After a year and half of running that tour from backstage, i finally got a chance to hop on the Trafalgar trip called Treasures of the Yucatan.
Trafalgar is a company that offers touristic circuits around the world, for a determined period of time. Mostly for an older crowd. I affectionately call them "mis viejitos" (my little old people).
The trip was going to last for a week and it was honestly, a great week. Travelling with an older crowd is more my thing than with some spring-breakers who only think about boozing and partying. Been there, done that, i'm up to other stuff now.
And obviously, i was the youngest of them all. Most of them were my parents age, some of them could have actually be my grand-parents! But culture and ruins was on the program and i had a total blast.
So instead of describing everything i did for a week, i'd rather show off and put the pictures of the highlights of my "vacations" (technically, it was work).
At the top of the pyramid of Ek Balam
Under the arch of Ek Balam
Strolling Campeche's streets
Enjoying beautiful Edzna
Eating cochinita Pibil :P
Admiring the beauty of Uxmal from the top of the pyramid
Taking a dip in Sotuta de Peon's cenote!
And finally making it to Coba (and all the way to the top of the pyramid ... barefoot!)
And that is without talking (or bragging) about the flamingos of Celestun, our cooking class with a Maya family, our city tour of Merida, the hotels we stayed in, the visit of Chichen Itza and all the amazing people i got to hang out with ...
Well, it's not a marathon, it's actually HALF one but i thought it'd be more catchy for the title!!
A few days ago, the accountant of the company i work for sent us an email saying that he wanted to gather people to run the half marathon of Vallarta on November 4th. After thinking about it for a minute, i remembered "running a triathlon" was on my bucket list and i thought, well close enough, i should do it.
So i answered his email with one sentence: I'M IN.
And everybody kinda was expecting me to say that and everybody started cheering and the accountant smiled and showed me the run we'd have to do and damn it's 21 km!
When i told the news to Dear Beloved, he wasn't half as excited as i were. He was even pretty unpleasant, telling me we were insane to do this, we'd hurt ourselves, we'll never finish it, even him could not finish it and had i signed him up as well? And i was like, what? You're scowling me for telling you i just signed up for a half marathon and now you're asking me if i signed you up for it too? Of course i haven't. Well sign me up he said.
Men are weird.
So here we are, that very same evening, on our way to go buy proper running shoes, and out of nowhere, in the car, i got lectured (again) about this whole half marathon thingy. I'll pass on the details cuz i'd get pissed off again but hey, i'm not trying to make the Olympic team, i can abandon if needed, i wont get shot or fined if i do so and i'm excited at the idea that i'm actually going to have the chance to do this. So drop it, keep your negativity and help me chose the proper shoes.
And he did.
And so the training began. We took the dogs with us the following morning and i managed to run, without getting out of breath (that's definitely a first for me) for about 25 minutes. On the second day, the dogs weren't having any of it and they were like, is that a joke? 2 days in a row it's not funny anymore. I basically had to DRAG Lola for the last 10 minutes of the run and it's definitely no fun. I was kinda looking forward to run that half marathon with our dogs. I believe it's not gonna happen.
Well, too bad for them. I'm gonna do this and i'll keep all the laurels for myself!
It was Sunday morning, Dear Beloved was sleeping next to me and i decided i was going to check my Facebook. And the first post i read was the following, from Street Monsters (the FB page of the magazine my brother had created):
Nous avons la tristesse de vous apprendre le décès du fondateur du magazine : Antoine Collignon, alias Artkore. Une chute lors de la Monsters Race d'aujourd'hui, la course qu'il avait créée, nous l'a enlevé à jamais.
Il n'y a pas de mots pour décrire notre douleur. Nos pensées vont en premier lieu à sa famille, et à tous ceux qui comme nous ont eu la chance de côtoyer l'homme qui avait pris le risque de fou de créer ce magazine. RIP Antoine...
I read it about 3 times before i woke up Dear Beloved and make him read that to me, to make sure i was actually reading what i was reading.
