And hopping onto the last slippery stone

... and on I went. The last glance from the chickenbuswindow over the lake (whilst swirling around curves, the driver listening to bad-taste rancheros and the second guy somewhere on the roof securing baggage) was accompanied by a tear or two... Huehue didn't offer much, but as it was just for one night I did not really mind. I crossed the border between Mexico and Guate by foot as the taxis seemed to expensive and the distances too short. I had to wait however for quite a time in order to get a bus to San Cristóbal de las casas. Good. So I met a lot of the local bordertown Youth and had time to answer many interesting and silly questions about where in the US this place called Italy lies and so on. San Cristóbal was very nice. I arrived at the city in the middle of the night and went straight to Posada Dona Rosita, home of a nice old lady that knows a lot about herbs and natural medicines and has a strong opinion about the whole mess up around the indigenous populations in confrontation with globalization. SCdlC surprised my in general. It appears that the conflicts (nowadays fought on political grounds) created a very fertile territory in this city. During my stay I was not only able to enjoy loads of vegetarian food in cultural centres that were bars and restaurants at the same time. I was also able to enjoy live music in different bars (a special bless to the most excellent waitress in Bar Revolución) AND read a first time a Spanish poem in public. And that happened like that: I went with Esben, a Danish fighter that stayed in the same posada to a poetry reading. There were five poets reading and the offer for every one in the public to join in. As I got really angry about one table in the middle of the room - the typical "weareheretodrinkandenjoyourselvesfuckpoetry" crowd- I put some ten lines onto paper and read them straight out. I did not have the success I wanted: Quite some people congratulated me afterwords -especially the other poets, of course, as I put honey on their wounded selfesteem- but the agressors did not even notice!! Malditos sean.
from San Cristóbal I went into the surrounding forests quite some times. I went to meet the Zapatistas and did crazy tours through blessed nomansland where I saw guys in very strange rituals. But as known from Guatemala, the indigenous population is very friendly, open and talkative as soon as the first shyness is gone.

In the next world
I eill be what I always wanted to be:
a little mushroom
that speaks seven languages.
Can you imagine how it woukld be
for you to swallow me
after carefully grinding me with your front teeth?
Believe it or not
this could just be a prediction for a different fiction.
Fricccccction is what makes us grind and find
a new heat for the following
downbeat.
C'mon cheat on your selfinflicted soberness
c'mon caress your head and dress for success
with colourful a mess in your head!

dAn 250807SanPedro

My next station -rather a drive and walkthrough- was Tuxtla. I only visited the Zoo and that was it. Apparently it is one of the best in animal rights. That might be... but they got so much space that you only see those who want to be seen. So seeing the "ideal zoo" did not make me as happy as I thought. It rather gave my a final solution: You are not a zoo person. Better keep sitting in the middle of the rainforest in silence. You see more and live.
From Tuxtla it went to Oaxaca. I was charged with loads of information my friend Christian Stecher provided for. But I was already in a bit of a hurry and could not do all I wanted to. Nevertheless I was able to taste all the hot chocolate I wanted to and visit quite a few exquisite places and exhibitions. Furthermore I was able to get q first hint of what would accompany my last two weeks in Mexico: Loads of flags and national colours! September is the patriotic month in Mexico with its peak on 15th the día de la independencia which I was able to celebrate at the Zócalo in Mexico city.

But before that I had to see one last natural wonder. I went to Chacahua. Close to the well known surfer paradise Puerto Escondido it is a natural paradise with the same big waves rolling but quietness, fresh fish and a landscape that invites to stay. I met a very nice guy from Rome who spoke basically only his city's dialect... It was veeeery interesting to see how he interacts with locals and other foreigners. When I close my eyes and think of Chacahua I can still hear the big waves crushing onto the beach.
Accepting my fate I left the enchanted island four days later. Straight to Puebla was the message. There was Ana Lucía waiting. I had met her and her brother at the tour I took from Palenque to the ruins of Bonampak and Yaxchilan. I had a few wonderful days there with loads of perfect food! I wonder why Mexico did not make me fat and fatter ;) Ana was the perfect tour guide. She showed me around whenever she had a free minute and will always put this extra colour onto my memory of Puebla, a city I would otherwise have skipped. After a weekend plus one day I went to the defectuoso. To DF. To Mexico City. First night in Hostal World. All had changed, even the manager, so it was just for one day. Just in order to go across the main street next morning to greet the guys from Taller Ditoria, the best book printing on small artistic scale ever! Those guys and their 19th century printing device create only pieces of art one would love to have! Then I moved a little bit further away from the centre to Ciudad Jardin where my friend Monica lives with her boyfriend and another girl in a little house. As it is in direction of Xochimilco I was finally able to see this city that has partially Venice-like ways of transport.
But as always when time is running out, I was very fast coming to the end of my time without getting a chance to do half the stuff I wanted to do in Mexico city. Anyhow. On saturday I moved to Hostal Amigo in Isabela la Católica. That is because of the night of the 15th. I wanted to celebrate at the main square which is only a few blocks away. I thought I would be forced by my mexican friends to drink and did not want to be too far from a bed. Wrong. None of the Mexicans I knew and none of those that my friend Katha knew wanted to share the Zócalo experience... they were all happy to be far away from it. I thought as a tourist and being in the city and so on, I could not miss it. And not miss it I did! I actually enjoyed it! Loads of people, but not as many as predicted, two gritos de la independencia and thereby a historical moment, a lot of protest and coverup, fireworks that would have fed all the poor in latinamerica and a festive crowd.
Afterwords we went back to the hostel were a party was going on.
I however was awarded by the moment and my decision of honouring every single one and had a very pleasant and intense talk with a priestess of breath. A talk that went on the next evening after a day I spent in pain: my dreads needed a lil redoing, the flying hair went into the existing ones. Six hours long did my mate Tonka a good job.
On monday I went for a last bit of shopping with Monica and then fought all alone my way to the airport with too much luggage and a lot of sweat. ("Is it raining outside, or why are you so wet?")
When the evening darkness fell over Mexico city I went through a gate without being searched by the awaiting customs officers and left officially Mexico on the 17th September 2007.