I'm here!

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My mom and I made it safely to Puebla. Everything went shockingly smooth, actually. We got through security at SeaTac in record time, made it through customs without any questions in Mexico City (a nice change from customs at Heathrow!), got on a bus right away and when we arrived in Puebla, the UMVIM coordinator Priscilla was there to pick us up and take us to our hotel.

The next day we went to Tlaxiaco for the day. I had gotten an e-mail the day before I left saying that the board of Hogar Estudiantil Indigena would be meeting in Tlaxiaco, and that my mom and I should go and meet everyone. However, it is a 5 hour drive to get there, so for the second day in a row, we were on the road at 3:30 in the morning. We rode with the Bishop, his wife and Priscilla. At first the idea of meeting the Bishop seemed kind of intimidating (at 3:30 in the morning, on about 4 hours of sleep), but his sense of humor quickly put us at ease.

After hours of driving in dark, the sun came up to reveal beautiful green mountains and valleys. I loved seeing the combination of tropical plants, cactus and pine trees. It is right after the rainy season, so everything is very green. Apparently this has been an especially rainy season and there was a major landslide in Oaxaca, but nowhere near where we were traveling. The roads got progressively worse the closer we got, and pretty soon we were bumping and scraping along a dirt road leading to the home. The Bishop’s car was new, but I don’t know that it qualifies as new after this trip!

Casa Hogar is just outside of town with a corn field in front and pine trees behind the house. We meet Augostin y Irene who run the home and several of the students as well. Everyone seems really nice and I was impressed by how quick the kids were to help Irene in the kitchen and the shy politeness they showed towards all the adults who were invading their home that day. Also, I guess the last volunteer who was here was a vegetarian and assuming I would be too, they prepared a delicious vegetarian meal for everyone! They were happy to hear that I was not actually a vegetarian.

All in all, I think this will be a good place to be. And I think I will appreciate it even more when I am not quite so travel-dazed. Before going back to Puebla, we went into town to visit the Zocalo or center of town. It seemed like one big market, and definitely a fun place to explore. Since it does take so long to travel there, it was decided that I’ll spend the rest of the week with my mom in Puebla, and then travel to Tlaxiaco on Monday.

The Bishop and Augostin discussing a land issue.