Oh, for those of you who don't speak fluent French (shame on you btw), it says the following:
We're sadden to announce the death of the magazine's founder, Antoine, aka Artkore. A fall during today's Monsters Race, the race he had created, took him from us forever. There are no words to describe our pain. Our thoughts are with his family first and then to all of those, like us, who had the chance to hang out with the man who had taken the insane risk to create that mag. RIP Antoine.
My dad was with him at that race and his phone wasn't answering, my mom couldn't get a hold of him either and it was me, 9000+ km away from there, who told mom: your son, my brother, is dead.
As it is so well put in that statement, there are no words that can begin to express the feeling of losing a brother.
Now i had my "reason" for not being in that plane earlier. We were supposed to be at the race. Seeing my brother kill himself would most likely have been traumatizing. The only comfort me and my parents can get out of it is that he died doing what he liked the most, riding a bike, in a race he created, living his dream.
2 years. That's what i had been waiting for to go on this vacation. 2 years and it went all down the drain in Mexico City Airport when all of the sudden, neither me nor Dear Beloved had a passport anymore. And it happens so fast that it's literally one second, you're excitingly getting ready to do your check-in and the next, you're not going anywhere anymore cuz you cant get out of the country.
We had enough time in Mexico City to actually have arranged to meet with his family for lunch before heading to France. Oh yeah. In order not to carry around our suitcases, we decided to go check them in at the Aeromexico counter. And being the 21st century, you need to do that at the automatic check-in booth first.
I've never been a bright bulb with these machines so i asked the host to give me a hand, put all my paperwork (passport included) on the little stand under the screen and did my stuff. Dear Beloved took the screen next to me to do his thing as well. And off we were to the counter to register our suitcases. Except that i realized when we made it to the waiting line, that i had left the little case with everything on that damned little stand under the screen.
I ran like hell already picturing the host telling me, yes miss, here it is but when i got back to the check-in counters, he said that nobody reported anything.
At that particular moment, it's like the Earth is opening up under your feet and you fall and fall and fall endlessly. It was the end of the world. For me at least. Dear Beloved, of course, remained calm as a crispy lettuce which allowed me to break down completely, crying my eyes out in the middle of the airport.
His dad, sister and uncle came to the rescue and if anything, i livened up their day. I probably cried more than they'd ever seen in their entire life. But anyways.
Changing our flights was so expensive that we were left with no other option than to cancel our trip altogether. I called my parents at 1 in the morning for them to announce them the awful news and to cry some more. Needless to say that they were so disappointed but hey, i didn't lose them on purpose. End of it all, in that worse case scenario, it happened in the best conditions. We were in Mexico City, where Dear Beloved's family lives, in a country we both live in, in a capital where there is a French Embassy and endless options to keep us busy. Might as well make the best of a bad job.
I knew one day i'd blog about it. I mean, seriously, who else has adventures like this? I knew deep down that there was a bigger reason for me not to go to France that day. Everything does happen for a reason. But at that very moment, i could have killed someone.
Now replace the first paragraph with the following:
Did you take a black case with 2 passports inside at one of Aeromexico's check-in counters in the Terminal 2 of Mexico City's airport on August 27th?
And obviously, signing my name.
Just reading this out loud already makes me feel better.
Lola has been pregnant for 2 months + now and she was due any minute. When i came back home on Wednesday evening, i knew the end was close - she normally always come when called, especially when it's either me or Dear Beloved coming back from work. Not this time.
She was in the corner of her room, not moving much, barely lift her head up when i got in and looking like she had the world's entire load of misery upon her.
I immediately called the vet to ask for tips and to let him know that my dog was about to pop out puppies.
What i didn't know, cuz let's be honest, it'd be my first puppy birth (and Dear Beloved's first as well), is that dogs start by secreting a slimy green liquid before the actual labor starts (glad the vet told me that cuz i would definitely had freaked out if i had seen that slime on her when i went to check her up on Thursday morning).
At noon that day, she still hadn't started to deliver her puppies so we took her to the vet who gave her a shot to induce labor. And then the waiting began. And we did just that: waiting, waiting and waiting some more.
