times they are a-changing

I repeat myself when I say that I don´t know what it is about Cathedrals but they strike me so deeply with their enormity and overwhelming sense of harmony that I always feel so insignifant and humbled and silenced (which takes a lot.) The cathedral in Morelia had no less an effect upon me. I was there on Monday and the meaning of the cathedrals really grabbed every breathing particle that makes up ´Anetta´ and inspired my very core, even rendering me emotional. It was intense. I was so awe-struck and deeply contemplative when sitting in there that I even got caught up in midday mass without even realising, until the Priest was standing at the front speaking in low biblical Spanish tones and I realised that every Mexican around me had stood in respect. I snuck out swiftly.

But the Cathedral´s impact, to me, is representative of how I wish to try and live my life. Aware of my contextualisation within lifetimes of history, culture, conflict, religion, philosophy and not taking it for granted.

Jacky & Yvonne

Today is my last full day in the Bosque. I will miss it dearly but having lived in this peaceful eco village for a month, I know that it is definitely time for me to move on... I am embarking on the next chapter of my latin american travels. Exceedingly nervous and exceedingly excited! I will begin tomorrow in Morelia, a colonial city about an hour away from Patzcuaro (journey time from the Bosque of course is 4hours!) Here I spent last weekend with the wonderful Brothers Woodward (Steven and Charles) from Denver, Colorado. They finished their 2-week stint in the Bosque and were continuing on with their adventures - cycling through Mexico - so I followed them to enjoy my days off and had a thoroughly entertaining ¨weekend.´´ We walked around the stunning Centro Historico and I introduced the brothers to my meditative habit of contextualising myself within every new experience to ensure I adequately live in each moment and savour every bit of my life. They called me a New Age Hippie which is laughable but I must admit that I am finding myself increasingly spiritual these days. I am just realising more and more how much incredible beauty there is to our very existence and it means a lot to me to attempt to appreciate that as much as possible.

Goodbye Bosque!

Filming in the Bosque has been fun and liberating. I have had deadlines but not the same money/ permissions/ crew restrictions as I do in London so it has never felt tedious or overly limited. Three short films/¨vlogs¨ later and I am very proud to have been able to document my first month in Mexico and have an enduring record of my time spent in the Bosque. I have conducted several interviews with volunteers here and one of my favourite questions is ´´Have you learnt anything from this experience?¨ I enjoy asking this question as answers are always extremely varied as there is just a multitude of personalities that make up the volunteer team. It is such an open question that it is interpreted to mean social, personal, environmental lessons. For me it means all as I feel the experience has enrichened me in all the above ways.

I have become more conscious of my impact on the planet. I have learned to ´listen to the land´ and my newfound mantra ´the forest is my friend.´ I have become more self sufficient and independent. I have learned how good it feels to eat healthily three times a day for a month. I have learned how good it feels to constantly be among the trees and to live in nature. I have learned many things about myself - that I am a bit more of an attention seeker than I would previously admit. That I LOVE getting to really know people and can grow attachments easily and quickly. That I still continue to judge people too fast, despite me thinking that I had grown out of this. That quiet people DOES NOT MEAN boring people! That I like to always be involved but it is probably better for me to not always be! That I enjoy working alone. That I do not enjoy playing alone. That I need my time to sit aside and reflect in my own calm. That I don´t need to party to have fun. That sitting around a fire with a book on Sufism can be just as pleasurable. That I actually love talking to people who are completely different from me and am keenly interested in other ways of living. That I enjoy being me without makeup! I am finally used to my own face :)

I am so excited about the next chapter of my travels... It is going to be very different without my safety blanket of the Bosque to go back to after a weekend´s trip away and the familiar faces all around me and a bedroom. I´ll miss the composting toilets - there´s no feeling like crapping in the great outdoors. I´ll miss the amazing food, hopefully I´ll continue these eating habits and not succumb to the quesadillas and tacos! But most importantly, hopefully I´ll keep up my newfound kinship with nature and continue to appreciate its importance in my life, for my strength of mind and body and for feeding my soul.

Peace out,
Anetta x

ps - I ain´t a hippie

mighty mighty torros

Janitzio island, Patzcuaro

So Friday the sun came out and changed the face of everything... the forest AND my mood! So after work on Sunday, I went with a bunch of other volunteers to the nearby magical town of Patzcuaro where we ate a shitload of cheese-based food, drank tequilas and squished 6 of us into a hostel room. On Monday we visited the teeny tiny adorable island of Janitzio in the middle of the stunningly massive Lake Patzcuaro. Growing out of the top of the island stands a proud imitation of the statue of liberty, the Jose Maria Morelos - a great hero of Mexico´s independence. We visited all the tiny little craft shops ascending the island and then ascended the statue ourselves. This gave Yvonne and myself the strangest cramp ever to be experienced. A sign of unfitness? I certainly hope not. That evening we said a sad goodbye to Genevieve, one of my favourite people I´ve met so far. A strong, fierce and fiery chica from California but with Native American blood in her, Gen lives and breathes eco systems. Initially the two of us seemed incompatible as friends - she was shocked that I didn´t know you could get callouses on your hands (from using tools apparently) and I was similarly shocked that someone would choose to NOT shave their armpits. However, once we were able to laugh at our striking lifestyle differences we were able to laugh about nearly everything else and now I dearly miss her already. We also shared a mutual appreciation for booze and occasionally obnoxious behaviour which helped.

