More holiday fun and goodness

So if the first half of my journey just didn't sound like one giant spiritual experience and a half one can certainly not omit the second half of my strange and ill planned tax payer funded holiday in the Caribbean and United States. This was also the part of my journey where my previous fear of alcohol, creepy boys and partying subsided and I made up substantially for lost time. So after Haiti and the beauty that was we move to:

La Republica Dominicana (2 weeks)

• Very little can be achieved in a week
• So despite the most well intended plans to hike to the highest point in the Caribbean, visit small villages, see the non touristy side of the island and be a true little Dora-esque explorer my inner laziness flung itself out of the dark closet and came out to play. Despite being in one of the best windsurfing locations in the Caribbean, a place with wonderful waves and abandoned Atlantic beaches just a stones throw away, it was in fact hours of missed 16 and Pregnant, Jersey Shore and Big Bang Theory episodes on the big flat screen TV that had me hooked. And the handful of fun tourists in the hostel, and the fact that doing nothing in a home like setting that occupied my week. Not once did I go surfing nor windsurfing nor even stand up paddle boarding. I did manage to vomit all over the spare bed though...
• Sex tourism and the Dominican Republic
• So of course all these raging hormones and young people and tropical white sand beaches make people a little crazy. And add to the fact that people are on holidays as well, and what do you get? Young (not even that hot) Dominicans out to work the tourist market and score a free dinner or 2 in exchange for some nice brown ass. Of course the image of an old creepy (maybe German?) man with a young-enough-to-be-his-daughter local girl on his arm is nothing new, but for the first time I noticed a lot of older (not even cougar like) women with smoking hot 19 year olds by their side. It seems that revolting old women DO get away from their cats and need some disgustingly younger loving as well. Unfortunately one 50 year old wanna be cougar and her son (errr... boyfriend) overheard my friend's and my bitching about the sagginess of her face and as fate would have it we kept running into her on the beach EVERY SINGLE DAY! Doh!
• Another form of the tourism-local sex trade was evident in the capital, where rather than money or a free drink, our persistent tour guide/hustler was out for a green card. And to make it even better Mum was the pimp! Oh Gregorio and Ramona just seemed like a friendly mother and son combination when they first offered to help us and show us the way to the palace. Of course after an hour long walk around several blocks, some subtle references to their desire to move to the United States (sorry mate!) and their persistence in ensuring that they secured every mode of contact we had (phone number, facebook, email, twitter, home address etc) made us just a little bit suspicious. And of course when both Mum and (it seemed almost begrudging) son facebook added us both that night, it was obvious they were hoping for a new addition to the family... No gracias!

Puerto Rico (1 week)

• The Evil of Apathy
• During my time in Puerto Rico I had the great pleasure of staying right in the University District, a vibrant and exuberant part of town covered in murals, anti US propaganda and educated liberals. I also had the joy of staying with a fantastic couch surfer who is a part of the huelgista movement and who is friends with, and drinks with many of Puerto Rico's activist community. And so in my communications/boozing sessions with such fine people my passion for activism, for fighting for what is right and for protesting was reignited. The realisation that no one person can completely save the world and focus over time made me a status quo loving apathetic moron who thought that protesters were just whinging hippies picking an issue to rave on about to feel good about themselves. I now realise again that although there may be no right or wrong in the world, all there is really is our personal sense of what is on and what is just off. And it is up to us to get off our fat, beer inflated, celulitey asses and stand up for what we believe in. Those who believe one thing and act another way have no integrity, and without integrity a person is just a pathetic, failure of a miserable human being. So I decided to restore mine and start giving a shit again. Apathy is ignorance and the world (especially Australia) already has enough ass sitting ignoramuses to add to with my own.

