It is officially 2021. The fireworks of Las Casas continue to echo through the neighborhoods and my head as I struggle to find clarity in my hangover. We have to pack-up and move from our little Eden, a sad reality to usher in the New Year with. It has been just over 2 months here in the deep south of Mexico and while my daughter and I have found our way clear of the depression that gripped our family so tightly, the prospect of heading home, even in a slow detoured fashion weighs heavy.
As many people also chose to do, we did not make resolutions, but rather goals for this new year. Things to look forward to, things we want to include in our lives, but the reality is no one knows what this year holds. 2020 was such a shit show that I think we all have PTSD, yet I see so many posting happy thoughts about it being over, but is it?
Cut to January 2nd, the day we left Las Casas. Our new found friend, the owner of our Airbnb came to say goodbye as we packed our newly fixed car, and optimistically set off on our road trip. This gentleman was such an asset as we encountered problem after problem after problem. 1st was the burnt out clutch on our car as Jesse narrowly escaped a steep decent and ultimate death from driving down a flight of stairs, what can we say, these roads make no sense. Next was my daughter's broken computer, something she can not live without, and acquiring a new one was tricky. Then there was Jesse leaving his new iPhone in a taxi which lead us on a wild goose chase to try to find it, lock it, and deal with Verizon who, as a side note seriously sucks and I will forever hate them after my experience here. Anyway, the poor guy had to help us way too much. So off we went! Headed into a new year and new town.
20 minutes later we were driving back into Las Casas, dragging some part of our car. The front plastic plate of the undercarriage had come loose, blown back as we drove on the freeway and threatened to rip out the underside of our car. Luckily we didn't have a serious disaster and we were able to remove the plastic piece with the use of a friendly man's tools and return to the road. 6 hours later we arrived at a town to rest for the night. Our hotel was... well as our daughter put it "like an in patient mental facility", she has an amazing way with words. We escaped the confines of the bare room and found a meal nearby. Gratefully they had wine and I kept my eyes on the glass to avoid the obviously sketchy drug deal going on in the park across the street. I won't say that we actually saw anything go down, but it was very clear by body language that a woman who was cracked out was willing to do anything to get a hit from the apparent drug dealer.
After a night squished in a twin sized, rock hard bed, I was determined to make it a fresh new day. I took a nice long, hot shower, the first in 4 weeks. Wait, wait, its not that I hadn't showered in 4 weeks, but that the shower at our place was light on pressure and the hot water ran out very quickly... which did mean I didn't actually shower that often hahahaha. So I'm having a wonderful time and finish to step out into a lake... that slid out under the door and into the other room. I quickly used the floor towel to try to shift the flow and saw that in the glow of the bathroom light, the bedroom was quickly becoming a lake of its own. The off angle walls and sloped floor eschewing the growing problem toward my suitcase on the floor and simultaneously toward Jess' on the opposite side of the room. Needless to say, I ended up repeatedly wringing out towels until it seemed I had hand moped the disgusting little hotel room by hand. So much for that nice clean feeling after a shower.
OK so the first few days of 2021 were sucking. But I was dead set on having a good attitude. We hit the road, day two driving, and returned to the city of Puebla. We had spent a couple nights there on our way down to southern Mexico at the end of October and found it delightful. Upon our return we found the covid factor up considerably and the quaint town deserted. I have to say this is a really good thing in our minds as I am immune compromised and I feel safer when I see hard restrictions in place. Our hotel was beautiful with head to toe sanitation including all our bags. Entire streets were blocked off, and restaurants had removed outdoor seating to allow only takeout. We were able to find a little place nearby so I had another excellent mole fix, and we holed up in our luxurious room. Another side note, I've decided Puebla offers my personal favorite style of mole, a valuable note of interest is that each city has their own twist of the incredible dish and the nuances make a world of difference. We left Puebla a tad melancholy, the city is really incredible, even a place we all agreed we could live in. We definitely didn't dedicate enough time to it, yet we are pretty sure we won't find ourselves there again. In fact, I don't know that we will find ourselves in much of the areas we visited. Its been a wonderful journey far far far away from the USA red zones, but maybe too far far far away for another vacation.
Day 3 we headed to San Miguel de Allende, a town I had been to with my in-laws many years ago and felt the need to return to, again since we are unsure we will find ourselves in this area, its a must to hit now. San Miguel is a town that simmers in gold it seems, dripping with jewels of shops, cascading flowers and decadent culinary delights. It only took another 6 hours on the road, watching a full blown road-rage fight play out with machine gun strapped police involved and our car sandwiched in the middle, a massive detour and some tummy issues, but once we arrived, it did not disappoint.
to be continued...but as you know, I need Wine First.
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