Dearly Devoted Rubie

Unfortunately, Fede's birth certificate is too old. Luckily, we have to get a copy of Monii's anyway so we met early to get a couple of shiny new certificates for the school registrations.

Yesterday's afternoon, I went to a fund raising workshop with the guys from Espolea where I learned some very interesting stuff about fund raising (doh!) and about taxes. There was this annoying AI chick who made her case a case of study for the workshop and since AI has a lot of fund raising restrictions, the case led us nowhere... such a shameful waste of time.

Beer anyone? Why not!

The main problem of not triple checking a plane ticket before buying is that when you try to check-in, the problem is way bigger than you can possibly imagine, as we learned this morning. Monii is supposed to come to MX City tomorrow and Fede was supposed to pick her up today, which he did... eventually. Not before having to change a wrongly bought plane ticket (dated for tomorrow) for one dated for today AND leaving from TLC instead of MEX.

Well, I'm driving to Toluca, do you need anything?

Told Rubie to the Interjet clerk who kindly looked for the new ticket Manato reserved for Fede in the system, unable to find a free seat, we even told him which seat was being reserved. He was completly sure that the seat was taken.

Sorry, the seat is booked for one Federico Muñoz

That's our ticket!!!! Said Fede and I on the counter and Manato on the phone.

So finally, after getting the new ticket, phoning Monii to inform her of the delay, having breakfast, playing Gears of War and driving to TLC, I saw Ice Age 3D and really liked the movie. Now I have to go to bed since the tickets for tomorrow were correct, and I'll make yet another visit to the airport.

Interesting point: I hadn't seen a hailstorm in quite a long time (less driven through one). I just hope that I won't have to play in such conditions and that Fede had a good flight.

Oh, BTW, Nice flight guys! Smell you tomorrow!

Right after I got back from Playa, I started grading my CELEX exams and uploaded the grades to the internet, I also had to send all my paperwork by mail. It's funny that, for a long time, I have been trying to make such process paperless and finally, because of need, we did it that way, at least this once.

The Internet is helping us to share information and memories without the use of any papers or media, take for instance the photos posted in Fede's album, they're there and his kids back at Playa can check them out without having to wait. We also have some videos at my YouTube channel

Anyway, it's quite fun to officially finish the trip by sharing this digital memories with the kids and the rest of the world.

Everything seems to be about learning. About achieving. About overcoming. Sometimes, just a magical moment by the beach can make the difference between a regular new year's homecoming and just another day on the road. Like a kiss in the middle of a warzone or a lion falling in love with a sheep, if you know what I mean. It's not about sleeping on the streets or in the last and only available bed, it's a whole different thing.

For some, a roadtrip it's way too simple, just jumping on a plane and letting go. Part of the adventrue is the struggle per-se, to overcome the obstacles that the trip represents and moving in and out of hostels just to have a place to sleep.

For me, it's about learning and growing up. So simple, so sincere, so honest to know what's in the mind of the person speaking to you with the sunrise as scene.

Right now, there's no then. It's all about today and us. Smell and taste and all. Today, it's the beggining of a new year away from home, but so close at the same time with what you want and expect. I rarelly plan, and this has been such a trip. Jumping from state to state and gliding like a whale, cuz it only takes the time between here and then for a landing in another place.

Tonight's the last tonight in Playadelcarmen and what a trip it has been, I have learned so much about myself that this can't be an ordinary year, a year that got quickstarted in instant memories and burning skies.

Next Monday I'll be a regular person once again but trust me, I won't be the same, cuz I still believe in paradise, but I'm aware that it's not a place that you can find.

Climb the highest mountain range
Then we took the longest train
Looking for our
Perfect refrain

I woke up this morning in my bed after a week of sharing a hostel room with French, American, Dutch and American guys, every one of them is very different and tell you about a lot of different things, I even had the chance to drink and chat with Swede, Swiss and Argentinian people! I almost forgot, I got to "cebar el mate" with an Argentinian girl.

We also learned that Federico's dating techiques are not international.

On the floor are my UNICOR camo pants, which have travelled with me to almost 33% of my country. At the end of this trip I learned that Manato, Federico and I can really organize ourselves very well, we all have a thing or two to learn but it is true what Manato's father said: "Travelling enriches".

During this trip I got to see the wonderful bridges of Veracruz while riding a 24 hour bus (after that, I'm not scared of any long trip), listen to the "The Alchemist" audiobook iTunes gave me for free, to drink 2 liters of mojito (which was just plain stupid), to ride a ferry, to take Nancy on a Jeep for a ride, to trace on an acheological site, to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds, to sprain my ankle while playing rugby with a hakcy sack on the beach and of course... to drink a beer at 11000 meters over the Mexican gulf.

It's true there is no better place to be

In the end, everything turned better than expected, I made a couple of mistakes while I was away but I will learn from them. I found out that it's true all that is said about Cancun's sea: it's turquoise blue and private!.

So, the summer (vacation) is ending soon and I'm just looking forward to the next holiday. I'm going to have my laundry done... BTW, the soundtrack for this post would be Dario G's "Voices".

After 24 hours on the bus, we got down at playa del carmen and met federico and his sons. We're staying in a rather nice hostel and are about to go and get some low budget breakfast. It's really hot in here but manatito says it will be cloudy today.

After a long walk last night we got to see everything there is to see, so I don't know what are we doing today. I'll post something in a couple of days.