The Latest

I apologize for having this blog in so late. I know it is way overdue. It doesn’t help that internet and telephones have taken a back seat (not by choice at first) to my new life style. And to be honest, I really don’t miss the phone and internet anymore. I think it was a miracle that my phone was stolen and that my Verizon internet doesn’t work over here. I know my old coworkers will be shocked but I am even functioning without an alarm clock, depending soley on the Sun as my guide to wake up. I also apologize for being a bit vague in this letter. There is just so much that I wish to share and don´t know where to begin. Some of you will be able to understand more than others and that is okay. I just want to share with you some of the wonderful turns my life is taking.

Where to start… my daily routines
I’ve been living alone in my Tio Tonio’s three bedroom house for the past two months since he and the family moved to San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora. I’m watching the house for them while the sale of the home becomes finalized. Although it is relaxing to live alone, I do miss them very much and feel awkward and sometimes lonely to live alone. I’ve been finding new ways to entertain myself while I’m home in the mornings and late evenings. I’m almost done working on my regalia and am proud to be completing all of it by myself, armbands, legbands and all. I take my little cousin, who lives across the street, to school each morning, do some yoga and run and then venture out to the market a couple blocks away and visit with the comadres. Then I come home to wash my laundry (by hand may I add), clean and cook and then pick him up from school. Finally, around 3 p.m. I leave two hours north to the capital, D.F., for some danza or other fun activites. Weekends are my time for adventures!

Teachings and Blessings
So far this trip has been both intense and so much fun to say the least! Everyone has been so kind and generous, from the bus drivers and people I come into contact with everyday on the streets, to all the danzantes and friends I meet. I’ve participated in many Mexika ceremonies, like the Zenith and founding of Tenochtitlan, passed dances at the Defense of Tenochtitlan and other annual town parties (fiestas del pueblo) and am learning so many new, not to mention, long dances with 13 Flores, or cambios in each. I’ve visited elders and teachers in Teotihuacán, Xalatlalco, Chalmita, Huatla de Jimenez, etc... who have raised valuable questions and allowed me necessary information pertaining to my path, this journey and these next couple of months. Let’s just say that “the journey” overall has taken a 180 degree turn and I am concentrating on things on a much deeper level, focusing within more so than out, than I originally expected. I’ve been fortunate to sit with elders who are guiding me through a thorough understanding of the reunion of the Condor and Eagle and my participation within it. They are teaching me a thorough history of the Mexikayotl and the greater Mexicanidad. These same elders have taken me under their wing and have allowed me the initial connection with an ancient Grandmother from Peru and a Mazateca Grandmother who is recognized now worldwide as one of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Both grandmothers are kind and mostly gentle, yet powerful and strong and know many things. They share their visions for humanity with all who care to listen.

In light of these experiences and in the past few weeks especially, I’ve begun to face myself in a new light, a light that is currently taking me through two Tezcalipocas, to explore the regions of the red and the blue, Xipe Totec and Huitxilopochtli. I’ve received a huge teaching and realization about myself and the reasons behind working within social justice, and more recently, being part of the movement of promoting our culture and being part of the Mexikayotl. I’ve always concentrated my efforts with empowering marginalized communities, while confronting the truth of only giving maybe twenty-five percent of me to my family. I´ve come to realize that the most effective change I can make in this life time is within myself and those I hold dearest and closest. I mean, what good is it to work with others when I am leaving behind those whom are closest, or practice spirituality and connect with the elements and greater causes if my very own blood family can’t or won’t understand me and these ways. I´ve decided to take responsibility for my own “un” or “not doings¨ and their listening of me. I actuaclly put this to the test and what came of it has literally became the greatest blessing/ gift of the trip so far.

The most rewarding experience yet (and there are so many) has been allowing my ‘self’ to be removed from my ‘inner self’ and listen to or act from that inner being. I was able to step out of my “usual self” and share these teachings with my mother, a woman who raised and loved me and I absolutely adore, and yet, whom I have had many, many disagreements with over the years, especially about my way of life. I realize now that I needed to come all the way to Mexico to enroll her into remembering and understanding. She and I, along with her youngest sister who also joined us, had wonderful experiences together. And both my mom and my aunt came to remember!

Despite having no plans to come to Mexico, my mother jumped on a plane and came down to have ceremony with me in a matter of two days time. Eric purchased her plane ticket on Saturday and she was here on Monday morning. Somehow and someway she enrolled her work into being okay with a two week, unanticipated absence. Then, my aunt, the youngest of the sisters showed up and the three of us, together, participated in a special Ceremony of the Elders (ceremonia de los Ancianos) in Teotihuacán. My heart felt happiness and peace when I saw my Tia Lulu shed tears as she opened up and remembered the smell of copal from when my Grandmother, her mom, would use it with her Popoxcomi or Sahumador.

