Youre kidding if you want me to write out the whole thing all over again, you /&%/$#"$$" computer. I cant beleive you just erased it on me, just as I was about to post. I have some choice words Id like to give you, but my mom might forward this to my grandmother, and then Id be in trouble.

Anyways, short version: I made it. Got in around 1:30am. Staying with Juan Pablo (aka Jean Paul), who I met off hospitality club, and basically have an open invite. Waiting to get an address in Puerto Vallerta from Erika, who should be leaving DF tonight, so if that happens, I should be heading to the beach!! If not, who knows..

Gotta run, just got a text message that dinners waiting in the casa.

Love,
Cara

P.S. Mike, I swear, Wednesday night I was totally dry. Not even the most corrupt alcoholimetro cop woulda had a (hollow) leg to stand on. However, a lo mejor tienes razon para echar la culpa de los otros a su consumpcion...

What a night. After dinner at the Muy Thai Bar Fly with some folks we met walking down the street (Juan - Mexican, Josh - Gringo, Tom - Brit), we wandered and talked and stumbled into a cantina with a urinal in the entrance. You see something new...

Then, de repente, Tom and I found ourselves alone in the park, having no idea where the other three had gone off to. Eventually we decided to head back to my hotel, since Abud had the key and would have to come back, right? Like 2 hours later, the guys showed up, after my having put poor Tom through some lovely ranting, and Abud and I finally went to sleep in likely the most scummy hotel I´ve ever stayed in (recommended by the dude in the tourism booth at the bus station - impressively large cockroach spotted in reception _after_ we´d paid the room, luckily didn´t notice anything quite so big in the room ;) ).

Today, Abud and I went to the mummy museum. Crazy stuff. Lots of pics of oddly well-preserved bodies, replete with hair and facial expressions.

Tonight, thinking of heading to Guadalajara, but not totally sure. We´ll see...

At long last, got my act together to leave the city. Thank G-d, I was going a bit stir crazy.

Just got to Guanajuato with Abud, whose time limitations aren´t allowing for Yucatan, which I didn´t feel like doing alone right now. Not too sure on plans, but likely will head west to Puerto Vallerta, where it would be coold if I could et some SCUBA learning in, but we´ll have to see where the wind (and pocket book) take me...

There are underground stone tunnel-streets here, and so far the rest of this once mining-rich town is pretty neat too. Still don´t have a place to stay, so should probably get on that.

Can´t believe there are only 2 weeks until I head back to Canada - weird. Likely to be a countdown theme..

Okay, yeah, I'm still in D.F.

Been kinda delayed, trying to deal with some administrative hassles, like the folks at the FIA office who illegally sold me a Mexican International Driver's Permit to go with a Canadian License (I just got an e-mail from CAA in Canada confirming my hunch) and refuse to give me all my money back, and waiting for Abud, my potential Yucatan travel partner who is trying to get his Master's degree certificate from York University in Toronto so he can get to Germany to do his PhD already, to sort out his administrative hassles there. So I guess I can't just blame bad Mexican business practices...

Currently at the lower-key version of Pancho's birthday celebration - last night was the big bash, this is the 6.5 (Abi counting as a half, at best ;) ) intimitate friend gathering at Laura's apartment. I just got scolded by Pancho for being antisocial, so I should go over to the couch area and socialise. Actually, that was probably half an hour ago. I'm coming, I'm coming....

Friday, May 14: Goodby party/veggie potluck at my place, kicked ass (albeit attempts at fixed 7pm start time and understandings of the constitution of a veggie pot luck fell a bit short, with many folks genuinely believing beer to be an acceptable vegetarian meal-type dish...), with awesome people and energy and dancing (for once very welcome) in the living room.

I spent all day making an amazing 5 sauce veggie lasagna (the reason I don´t cook often), to go alongside my two lentil spreads (one vegan, one with cheese and cream), and other dishes brought by guests, including creamy potatoes, mediterranean salad, nopal salad, lebanese food (tahbouli, humous, jocoque, babaganoush, all dipped with pita chips), the usual snacks, wine, beer, tequila, etc... Last guests stayed until the sun was rising.

Special thanks to Erika for showing up early to help set up and César for lending music/DJ talent and staying late to help clean up, and Aynsley for getting the door lots and, albeit post-event, kindly agreeing to share her peanuts with the guests who invaded them...