The West Coast - USA (1 month)

• Meeting new friends is great, but catching up with old friends is even BETTER!
• Obviously, having travelled a lot, a lot of my friends do not come from Australia. And through meeting other travellers, having wonderful people stay at my house in Brisbane and just through random experiences there are people all over the world who I want to visit. So on this journey for the first time ever, I had the chance to re-meet after several weeks, months and even several years a bunch of awesome friends. Of course there is always the risk that seeing an old friend after a lot of time and out of their holiday context that they may have changed/turned into douches or just not be on the same wavelength anymore. However, some of my best experiences were being shown around and enjoying the company and reliving great experiences and realising again why we had always been such good friends. There is just something special about reunions and from now on I am definitely going to try harder to include trips to visit old friends on my future travels.
• Yoga is not just for type A, 30 something year old, fitness obsessed females
• Having tried yoga for the first time in Puerto Rico (and having liked it) I was intrigued by a poster I saw in a window of a shop in the Mission District in San Francisco for a yoga/music festival in Tahoe that weekend. Obviously, being a poor mother fucker there would be no way I could afford to go, so I showed initiative and sent and email to the festival organiser asking if I could volunteer at the last minute (last minute as in, I sent the email on Wednesday afternoon and arrived Thursday evening to start work). So off I went, mainly to enjoy the festival vibe, look at a pretty lake and listen to Michael Franti and other awesome bands, but also for some yoga and meditation. Being around such a chilled out wonderful bunch of people and doing lots of yoga and enjoying free yoga massages made me realise that my earlier skepticism of the multi million dollar yoga industry was not just a bunch of mumbo jumbo created to make depressed sad, lonely old women with cats feel good about themselves (just like a trip to the Dominican Republic), but it is genuinely a spiritual and mental exercise for well being and helping to rid the mind of BS. So now when I'm not hungover and it doesn't cost a week of centrelink to join in I do yoga where possible! And with my free mat I got at the festival too! WIN!

Inevitably I did learn a shit load more on my holiday. Sociological, legal, political, historical, economic facts about places I really didn't know a lot about, the ins and outs of travelling, the stories and unique eccentricities of wonderful people I met along the way, a new sense of tolerance, how to be myself and a bunch of other hoo hah. Some will (or already has) seeped from my brain thanks to copious amounts of alcohol and weed and other lessons will stick with me for a long time, or until I learn something more meaningful along the way. It was definitely a summer to remember (my first summer in JULY!) and I have a good 10kg, scarred liver and about 50% of my photos to show for it.

Life lessons learned in Paradise (part 1)

Nothing about the life, the spirit nor the mind are ever stagnant. Every day things are changing, and over the course of 3 months a substantial amount can change. Add in some catalytic event such as travelling, and in particular travelling to some very diverse and different places and you have a very different person spat out at the end. Many lessons were learned along the way, some as a result of very BAD experiences and others that were amazingly positive.

Cuba (3.5 weeks)

• Don't leave your drink sitting on its own
• So this should be a big fat giant DUHH lesson, and considering that it has been indoctrinated into us from a young age (ps. Queensland Education Department, maybe not necessary to teach 12 year olds the danger of drink spiking quite so soon) and considering that a number of friends have fallen victim I should have been more cluey. But in Mexico it has really not been a concern, and when you're dancing, having fun and being merry sometimes one does not realise that the girl's bathroom sink is a dangerous place to leave one's drink. But after a horrid next day and a total blackout of that night I now cradle my drink carefully whenever I am drinking.
• The fake boyfriend excuse doesn't work
• In Cuba they love whiteys/any foreigner who can get them out of the country. And always by the second question they are asking: Do you have a boyfriend? And of course when you see their greasy complexion, that evil glint in their eyes that screams 'I want to fuck you,' the most logical answer is YES, I do. Which leads to more questioning such as, 'where is he? do you have a CUBAN boyfriend though? are you actually in a serious and committed relationship?' And as the elaborate web of lies grows and grows one comes to realise that nothing will deter these lecherous beasts. So the best solution: "No I don't have a boyfriend," and just as their eyes light and and pop out of their head: "but I do NOT want you!" BAM! All it takes is the truth.
• You have no right to hate on a place if you've been a cynical little bitch the entire time
• So after a few negative experiences in the first 2 days in Havana, and the feeling of loneliness and the revoltingly persistent Cuban boys, I was guarded and closed from the word go. Short of glaring and scowling at people in the street (Brisbane CBD 8:30am style), I was definitely not the open and friendly girl who approaches people, laughs, smiles and waves as I normally am (especially not towards any Cubans) and I no doubt threw away a lot of opportunities and potentially wonderful friendships as a result. Even though it was hard with the shit that went down in the first week, it is REALLY important to remain open minded, because you can't change the universe nor the people around you, but you can control your own attitude which is 99% of the battle.
• You don't need to be a raging polyglot to communicate with people
• So this lesson came from a sweet Swiss guy who I met at a bar whilst I was with 2 spanish friends. This guy was 19; fresh, young and wide eyed (dare I say it, myself 3 years ago?). While his English was barely functional, his spanish was attrocious! He was able to knock maybe 5 words together and was not conversant in it at all. But every time I saw him around he had his dictionary with him. He smiled, laughed and made big hand gestures to get his point across, and his positive attitude simply radiated and rubbed off onto everyone. And doors opened for him! Despite his lack of control over the language he was always invited to parties, fun events and festivities, just because he was so nice to be around. So after feeling stupid, retarded and inadequate around polyglot friends when I barely speak 1.5 languages well, it was a burst of fresh air to realise that its not the 7 languages that you speak that helps you to relate to people but the attitude.