The next two days were two of my favourite spent in Mexico yet and another Bosque-r named Yvonne played a large part in that. Yvonne is a 32yr-old investment banker from London but has a severe case of hippie-at-heart syndrome. On Tuesday the two of us went to the charming town with the wholly satisfying name of Tzintzuntzan, dragging Jacky the Canadian in tow. Tzintzuntzan had a fiesta going on all day that apparently began at 4am! It was just like a summer fete back in England with the bunting and families and craft stalls and food. Except somehow 900% more colourful! It was so much fun and we left giggly and smug... Although not as smug as the next day, whereby we went to an authentic Mexican Bull Riding competition! This was at a bull ring, again in Tzintzuntzan (a town made of hours of fun), teeming with Mexican families and smelling of Macho men and of course, tequila. It was JUST LIKE something you´d see in the movies. Big muscly Mexican men jumping on raging torros which fling them wildly around the ring until they eventually get thrown (rather violently) off to the song of the ´bandas´ playing excitable music and the delight of the thrilled audience.

Yvonne and I could not stop beaming our English smugness at having found out about this exclusively Mexican event and having witnessed such a cultural delicacy of local entertainment. Truly brilliant! However, after this fun we had to part ways with Yvonne as she boarded a bus to Morelia to continue with her own travels to Belize. I really miss Yvonne too - an inspiring, intelligent, energetic and really fun girl with a big heart. She was like another big sister! I look forward to dinners at hers in Balham when I´m back in London and visiting her at her dress stall at the Upmarket in Brick Lane.

And so now I feel lost once more! I seriously do not like saying goodbye and Jacky keeps making fun of me for taking it personally when people leave the Bosque and for feeling like they´re leaving me! But i can´t help it! Also, the rain is supposed to make a lasting appearance from tomorrow and we all know how i feel about that. An amazing last few days though to keep me smiling for a while...

Muchos love xxx

Ojo de Anetta

(Apparently attention-seeking me) at Frida's place

Today I learnt something about myself; that I am not as shy and introverted as I often assert. My friends and family have been telling me this forever but lessons about yourself are always more meaningful when you learn them yourself eh? This evening I was chilling in the trendy La Condesa district of Mexico city, drinking cervezas with Luisa, Mariana and Luisa´s friends. They all speak good English but obviously much of the conversation took place in Spanish. And as much as I enjoyed listening to the gorgeous cadence of their language, as i couldnt understand anything I had to sit quietly as the sweet, shy girl. So i discovered that I DO NOT LIKE being the sweet shy girl!!! Haha even though I couldn´t chip in as i had no idea what they were saying, i REALLY wanted to say something at all times! Sweet and shy does not suit. And i have realised that I must often speak JUST so i can speak. Am i one of those people who like the sound of their own voice?! FECK.

Anyways, another observation I made about social interactions is that often when we are talking with our friends we must find laughter and smiles SO contagious that when our friends are telling a story, it helps when they are laughing to lighten the mood in general and keep everyone compelled and uplifted! I say this because, again, even though I could not understand much of the conversation, I found myself constantly giggling when everyone else giggled and naturally beaming throughout the conversation just because everyone else were clearly enjoying themselves! What a beautiful aspect of human empathy. I really enjoyed discovering this.

Frida Kahlo's home

We visited the Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo in Coyoacan today. This is where the famous artists and lovers Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived and it is such a beautiful and inspirational house. Everything about it is so warm and it seems the kind of place that if you lived there, you would never care to see the outside world. I can imagine them just staying in and being creative together. I loved the colourful monster puppets that Frida made and decorated the outside of the house with the most! And also, bizarrely, their crockery really caught my attention as they were handpainted with charming child-like creatures by Frida and Diego together. My heart broke though as Mariana translated a love letter from Frida to Diego whereby she asks him to not see other women (unless he really can´t help it) and ends the letter with ¨please love me a little, I adore you¨... But then next to this we were presented with a love letter from one of his Italian lovers written in the same year professing her love and how much of a sweet time she´d spent with him. ALL MEN ARE BASTARDS! Especially as Diego has been known to say such eloquent and touching praises of Frida and he clearly loved her. I guess, as with all men, his ego swallowed his dignity and his respect for love. We then walked around the lively Coyoacan, strolling around the Plaza San Jacinto. Filled with people and live guitar music yet extremely chilled and relaxing, I really enjoyed this vibe!

Coyoacan

Sitting in La Condesa this evening, I made my mind up that I should go to the eco village this Saturday… I realised that whilst I did want to see more of Mexico city, one of the reasons why i was putting the Bosque Village off is because i´m scared!!! I am so nervous that i will not survive there and everyone will think i am a bad example of a human being and i won´t like the outdoors living, the vegetarian food, the no smoking and the physical labour! And here in Mexico city i am getting very comfortable with my great company and English speaking hosts! It is time for me to throw myself in the deep end again. After all, this is exactly why i CAME to central america… it´s once again time for sink or swim! So i just booked my ticket to Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacán for Saturday morning so I will arrive at the Bosque Village on Saturday, where I will hopefully (if they let me!) spend the next two months…

Hasta luego!

Anetta xx