But when her water broke at around 5pm, i was on first raw to see her delivering a gigantic beautiful all white puppy girl. The only not so right point about it all is that the puppy came out outside the bag it normally should and with its umbilical cord already sectioned. And righteously so, Dear Beloved couldn't revived her :(
But when 6 hrs later, no other puppy had gotten out, we knew something was not too good. That's when the camping started, and the watching over Lola, me up until 2am and Dear Beloved until 6am.
That's when we rushed to the vet for an emergency c-section.
Long story short, after a psychological pregnancy 6 months ago, an emergency c-section, a 2nd dead puppy and 1.5hrs into surgery, we decided to spay Lola. In no way i want her to go through this hell again (neither do i to be honest).
It took her an entire week to feel better about it all and start eating again. She's now back to her happy self, walking with us and Bullet in the morning. We're a happy family again :)
What i really mean is that i'm outside, pending of my dog Lola in case she pops out more puppies since she's been in labor for what may seems like 2 days already.
I'm not really camping but it surely feels like it anyway.
I'm outside in my garden. I have a mosquito-repellent spiral burning next to me, a candle on so i can see a bit, Lola is sleeping like a log next to me and i peed behind the bushes earlier on! :o
I also have the criquets, the fireflies and some weird scary noises going on around me. If it wasnt for the public light, my wireless internet and the fan that Dear Beloved set up earlier on today to "kick" the armies of flies away, it could very much be like camping. We even had pizza for dinner!!!
Why am i on the watch with Lola you might ask? Well as i mentioned above, she's in labor. We were expecting her to give birth these days and yesterday afternoon when i came back from work and i saw her, it was obvious it was coming soon. And this morning (well, it's not this morning anymore, it's yesterday morning but since i havent slept yet, we'll keep it as such) - so this morning, at aroun 6:30am, when i saw her bed was half covered in that green fluid the vet told me about, i knew the time has come.
Dear Beloved was off and i took the afternoon to be together with him and her. Since things were going way too slow, we had to take her to the vet so she could get an injection to induce labor. Still took her 5 hours to push the first puppy out.
First puppy was a beautiful fat female, all white. Unfortunately, she was born still :( Actually, Lola delivered her first pup ever like a total pro. She started pushing, pushed her out in less than 5 seconds and start licking it and cleaning it like a good dog mom would do. Except that this little girl was born outside the bag they normally come in with and with her ombilical cord already sectionned. I told Dear Beloved this wasnt a good sign. And sure enough, it wasnt. He did try his best but couldnt revive the little one.
And so far, it's been the only pup getting out of my dog. We called the vet about 2 hours ago, a good 5 hours after the first pup was born and he told us that it can take all night. Reason why i'm outside with her in case she starts pushing again. Even though i must admit, the probabilities seem low considering the fact that she's currently sleeping belly up with her 4 legs wide open and snoring! jaja.
This is a very traditional position in this house. Every single one of my 5 pets sleep like this. Both dogs and cats! LOL
So yeah, i'm camping outside, while Dear Beloved is sleeping in our bed. I guess we'll take turns but so far i can keep myself awake for some extra time!
Now if you'll excuse me, i need to grab my torch and go find a spot to pee again!
This is big fat Lola trying to get some rest ... just before i set up my camp!
And this is Bullet, knowing something is definitely going on and willing to participate (very good quiet attitude around Lola - what a good dog he has been!)
Technically, i don't, but it sure feels like it. And i only realized it this morning - more than 2 years after moving in here.
This morning at around 8am, i went to the store to get some bread. I agree, it was Sunday and Sundays are generally even quieter days but still. There were not a single sound outside but the singing of my neighbors roosters and some birds in the trees. No car, nobody ... It was pretty awesome.
Right this second, it's pouring rain (i don't remember having such heavy raining in July since a very long time ago) and the only thing i can hear, is the rain falling on the leaves of the trees and plants in my garden and a storm coming that way.
Life is good in the countryside.
