yet, still, there is a sense of imagining you alone, because truly you are apart from the foundation of the familiarity you shared with them and though you can feel complete on some days, this is also what can feed into your own homesickness and loneliness.
God rest my mother’s beautiful soul. She was no longer with us when I first ventured away from the States. This was only to Canada but knowing how much she worried about my father and each of my brothers, even for example, when I was two hours away at school or even when we were out longer than expected, this would have been a lot for her. Knowing her history, before I was here, I understood it to be linked to her childhood and losing her mother. My heart is warmed and twisted further still realizing that while we may mistakenly think dads not remembering the specifics of crushes, current best friend’s names, or who sits behind you in 5th period science means their nerves are made of more steel, this is not necessarily the truth. My dad was a traveler before my parents met and married, but I found him to be just as worried in his own way – at the same time excited for me – at the same time relieved when my feet were back on Washington DC soil followed by a visit to Ohio. I can’t help but miss all the unique things he would have to say to us in the most unique ways.
Actually, I have to now be perfectly honest with you. This post took a turn. I was ready to share how I entered La Paz, Bolivia. However, I’m holding space for my parents now… for our parents… a moment of recognition for hard work instilled in us, for compassion, for the ability to grow and for gratitude. I look forward to sharing again and I don’t even know what comes next (though I kinda think I do) but I’m happy to have a space to create and express and share and be thankful. Thank you.
Intriguing mishaps can meet you no matter the distance. These
would be ones like those unfolding on my early morning metro commute one very early
August morning. These would also be those hiccups that presumably seem to be
mere circumstance, but sometimes, I wonder. I wonder if certain stumbling
blocks are the signs and whispers (which I’m incidentally listening to for
guidance) — are they signs of my own misdirection. Literally and figuratively.
How about those obstacles? I happen to feel like I am at a crossroads so
naturally I wonder. When I make one decision or change my mind, I wonder. Which
step is next? Is something not seemingly working out because I need to go about
it differently or do I need to not go about it all?
Mishaps also have a brilliant way of instilling gratitude. Gratitude
could just be there on its own but there are times when I see it underscored by
the knowledge of what the downside has been or could be. As simple as the experience
of being caught out in a monstrous storm versus having a sunny day off from
work.
It was just earlier this month – heading to work. I have become
oddly accustomed to waking up much earlier to allow for the extra time it will
take to get there. You see, there is customary maintenance underway on the metro
and that means that the service for both the Blue Line and Yellow Line are
interrupted a couple stops before I get to my regular stop. Consequently, there
are free shuttle buses covering the gaps. This is when gratitude battles with
agitation = Round 1. I am actually quite grateful for the inconvenience
convenience. I remind myself.
I’ve taken this as an opportunity to engulf books – one of
my pastimes which I’m pleased I’ve avidly gotten back to not neglecting (over
the past several years). Before getting
to the shuttle, I take two trains and it’s no rush, because as I was mentioning
I’ve decided to get up early to allow for trains possibly not showing up on
time, breakdowns on buses, etc. This was the perfect day to be prepared for
both.
The second train I transfer to took about 20 minutes longer to get to the shuttle bus destination because of a down circuit at another station. Once on the shuttle bus, driven by a friendly Ethiopian American gentleman, we journeyed what seemed steadily along. However, this was not the time to get comfortable. Not yet. Not the moment riders collapse away into their respective phones and other reading material. So, it seemed, the bus suddenly could not start back up once the bus driver stopped to open the door before crossing a railroad track (the obligatory traffic regulation).
I thought the two out-of-service buses eventually pulling up
alongside him were going to rescue us from the highway. I thought this laughably
but still fully imagining the possibility. Out of Service rotating on
the bus signage where a number and destination usually was meant they weren’t
currently running a route.
A couple of anxious passengers began standing and moving up
front, towards the bus driver. They had to be thinking similarly. We had been sitting
in silence for a considerable amount of time as the bus driver tried to restart
the bus. Once, he powered down completely, the lights turned out briefly, but…nothing.
The two moving buses, however, mainly held up a few cars in
the next lane, while one of the respective bus drivers did board our bus to see
if she could help him. This also made complete sense, except for, they were oddly
not communicating with us. She finally asked where we were headed. I found this
oddly hilarious since we were not one or two random hitchhikers but rather a
bus load of about 40 passengers headed to a couple of designated stops specifically
designated by metro along a typical work route. She said she could get us to
King Street. We were so thankful for her. (I thanked the first bus driver as we
left him. He had gotten us as far as he could and now could get help without a
bunch of anxious eyes on his back).
Our new driver immediately took us to a point that has recently
become very familiar. This is where usually about 1% of the bus riders exit while
most of us get off at the second shuttle stop, closest to our employment. (There
are various shuttle buses available at other stations too, if one happens to be
traveling beyond those other temporarily closed connecting stations).
This particular day, we assumed there would be a second stop to come. We were incorrect. She said she was not a certain type of bus and we all had to get out here. I write “certain” because I’m not sure exactly what distinction there was. She didn’t say “not a shuttle” so mystery still remains there.
I felt myself inwardly – maybe not so inwardly – smirking throughout
these events. To work on limiting the anguish and knowing that I got up early
for a reason, it became one of those times, I touched on in an earlier post, on
which you will look back and laugh, but you actually find it so random that you find yourself
laughing in the moment.
Getting off the bus, I made a quick turn on to King Street, knowing I would walk the rest of the way, At least we were in the vicinity and off the highway. People were standing outside now, hesitant and agitated before figuring out next steps. I thought to myself how they didn’t realize their fortune. I thought they have obviously never been dropped off by a local vehicle taking them in the wrong direction in Havana before. (future blog post to come😊).
Overall, life is now a far cry from dealing with car notes
and car problems (though I have missed my middle-aged Ford on some grocery
store and additional weekend errands). My recollection here is just the other
side of some trouble with modern convenience but I also pause to say I am
grateful for the high probability of on-time and quick service that gets me
where I need and want to be. Since I gave up my car before heading to Peru the
first time, I’m pretty fortunate to live in a large enough area with a good
public transportation system. An added plus is living in such a walk-friendly space.
Universe just simply took a moment to say: Here’s a reminder
of the importance of leaving an hour earlier during a partial metro shutdown😊
Also, here is the importance of temporary solutions, good
systems being made better, a number of helpful people when it’s not always
expected, and a fairly healthy portion of self-reliance.