Haiti (2 weeks)

• Many NGOs seem to be doing a great deal of shit all
• Okay, so I will begin this by saying that I am generalising hard here. For every dodgy NGO there are many good, small grassroots ones with specialised aims and actual professionals working there which do a great deal of good in the world. But of course there are a few (lot) that tend to let down the team and those tend to be the big ones, the ones that everyone has heard of and the ones with the greatest amount of donations. And of course they are the most general in their aims! Of course an organisation that claims to end poverty, develop under developed nations and save the world sounds better than one that fixes sewers or distributes torches to people, but they're also the least directed (so what is the daily schedule of a person saving the world?). Add on top of that the expenses! Why does an NGO need to live in a beautiful mansion, with a guard, eating food that is imported in from [insert country here]; with staff who aren't allowed into the streets at night nor befriend local people? And are the big brick walls and barbed wire fences to keep the staff from mixing with the others or to keep the poor people out? And just to top it off: which Director for operations in Haiti of which charity earns $15 000 a month on top of his no expenses? BOOM! Be very careful about where your donations are going, that's all.
• Poverty is completely relative
• So coming from a lovely warm home, with my own room, hot showers for as long as our ghetto hot water tank would last and the knowledge that unless there was a cyclone the streetlights would always be on, it was a shock coming to Haiti. And even though I was staying in a rich neighbourhood (with the top 10% of Haiti's wealthy) it was definitely a shock to the system. Electricity that was only on for 12 hours a day (at sporadic times), no running water for 3 days in a row and sponge baths each day, rubbish lining the streets and half built houses all around. Did I mention that this was the rich area? Yet people are content and they don't complain. This is their life and the fact that they have a house with any electricity at all is fortunate. It just makes one realise how lucky they really are.

Republica Dominicana (2 weeks)

TO BE CONTINUED...

Love in the time of Cholula

Hi there fans, followers and all of my charming and lovely fanatics (Hi Mom!). It has been a while, and although the soul searching, self discovery and tripping the world has been fun I am in desperate need of a public creative outlet to indulge my narcissism, which brings me back to my old friend, my blog. After a 3 month hiatus from any form of responsibility, burden and boredom I am back in Cholula ready and rearing to go for another semester full of fun, excitement and a bit of study somewhere on the side. Of course, being back and no longer being the new bright eyed kid on the block definitely has its pros and cons, but of course with the gift of hindsight I begin semester 2 on the front foot. Although the past semester was amazing, beautiful friendships were formed and I have no regrets (except for lost cameras and horrid hangovers) there are a few lessons that I have learned over the past semester that I will take with me.