Saturday, May 15: The clean-up. Long, disgusting, tedious, but worth it. Then, the organising/packing had to start. Not my favourite chores, but had to be done.

Sunday, May 16: Finish packing, the move. Laura came by with Abril (her daugher) right during dance class, finally got everything out of the house. The two big bags (suitcase & duffel) are at her place, and I donated the kitchen stuff and other random remains to the 28E Guanajuato crew (César, Carlos, Sandra, Adela), where I´m currently staying for a few days until I can get my act together to travel.

On arrival, lit a candle and stuck it in the black forest cake and sang las mananitas to Sandra in honour of her birthday last week.

Monday, May 17 (yesterday): Met up with Lenin for breakfast, went to officially change my flight to June 10 dressed appropritely for the sunny day in sandals, a tye-dye hippy skirt and tank top (not expecting the sudden storm to greet and drench me on my way back), ran through the rain holding a bakery-donated bag over my head (angry at myself for not bringing an umbrella) and attracting comments (I´m sure I looked very wet and silly), dried off, called Loy (Lorena), who came by the apartment after work and went with her and César for Chapata sanwiches on Alvaro Obregon, got home late, ate cake (they, not me, stuffed), watched Great Expectations, slept.

Tuesday, May 18 (today): Plumming fiasco. Water that turns on should theoretically turn off, but apparently it doesn´t work that way. Called César at work freaking out that the bathtub was going to overflow and got instructions on how to turn off the main water pipe in the house. It wasn´t my fault, I swear...

Phone call to the International License people. What a hassle. Looks like they will give me half my money back (almost 600 pesos, which means they get to keep almost 600 pesos), even though they never should have issued an international driver´s permit in Mexico to someone with a Canadian license. At least as far as I understand. I´ll try to work it out tomorrow. Fingers crosed (haciendo chongitos).

Now I´m stealing Emiliano´s work computer after a veggie comedor lunch with him and Livia, very late to meet (Maria´s) Isaac at the cafe of the Frente Zapatista. Still many things to do in D.F., like finishing stuff off at the office, once and for all.

Thinking of travelling to the Yucatan to Abud (the oldest Farca Luna sibling, my adopted family here), but he doesn´t know when he can do it, since he´s gotta wait to get the tramites and medical certificates to move to Germany for his doctorate. I´m just about ready to get on the road, although I´m suddenly getting unexpectedly tolerant of all the things (okay, at least some of the things) I´ve spent the last 8 months bitching about...

Anyways, really must run, but wanted to fill in since I got some ¨oh, you´re alive¨ comments when I went onto MSN today :)

FYI, internet access has been a challenge lately. Likely will remain so until I´m back in Canada in mid-June.

Friday night: stopped by the supposed "alcoholimetro" on the way to Kenia's concert, where Laura, who hadn't even been drinking and only stopped to wait for Pancho, who had been pulled over, was forced by the asshole cop to give $100 or he'd take her car. Needless to say, after arguing for half an hour at the side of the road, we missed Kenia, who was opening, but stayed for the rest of the Norteño night, including getting sucked in by the sombrero vendor. I have now officially reached cliché-dom.

Saturday: off to Oaxtepec with Gerardo and César, with a surprise walk through the town leading to a lively "Day of the Old" party. Crazy costumes (including a guy whose costume was 60% American flag), people of all ages taking to the street and boogying down, pink shaving cream and fireworks flying (I managed to get hit by the former), getting lost and found, then to sleep at Gerardo's family's house in Cuarnevaca, instead of the original camping plan for which I was all psyched up (oh well - it was still a pretty cool house).

Sunday: we went to these crazy cool water falls ("Salto de Anton" or "Cascada de Anton" I think), where the volcanic eruption long, long ago had formed prisms and so the rock walls around the falls are this crazy cool rectangular texture. On our way out, we each bought a ring from a 104-year-old man, very very impressed he could handle the steep climb that got our hearts beating fast. Unfortunately, the rings leave dye on the skin when wet, as I discovered shortly thereafter.

Monday (now): came into the office to finish up some business, instead spent most of the day online job searching and applying for stuff and responding to e-mails from people who responded to my mass e-mail, so I'm going to come back in on Thursday and take care of all the necessary pendientes...

Must get out of here, it's like 9:30 pm, and I have (had?) plans to go hang out with Lenin after I got done here...

