Well, for the first time in nearly ten years, I was actually able to leave the country. Ironically, it was once more to Latin America, though this time I never left the continent. It was a gorgeous trip; the food and the weather were truly excellent for the entire trip. I tried pretty much every kind of food that I was offered, even partaking of a chili that Alberto dared me to bite into. And really, I had fantastic hosts, which allowed me to see much more of the area than if I had been left to my own auspices. I definitely plan on returning one of these days, and heartily recommend it. However, it may be a little while, given that my vacation time is minimal, and many are the demands upon it.
It was as hard as I thought it might be not knowing the language. It was fairly clumsy, but I did manage to make my way around in spite of that. In the end, I spent most of my time with my hosts, and then language was not a problem at all. That made ordering at restaurants quite a bit easier, cop-out though that may have been. And as it turned out, for the most part, I ate at rather authentic establishments. Puebla has a lot of food that hails from it, including chalupas and mole (made from chocolate and cinnamon). However, those have been quite “americanized”, and their versions would not be recognizable up here.
In any case, it was quite an adjustment getting back to Edmonton. I was exhausted for a few days until I got caught up on sleep and the time zone change. Still, it’s really nipped me with the travel bug, and now I am more eager than ever to get on with my trip to Europe. I think I actually might be able to do that this year…