Epilogue

I’m not sure how many people will even notice this entry, but I think I need to put it up for personal closure.

Here are some keywords and phrases for our last week:

Monday/Tuesday: hideous, lap of luxury, virgin drinks, I love the Burnetts.
Wednesday: mountain, bike, fleshwound, jungle, crepe.
Thursday: lazy, copious forks.
Friday: parting is such sweet sorrow.
Saturday: the heartland.

After Brandon left us last Monday, Matt, Angela, and I were left to our own devices for several hours before our red-eye bus ride to Puerto Vallarta. Left homeless by the Hotel K’sa’s checkout time, we amused ourselves with such endeavors as finding the craziest (or ugliest) outfit at the boutique on the corner. (Documentation of this extravaganza to be found below.) The bus left around 10:30pm and arrived at the bus station in Puerto Vallarta at 7:30am. Although we couldn’t check in until early afternoon, the Canto del Sol resort let us leave our bags there in the meantime. Let me note, at this point, that this is probably the nicest place I have ever stayed in my life, not to mention to the all-inclusive package (three meals a day plus an open bar—I love virgin piña coladas). All of this comfort is completely due to the generosity of Angela’s parents, who donated some time share credit to us. If Brother and Sister Burnett read this, thank you so much!

Our keywords for Wednesday are: mountain, bike, fleshwound, jungle. What do these words have in common? Answer: Angela. Actually, Matt and I participated in all of them except the fleshwound bit. We rented bikes and headed off up a mountain on a dirt road. Not too far into the ride, a rapid mountain goat (read: bicycle gear) attacked Angela and she fell off her bike having incurred a nasty gash on her ankle. Angela cleaned the gravel out while Matt looked for bandaging material and I cringed. And if you don’t think I was carrying my weight, you can ask Angela; apparently she found the cringing comforting (not joking about that). Despite this mishap, we made it up to the end of the trail and back down. The scenery was beautiful and probably as different from the villages as possible. After returning our bikes, I discovered a crepe stand and we enjoyed an amazingly authentic crepe on a Mexican boardwalk.

Thursday we pretty much did nothing all day until that evening. Part of this super-awesome all-inclusive package was vouchers for one night at one of three nice restaurants. We chose the Italian option, and made our reservations for 6:00. I don’t think I’d ever eaten at a restaurant that actually sets out three forks and two glasses at every place. The food was good, and we actually did use all the forks we were given.

On Friday, Matt and Angela came to Guadalajara (my departure city) with me instead of going straight to Mexico City (their departure city). They stayed long enough to get dinner and shower, and then took another overnight bus on to the D.F. I was sort of lonely after they left, and half expected one or the other to come knock on the door at any moment, but of course that didn’t happen.

Fortunately I didn’t have too long to brood in my sorrow, as I myself spent less than 12 hours in the hotel before leaving again for the airport. I landed in Iowa around 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, and I’ve been enjoying the homey, freezing, Iowa goodness ever since.


Me in the ugliest dress I've ever tried on, my t-shirt (because that portion of the dress is sort of see-through), and some sort of tube top over it all. And Matt to accessorize the whole thing.


On the way to our mountain biking adventure.


On the trail up the mountain.


Matt and Angela by the beach on Friday morning before we left (the Cantol del Sol is in the background).

The end

What can I write about my last week in the ranchos that would do it justice? It was a week of embroidery, crocheting, new foods, and (host) family bonding time.

This week Matt and I learned how to embroider napkins. It is apparently the season for napkin-making, which was very fortunate for Matt since he wanted to make a napkin for a class assignment. I jumped on the bandwagon because my feminine nature inherently attracts me to things like embroidery. Maybe it’s not my feminine nature, but I do like having something to do with my hands. Matt finished embroidering his napkin (which turned out really well) and Martina put the crocheted border on it. I started embroidering mine, and then had Martina show me how to crochet the border so I would have something to do during our traveling of the next couple weeks. All the other women in our household have been pulling out napkins to work on, so I’ve enjoyed several peaceful hours on the patio with them.

On Monday we brought back an extra-large batch of groceries, including ingredients for a few new dishes they wanted us to try. Monday afternoon we had this really nice spaghetti dish with sliced avocado, tomato, and onion. Later in the week they gave us redondas, which seem identical to gorditas as far as I can tell. They’re made from the same stuff as tortillas, but not ground as finely, and shaped into smaller, fatter patties. Those are then fried and stuffed with whatever (cheese, potatoes, chicarrón, etc.). I like the usual beans, eggs, fideo, or potatoes, but it’s nice to mix it up sometimes.

On Thursday morning Matt and I went with Lola to the river to try our hand at washing laundry there. There are a few flat rocks in different places along the river bank which are about the size and dimensions of a lavandero, and that’s where they scrub their clothes. It takes some skill not to remove all the skin on one’s knuckles on the rocks, but it’s a strangely satisfying way of washing clothes.

Thursday night I accidentally spent the night in one of the family’s bedrooms. The electricity had gone out earlier, so we were relying on candlelight. Matt and I were enjoying ramen cups with everyone. Next thing I knew, I was waking up. I was sort of disoriented, and started to put on my shoes to leave, but Martín told me to go back to sleep. They had all rearranged themselves, stuffing themselves into two beds with Beatriz on a petate on the floor—this despite Matt’s assurances that I wouldn’t mind if they used the bed I usually sleep in, or if one of the girls shared with me. The next day I apologized for taking their bed, but no one seemed at all bothered by it.

This morning we had to say all our goodbyes. Chepe, who’s sort of a crabby little kid at times, was none too pleased to see us leaving. He’s overdramatic about everything, but it was sort of depressing to see him weeping disconsolately on the ground. Everyone gathered to say goodbye and to see us off on the bus, which was nice and hard at the same time.

All in all, it’s been a pretty amazing semester. I know I’ve enjoyed reading about it, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it. Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll tack on a postscript about my vacation to Puerto Vallarta this week…


Emily embroidering...

Matt embroidering...

Amazing spaghetti dish

Alina and Jovani wearing clothes that my amazing mother sent them (Mom, Lola and Mina loved the clothes, they fit perfectly, and they told me a million times to tell you thank you).

Beata, me, Martina, Martìn


Martìn and Alina

I love this picture. Here you have Beata, me, Dani holding Lupita, Flor, Matt, Martina, and Mina.