It’s been exactly 2 months since my last blog, so safe to say a lot has happened! Between going home, travelling, starting work again and experiencing more or less every emotion inbetween there hasn’t been a lot of time for writing! So I’ll start back at the beginning…
I had a very stressful journey home involving nearly missing my flight from Mexico because I helpfully forgot to bring my immigration form – stress-crying to the guy on immigration somehow worked – and being given about 5 packets of peanuts to eat on the plane since there was no vegetarian option. Then after almost missing my connection due to the hideousness of New York airport (my first ever experience of the USA didn’t go too well), I finally arrived in London after about 21 hours of travelling on Sunday morning, far too excited just to see an English airport! After being greeted by my mum (and a bar of Dairy Milk) and going for an English breakfast I already felt back at home. I expected to find it hard to adjust back but in fact it was weird how quickly it all seemed completely normal – and Mexico like a dream!
My 2 weeks at home were so lovely and went far far too quickly – it already feels like about a year since I was there! I had a very full schedule involving visiting my friends Hannah and Laura in Southampton, preparing for the wedding (with some very speedy dress fittings!), travelling to Buxton for the wedding – which was an absolutely amazing and very emotional day! – and then Arturo arriving and showing him all the sights as well as celebrating Christmas Day. 
I couldn’t believe how quickly my return date came and to be honest getting on the flight back to Mexico was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Leaving the first time was all so completely unknown it was almost hard to be sad because I didn’t know what I should be worrying about! So this time after looking forward to going home so much knowing that I was going back to my normal daily routine and all the good and bad things that come with that was difficult. And made worse by realising at the airport that my connection arrived in Paris Orly..and left from Charles de Gaulle. Luckily I found some other English people to share the (60 euro!) taxi between the 2 airports.
So safe to say after a very tearful flight, arriving back in Mexico I had mixed feelings about the rest of the year – even though I’m now over halfway through it feels like a very long time until I’ll be back in England again. Although my parents have planned a trip to visit me, which is now only 2 weeks away! The day after I got back my friend Faith arrived which also helped with homesickness and speaking English was really nice. On New Years Eve (after forcing her to do work on our uni projects like a very mean friend) I wasn’t really sure what there was to do for entertainment. So we headed to the Zocalo, where there were basically no people (going at half 7 may have been a mistake!).
We walked around Downtown and ended up going to a bar with live music, then finding a free concert at the Angel de Independencia where we bought esquites and really cool headbands (see below) and saw the countdown. 
Having always spent New Year at home it was cool to be in a massive city with so many other people..though Arturo’s photos of the fireworks in London (where he was still on holiday) did make me jealous! I was very worried about getting a taxi back and after failing to find any under the ‘safe taxi’ umbrella I asked a police transit guy to hail one (and also somehow gained his mobile number in the process…)
The next day we went to Chapultepec where I finally went on a pedalo (a long-held ambition since arriving here) and we ate huaraches.
A couple of days later we travelled to Oaxaca for a week. We flew to Puerto Escondido where we stayed near Playa Carrizalillo but also explored the other beaches in the area – stepping off the plane into tropical heat was crazy considering a week earlier I’d been wearing about 4 jumpers and huddling next to the radiator in England!
We stayed in an amazing hostel, complete with hammocks (as Faith discovered it can be a less than comfortable experience, after hers came untied and she got a bit bruised!).
We spent those few days mostly relaxing on the beautiful beaches – one of them even had beds with curtains surrounding them! Though putting leather beds on a boiling hot beach maybe isn’t the best idea…
One night we went on a trip to Laguna Miultepec where we saw the ‘fosforescencia’. Basically you go out on the lagoon and after doing a lot of doughnuts in the speedboat this special type of plankton rises to the surface and when you go in and move in the water it glows in the dark, so it feels like your hands are radioactive. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done, swimming at night under millions of stars (which you never see in Mexico City) with blue swirls every time you move in the water. Unfortunately photos don’t come out at all, so you’ll just have to believe me 🙂 Or if not here’s a photo I stole from the internet…
Another day we went on a boat trip where we saw a turtle, 3 types of dolphins, pelicans and a humpback whale! I was sceptical at first when they kept pointing at bumps in the water but some of the more confident dolphins came right up to the side of the boat.
During our time at the beach I also saw a dog on a surfboard, and a sign saying ‘Mariachis’ with a number underneath to call – apparently they’re an extra emergency service here. Only in Mexico…
There’s nothing much to say about all the beautiful sunsets, so I’ll just provide you with a photo montage instead…
After a few days we took a minibus to Oaxaca City. We were warned it’s the ‘vomit coach’ due to the mountain bends, and it took 7 hours – BUT it only cost £10. So we took some medicine with the lovely name ‘Vomisin’ and got on with it. 
About 20 minutes into the very cramped journey our entire seat moved to the side – so not only were we moving every time we went round a bend in the road, we’d then slide back the other way like being on a fairground ride. It turned out an iron bar had fallen off the back of the seat which made the women behind laugh an unnecessary amount. The driver’s initial idea for fixing this was to find a big stone and wedge it between the seats. Unfortunately there were no stones around, so he had to make do with a big stick. Luckily some men offered to swap seats with us so the journey wasn’t so bad!
