Veracruz

I feel like I have not been blogging enough since I have been in the lovely country of Mexico, so let me catch you up. A few weeks ago I was able to take a trip up to Veracruz. Two other girls and I had decided to go and spend four days in Puerto Escondido when literally the day before we left we decided that Veracruz was a better plan.We got a lift to to the bus station to check out tickets and found that we could be gone in just a few hours. With tickets purchased and zero plan, we made our way to Veracruz. Lets just say we sort of wish we had a plan when we showed up at the beach in Veracruz at six in the morning with no idea what we were going to be doing for the next four days.

Lonely Planet saved us from a miserable trip. We looked up Veracruz and some of the sights and then headed to the center of town to find a cheap hotel. We ended up finding a hotel for about 8 dollars a person a night right in the center of town. The beach was about a five minute bus ride that cost less then a dollar and al pastor tacos were everywhere in sight for five pesos a taco. Let's just say we had the time of our lives!

We were able to hit up the Veracruz aquarium, swim on a sandbar in the middle of the ocean and play with star fish and search for shells, sit on the beach all day, and we got to dance in the streets to salsa music.

Since we were in the center of town, big bands would play every night right outside our hotel. On our last night in Veracruz We sat pleasantly outside the crowd and watched everyone dance with the biggest grins on our faces. Before we knew it, all three of us were dancing with Mexican boys! How does that happen? It was pure amazing. We all got asked to dance several times and spent the rest of the night denying coffee and party offers.

With absolutely no plans, Veracruz turned into a lovely surprise for the three of us.

Here I Am

My life has been filled with magic. Maybe magic isn’t the best word to describe how I am feeling, but my life is full of inspiration. I am so inspired by those who feel their emotions so deeply. Who understand where they are placed in life and run from there. I am so inspired by the countless one line sentences that capture my world and turn it upside down full of meaning and hope. Frankine Magazine, an Australian fashion magazine that holds indie hip retro fashion to a new level wrote a small article about a new and upcoming musician. The musician ended his interview by saying, “Do what you do and do it like you mean it!”

Here we are in a world full of countless amounts of people all running about through life differently. Every person has their own way of living life. I find that the best way to live my life is through religious and spiritual inspiration. By religious inspiration, I am referring to the fact that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know what and whom I believe in and find great comfort in that. Spiritual inspiration I find through my daily life in music, books, conversation, and the pages of events that unfold in front of my oval hazel eyes daily.

I personally can’t help but thrive off of spiritual insights; things that are so simple and logical, yet so hard to come by in this world. I feel a rush of instant love and inspiration for those moments. I can’t help but smile. It reminds me of the first time I heard the poem “Photograph” by Andrea Gibson. My future sister in law Michelle sat on a wooden chair. Her back placed gently against the wooden back and body slouching for comfort. She took deep breaths. She stared my loving beautiful sister in the eyes and presented her with the gift of love through spoken word. “I wish I was a photograph tucked into the corners of your wallet I wish I was a photograph you carried like a future in your back pocket…” Michelle displayed the whole poem out in front of us beautifully. It laid out on our wooden floor without hesitation. Michelle had memorized the poem previously while her and my sister had been on a relationship break. She had listened to Andrea’s ministry over and over again retracing again and again the simple words placed in meaningful sentences lining her delicate ears with the sounds that came out through white ear bud speakers and a cord connected to that little device. They knew that love was not always magic, sometimes it was black and blue, or it hurt the most. (Andrea Gibson: Maybe I need you) They knew that what protected our hearts were only rib bones and other various parts. (Ingrid Michaelson: Breakable)

So here I am. I’m living in Mexico and I am offering my life up to freedom. I am here to listen and to investigate and to find out how beautiful this world really is. I am here to find the things that richly develop my simple yet meaningful life. I am here to feel everything as deeply as possible. I am doing what I do, and doing it like I mean it!

Baby you've got the sort of hands to rip me apart
And baby you've got the sort of face to start this old heart
But your eyes are warning me this early morning
That my love's too big for you my love

Baby you've got the sort of laugh that waters me
And makes me grow tall and strong and proud and flattens me
I find you stunning, but you are running me down
My love's too big for you my love
My love's too big for you my love

And if I was stronger then I would tell you no
And if I was stronger then I will leave this show
And if I was stronger then I would up and go
But here I am and here we go again

Baby you've got the sort of eyes that tell me tales
That your sort of mouth just will not say, the truth impales
That you don't need me, but you won't leave me
My love's too big for you my love
My love's too big for you my love

And if I was stronger then I would tell you no
And if I was stronger then I will leave this show
And if I was stronger then I would up and go
But here I am and here we go again

Tell me what to do to take away the you?

And if I was stronger then I would tell you no.
And if I was stronger then I will leave this show
And if I was stronger then I would up and go
But here I am and here we go again

-Ingrid Michaelson

Lost and Found

When I came to Mexico I envisioned in my head what I believed Mexico would be like. With great surprise, Mexico has been nothing that I thought it would be. It’s been so completely different. I figured I would come home with new visions and insights about the world. I am sorry to say that this has not happened. I am still me! I feel like the people I’ve met and experiences I have had are happening for a reason and changing me, but not my life. My life is an amazing thing that I love. Being here in this amazing country has done nothing but added new wonderful experiences and a reality that I knew existed but was hidden.

I came to Mexico knowing who I was but still wanting to find myself. When you have nothing to find, you tend to get lost in the rain. Walking through muddy flooded streets this week has inspired me to remember who I am and realize that I already know my answers I just have to be true to them.

Hopefully the next month and a half will bring nothing but fun and exciting experiences with my head still on top of my shoulders.