Its funny how things work out at the end. Even though I invited my mother to sweat lodge on a regular basis when I lived in San Jose, she only went after I moved to Mexico and felt the calling. She came to Mexico and traveled with me to Chalmita to meet and receive a healing from the Grandmother and a Medicine Man from Peru. We then traveled to Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca where we spent five days and she completed a series of intense healing ceremonies with Grandmother Julietta Casimiro. Grandmother had been out of the country for the last two months and returned only three days before I called her to ask her to meet with my mother. The timing couldn´t have been more perfect and everything aligned. My proudest moment during my mother’s visit was to see my mom in her Huipil, telling me that she couldn’t remember a time that we were as close as now. She and I truly experienced magic over and over again, in so many ways and in so few days. This magic, which neither of us can deny, will live on within our memory, as it was meant for her and I to experience together, forming something new for her to hold on to and cherish.

My mother left back to California on the 14th of this month. I feel incredibly blessed to have experienced what I experienced with her, and honored that she allowed me the privilege to see her in a whole new light. She is the seccond woman this year that I held space for and it truly was amazing to witness her major transformation.

Some of the lessons or teachings I´ve gotten have also come in bittersweet forms. A teacher of mine shared with me things that I needed to hear about myself in order to grow but, of course, was very painful to hear and digest. Instead of brushing his wisdom off, I decided to look at these characteristics and have started to take them on a little at a time. I’m proud to say that by backing off and really allowing things to happen naturally, I better understand that having balance and control over my personal power is key to fulfill my yearning of peace within and in relations to the world. I’ve also learned that taking the hard way or making things hard doesn’t necessarily serve me; it just drives me nuts.

Overall…
I’ve had a ton of fun so far, a couple of scares and experienced many twists of fate along the way.

I have really come to enjoy walking through the streets of Mexico City from one danza practice to another and taking the bus- metro everywhere. Visiting various ruins, ceremony places and the Ecological House of Teotihuacán is always amazing and very relaxing. Participating in ceremonies in Chalmita and supporting my fellow Mexikas create a Mexika green recreation center in the rural community of Xalatlalco has come with many new teachings and is opening doors to what I want to do in the future. Playing with my little cousins and spending time with my aunts and uncles always fills my heart with joy, especially seeing my mom have so much fun with them. And, I really value the time that the elders give me when I get to sit with them. These great teachers are getting older and I know that one day they will leave this world. I can only hope that their words are not forgotten and that those who listen, like myself, will impact this world in a better way, no matter how small or large that impact may be.

I´ve visited many phenomenal Places lately, such as Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca. It is a beautiful and magical city in the central mountains of Oaxaca; truly unlike any other place of the state or of the country for that matter. Fog rolls in beneath you as you look over it and stare into the huge, green mountains. I didn’t feel claustrophobic like I did in Putla de Guerrero. The energy is very different there. All I can say is that it is indeed a magical place.
Teohuacan, Oaxaca is only about 4 hours away from Huautla and has a great downtown with the feeling of walking through Playa de Carmen’s shopping district (by Cancun) but in a small pueblo. It is a very fun place to go for a weekend.
Coyocan, Mexixo D.F. is also very neat! I visited the “Blue House” that belonged to painter, Frieda Kahlo, and also the fortress that belonged to Socialist Leon (both now museums) and the Anahuacalli Museum that Diego Rivera built. The feeling or energy of pain and frustration is still vivid in the Blue House, or at least, that is what I felt. The house itself is gorgeous, full of beautiful paintings by Frieda Kahlo, Diego Rivera and colorful art everywhere! The house’s vibrant colors and architecture coincides with the streets of Coyocan. Coyocan has cobble stone roads; colorful and vivid houses surrounded with beautiful and luscious landscaping. The ambience reminds me of Berkeley. The majority of people there are open-minded and progressive.
Tepoztlan in Morelos is a favorite of mine. Aside from the ruins at the top of the two hour walk/climb, there is a beautiful ceremony center on the other side of the mountain. This is a breathtaking, strong place for prayers, sweats, sit ups and other ceremonies. It is truly worth the long bus ride.
The Grutas of Tolantongo, Hidalgo are amazing and breath taking. These are natural hot water springs and water falls in the high mountains of the state of Hidalgo. Talk about a natural Temescal (sweat lodge). Endless caves travel throughout the huge mountains leading all the way to the water’s origin. The hot waterfalls feel like massages as they travel down the body. It’s a ‘must experience’ for anybody who comes to visit this region. My uncle Carlos and Tia Irma took Eric and I on Eric´s last weekend here during his second visit. We were a bit rushed but really relaxed and had a great time camping with the kids.

Chalmita is in the Estado de Mexico and is a very spiritual and wonderous place. Tall, giant like mountains with odd rock formations all over. You can literally see animal forms piercing through. Dear friends, Armondo and Anya have a beautiful ranch, Nerika, that has some spectacular views. This is the place to go for great hiking and sunrise/ sun set views.