Everyone,
It has been more than a month and we haven´t moved out of spitting distance from the capital. Our first real stop was at a house in the mountains above the town of Tepoztlan. We have been there for a month a half living in our tent inside a tipi out in the yard, which worked fine until the wind starting howling through the night making outdoor sleep impossible (in which case we were able to sleep inside the house). There have also been a couple really wild lightning storms (one with flashes more than once per second!!!) Our daily routine has consisted of waking up slowly, drinking coffee, working a little, eating breakfast, relaxing, working a little more, eating, relaxing, eating again, and then watching a movie or something before bed (roughing it, we know). The work we did was a good mix of gardening, landscaping, and light construction. In the time that we were there the property went from overgrown useless lot to beautiful, food producing paradise (slight exaggeration). Specifically we built two new garden beds, built a cold frame for tomatoes, weed whacked a lot, harvested barely-edible fruit, moved rock from one place to another, built and lined trails, and dug a hole six and half feet deep.
Also worth specific mention is how well we´ve been eating. Isaac and Gissela, the couple that hosted us, are ardent organic shoppers, which is difficult to do in Mexico. In the several weeks we were there we never ate the same thing twice for dinner; we´re talking crazy variety, often the product of on the spot stoner ingenuity. They also started an organic market in town in which we able to participate and purchase all kinds of wonderful, local treats.
We make frequent trips down into town on the bus to use internet, buy food, and stretch our legs. Tepoztlan is a really low-key, alternative town with a vibrant market and a pyramid way above on the mountain. We hiked up to the pyramid with Erin and Josh who just so happened to be coming here before we ever knew we´d be here (see photos on both of our Facebooks). Seeing friends was a really special treat and made us realize actually how much we miss our friends and families. On one particularly beautiful day Issac, Gissela and we took an all day hike over a few mountains to another little town and then rode the bus home. We also went to a really cool all-night house party and made our own at-home Halloween fiesta complete with jack-o-lantern zuchini. However, we are still waiting to find a situation where we can make lots of new friends and have some consistent fun. Living at the house was cool and all but we didn´t have a lot of escape from our housemates who could get a little trying at times. Imagine living with the biggest stoner you know with a tenth grade education who thinks he´s a guru and has seen every conspiracy theory documentary ever made. Now imagine that you have to sit through two hours of conspiracy lecture daily on the very subject that you spent years of your life studying at a university. There were definitely times when we wanted to just stand up and leave rather than deal with the mind numbing nonsense but that was the worst of it. He´s actually totally correct in most that he preaches but he has a special gift for making truth sound like lunacy. In the grand scheme that really didn´t bring us down and most of our days were spent either being productive or cuddling with the EIGHT amazing, hilarious, adorable kitties.
So, tomorrow we set out in search of our ideal winter. First back to Mexico City to pick up some essentials and then off to Oaxaca. We have heard nothing but great things and every Mexican says it´s the best state in the country. November and December are high season for tourism down on the beach and we plan on taking advantage of that to make some money. We´ve been given some good ideas on stuff to bring and ways to make money off the thousands of people that can´t find enough places to spend. Hopefully we´ll find a nice place to stay for a couple months and make some new friends. While ya´ll are bundling up for the holidays, we´ll be tanning on one of the cheapest beaches in the world. Anyone looking for a place to spend the holidays? We´ll be somewhere between Puerto Escondido and Mizunte. Also, we just posted photos to Facebook, one album on Emily´s account and a few on Tyler´s. We´ll try to get the blog up and running when we've got a more comfortable, affordable internet situation. We've gotten so comfortable here it was almost hard to leave but now our bags are packed and we´ve remembered that this is only the beginning. Vamos a la playa, Tyler y Emily
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