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

Imbalanced vibes

Laundry at the Bosque

SO forgive me for talking like a hippy but my harmonies have been strangely imbalanced the last couple of days... I have had a great time, but some things have just seemed a bit off. Today is a good example! The weather has been insanely weird and temperamental. Usually the days here are gorgeous, with hot sun and a cooling breeze and the nights absolutely freezing. However, last night was surprisingly warm! So I should have known that today would be super cold! I was working outside too so I couldn't feel my feet and ended up putting on 3 pairs of socks haha. This made me feel very pissed off and grumpy as I don't take to the cold that well but then as soon as lunch was served I felt SO HAPPY as there was sun AND humous!! Haha a bit schiz?! Although again, right now I am feeling horribly weird again as I'm too bloody FULL! Haha I just ate the most delicious lunch of freshly-made humous, vegetables and tortilla wraps. I went a little crazy and ate too much but only to make up for the horribly cold morning I had... Everything is imbalanced!

SO on Thursday I got the best news ever! It was my second day of work and Brian and I discussed me making a weekly vlog for the Bosque as my work service here. I am absolutely THRILLED!!!! Whilst I enjoy the outdoorsy work as it is so new to me and not stuff that I'd EVER normally do or will probably do again, I am so glad that I get to keep up my filmmaking and hone my skills here. Plus, I get to film on Brian's HD camera and edit on Adobe Premiere so it should be good for me to learn and feel comfortable with both. So for the past three days I have been filming everything I can - the different work tasks we do and all the fun we have! This has included so far cob-building, wood chopping, meditation, a chainsaw workshop, interviews with volunteers... I think I've enjoyed filming the various vistas here the most as it really is quite stunning in the forest when the sun is out... Today I began editing my footage which hasn't been as difficult as I thought it'd be, turns out editing software is all very similar. It feels quite good to be 'on it' again in the same way I am in London. To feel productive and in control of my own projects. I'm a laidback person but I need to feel that I am actively contributing to my own development at all times haha. The physical labour does help but the filming is easily more satisfying for me.

Rose painting

I have helped with a bit of cob-building alongside the film work though which has been really cool. The new cabanas here are being made from eco-friendly 'cob', a mix of water, sawdust, pine needles and earth. So yesterday and today, we've been smoothing the floor of one of the new cabanas with finely ground cob mix. Yesterday, Judith and I laid it all down and today all of us volunteers went barefoot and smoothed the mix out across the floor of the cabana. At first I was filming but it looked so much fun that I decided to join in... and MASSIVELY regretted it!!! It was so effing cold!!! My toes were freezing!

Chicken coup

We finish work at 2pm everyday here and then all sit down to a huge lunch together. After this we are free to do whatever we want and this is my favourite time of the day, between 2-7.30pm (when dinner is served) as I always feel so happy, chilled and peaceful. Particularly when the sun is out! Sometimes I'll hang out with the other volunteers (sometimes getting drunk early if someone has alcohol haha), but mostly I prefer to spend this time alone just lying in my favourite hammock reading (currently Sophie's World - am I a cliche?!) or writing whatever inspires me or wandering around the acres of forest here. After dinner, all of us hang out together either by the fire in the Casita or outside by a fire. Last night was one of my favourite nights here, we all hung out by a fire at The View (the best part of the forest) drinking local wine and playing guitar.

Genevieve working hard

I cannot believe I've been here a week already! Time goes by so strangely here... The week has gone so quick but at the same time, I feel very settled here like I've been here longer. I know that the vibe will change after this weekend though as many volunteers are leaving... Alejandra (the super lovely 20yr-old from Mexico City), Little Brian (a 33yr-old English lit graduate/ fisherman/ girls' favourite haha from US), Aaron (a 24yr-old absolutely mental biking-around-latin-america seasonal firefighter from Canada) and sweet sweet Shaya (22 from Israel.) I am most upset about Shaya as we get on very well and have SO MUCH FUN together and she was going to stay longer but then decided she wanted to see more of Mexico but only has a month left so she's going earlier than expected. She's my favourite here as there's just no bullshit with her and she doesn't pretend to be someone she's not and she never follows the crowd but is always her own person and she's really freakin cool! I plan to see her again in my travels and we have talked about potentially travelling Belize together. Hope to meet Aaron again sometime later as he is travelling some more and is really funny and bizarre company! We are having a couple more volunteers arrive next week but I am still sad as the dynamic will definitely change. That doesn't mean to say it won't still be fun, just different!

Anyways gotta go, am visiting Eronga with Shaya... Wanna buy some booze for tonight as it is her last! Hopefully next time I write I will feel more in sync with my own rhythms or whatever... Think some sun will help enormously!

xxx

a piece of peace

Luisa and her horse

Today I am writing from the remotest forest hills in the state of Michoacan, the nearest village a tiny one called Patzcuaro which reminds me of a 'kampong' in the Malaysian countryside. I am staying at an eco village here called the Bosque Village, a magical place from first impressions, for the next month or so. I am currently in one of the cabanas here which is where the internet computer and electricity to power phone, camera batteries etc is located. This particular cabana is called The View. This is because it is at the top of one of the forest's hills and it over looks the Patzcuaro lake. Absolutely stunning! More on this later...

A Mexican family of lovely, strong women 

So Friday I was still in Mexico city. In the morning I visited Luisa's horse with her at the stables and then after we all went around to her Grandmother's apartment in the south of the city for lunch. It was so delicious! Zucchini soup, Tinga con pollo (which is a kind of enchilada but more tasty!) and a tasty pastel for dessert, a Mexican recipe but I cannot remember the name. What I enjoyed most about this lunch was seeing a Mexican family together. Mariana and Luisa's auntie was also there, together with two of their cousins. And from the minute we walked in there was an extreme warmth about the place. Everyone was so happy to see each other and did not stop laughing right up until we left. There was no reluctance or sense of obligation as there is, ashamedly, with my family and I think with many other Western families.

