Category: Musings and Mutterings

Many of you know that I have a terrible onion allergy.  I am also sickeningly (hehe get it) sensitive to far tooooooooo many things to make life simple.  Darn it!

Early this morning, I got to check out how the Mexican hospital system works.  I was feeling terribly ill with either a horrible reaction to a bit of onion juice that was on my avacado that I had eaten, or Moctezumas revenge. When we got to the hospital, I was ushered straight in.  I was immediately put thru the vital signs, I was taken over to a bed and had an IV inserted in less than an hour.  I was given a shot of cortisone, given a shot of anithistimine and a shot for nausea. I was constantly monitored by a nurse and the doctor checked on me frequently. All my blood work was done and back in a very short time and I was released about 2 hours after being put in. I came home, slept like a baby and feel pretty good today, although I am on strict orders to rest and drink plenty of fluids. Diagnosis? Toxic reaction with a stomach infection. Double whammy!!! The bill??  $140.00 US dollars, give or take. Wow!  Except for the language difference,  I was not at all unhappy with the care that I got here.

My travel partner, Lupita, is threatening to call and change my plane tickets if I do not get better, so I have to go lay down and read or write in my journal, or maybe nap..

 

Today was a little slow.  One of my roomies is sick with a nasty cold and had to stay in bed.  I sure hope I don’t catch anything and I hope she gets better soon.

Since Susana was down for the count,  Lupita and I decided we would stick fairly close by.  We went to a town that specializes in green glazed pottery and also to a temple ruin. The people had built ontop of most of the ruins site and just this run down overgrown temple was left with no one trying to recover it. I was told that the State of Oaxaca has 7000 archealogical sites alone, but no money to excavate them. The Mesoamerica area has 70000 and the same applies. No money, so time ravages what’s left and people to the rest. It´s a shame they don´t take their own heritage seriously at times, but you see that in the USA too, so it’s a global thing.

A few funny things. There are signs alllllll over the place for Bimbo. I think it´s a frozen treat of some kind, but the sign is just tooo funny. Also, to look up and see Ferreteria makes me think of a buffet line with little ferrets and trays picking up seeds and fruits and chatting merrily. OK… I admit I´m odd.

Got to thinking about my tomb crawling too! When I was trying to get out of the tombs at Mitla, they were getting ready to close and my tourmates were calling my name for me to come out so as to not be locked in for the night. With the accent, my name sounds like Charron… now correct me, but isn´t that a god of death for some culture… pretty sure it is. In fact, I´m pretty sure he´s the ferryman for the river Styx who helps you to cross over.  So, they were calling for the ferryman of death to come out of tombs.  🙂 fun thoughts, eh?

Too much free time you say?? Maybe. The ladies nap in the afternoon and then go to bed pretty early and otherwise, they are glued to the tv watching spanish soaps at incredible volume. I can´t even think while I´m in there, so the hotel lobby has gotten used to seeing me come for my internet, reading, writing in my journal and just hanging out.

 

Today I went to the  Centro of Oaxaca and visited the Santo Domingo Church among other places, but this place was incredible. Gold leaf on EVERYTHING.  Of course the minute I turn my camera on,  I get the low battery icon.  WHAT!!!! grrrrr.  And since I AM in a church, you can´t  use flash. This equates to taking about 8 shots of the same thing and praying (get it) that one will come out clear. But with no batteries that means you only get to photograph about 2 things.  My compromise was that I tried my best to have a steady hand which of course means I was wobbling all over the place and take a few shots. Then at the gift shop, I bought postcards of the shots I really wanted to be clear.

After leaving there, I felt it was ok to risk not finding another thing so spectacular that I could just keep shooting pics until the battery died. The thing lasted the ENTIRE day.  ( is that the same as the oil that lasted 8 days… but I digress). I got gorgeous photos of Oaxaca. Maybe all that praying did some good.

On a slightly separate note,  how many people who read my blog believe that God would be happy that the church spent tons of money on sparkly vestements and church decorations. Do you think that gained them any more favor than the plain little churches with nary a decoration and poor devout parishoners??  How can you preach the words of Jesus Christ and then make extremely ornate churches instead of taking the money and putting it back into the community…..

Ok, religious rant now complete. Time for bed and if God isn´t pissed off at me and decides to come collect me early, I´ll send you some more news from Mexico.

 

Buenos Noches!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Domingo,_Oaxaca

http://www.camino-real-oaxaca.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Alb%C3%A1n

for anyone who is interested….

But Mescal. Pretty good stuff. I´ll have to bring some home,  if I can.  Just a quickie, internet is going to time out really soon so brief update.

 

Went to Oaxaca to see the dancers.

Went to Monte Alban to see the ruins

Went to a crumbling Dominican Convento that is really a monastary.

Went to a cool place where they carve wooden animals.

Went to a cool place where they invented and perfected black pottery.

Went to a buffet where everyone gorged themselves and I had fruit and a few veggies with bottled water.

