(wrote this earlier today and am too worn out thanks to my stomach to care about photos…. sorry for that, but you can read half a book to make up for it….)
Driving through mexican landscape is inevitably beautiful. I am right now sitting in the bus from Puebla to Oaxaca, which should take around 4 hours something. I am going primera classa, which feels quite luxurious. The landscape has changed from allover green vulcano terrain to mountains to something exactly like you’d imagine Mexico. Cactus all over, trees that are a mix of palms and cactus and that you’ll find in pots in Germany – but I can’t rememer their name… Agave all over. Ath the utmost, small trees used to grow where we passed through, but by now they are getting bigger again, green all over and I’d bet they are full of thorns, just that you can’t tell cause they are covered in green.
I have seen trees that look very – well like small warrior dwarves, they seem to be quite careful in spreading out their green leaves and they are have white round beautiful flowers that they stretch towards the sky. I hope I find some of them without a bus surrounding me so I can take a good picture. The cactus are like the ones I really liked in Munich’s botanical garden…. high up tubes that reach toward the sky and at the end are topped with so many thorns it looks fluffy – makes me want to tickle them. They are not the only ones but literally the ones that stick out the most….
The noise level is quite nice. While the bus from D.F. to Puebla had the movie being showed with public sound, this bus has plugins for ear phones and leaves you nice and quiet unless you want else. The seats are really really comfortable.
Movies so far have been rather warrior-like. In the bus to Puebla, it hit me cause the intro started with German original pics from WWII and Hitler and got increasingly violent, showing a massacre. I was quite relieved to see it switch to Mr. James Blondie, I keep forgetting his name, as the main role. And people started talking English. Today we had some Vin Diesel killer-killer movie, but all in Spanish. I prefer English so I can learn from the subtitles…
So now I am listening to Fridas soundtrack, while passing through the landscape that is developing more mountains again – is this the Sierra Madre? Too lazy to take out my map and check. WOW – I think we just passed an flying eagle. Such beauty. We are surrounded by a planet that is so inexplicably filled with more than our imagination can hold. If you think you know it, you haven’t seen even a glimpse of it.
Just a reflection of ourselves.
When driving out of Puebla and the city finally made place for more nature and lots of agriculture, I wondered. I was looking at the plants and saw swarms of butterflies fly around everywhere. And I wondered. How some Spanish guys passed through this and could not feel as if they had hit paradise and treat what they encounter with the deepest respect. But they probably thought it to be evil. Who am I to blame them – brought up in a deep belief of right and wrong which means they could never see themselves in the beauty of being right just the way they were. So how should they see it on the outside.
Or maybe they were just getting in a bad mood as their stomach was revolting. Though after a few weeks on a Spanish ship wouldn’t your immune system just embrace foreign bacteria no matter which one as long as it inhabits a nice piece of fruit??
Well my immune system is still irritated and I am a little annoyed.
Just that I don’t manage to be annoyed. I just wandered more along Puebla than being a good tourist and going down the checklist of my sightseeing.
The ex-convento of Santo Domingo or Santa Rosa was not free on Sundays, and it was inside and I had just roamed the sunny streets of Puebla… So I just didn’t go in. All churches were in the midst of service and filled with people and I did take the signs seriously to not roam around as a tourist during service. That includes the cathedral which I really did like – the sun shone through the windows and it was full of light and life, as Mexicans tend to do things as a family and there was no quiet athmosphere like you’d know it from a German church. On the contrary, at the church entrances street vendors obviously were having the selling time of their week on a Sunday – from holy bracelets (yes, I think such a thing exists) to candles and believer’s stuff to snacks of all sorts. People arrived at the church with beautiful arrangements of flowers they were carrying – no idea where all of that goes.
I went to see the teatro principale, which I thought would be the one that I now think actually is in Oaxaca (I’ll check on that in the next 2 days…), but the theatre was open and having a show for free with ballet. So I took my chance and with the help of the locals made it to the second balcony-floor. The chandelier was smaller than in Munich but the athmosphere was bigger. The local ballet school evidently was having its day, with music from the recorder and somewhat professional dancers to little kids each presenting their skills. Appreciation for the youngsters was almost bigger than for the grownups, as the families as part of the audience couldn’t hold it and would start shouting the name of their beloved one, followed by frenetic applause and cheering, while other families would follow.
I had perfect view of the audience below… Smartphones everywhere, including children playing video games on their tablets. Also here, people were sitting next to flower bouquets they had brought, as well as a lot of balloons were floating around. I loved it. Including the refreshingly not-so-skinny main female dancer who would do a very funny interpretation of Schwansee, rhythmically dragging her feet behind her after every turn, while her male counterpart, very small and skinny and very female looking, would surround and support her with amazing grace. I was not the only one giving that a laugh, so really Mexicans are a critical audience………. I love how they take their kids of all ages and the kids make noise but it’s much more – dunno – comfortable or just normal than it would be in a German „kids event“. And I love that they do a lot of cultural events for free and just enjoy themselves.
The Zocalo (main central square) in Puebla on a Sunday afternoon stars free music and dancing of „the old ladies and gentlemen“ (and boy did they have an elegance in relatively slow movement!!). And when I surrounded the shadow-spending tent I realized one third of the tent was filled with an orchestra that consisted mostly of brass players… Al in beige suits, quite cute. My favourite was the dancing pair with her having a huge flower in her hair while he was wearing a hat covered with golden paillettes all over.
Puebla is much more relaxed than D.F. While the air is exceptionally bad. I am glad to leave just for that reason. There are no trees or green stuff in the streets and there’s a lot of traffic with cars standing still every now and then. Which is more than enough to give you a physical attack on all your body parts that are exposed to the air. Incredible.