This is pretty much how I started out, with no idea about anything Mexican (believe it or not 2 years working at Cactus Jacks does little to prepare one for the full on culture explosion that is Mexico). But with the wisdom and experience under my belt and a comprehensive (read: very very basic) understanding of the inner workings of Mexican life, culture and civilisation (and drinking habits) there are certain things I will do diferently this FAWWLLLL semester.

1) Travel smarter

Last semester I really seized life and the exchange opportunity by the balls (okay... tried to) by travelling far and wide with almost every weekend I had. Although I had some amazing trips, met fantastic people and was lucky enough to see a lot of Mexico, there were obviously some limiting factors. Of course going away for a few days over the weekend means that one either has to a) travel locally to within a few hours by bus or b) spend big money and long hours on buses to see further. Having experienced the both, and having realised that attendance matters a lot less than the professors like to harp on, this leaves me with one logical option: travel for longer! So rather than taking off for a few days over the weekend why not travel for an entire week? 7 days is more than enough time to justify a 15 hour bus journey and it ensures that more time is spent travelling than waiting around in transit. Also, it allows for more weekends in Cholula which are super fun!

2) Study Less

I am still trying to see the logic in my attitude to study last semester which really just proved to be inefficient and un fun. While my schooling efforts are slack at best, they are still grossly excessive compared to what I really need to be doing. Taking into consideration the fact that a) as long as I pass my grades don't matter a bit, b) UDLA is very easy at the best of times, and are even more chilled out with exchange students and c) exchange is not SUPPOSED to be about studying hard, it seems like less is more. So forget doing the readings, non essential homework or going to class every single week! All nighters, minimal effort and a slap up job of all assignments is the name of the game. Anything more than a C- is just a waste, and wastefulness is inefficient and unintelligent, so smart studying is no studying!


3) Shove your piropo up your mother's concha

Sexual harassment in the streets. It's a fact of life for any white girl in Mexico and it can be as simple as a whistle or as creepy as a guy calling you 'Mamecita' whilst following you for 3 blocks. The most natural reaction for most girls who are used to the cold, compliment-less white boys is fear. "ZOMG they are going to rape me or tie me to a tree and touch me in inappropriate places," is a common fear. Of course, once one realises that doesn't actually happen, those feelings just turn to resentment, frustration, anger and a new found appreciation for Australian boys. But it doesn't have to be that way! Of course if some men just want to exert their manliness, be douchey or perhaps get laid they deserve to have it served back at them. So this semester instead of lowering my gaze and walking quickly past them, why not start strutting? Or serve them back an equally obnoxious comment to shut them down? It's not like they'll whip out the handgun for being called out on their rudeness. And if someone asks the dreaded boyfriend question why not just say outright "Nope!" It's not like they have a chance anyway (not the creepy dad types who are normally responsible for such piropos). If they want to give it then why don't we just torture them back? THAT is feminism.

4) Drink Less

Lol! Not going to happen. NEXT!

5) Be open to ALL experiences and people

So one problem I had at the beginning of last semester was my attitude towards other foreigners and in particular the other foreign students. While it is so important to embrace the local culture and befriend actual Mexican people in Mexico, it doesn't necessarily mean being a pretentious douche about it either. Even though I met some wonderful amazing Mexican friends, it wasn't until the later part of the semester that I began to realise just how interesting and unique some of the other exchange students were and finally get to know them. It is by no means a matter of clinging to one's own, or being too afraid or insecure to make local friends, but of just accepting and appreciating people for who they are, no matter where they're from. This semester I know I will no doubt meet a tonne of new friends, both Mexican and foreign, but those friends will be made based on who they are and not based on where they're from.

6) Just Chill the hell out!

Some things in Mexico (like anywhere) just don't work. Or they don't run on time or are late. And some people just don't get queue-ing etiquette. But worrying about it, being stressy and bitching don't make them any better! Deep breaths, relaxation and the realisation that you can't control the world around you are some of the hardest things to grasp and to really put into practice, but they definitely maketh a happy person. So if Don Julio gets the last ticket on the bus, who cares? Pull up, read a book and catch the next one! Mexico is one of the best places to test patience and will, and also one of the hardest