Hasta luego!

Ok so there's a bit of a chunk missing from the story. Sorry, I'll be quick. There are a couple of photos up by the way. This site is really bad for photos, so I might just have to show the rest of them when I get back.

Last weeks in Mexico

It's difficult to remember the details now but I'll try...I quit Spanish school, but stayed on in my apartment in San Cristobal for most of the rest of my time in Mexico. I ended up making quite a few Mexican friends which was really nice, though I did find myself longing for a while there for an old friend to suddenly land on my doorstep and speak proper Australian with me. My feelings of alienation came to a head when my Mexican friends and I had a minor misunderstanding that ended up being much bigger than it should have been...

It turns out there's this video on Utube (don't know how to spell it) of two girls dancing in their undies. One of my friends in San Cristobal came across this video whilst doing some harmless scouring of the internet for girls in their undies, and became convinced that one of the girls was me. I didn't realise he was serious so I just laughed it off when another person told me about it, and made a bit of a joke of it. When I spoke to the guy that found the video I said something like 'Oh I hear you found my video on the internet'. As it happens he didn't realise I was joking, thought I was making an admission, and told everyone it really was me.

Lesson one: never try to have cross language jokes. They really don't work.

At this point I think everyone was embarrassed for me, the brazen Australian, so nobody mentioned that they really thought it was me. All the while I was under the impression the misunderstanding had been cleared up and we'd all had a good laugh. When about a week later someone asked me about my video I was a little shocked. I began stammering and protesting my innocence but didn't get too far. It was very frustrating. I told them that if they really knew me they wouldn't think it was me, and that even if the person actually looked like me (which she doesn't by the way, you can check by searching under 'sexy sluty girls dancing', yes, sluty) they would still know it wasn't me. I told them that my real friends would never put me through this.

Somewhere in the midst of this Rory from Melbourne came to visit which was such a relief. All he had to do was roll his eyes at them and they believed me.

Puerto Escondido
Near the end of my stay a bunch of us caught a bus up to Puerto Escondido, a beautiful coastal town between 10 and 15 hours away (depending on the usual variables) with lots of good surf. It was so nice to be in the warm weather. Unfortunately I ate something evil and got a bad case of the gastric vomit shits. I also fell over and rolled my ankle (still giving me grief), so I was lying sorry for myself in bed for a good couple of days. I don't think I've had food poisoning before (I struggle to remember due to the several invented cases over the years), but it is really horrible. I did think I might die. But the place was beautiful and it was such a luxury to have open space to play frisbee in. For some reason I had been craving a good throw of the frisbee for ages (as if I always throw a frisbee round in Australia) I think because of the lack of comfortable outdoor space in San Cristobal. The Spanish really love a concreted plaza (zocalo). They didn't seem to think much of grass.

Mexico City
I left San Cristobal I think in August some time with a heavy heart. So heavy in fact, I missed my plane to Mexico City where Rory was waiting for me. Some friends drove me (at 180ks an hour) to the airport at Tuxtla which is about an hour and a half from San Cristobal. I ran in yelling goodbye over my shoulder. Two minutes later I ran back out, got back in the car and drove back to San Cristobal. Such a familiar story! Different country, same shit. Not surprisingly, my next trip out to the airport the following day was in a crowded stinky bus, not in the airconditioned car of a generous friend. But I made the flight and returned to the devil Mexico City.

This time around I actually loved it. I was surprised and very relieved. I think knowing a bit of Spanish helped hugely. I was able to talk with people and get into it without totally freaking out. Apparently it's the world's biggest city, but it didn't really feel like it. When I landed there the last time I felt like the airport alone was the worlds biggest and most chaotic city. While there I went to the Frida Kahlo exhibition which was amazing, continued to eat far too much yummy Mexican comida (my Dog I miss it!), and managed to meet a whole new bunch of very dodgy people.

Next stop London. A good dose of culture shock. Didn't miss my plane. The theme for Europe was 'falling over', though this time it wasn't me, it was everyone else, from the man who got stuck in the London tube doors then expelled onto the the platform, to the lady who fell out of the train at Barcelona station, to the lady who fell off her bike into a brown puddle in Berlin to the man who fell under his motorbike whilst trying to get onto it in Amsterdam. And it doesn't end there. I still enjoy a chuckle!

London Edinbrough
Not much to say really, but I actually really liked it (another surprise). It felt damn strange asking for things in English. Not that I had to ask for much, best to avoid asking for anything. That place is insanely expensive, especially if you're travelling with the meagre Australian Peso.