 

Until next time! Adios!

Sorry  I  can´t  share the lovely photos of the tombs I crawled on my hands and knees to see today… maybe when I get back.

 

And  I ate the worm!!

 

 

My last post was terribly depressing… I am so sorry! I have made it to Mexico and my gracious hostess has let me have a few minutes on the computer so of course I had to blog! I have been working diligently on my spanish, it sucks tho, and I have visited a bunch of churches already.  I has been great. I go to Oaxaca tomorrow, where I was supposed to see a festival that is being postponed due to violence in the area! WOO HOO…. oh well, as long as they do not cancel the crafts people I will be good.

Went for a walk around the lake this evening. Didn’t get far before I heard splashing noises. Walked a bit further along and stopped at a break in the brush to see what was splashing. Two teenaged boys came running towards me to see what had happened with the splashing. There was a duck that was drowning, his head obviously caught on something. It was really sad.

I’m going to Mexico. Currently, there is political unrest concerning the elections. I hope I come home in one piece. Make sure you guys take care of yourselves.

I always feel like my blogs should ‘say’ something, or at least be entertaining.  Probably because it’s a public forum and I feel I must produce for the public.  But tonight I don’t feel like it. I’m just going to rant. Heck it’s not like a total of maybe 5 people read anything I write anyway.. why can’t I just be informal?

I’m tired, but it’s midnight and I’m waiting up for my youngest child to come home from the movies. Not sure why waiting up is the thing that parent’s do when their teen is this age, but I can’t help it.  It’s not like depriving myself of sleep is going to make her come home any safer or faster, but it just seems to be the thing you do.

Does anyone else have this silly notion that housework is done only during the day? I have tons of things I could be doing, but housework is not one of the things I’ll do in the evening. Silly thought there. I’ll do work related projects until I fall asleep, but the thought of sweeping the kitchen floor or cleaning the toilets at midnight seem so wrong.

I went to dinner to visit some friends – mental note, I need to send them a quick email- and while I was there, Jenny came in with her sister. Funny, ’cause I had thought to call Jenny and see if she was busy but I got all tied up in being angry at my husband and didn’t. Just as well, I guess. I also had a woman sitting next to me say that she knew me from my children’s soccer days. I remembered her! That’s a new thing, ’cause there are tons of things I don’t remember.

I’m supposed to set my alarm for 2:45 so I can call my friend Dave and wake him up so he goes to work. I think he’d sleep thru armageddon. (Which actually might not be a bad thing for him if you think about it.)

I’m leaving for Mexico in a week. I’m excited and I’m scared. I’ve never been out of the country to a foreign nation before. I hope I don’t do something stupid and end up having to be rescued. My spanish stinks, so hopefully my “Please pass the salt” or “Where are the restrooms” won’t actually be interpreted ast “I’m going to kill your newly elected President.” or “Sitting toaster horse yellow woman without clothes?”

I was supposed to paint in the basement today. I have basement issues. I don’t like to go into them. The basement of my parents house was spooky enough. I need to go into the basement because that’s where the exercise equipment will be. I definitely need to get over that sillly issue.

Oh well, guess I’ll doze in my chair until the daughter returns…..

Today is the 4th of July and for years we’ve skipped the fireworks. Not that seeing things explode in midair and turn pretty colors isn’t cool, there’s just too much that goes along with viewing fireworks that get in the way. Traffic jams, mosquitos (my daughter is allergic to them), the wait, nasty people seated near you and people who may have perhaps imbibed a bit too much all tend to lessen the effects of the pyrotechnical display for me.

Besides, have you ever really thought about what fireworks represent? War, battles and true munitions. I don’t think that when the people in our armed services hear the boom of munitions exploding they are looking up at the sky and saying “ooooooo” and “ahhhhhhh” look at the pretty lights. So, with that thought in mind, I just don’t NEED fireworks to make the 4th important to me.

What I did for my 4th of July was to visit with my family, read a post from one of my children about his feelings and experiences dealing with the loss of a grandfather he never knew during a military operation years before he was born and visit the web site http://www.anysoldier.com . There I found the name of a contact person in active duty and in harm’s way who will distribute my letters and care packages to any soldier, sailor, marine, coast guard or air force member within their unit who doesn’t get much mail. It’s not like EVERYONE has tons of  family they are close to. Even I have a brother who has chosen not to involve himself in our family anymore. Sad but true, some of our soldiers are putting their lives at stake so that we may enjoy our grilling and fireworks and yet they have no one here at home who supports what they are doing! How wrong is that?! (Ok, I’m not going to discuss the politics here, because that’s not my point. My point is solely that good people are doing dangerous jobs and love to hear from home.)

Now I just have to collect my goodies, pack ’em up and write a few letters and then I’ll feel like I’ve spent my 4th focusing on the people that matter and not some pretty lights in the sky. If I want pretty lights in the sky,  I’ll go see the Aurora Borealis… now that would be MY kind of show!