March 28th
I almost died today. Seriously, I thought I was going to die in the desert while on a "hike" which turned into a death hike. Wait, let me back up. We started the day still in Cuernavaca, but got up really early to catch the bus to Cuentepec which was the rural village where we would stay for four days. It was about a three hour bus ride so most of us used the chance to catch a nap which meant that we started with the visual of Casa Hoy with hammocks and the swimming pool and woke up to dirt roads, church bells ringing, swarming kids, and Senora Jose's face which can only be described as a physical manifestation of comfort. We got dropped off in the middle of town, walked a few blocks and were home. Senora Jose was one of the members of the women's pottery co-op and had been hosting AB trips for years. She gave us her bedroom and all seven women crammed in while the guys went next door to sleep in Senora Maria Elena's bedroom which they nicknamed the a-p-t.
Back to the Death Hike. It was such a good idea in theory. The teens of Cuentepec were sick of the lack of opportunities in the area so they started a tourism company that does tours and created a zipline. All of the funds went to build a community center, soccer field, emergency hospital and Internet access. Some of the teens wanted to take us to see Aztec pictographs that was about an hour hike. We all said yes and we were on our way.
Beginning of the hike when pictures were still fun.
The way down was clearly gorgeous, however it was basically three miles of cut-backs to the bottom. I knew it was going to be rough back to the top, but I had no idea what "rough" meant. It meant two hours of stop-and-go, a break, encouragement and what Gerardo called moments to "convivir" or to come together in honest, true connection with one another which was one of the goals of Casa Hoy. It took over two hours, three giant bottles of water, but I made it back alive. We went back to the house, I took a nap for God only knows how long and was woken up by the sound of the group chattering away and the smell of homemade tortillas being made over a fire. Senora Jose was using a mortar block that was at least a hundred year old!
There was a big (and I mean BIG!) part of me that wanted to stay in bed and not go to the community center, but thank GOD I didn't! We played games with the kids, saw the zipline (which Garrick tried to convince me could be our "cultural activity") and saw the most beautiful sunset of my life! The best part was the English/Spanish/Nahutl language session.
The first word he taught us was the Nahutl work for "thank you" which when broken down, had a literal meaning of "I feel your love." How amazing is that?!? I definitely had a few moments of Connectedness when I turned to people just to say how amazing this moment was. We taught the kids some English lessons and was just generally present for everyone. It was a wonderful end to a day that started off pretty rough.
During the Nahutl language lesson at the community center which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
Every single sunset was inspiring!
After that we went back to the house for dinner (more tortillas, beans and Mexican sweet bread) and reflection, led by Christa which was pretty in-depth for a first round. She asked us to talk in small groups about when we feel most fully alive and what was a turning point moment in our lives. I talked about "growing people" and the drive from Ohio to LA. There was a lot of great sharing and I was frankly surprised by how much they were willing to share. I was really impressed with Phil in particular.
He talked about his relationship with Isabel and how he doesn't like to call her his girlfriend because that term doesn't adequately describe someone that he loves. He also said that he hopes he can learn how to love more deeply on this trip. His theory is that every experience you have makes your heart metaphorically bigger which means you can then go back and love more deeply. At this point about four of us began to cry.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the group so far. I'm being very conscious of not attempting to compare them to ABDC. It is important for me to remember that even we didn't start off so tight at the beginning of the trip. I think my Mexico family has potential!
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