In two days - Monday - I'll be leaving for Mexico. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to miss you! I'll be hoping and wishing that maybe there is a computer somewhere in the hotel that I can use to stop by and say hello, but somehow I doubt that I will be so lucky. I guess that means I'll have to live without blogging and my wonderful friends for a week. But still, I am very much looking forward to this vacation. It will be the first time in my entire life - 27 years - that I've gone out of the country. I am excited about seeing a different culture. Plus, I'll get to actually see if my years of classes of Spanish have paid off. But just in case, I'm bringing along my handy electronic handheld Spanish-English translator that I've had since high school.Some of the things that I'm most excited about are swimming with the dolphins. It's a little expensive for this opportunity, but it's something I just can't pass up. Then there is the snorkeling in the cenotes. That should be just divine! I'm anxious about seeing for the first time in my life clear blue waters. I've only been to the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast, and its waters aren't pretty blue. The ruins at Tulum and Coba should be quite the adventure, too. It's going to be pulling it pretty close, but I'm hoping they will have started decorating for El Dia de los Muertos. That is The Day of the Dead, November 1-2. I won't be there on those days but I'll be there until October 14th, so hopefully I will catch some sights of this particular festivity. I'm not much of a shopper, but I do want to purchase a souvenir with this theme. The little skeletons are cute. You might be thinking I'm weird because of my interest in this, but let me tell you a little about this special holiday.
El Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday in which the people celebrate those who have died. It is a way of honoring their dead, as well as remembering them. It is not morbid at all, but a very festive and happy occasion. Everywhere gravesites are decorated and there are lots of foods and candies. There are parades and people wearing masks and costumes.
It really is a shame that I will not be there to see this, but again, maybe I'll get a chance to see some pre-holiday decorations.
Let me get back to what I wanted to say in the beginning. I'm really going to miss everyone and I hope you'll come back and visit me when I return. I'll be looking forward to catching up on all your blogs, too.
24 comments:
Hey Stacey,
We will miss ya too..
have a very nice journey and enjoy every moment of it.
Bring for you and for us some wonderful experiences.
God bless.
Do you really KNOW that you are going to miss everyone?
And what if you feel that you're years of Spanish classes haven't paid off...?
I've noticed, at times when I'm eagerly anticipating the future, is one of the most effective times to be with the present because it magnifies how we usually live anyway, trying to escape this moment (into a memory of the past or creating a potential future).
When I choose to go off into my thoughts I end up missing the fullness of what is here now, in all it's totality...a dog snoring, a smile from across the room. Surely the simple and profound is all here where ever and when we choose to be present.
What if the plane never takes off, how many moments would have been lost in thought?
I appreciate your sincerity and honesty, really.
Best wishes for your holiday and , by the way, thanks for introducing me to your circle of bloggers.
I agree with you regarding the dolphin swim, Stacey. I suspect you'll really feel a spirtual surge after that. Maybe one that will sustain you for a long, long time.
Have a good time and enjoy life.
Hello Stacey,
Have a great time in Mexico.
One of the nice things about a vacation is that it increases our awareness of things around us. (Probably because everything is new and fresh.) Try to be aware of yourself too.
We will all miss you.
Good luck,
Hasta la fiesta en siesta!
Goeie reis!
En prettige vakantie!
Down the road, Stacey!
Take care. Have a nice time.
I'll think about you.
Welcome back, Stacey. Zara doesn't speak for the rest of us. Bad Zara!
Interesting journey! I look forward to yur return and more observations. Once one has put a foot on the path, there will be others that will help, and others that you must help. All paths lead to the same place, the top. We each tread our own path, but bear in mind that the journey is long and speed is not a requirement.
...Z
Hi Sadiq,
Thanks for your kind wishes. I really did have a nice journey. I now feel a connection with another part of the world.
Hello Blow'n,
You always bring up the most interesting things... :) I mean that in a good way.
Now that the past is past, yes, I really knew that I missed everyone because I could feel it. I missed the conversations and comments and visits to my ring of bloggers. It's hard to go a week without the internet.
Perhaps if the plane never did take off, all the anticipation would have been in vain, but the fact is that the plane did take off, and in the end I spent many moments in full awareness of my surroundings in Mexico, taking in new sights and sounds and experiences. Everything from a conversation in Mexican, to the children's brightly colored dresses, types of flowers and butterflies, to the tired look on the working-men's faces. I was and am glad for those moments of awareness. I have to say I was probably more aware in Mexico than I've been in a long time!
Hi Utenzi,
As you've probably read by now, the dolphin swim didn't quite happen. :( But I think I made the right decision.
Hi Rob,
Thanks. Yes, I quite like my circle of bloggers, too. They're great!
Thom,
Thanks! It's so much easier to enjoy life when living in a paradise like Mexico in the Caribbean!
Thanks, Beard. As you've probably read in an earlier comment of mine on this post, you are right. This particular vacation sparked my awareness to new heights.
Castor,
I kinda understood your first sentence, but your second and third are way beyond me. :)
George,
"Down the road" is right! Let me tell you about those roads in Mexico... oh boy.
Thanks for thinking about me, Change.
By the way, I went to your blog and no recent updates! :(
Hi Zareba,
You are right. It does seem that once I had put my foot on the path, I somehow ran into others and everyone has offered a helping hand. If I am able - and should I have anything to offer - I'd like to pay it forward. I hope someday I know a thing or two that someone else can use on their journey.
Are our moments of full awareness in anticipating the future or in 'being' where we are ?
Did you notice the subtle colors on your step mother's dress, before you left, pause to notice the leaves on the trees outside the house and the expression on your father's face, as you prepared for your trip?
Do our thoughts and concepts, our mind, get in the way of seeing on a daily basis? In a new enviornment, where our mind is less able to 'assist' by predicting etc. are we not almost requred to be more present and aware? Is this not the attraction of 'travelling' to a NEW place?
Oh, and lastly, when you were completly absorbed in observing the child's brightly colored dress, the flowers and butterflies and the facial expressions, of the workmen's faces, were you missing anything
or anyone?
Blow'n,
Our moments of the highest awareness are in the now, not in the anticipation of future events.
No, I didn't really notice what my stepmother was wearing that day. She normally doesn't wear dresses but I didn't take note of what she was wearing. My father didn't come along to the airport because he had a dental appointment, but he did come to visit me a few days before and he had, as usual, a look of worry on his face. (My father worries a little too much about things....)
I do think that our thoughts get in the way of seeing, but is it not natural to think and is it not natural to take note of things that we do see? Can't awareness and thought go hand-in-hand with each other? If I saw a beautiful yellow butterfly, I wouldn't actually appreciate its beauty without first thinking how beautiful it was. Without thought, it would just be a butterfly. Actually, without thought, it might not be anything at all.
But yes, by being in Mexico, I think I was more aware more often than I would be had I been home.
And OK, you got me. During the moments I was noticing things, I didn't actually miss anyone. But when I was in the hotel room doing nothing, and had nothing new to see or experience, I did. :)
:)
Post a Comment