Girls night out in Mexico City

That night, I hit Mexico City's nightlife with the girls and a bunch of Luisa's girlfriends. She is leaving (today I think) to study a semester in Madrid so it was her leaving party. We pre-drank at one of Luisa's friends' places. Her girlfriends are all gorgeously stunning! This was extremely handy for getting in to the club as I later found out. So we pulled up to the club, Classico in a taxi and I noticed about 100people crowded around outside. Wow, I thought, that looks like the most disorganised queue I've ever seen, really couldn't be bothered to queue in the cold! However, as the girls explained to me, in clubs here there is no queue. Instead everyone gathers around the ropes outside the club and the bouncers take their time to hand-pick only the prettiest people or the sons-and-daughters-of kids. It was hysterical! So we pushed the prettier girls amongst us to the front so the bouncers saw them and let us all in within minutes. I couldn't believe it and felt so bad just walking past some of the people who had been waiting there for ages (many of whom were significantly more attractive than myself) simply because I was with hotter people! I can imagine this process can be quite humiliating, demeaning and painful for one's ego...

Mariana & cousin Diana

So once we were inside I was confronted by the largest collective of beautiful people I have ever witnessed under one roof. Mexicans are very aesthetically pleasing! It was a really fun night, nineties Mexican pop music was the theme. However I really enjoyed myself dancing to this somewhat niche genre of music. And they threw in a couple of Fat Man Scoop and Bon Jovi type tracks here and there (the best of English-language music of course) so I didn't feel completely lost! We all got very drunk on tequila and reached home around 6am...

Only to awake again at 8am to catch my bus! Mariana was wonderful and despite feeling horrifically hungover herself, she helped me wake up, made me a packed lunch for my journey AND drove me to the bus station! The biggest sweetheart I've met in a long time! I got on my luxury bus and slept for the next 7 hours until I reached Patzcuaro. Here I enlisted the help of an elderly gentleman who could speak some English to help me get a taxi to drive me to the Bosque village. The driver was the sweetest man, he looked about ninety-five and he insisted that his rickety little taxi would be able to handle the bumpy dirt road and the forest hills of the journey, despite me protesting that I'd need a Servicio Mixto (a van) on the advice of the village. So I ended up believing him and then proceeded to spend the next two hours driving around and around dirt tracks and through trees for a 5km journey! And despite his lack of English and my lack of Spanish, the driver and myself were able to form quite the bond in this time! I actually quite enjoyed the journey and even the occasional stroke of fear that would grasp me when I'd realise that we had passed the same bunch of cows for the fifth time in the last half hour and were circling upon ourselves.

With a bit of faith and a lot of giggling later amongst my new friend and I, we finally made it to the Bosque! The relief I felt was incalculable! Here I was greeted by some of the other volunteers, Jenny and Crystal, two friends from Minnesota who are travelling across Latin America together and separately. They showed me to my cabana which I am sharing with two other girls, Genevieve from the state of Oregon and Alejandra from Mexico City. I then got a brief tour and met some of the other volunteers and then at 7.30pm we sat down for a communal dinner on the main lodge terrace. We ate a deliciously healthy dinner of black bean soup, homemade humuous and fresh bread! Here I met Marie and Brian, the owners/organisers of the Bosque. They are so lovely and friendly and also surprisingly young to be running such an efficient and wonderful project.

Casita

After dinner we all hung out in the Casita, a small cabana lodge with a large fireplace where everyone chills and I got to know everybody a little better. They are all very lovely, quite worldly people. Most are travelling around Mexico, Central America or through the whole of Central and South America. Some have been here for a month or so, some for only a few days. Most stay for about a month before moving on and so some are leaving in the next week. Apparently volunteers come and go fairly often. Whilst during the daytime it is warm and sunny, at night it is MIND-NUMBINGLY FREEZING!!!!!!!!!! This is because of the altitude at which the village is based in the hills. I have also found myself to be a bit short of breath because of the altitude but everyone has told me that this will subside within three days. The cabanas are not insulated but as it is so cold I had to sleep wearing most of the clothes I brought with me all at once and with five blankets over me!! I slept early as I was tired from my trip, a little overwhelmed by my new environment and embarrassingly enough... I could feel myself growing very crabby and irritable from my first day of no smoking. The village is completely smoke-free. I am happy about this as it will be exceedingly healthy for me, but I can't say that it has been easy!

Cactus

Today I woke up early but found it difficult to clamber out of bed as I felt so cold! It warmed up rapidly though and so I made my way to the Casita where people were having breakfast and ate a warm bowl of oatmeal. And then Alejandra cooked some delicious eggs with mexican beans for everyone. The craving to smoke after breakfast was intense! However I didn't bring ANY cigarettes with me and also I think I'd be kicked out if I did ever smoke here so it just wasn't going to happen. A place like this is probably the best place for addiction. I say we ship out all the heroin addicts to the remote hills of Mexico for rehab. I found out my working hours, 8.30am-2pm from Wed-Sun. Monday is a day off for everyone and Tuesday is my own day off. Everyone I've spoken to has said that the work is so varied so I'm surprisingly looking forward to Wednesday! So this means from today to Tuesday I am free to adjust to my surroundings, familiarise myself with nature and just chill out...

It is so peaceful here that I know I am going to enjoy the next couple of days immensely! I have spent the last hour doing some writing amongst the trees. Such an inspirational place, I know it's only my first day but I feel I could stay here forever! Also, they have such an extensive library that I'm looking forward to spending my days reading in one of the numerous hammocks they have here. Estoy contenta!

Anetta x