Going forth into the great unknown: Coming together

I am not sure what I want this post to end up being, but I have more to say about my time in Mexico. I am back in Austin now, but will write about that later.

Recap: I went to Oaxaca three times, twice for research and once with my friend Lourdes to the beaches. I finally saw my top tourist spots (el Palacio de Bellas Artes, Zócalo, Café de Tacuba, and el Museo de Antropologia) with my friend Marlene and her mother who was visiting from Germany. I also did an impromptu trip with Marlene, her mother, and two friends to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. I organized an international Thanksgiving that brought some of my favorite people together to share, laugh, drink, and forget our problems (yes, it's cheesy, but that's how it felt).

I met some amazing people, inspiring people. People who remind me that friendships and human connection are some of the most important things I value. I think of Angie and Lou and I laughing at "Guadalajara", Marlene and I buying some tacos at 2am and watching Clueless on the couch, Marine and I sneaking off from school to go to the mall and play with puppies, and a few other things in between.

Thankgiving: yup, I totally made the turkey!!!

So Thanksgiving came together a little bit last minute, but it was all worth it. I looked for a turkey 2 days before (yes, against my nature of planning things WAY in advance). I was lucky to find one that was mostly thawed (thanks to Superama, a branch of Walmart, and the American holidays and customs that are creeping into Mexican society and culture). I brined the turkey and stuffed it into a large bucket that took up 75% of our fridge space. The day of was a bit of a hot mess to say the least. I had to carry a bucket of, uhh, turkey and turkey juices out to the street, hail a cab and go over to my friend's apartment where we were having the dinner. Why not have it at my apartment? Let's just say that big dinner require certain things we didn't have, like a table, chairs, and more than one fork. Ehem. So, after a full day of cooking the turkey (which Lou helped me with for a couple hours), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (fresh, ya'll!), and sweet potato pie I ran home to take a quick shower while Marlene held down the fort. Slowly but surely friends from CIDE and la Comi began appearing and the table began to fill up with delicious food and the room with laughter and good conversation. Due to some difficulties (a certain roommate in charge of bringing plates arriving last), we started dinner late, but it was wonderful all the same. Each of us gave thanks for something, and in our own languages. In total, we had English, Spanish, German, and Italian! I wasn't sure how well my Mexican friends would take celebrating something so distinctly American, but each expressed their gratitude for being able to participate in a tradition that showed them something positive about American culture. We all forgot about the work we had to wake up for the next day, stayed out just a little too late, but it was all worth it because we were together.