There is scarcely any writer who has not celebrated the happiness of rural privacy, and delighted himself and his reader with the melody of birds, the whisper of groves, and the murmur of rivulets. ~Samuel Johnson
It's national day in France today ... I don't celebrate it here, i didn't celebrate when i was living in France either, i was just enjoying the fireworks at night.
Today, in order to actually "celebrate" my home country of France (even if i haven't been living there for 12 years!), I've listened to one of the best anthems in the entire world (along with the Mexican one):
LA MARSEILLAISE!
I get emotional every time i hear this anthem (it's the long version this one!)
Joyeux 14 Juillet!
Aux aaaaaaaaaaaaarmes citoyens! Formeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez vos bataillons Marchooooons, marchoooooons Qu'un sang impuuuuuuuuur Abreuve nos sillons
When we crashed the car last year, i had to acknowledge the fact that before meeting dear-beloved, i really hadn't taken a good care of my car. It's not that i'm reckless, i just tend to not care about stuff like that. If it works, good, if it doesn't, i'll take it to the mechanics. What i never realized is that had i taken it to the mechanics BEFORE it needed to, it would have cost me half of what i ended up spending on that car.
I then swore to god that i would care for my next car the way it should be taken care of.
A year later, riding a bike on a regular basis and leaving my man the infinite pleasure of driving "my" new car, I've come to realize that taking care of your everyday vehicle is of utmost importance. And i realized that riding my bike actually!
Un-freaking believable.
When the chain is not oiled or the tires are not pumped up, the amount of energy i'm asking my body to produce is multiply by at least 10. I suffer through the entire way to work and the entire way back. I arrive on each end twice as tired as i normally would and the bike is making noises that feels like it's going to fall apart.
So I've deducted that, on the bike, I AM the power source to get moving. And if a 10 kg bike with a tire a bit low on air or missing a few drops of oil on the chain get me, the engine, into so much trouble and such harder work, i can only imagine what the engine of a 1.5 ton car car go through.
This has completely changed my view on it all. And I've realized that there is no better way to understand something or someone than to put yourself in their shoes.
A month after i got my new car, i finally drove it. Yesterday evening. To go to the ATM 3 blocks away from home.
I like to call it mine. That's what the papers are saying. The car, the loan, the insurrance, everything is under my name. But Dear Beloved drives it. Not me. And it's the most awesome car ever.
So yesterday evening, i finally did drive it. And it was an orgasmic experience.
Except that ... it's such a fancy car i couldnt find the AC, it bipped like crazy because i turned it on before i put my seat belt on, the side mirrors are automatic and it's like vuuuuut, vuuuuuuut when they turn, the doors unlock with a remote and with a meeeeek sound, you cant turn on the engine unless you step on the clutch, there's a bip if you exit the car with the lights still on ...
And it smells new.
I've never ever even SAT in such a bad ass car.
I wish i could drive it more often!
PS: and yes, THIS is a picture of the car we have. How awesome does it look?
Otherwise, let's be honest, it wouldn't be half as fun.
I did some laundry tonight. Since it's 30°C outside pretty much all night, i figured i didn't have to wait until the week-end to do laundry. For those of you who don't measure temperature in Celsius degrees (shame on you), it's hot. It's very hot. OK, fine, it's 86°F. There. Happy now? So back to what i was saying: it's hot.
So i was happily dividing the dirty clothes in piles depending on the color when i found some very much alive worms in the laundry basket. First thing i thought was: well that's a first. Having to deal with thousand of worms because i put some old meat in the trash and forget to take the trash out on trash day has happened to me more than i can recall but worms in the laundry basket, dam, that's new.
Well, i thought, if i'm going to find something that shouldn't be here while dividing my laundry, i might as well do it outside.
Oh dear god.
1) there was a live cockroach in the washing machine. Since i cant touch this kind of animal with my hands (dead or alive), i covered it with my color pile of dirty clothes and told him goodbye.
2) when i was putting the black pile in the washer, i found out where the worms were coming from: a dead rat. In the middle of my clothes. It was pretty much dried up but still immensely gross.
