Faraway, So Close

We've made it back after two weeks in Mexico. You can click your way through the photos here on flickr if you like. I put about 60 up there so you've been warned.

It all came to an end so quickly, at least it feels like it did. When you first get there it feels like two weeks will go on forever, but then by the time we're heading to the airport outside Mazatlan it feels like we just got there. The trip home definitely took forever. First a delayed flight in Mazatlan, then again in Los Angeles. We got a 3 hour lay-over in Vegas so we took a cab and hit the strip. It's amazing how something can be so beautiful and so ugly at the same time. I had just finished reading Bringing Down the House, a Christmas gift from Sue, and so the Vegas mythology was in my head. I didn't see anyone carrying around wads of cash, but the minimum limits at some of the blackjack tables were enough to do your head in.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I got a guitar from Jamie and Ives that's down at the condo. It's a cheap, old Mexican classical style guitar and it's nice to not worry about things being in tune sometimes.

We had a New Year's fire on the beach (I'm going backwards through my photos now) and some beautiful sunsets. We got to see turtles, dolphins, and a semi-pro baseball game. (I'm not sure how those three fit together) Jamie and Ives got set up in their new apartment and my parents got a new car ('86 Jetta for those keeping score).

We met Jamie's new family, I found my new office and saw the site of Sue's family's new condo.

Ives tried fire-spinning (without the fire), we tried some really fresh shrimp, and Jamie and Ives got some baby clothes.

Enough photo linking. You can figure out the rest on your own. It's both good and bad to be back home. Mazatlan always inspires us to think outside our regular lives and look at ways we can improve ourselves as well as the world around us. Part of the inspiration comes from the world around us (poverty mixed with much wealth and the beauty and friendly nature of the Mexican people) as well as from the books we have time to read while on vacation there. A good portion of the people in Mazatlan live on around $10US per day and are satisfied and surviving on that. Most of us make at least that in one hour and are scrambling for ways to make more. Imagine the good that could come from giving up either the struggle for money or your money for good. Sue and I talked about how two families/friends could live together in a house and give away one families' income to better the world.

The problem comes in forgetting all these things we are inspired by and settling back into a routine. With a trip to Australia coming up in 3 months, I don't know that we'll have time to get back into that routine. :)