January 2009

Either as creature of habit, or for economy of time, if a hotel that I've stayed at before is generally acceptable, I will stay there again. I know where to find bottled water, where the closed internet cafe is, etc. Such is the case of the Blue Triangle YMCA where I am now. It's an excellent location, and for central New Delhi it has excellent prices, and it's clean enough. It's also right next door to a Sikh temple, complete with devotional music 24/7.

Istanbul is maybe one of my most favorite cities in the world. It's not 100% perfect, as I am usually back to the hotel by 8 or 9 pm to avoid unwanted attention from males, but it's still beautiful, clean, friendly.

Okay, let me get this out of my system, I´ve got to say it once. Mexico has food, food, food, glorious food everywhere, cheap, tasty, and fresh. Taxco is so concentrated that you really notice the street venders. Peeled mangos on a stick, rolled in salt and chile, fresh cut fruit, tacos, tamales, sandwiches, homemade flan, cakes, potato chips cut and kettle cooked as you wait, shrimp tostadas, churros with carmalized goat milk, candied yams, and so on and so on.

There are so many little things that I forget between trips to Mexico, like the metal detectors and frisking(just the men), looking for firearms, before boarding the bus to Guerrero. It has been that way for the last twenty years, and I always forget about it. No gun searches going north out of the state, just south, and when I drive, lots of road blocks.

The silver lining to not having enough time in Mexico is that I might actually get home with shoes on my feet. Serious, comfortable walking shoes are a big deal for me when I´m on the road - I´ve got very short toes, so the wide part of my foot is up where a normal shoe starts to narrow, and women´s shoes in Mexico only go up to size 38, I wear size 40.

Yesterday was a long, but productive day, I´d left the hotel at 9 am, and didn´t get back until after 8. I´m trying to get an order of copal incense shipped from Mexico City to here. Copal is a type of aromatic tree resin used since pre-columbian times as ceremonial incense. My first introduction to copal was about 12 years ago. I was down in Chiapas, Mexico, and was visiting one of the small towns outside of San Cristobal de las Casas.

A few days ago I was pondering the reason that I brought the Lonely Planet guide book with me,(still unknown) and yesterday I was pondering, why don´t I carry my camera with me, seeing as I brought it with, for the first time in about five years. I don´t know what I saw, but it was definitely worth a picture or two.

I finally got to meet in person with my new shipper today, as we have only corresponded through email. Imagine my surprise when Margarita del Rio turns out to be a former Chicago girl, a blue eyed blonde from the Swedish-American part of N. Clark Street. Everyone has a story to tell, hers is a good one.

It´s hard to believe that a year has already passed since I was last in Tonala. I´m back at the Hacienda del Sol, and they´ve given me a basement room, which at first I wasn´t sure if it was a good thing or not, but have since decided it´s great, I´ve never had a room here before with so much water pressure.