On arriving in Oaxaca and getting very lost by a taxi driver who didn’t seem to be able to read maps, or know any of the street names in the city in which he works AS A TAXI DRIVER, we got to our very relaxed and quiet hostel. The signs everywhere saying to be silent after 11pm definitely showed it wasn’t a party hostel! I wasn’t sure about the city at first, but after a few days there I loved it – it seemed a lot poorer than I expected but had some beautiful colonial buildings and a really relaxed atmosphere.
We went to the museum of Oaxacan cultures next to the beautiful Templo de Santo Domingo – where Faith had a laughing fit, just when we reached the section on colonisation by British and Spanish empires – slightly inappropriate… We also went to the markets and bought lots of souvenirs, and had Oaxacan chocolate which comes in a giant bowl and only cost 75p! 
We did a couple of all-day tours from our hostel which were cool because we got to see tons of stuff. On the first we went to Monte Alban, an amazing pyramid on the top of a mountain – and my first proper historical Mexican experience! (Still having failed to visit Teotihuacan which is about 30 minutes from Mexico City…) 
On that day we also visited the place where they make the amazing little painted ‘alebrije’ figures, and a potter where they make ‘barro negro’, a special kind of black shiny (and very cheap!) pottery, which would cost about £100 in England but was about £5 there (more souvenirs…)
The next day we went on a trip to El Tule (a very big 2000 year old tree), Mitla and Hierve El Agua which is an absolutely incredible waterfall and natural spring. We decided it was necessary to swim even though despite the name the water was absolutely freezing! It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We also went to a mezcal factory where they gave us a LOT of free samples!
Then on the final day we got the nightbus back and arrived in Mexico City at 7 in the morning, which was a bit weird – every time I come back it seems even bigger than when I left!
The last couple of weeks have just been settling back into work as well as saying goodbye to Faith. We went with Arturo to San Angel, a really pretty area in the south of the city which is really European and full of flowers and nice houses – and then for hot chocolate and far too many churros.
The weekend before last Laura and I went to Toluca to visit Juley and Yoni. I’d been told by everyone that Toluca is the ugliest city in Mexico but with these low expectations it turned out to be a lot prettier than I expected. We went to see the Cosmovitral, a botanic garden with beautiful stained glass windows. Then we got a taxi to a nearby town called Metepec, where Yoni excitedly led us to the ‘Museo del Pueblo’ he found on the map. Safe to say it was one of the strangest museums I’ve ever been to – basically a yard surrounded by apartments with some information boards no-one had got round to putting up. We were just thinking of leaving when a man appeared from nowhere to suggest we take the tour – at which point everyone else conveniently disappeared, so I took the ‘tour’ of the 2 rooms by myself. In fact I learnt a lot of interesting facts about the ‘arbol de vida’ which is the symbol of the town, as well as some things about sins which I was less keen to learn….
Then last weekend was a bank holiday here so I travelled to a little town nearby called Malinalco with Arturo. It was a tiny but really beautiful place with a LOT of churches and a pyramid. I got very sunburnt after helpfully forgetting to take a hat or suncream – though actually despite his Latino-ness Arturo’s neck was more burnt which made me laugh (mean). We found a tourist centre with a very casual (aka irresponsible) attitude that let us walk up the ‘hill’ behind their land to see the view..it turned out to be more like rock climbing without any safety equipment. The views were beautiful once we reached the top though and it was so nice to be in a place with no other people around for the first time in about a month!
The highlight of the trip has to be a very strange guitar concert we went to on the spur of the moment…after about an hour of playing the guy finished and everyone applauded politely. He started to leave the stage and then stopped and returned saying ‘oh, they’re asking for more, we’ll have to play another’..to absolute silence. Inventing your own requests for an encore must be one of the most awkward ways to end a concert!
This week I’ve been trying to work on my project which has been a bit of a challenge, it’s hard when I constantly have to motivate myself and don’t have the structure of regular lectures. I’m feeling a lot more positive though and have been planning my time better to get more done!
Work at the school has been hard too as I’ve had to change my classes a bit and for the first couple of weeks had fewer students as well, so I felt a bit like I’m not doing very much to help. I guess when I’m feeling down it’s hard having a job which involves constantly making conversation when I don’t feel like talking – especially not about England!
But the year abroad is all about ups and downs and I’m determined not to feel sorry for myself. Coming so far away was my decision and even though I’ve had some very low moments I don’t regret it at all. Living in such a crazy city thousands of miles from home is an experience I might only have once and I’ve already done and seen some amazing things as well as met a lot of lovely people. And I know that this time next year, in the midst of 4th year stress, I’ll be wishing I was on a beach in Oaxaca! But I have to admit at the moment I really wouldn’t mind a little bit of snow and some proper English chocolate…
Great pics!