Carus and I met up in London and travelled to Edinbrough where he played a really great gig at the Fringe Festival. Edinbrough is amazing, though we only stayed a night. The Fringe Festival is the best festival I have ever seen. We caught some great comedy - if he's in Melbourne again for the comedy fest, go and see Daniel Kitson. He's a genius. I have seen him twice now and the first time I laughed so much and for so long I actually threw up. It was extremely painful and I never wanted to be in that place again, but I really can't resist a laugh so I braved his show in Edinbrough. The other 'comedy' we saw was Henry Rollins. I don't really have anything to say about that except 'oh dear'. I think he should really just stay at home in the Mighty States.

Munich
Actually Munich came before Edinbrough. That's right. I probably enjoyed Munich the least of everywhere I went in Europe. People in Munich seem to be constantly asserting they aren't German, they are Bavarians. It's a bit like West Australians asserting they are West Australian, not Australian and fighting to secede. It's kind of a boring topic of conversation. Munich is also extremely wealthy and you can tell by just a glance. Our tour guides, some friends of friends of friends showed us such scintillating sites as the stock exchange and the most expensive mall in Europe. Munich has something like 2% unemployment. I think that 2% are CEOs taking time off to lie naked by the river that runs through the middle of the city. Yes they're all naked by the river in the middle of the city. I wanted to take a photo but I guess that would've been uncouth. There's also a river wave where crazy people surf in water so cold it should be frozen.

So this wasn't the best introduction for me to Europe after beautiful Mexico. I don't think you can get two places more different in every possible way. Though to be honest I was already feeling negative because in my stopover in Frankfurt on the way to London the bloody German customs people took my three litres of beautiful Mexican tequila off me because they thought the duty free bag wasn't sealed properly. I was peeved thinking 'this would never happen in Mexico' and I hardened my heart against Germany. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I developed a distinct taste for tequila in Mexico...

But after Munich we went to a city called Dortmund (I can't remember if that's how you spell it) and I met some of the most beautiful people. Carus played another really great gig and I just hung out with the Germans. And I have to say, if you can make such generalisations (I hate a generalisation), in my little experience of Europe, Germans are probably the most hospitable, friendly and open minded people there.

After this stint in Germany, I spent some time alone with my French/Italian cousin in London and caught up on rest until I met Carus again and we went to Paris.

Paris
I'm sure the Parisians would be appalled, but hey, I prefer London!! We met a bunch of Parisians who talked a lot about the essence of Parisian Frenchness and how we need to really breath it in (I'm not joking), visited some bars which were pretty cool, went up the Eifel Tower, walked the Seine for miles and miles and just generally hung around being tourists and eating baguettes and crepes.

Spain
I'm running out of time. Barcelona is cool, though I think much of the old lifestyle (siestas etc...) that I was looking forward to after Mexico has disappeared as business has become a very big deal there. Also, being an uncouth Australian I didn't know they speak Catalan in Barcelona, not Spanish (although some people do), so I was disappointed at being deprived of the opportunity to practice my Spanish again.

Further south in Valencia (Balenthia as they say in Spain) they speak Spanish so I got some practice in there. I liked Valencia, though it took a day or two to get into it. The beach is nothing special. It literally smells like an ash tray because everyone smokes cigarettes, and everyone butts them out in the sand. It's kind of gross to sit on because of the smell, and you just feel dirty. It's not a happy site.

Anyway, we picked a random place a bit closer to Barcelona called Tarragona, and stayed a while there just enjoying the cigarette free beach and the nice weather before heading back to freezing Germany.

Berlin
My favourite European city. East Berlin is so beautiful, lots of art, lots of history. I could live there, I don't even care about the weather.

Did some touristy things here, Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the remaining bit of the Wall - the East Side Gallery, saw some war stuff which is pretty much everywhere and never stops being mind blowing. The museum is amazing, all about the Wall. Lots of people escaped over it. Some built hang gliders, others hot air balloons, someone got out in a plastic cow(!) The Lonely Planet said the last person shot dead trying to escape to the west, was shot 9 months before it came down. I think the Museum said it was even later.

After Berlin we went to Hamburg, then Carlos and I returned to London for a couple of nights of mayhem. Forgot to mention we met up somewhere along the way. And again we managed to meet some dodgy people (another theme), though this bunch I'd be happy not to cross paths with again!

Bangkok
Just realised I forgot Amsterdam. Sorry no time. Bangkok is beautiful. Right now I"m staying in a little room with a fan on a very hard bed. I think it's just an old door or something. I'm feeling guilty for learning absolutely no Thai. I kind of gave up on the languages after a while. Next time.

So that was a couple of months in a few minutes! Sorry about the rush, but I really have no time. And I'll be seeing you all very soon so you can hear it from the horse's mouth.

Mucho amor, Lindita.