Where They Never Met

I'm all settled into my new place, and it's awesome. It's where I was living in Cafetales, only multiplied by a thousand. I haven't taken a bus since I moved here, and that tickles the hell out of me. I'm about a 15 minute walk from my work, which is great, because it forces me into the off-of-my-ass activity I might normally avoid. With the exception of a laundry mat, I have everything I need. I'm sure there's one somewhere, but I have no idea where it is.

I do have a couple of grievances. One being that the water pressure in my shower leaves something to be desired. I'm only offered a pitiful drizzle of water that comes out in a straight line. Needless to say my shower time has doubled. And there's some crazy leak behind my toilet that makes me have to use my towel to soak up the water on my floor every day, then hang it up outside to dry and repeat daily. I've gotta talk to the lady about it, but one, she's old as hell and that means I'm going to need to speak in formal tongue which I haven't quite gotten the hang of. And two, I can't really understand her when she speaks. I'm not scared though -- I'll deal with this water issue yet. Besides, it's nothing compared to the positives. I'd wade through an ocean to get to my toilet on a daily basis to eliminate having to take the bus.

It's Thanksgiving today, and that just breaks my heart into a million pieces. It's always been a routine thing at my house. It never involves extended family, so mostly it's just a dinner with the usual people with a lot of extra food. But still. I totally look forward to that particular food, and it's a holiday in any case. A heavily celebrated one in the U.S. Here, it doesn't exist. Here in Mexico there were no pilgrims to strike a truce with the Native Americans and thus spark the most glorious day of feast... ever. They never met here. There's not an inkling of the holiday anywhere in sight. It's to be expected of course, I'm in a foreign country. All the same it's a strange sensation to be in the complete absence of a holiday that's thriving 400 miles from me across the border.

I hope everyone has/had a great Thanksgiving. I miss everyone back home. I'll see you guys in 28 days!