The temperature and weather was more beautiful than D.F., while at the same time in the evening, once the sun had set – it got much more chilly than D.F. during its best raining shower.
Well I’ve sort of solved that problem.
I am now proud owner of a Mexican Christmas sheep. It has started a second life as blanket and is wooly all over and now I know how I am going to call it (I’ve been thinking it’s so beautiful it needs a name). Wulli. In English that would be Wooolllllie.
You guys excuse me for a sec I see one of the two toilets is currently vacant…….. I can leave my stuff very relaxed at my place. I’ll find out if the PC’s gone when I come back and for the real important stuff, all is spread across my body. Quite amazing if you start to think about it (which I’ve stopped…).
Now the bus has stopped and actually I think the bus driver is following the same instincts I just did. The seats in here can be amended so far to the back your behind-person would not be able to open up a PC any more….. So what I mean to say – night bus is going to be perfectly comfortable to travel on in a few days.
And for the truth about the bus toilets – like on an airplane. Worst thing is it’s like an airplane that’s passing in a thunderstorm, bumping you up and down and making you consider to better get back to your seat immediately…. Apart from that, I’ve seen much worse on German trains.
Anyhow Wulli and I met in front of a church on the little mercado there. As I learned from my german neighbors in the hotel who live there, I paid about 100 pesos too much but my trading abilities seem to have deteriorated. I showed I love the blanket too much and there were fixed prices on the blanket. So now I sit on this bus and enjoy the fresh air from the air conditioning……
Anyhow for a nice central stay in Puebla which means you’ll cope with the air (otherwise you might wanna try move onto the next mountain outside of town, so I’m not sure if that really helps as the city stretches quite a bit and only il centro historico seems small) I highly recommend my hotel. Beyond all because of its roof terrace, and that again at sunset within view of Popo and Ixtla. Every time I’ve seen Popo again, it was like seeing it for the first time and made me exhale a huge inner wow. I so much understand Ixtla for falling in love with him…
I spent a real nice evening and breakfast with the German couple living next door, and on top friend J. who told me he’s going to be in Puebla soon for work via facebook. So dear friend J., I want more details on that so I can melt away with jealousy! And remind me to give you the adress of the Italian place I went to yesterday. My stomach problems result in being hungry a lot and I tried to help it with a huge pizza yesterday evening. Yeah from a health point of view… probably not the smartest – from a I-am-hungry-point-of-view and also as scientific research on great pizza places worldwide this one gets a 10 out of 10. Especially since in all Italy (now I’m making friends, huh) you’d not find such great sauces as the ones yesterday. Simple chili-oil refined with sesame and peanuts. I’ll try that at home, might be easier than my production of dried tomatoes….
For those of you who know, Pueblas specialty, pollo con mole, did not hit me as a main attraction. It was too sweet for my taste. I had a much better one in the restaurant in the floating gardens of Xochimolco… The pinia-mole, however, something green with a lot of garlic and spices, is most delicious.
Oaxaca now ahead is famous for its kitchen. Dear stomach, pleeaaaase…….! Did the Spanish not bring in a saint responsible for the stomach? I’ll find out and bring him a candle.
In the meantime, I’ve seen at least 10 of those huge hawk-like birds, vulture. My soundtrack has changed from Frida to Gotan Project, as well the landscape has changed. It’s become more meager, despite everything being green and in full bloom. Colour of the earth, as I can tell from the street that’s been carved right through it, keeps changing from clay-red to an almost pure white, all underneath a bright blue sky.
As the weather forecast told me, Oaxaca is of all places so far the warmest, which must mean we’re going downhill… While San Cristobal, still ahead, will be the coolest. There will be an excuse to get a second blanket…….. JUST IN CASE I need an extra sheep!
Senor Ceri – los huevos rancheros – I spoiled the surprise and had someone who knows explain it all to me. It sounds quite good but deep-fried all over, so this will have to wait for my stomach to behave normal again. Maledetto qualcosa…
I’ve been thinking about adventures. What is an adventure? More than being adventurous around here, I just have such an outburst of happy hormons seeing things I don’t know and which – and how could it be any other way – are so ALIVE. I see that in every person, especially in every mercado (….) and in each landscape I pass by. Well I am open to it and it’s like a source of extra energy.
Which is open for me 24h 7days a week no matter where.
I still remember coming back from New Zealand having been so amazed with the beauty of its forrest and then going into the German forrest on the next occasion and – seeing the same there, too.
And for those of you who are wondering as I keep singing about beauty – there is of course poverty. I just find it hard to write about it – more because writing about it makes something of it that I’m not sure about. I’m sure about the landscape, right…. But seeing these people or circumstances under which to live. This is about saving the world, right, and I’m not sure about it. Equality. All these big words. And then the whole system where everything is embedded into. How do systems change? I keep asking myself that question over and over. The only answer I have remains education, while I do think that education in itself could use a review even in our oh so civilized countries.
And I don’t want to describe people’s poverty with a note of tremendous pity and by that taking away their dignity. I don’t want to start judging on how to improve a country – cause I don’t know a shit about it, to tell the truth. I think it good to dream about the beauty that there already is – even if it is not being lived to its full potential.
If the world makes it to its full potential – we are in paradise. Now hope you don’t mind me dreaming about that, I sometimes feel daring for doing so but I’ll simply continue. After all – I just realize – seeing someone in his or her beauty or seeing a place in its beauty can make you care about it with quite a different attitude compared to pity – and that may change the world as well.