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I am home after a lovely vacation in Mexico. 

Poor Mexico-- it gets such bad press. When I said I was heading there I can't tell you how many people grimaced and warned me to be careful. I travel a lot, and am careful everywhere I go. If you are fearful of Mexico because of all the negative press, don't be. It is a beautiful, culturally rich place to visit. Just try to stay away from the drug lords.

Catrina posing with spectators.

Church framed by trees.

Shoveling delicious coffee ice cream into my mouth. I ate a lot of street food and it's kind of a miracle I didn't get sick. 

Church at night. Cross lit up.

 Handcrafted jewelry.

Natural mineral baths at Escondito Hot Springs.

Lily pads and lily at hot springs.

Jen gets our stuff out of colorful lockers at hot springs.

On the bus ride from Queretero to the Airport in Mexico City, I read that Maya Angelou died. I was so shocked and saddened by the news. I teach Caged Bird every semester in my class and, as all teachers must feel, felt a special connection to this book and author, especially because the students respond so well to the story. I'm so grateful that I got to hear her speak at UCLA's Royce Hall three years ago. I blogged about that experience HERE. Rest in Peace, Dr. Angelou. Such a larger-than-life figure. She will be missed but her words will live on.

Mas Mexico

A quickie before I head out...yesterday we went to the Jardin Botanica, a cactus garden near Jen's house. It wasn't in full bloom, but it was pretty close. Attaching some pictures so you can get the gist, whoever you are!

 Look closely...monarch butterfly in flower.

Garambullo ice cream at the end of the hike - it's purple, and tasty! 

Later that night, there was a torrential rain/lightening/thunder storm. I don't think I've seen anything like it ever in my life. It was so dramatic and scary. We ended up at a really fun bar, after driving through the wet, narrow, cobblestone streets in town, where we hung out with a group celebrating a birthday... More Americans who had moved here and met and married... who knew it was such a "thing"?!? Super fun night. Ginger margaritas.

More Mexico

I'm finally able to post pictures of my trip:

 Rivera murals at Presidential Palace took my breath away.

In 1999 I participated in a residency at the Vermont Studio Center where I met wonderful people including the fellow on the right, Mauricio Alejo. Thanks to the power of social media, we were able to reconnect online, and then in person. It was a pleasure meeting his wife and new baby Bruno. Mauricio is a photographer for The New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine, as well as countless other credits. You can see more of his work here...

Casa Azul is where Frida Kahlo was born and died. Among other things, her death bed and ashes are on display here. It was so thrilling walking around the property, seeing all the art work, and reading all the stories about her colorful, adventurous and tragic life.

Temple Mayor - pyramid being uncovered in the middle of the city. Hard to describe, but amazing to experience.

I am now in San Miguel De Allende, where my friend Jen moved almost three years ago. She was here on vacation a few years ago with her mom when she met the man she is now married to. What an adventurous girl my Jen is! Her husband Joaquin is an artist and his mentor is the artist Jordi Boldo. Are you following? Last night we travelled to the town of Quetero, about an hour away, to attend Jordi's opening at a museum.

 Jen ponders art.

And finally, some pix of just a few of the animals around here...

Mr. Bunny. Joaquin rescued him when he overheard someone at a market saying he'd make for a good soup.

There is a real Grey Gardens home across the street from where Jen lives. These are three of the 20ish cats that live there. Ewww, but ohhhh...

Below are neighbor dogs. So cute!

Oh, Mexico

Just a quick entry, sans pictures. I am having an incredible time here in Mexico City. I have never been to a more exciting city with so much history, culture, great food, kindness, heat and dryness. Okay, the heat and dryness are nothing to write home about, but everything else is.

Yesterday's trip to the Presidential Palace almost brought tears to my eyes, standing in front of the iconic Diego Rivera murals. They are so thrilling, grandiose and bold. Truly, they made my heart quicken.

We also went to an incredible museum nearby... Mexican artists are allowed to pay their taxes with their art. How cool is that? There is a contemporary museum housing these artworks for all to see.

Temple Mayor, in the middle of the city, is a pyramid that was discovered in the late 70's when the electric company was fixing a lightbulb. Upon further investigation, and now 40+ years later, the city is in the middle of an endless excavation exercise, pulling artifacts from centuries ago. In fact, many of the buildings downtown are built over pyramids. I will post pictures once I get to San Miguel De Allende.

I have thoroughly enjoyed wandering this city, stepping in to the many museums (a thrilling architecture one the other day), eating delicious food, drinking Mezcal and simply observing a new culture.

We have decided to stay one more night here - not in the original plan. I will be having breakfast with a very old friend Mauricio Alejo, whom I met at an artists residency in Vermont a lifetime ago. Mauricio has become a well-known photographer and I am so excited to catch up with him. Later, my friend Jen and I will head to Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo's home in Couyacan. In preparation for our visit we watched the movie Frida last night. Oy, what a terrible film. It may as well have been called "As the World Turns" - no exploration of anything interesting, including the pain that she lived in from her street car accident, or her eccentricities... like... say...where did she get the monkeys?

Adios for now.

New Blog

Unlike most people, I love hearing other people's dreams. It's such a window into their subconscious. (For the record, I also like seeing people's photos and listening to what they bought at Trader Joe's... baby stories? Not so much...)

I have a very vivid, relentless dream life and so I've started a blog to recount my dreams. I'm 99.9% positive that this won't be of interest to anybody, and I am keeping it more as a personal dream journal, but for some reason I already have close to 100 page views, and so I thought I'd share the address.

http://dreamher1.blogspot.com/

Happy dreaming.

xo
mc