3) on a complete different register, i planted some habanero seeds. And touched my face afterwards. I should know better. My face has now been on fire for 2 hours.
Now let's be honest. If the stuff that happens to me wouldn't happen to me, life wouldn't be half as fun. Mine at least!
I'm allergic to a lot of stuff. Everything has been pretty much under control but i have a feeling it's getting worse every year.
At age 13 (maybe 14), i was declared allergic to dust mites. In other word, to all the little microscopic bugs that can be found in the dust. Not the dust in the streets or outside, the dust you find in the houses. So as soon as i was vaccuuming my room, changing my sheets, cleaning behind my desk, it was a non stop run of sneezing and running nose.
Then we found out i was also allergic to mold. And living in a 100+ year old house with my parents was probably not helping.
Then, after a very interesting turn of events, i found out i was allergic (and that's probably my most serious allergy so far) to a solvent called benzene. How did i found out? At the hairdresser, wanting to go platinum blonde and ending up with my head the shape of a light bulb. With my scalp so burnt it turned red, and my hair all glued up together like giant rat tails.
I said benzene is my worse allergy cuz you can find benzene or its derivatives in pretty much anything that includes solvent: thiner, amoniac, paint (to name but a few).
Then i got a serious intestinal infection and dont do milk well anymore. I mean i can still drink milk but i know i'll spend the next 3 days in the bathroom. So not so much fun!
Last year, i got an allergic reaction to aspirin.
And just last week, i was washing my hair with this new shampoo i bought to enlighten my hair and i was feeling kinda weird afterwards. Like my entire face was pulsing. My eyes were puffed up the following morning as well but were back to normal after i made it to work so i didnt pay much attention to it.
After a couple of days, i washed my hair again and again, i felt weird. Dear Beloved was so much quicker to react and told me to get my ass back in the shower to wash off the shampoo residue and check the composition of this new shampoo that was most likely toxic for me.
And he was right. My new chamomille shampoo has amoniac derivatives as part of its formula and i was getting an allergic reaction.
So what's next? I mean seriously, dust mites, mold, solvents, milk, aspirin and even shampoo!!! Add to that the fact that i'm asthmatic and yay, what a cool healthy life i have! I'm also allergic to slow people, lack of common sense and racism but i dont think there are meds for these!
This below, is the reason i've been unable to write anything for so long. I went on a trip called Mexico Grande to check on it since i've been remotedly operating it for a year and a half already. I couldnt keep this blog updated cuz ...
i shopped in Morelia's candy store ...
horse-back rode in Zihuatanejo ...
saw the cliff divers of la Quebrada in Acapulco ...
enjoyed lunch on the pier of 100% natural restaurant (in Acapulco again) ...
bought silver in Taxco ...
sailed on a Trajinera in the floating gardens of Xochimilco ...
went to the Lucha Libre in Arena Mexico ...
visited the A-MA-ZING Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City ...
climbed the Sun Pyramid in Teotihuacan ...
discovered beautiful Merida ...
visited Chichen Itza ...
took a dip in Cenote Ik-kil
met with friends in Playa del Carmen (sorry Timo, i still dont have a picture of us 2!)
For those of you who were wondering what the heck is happening in my life since i haven't been posting for exactly a month now, please rest assured that i am still alive and that crazy stuff still happens to me on a regular basis. The reason behind my silence is that i have been traveling for work for 26 days over a month and a half period and didn't get the chance (or time) to write anything.
So stay put ... the good stuff is coming back very soon :)
So i called my mom this morning since it's Mother's Day. Well, no, it's Mother's Day in the States, in Mexico and who knows where else but not in France it's not. In France, Mother's Day is the last Sunday of May.
I called her anyway, and i told her: happy mother's day!!!!! you know with that joyful voice you use when you wish someone a happy birthday, anniversary, new job, or a happy whatever.
And she answered this:
What? Emm, OK then.
O_o
FAIL
EPIC FAIL
I have a mom.
She's kinda dead inside.
So now i feel like an idiot for wishing her a happy mother's day cuz it's not mother's day where i'm from and i will most likely completely forget about it when it's actually it in a couple of more weeks.