On the other hand, maybe I should take advantage of free computer time and try to get this job I just found that I'm totally unqualified for (it's asking for 7 years upper management experience)... Hey, ya never know...

Cleaning up, throwing away, saying goodbye.

The latter doesn't quite feel real yet.

Coming across things at the bottom of drawers I had totally forgotten I'd put there. And under my desk, between the garbage and the cubby wall. And on the ledges above my desk. And, well, you get the point.

I think I'm going to have a veggie potluck/party at my place next Friday (i.e., not tonight). If I can get all packed up and ready before then, so as to get the f*&k outa dodge right afterwards ;) (Onh, Katie, saying that reminded me so much of you - if you're reading this, drop me a line. Miss you!!)

It's so weird to be in this space; everything feels so normal now, sitting at my still-cluttered desk writing an update as if it were a normal Friday, and I'd be back Monday to work like usual (I may actually come in Monday to get last details sorted, but it won't be like usual)...

So many little things left to do: write farewell mass e-mails, set my (permanent) away message, copy e-mail addresses and computer files, set up a folder for the next intern, update my phone list, pick up my last cheque, and other assorted tasks that are slipping my mind (hopefully I'll remember before it's too late).

The department is ordering pizza for lunch. Balancing out the vegetarian (guess who's choice) with a meat-lover's (Kaveh's choice). For the last time. I can't believe I'm getting sentimental over pizza.

Must snap out of this.

Still don't know where I'm going to be in two weeks/two months/two years... But pretty sure I'll be heading back to Toronto in mid-June, at least to say hello.

Okay, now this is becoming procrastinating. At which I am very skilled. Which is very bad. Must stop. The end.

Pizza's here :)

P.S. I know TIG update count on my profile page says 104 or something, but there are a bunch (well, 4, to be precise) of blank entries at the bottom I can't delete.

Today I went to my last GEO Juvenil Mexico meeting.

Not only was it good, if a bit sad, to see everyone to say goodbye and give hugs and make plans to keep in contact, but instead of the usual junk food, someone brought crackers and mini-goat-cheeses from the cheese museum, coated in different things (e.g., pesto, garlic, ashes, sesame seeds, black pepper, nuts, etc.). Given that breakfast had been small and about 5 hours earlier, needless to say, I feasted.

I made sure to get some final group shots outside and then had to run back upstairs for my stuff, which annoyed Luis because were late for my departmental goodbye lunch at Kaveh's place. In my honour, Kaveh had even arranged for Rosita to make the pozole with veggie broth (as opposed to caldo de pollo/chicken broth).

Thing is, I'd eaten so much of the yummy cheeses and crackers and assorted goodies at the meeting, I just wasn't feeling up to the pozole. I ate, but without much gusto, and not very much or very fast. To make matters worse, by the time we got there, Maru, Tere and Kaveh were already eating, so my lack of consumption was all the more notable. Finally, I decided to give up and have a bit the coffee-banana loaf that everyone else was already on, and take my remaining pozole for later.

I knew it was bad, but what could I do? I just wasn’t feeling it…

So, I thanked everyone profusely, and on the way out made a point of hugging Kaveh and apologizing. Kaveh said he'd forgive me on the condition that I stop talking about it, since I guess my guilty conscience had been making matters worse. So I did.

But then I got back in the car with Luis and he made me feel oh so much better by saying I'd committed the worst grosería (i.e., act of rudeness) I could have in Mexico by not eating my pozole, and that I shouldn't have eaten the desert. But I wanted desert, and a little slice of fresh coffee-banana loaf, with a couple spoons of ice cream, just goes down so much easier than chili-corn soup when you’re not hungry!

Now I feel all crappy. I'll get over it, but still...

I suppose the lesson to be learned is: don't pig out on the goat cheese, no matter how appetizing, when someone is going out of their way to make you a meal. Or something like that.

I think I'll try to invite the department out for a meal before I go, and see if we can do better - I'll check my pocket book, but I'm thinking Saks, a nice veggie restaurant near my soon-to-be-ex-house...

Yesterday I headed to Tepoztlán, Morelos with Aynsley abd César, where we met up with Claudia Valeria (GEO Juvenil Morelos co-ordinator). Lunch with a great view to live music, town party, selling our reserved tickets to go back later... It was lovely. I'll be optimistic and say I'll write the whole adventure later, but time is pressed these days, so I likely won't. Trust me, though, it was lovely...