I effing love Mexico

My bed

And I have known this all along but Zipolite just hammered this home for me! After making peace with Mazunte I continued on with my travels and went to the next Oaxacan beach, Zipolite. Zipolite is quite sceney and known for its hippies, raves and nudity. I always thought I was a fairly liberal person but seeing numerous wangs of varied description dangling all over a beach, for me, is quite undesirable. Shocked by the sight at first, I felt a little bit sick. However after some time you become quite immune to the goolies littering the beach and particularly because the majority of naked bodies strolling about belonged to the 50+, I began to think GOOD ON THEM! Indeed on my last day, I joined the masses albeit on a secluded part of the beach, free from other people and I must declare that it felt so... natural. Perhaps we should all be naked all the time?

My bathroom

My last day in Zipolite, despite experiencing a gigantic cockroach scurrying over my feet in the shower (a complaint to which the hostel owner responded affectionately ¨aaah a cucuracha! hahahahaha!¨ as if I should have felt delighted), was one of my favourite days in Mexico yet. That evening I chilled on the beach with a 29yr old Mexican artesan and a 19yr old Mexican truck driver. We sat near to a beachside bar that was playing Cuban music and both Mexicans instinctively rose and began dancing so naturally and rhythmically to the music as though they were made to dance. The artesan, Victor, then pulled me up to dance with him and naturally, I failed to emulate the simple yet perfect rhythm of his dancing feet. I was so clumsy and awkward it was excrutiating! And I always thought I was an excellent dancer...

My view

But this is something that I have noted time and time again! People do not exaggerate in the slightest when they talk of Latin blood and how the salsa rhythm is intrinsically a part of what it means to be Mexican. I am overwhelmingly jealous about this and always have to resort to my knees-up-slow-walking-dubstep dance or indeed one of my more ridiculous routines. My favourite part about this is the wild abandon with which Mexicans dance! There is no awkwardness, feelings of shame, pretentiousness, self-consciousness etc. It is simply a case of, this music is great - I´m going to move to it! I couldn´t imagine being with a British artesan and truck driver and having the same experience.

Mexican drummers

Similarly, I love how in touch with spirituality and the universe Mexicans seem to me. Well at least the majority of those whom I have encountered. In the same evening, my company were both discussing the constellations of the stars and the infinity of the universe from both their own and ancient Mayan perspectives. My night was iced with walking along the beach and kicking at the sand to reveal glowing plankton (I think this is what it is called in English? My friends called it ´planton´ in spanish) in the sand. There were so many! Just glittering all over the beach. I felt like I was walking in the starry sky...

I love Mexico
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

New me