I know the title doesn't sound too good but i couldn't find any other expression to describe the feelings. I swore to myself i wouldn't brag about my feelings on Facebook, nor will i bother my friends (real and virtual) with pictures and videos of the kids i might have one day. I think it's annoying to a point i'll block you if you do that. True story. It happened to a friend of mine (whom i don't think he knows why we're not friends on FB any longer). Every 2 hours, he was bragging about his love for his girlfriend (who became his wife eventually) and she was bragging back and it was a constant incessant vomit of PDA. For the entire virtual world to see. And it bothered me. I mean they're both people i consider friends in real life but i don't need them to convince me they love each other. She loves you, you love her, good for you, now let's do something more interesting with your life. Who are you trying to convince? Me? Yourself?
OSH. So it's very rare i actually brag about having the most amazing boyfriend on planet earth even if i believe i do.
Having the opportunity to write whatever i want on this blog is the opportunity for me to brag about my love for Dear Beloved. End of it all, if you're reading these lines, it's because you want to, not because they're in your face on your FB's wall.
I've thought about writing this post for some time now. I just never found the moment to do so. But today is the day.
This is a post for my boyfriend, for Dear Beloved as i call him within these pages, for you Babe.
We've been together for just under a year and a half now. It's not a lot but it's still long enough to make it count. We got together against all odds and made it last against all odds too. You're very different to the type of guys I've dated in the past. You're not the kind of man i would have noticed at first, or i would have hit on, but this is most likely what made it, what made "us" work.
In my previous relationships, even the ones that have last for years, I've always found the flaw that would break us eventually.
Every
Single
Time
This little something you know someday, you wont be able to look pass it anymore. That little irritating thing he's doing, that way he has to say something, his way of life, his youth, his education, whatever it is, you know it's there. You know you don't like it and you know that one day, it will irritate the hell out of you. In my case, i know about it, work hard on putting it aside thinking my intuition might be wrong this time, this will not break us up, i will get used to it, i will like it eventually, and all the crap you can put yourself in your own head to convince yourself you didn't make a mistake.
IT DOESN'T WORK
Not for me anyway. But maybe because i'm a crazy impulsive head who tends to say "sod it, fuck it all, i'm outta here" easily. Or maybe it's because i can only take crap for so long. Love is blind and it makes you do stuff you wouldn't normally do but if you're down miserable, why the flying fuck do you stay??
Well the situation here is new.
I haven't found that thing in Dear Beloved. I just cant find the flaw. I'm sure he has plenty but none of them has triggered that "get the hell out of here now" bell. And that kinda bell generally starts ringing pretty early in the relationship. Not 1.5 yrs later.
So why the negative title? Because i cant describe it any other way. When i look at him, i feel so much love it kinda hurt my guts. It's love beyond words. It's Love with a capital L. It's THE person you want to meet in your life, he's the one who makes you feel alive, who makes you feel beautiful and loved, he who means the world to you. The person you think about every single second of the day. He's that person you feel your heart crumbling down a little when you say goodbye in the morning while departing to work, that person you miss like crazy when he's late from work or out with friends. That person you feel you can never give enough to make it up to your feelings and the fact that he's part of your life.
He's all that.
And more.
So much more.
I didn't even know it was possible to love that much. So much that there'll never be enough words or for sure, not the right ones to honor it and do the feeling justice. It's so gigantic my heart might explode! Since that'd be pretty messy, i'll leave you with this Nat King Cole sing that sums it all up nicely:
L is for the way you look at me O is for the only one I see V is very, very extraordinary E is even more than anyone that you adore can
Love is all that I can give to you Love is more than just a game for two Two in love can make it Take my heart and please don't break it Love was made for me and you
L is for the way you look at me O is for the only one I see V is very, very extraordinary E is even more than anyone that you adore can
Love is all that I can give to you Love is more than just a game for two Two in love can make it Take my heart and please don't break it Love was made for me and you Love was made for me and you Love was made for me and you
