El Mundo es Pequeño

The Festival Internacional Cervantino ended on Sunday and the small world that is Guanajuato has slowed to a more tranquil state: the noise softer and the people less. My cold has worsened for the most part, though I feel like I´ll probably be turning the corner soon. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), it´s forced me to stay at the Saucedo home and rest. However, despite my ailments, I have made it out of bed and onto the callejons (small walking allies) a couple of times. Despite not having many, the experiences that I have had in the past couple of days, combined with the extra time to think, have combined to produce some pretty deep (at least by my standards) thoughts that will most likely resonate with me for the length of this trip and maybe for much longer.

Sunday was a day of rest, despite the closing ceremonies of the Festival. I think I slept til noon until I jetted over to my new favorite place--Cafe Tal, the Zoka of Guanajuato--for some coffee and to meet up with some people to go to some bar outside of the city that´s owned by expats. Unfortunately, due to a lack of consistent internet, a phone, Styrofoam cups and some taught string, we were unable to communicate effectively enough to make it happen. Of course, there is the possibility that I was the odd-person out, but hey I needed to rest anyway.

Did I rest though? No. Instead, I booked it up the hills of Guanajuato to my new buddy Judy´s place to see the renovations she is making to her newly acquired home in GTO. Judy´s been coming down to Guanajuato for the last 14 or so years to take part in the Cervantino Festival, and finally decided to get a house down here. She showed me around, had me help break down some boxes, and even let me use my creativity by creating different patterns with these intricately detailed and painted tiles for a table that will go on her roof. While Judy and I worked on the patterns for the better part of an hour, I started to feel pretty sentimental. Doing all of this reminded me of a lot of things from my childhood. Particularly, my dad and grandfather--both of whom have passed away relatively recently. My grandpa, if I´m not mistaken, was a carpenter by trade for a majority of his life, and my dad... Well my dad really liked to start projects around the house. Sometimes, he would finish them. Other times, not so much. I wondered what things could have been like if either of them had ever come to a place like Guanajuato. Especially with my dad, I wonder what would have happened if he would have known he could have lived in a place like this, arranging patterns of tile, instead of dispatching trucks at Kroy in York, Nebraska. Probably not too much, but maybe a whole lot more...

Anyway, as the sun started to go down, Judy and I found ourselves staring out off of her rooftop patio into a peaceful and seemingly smaller Guanajuato. We sat down and I listened to Judy conjure up memories of her own days at the University of Washington, good and bad. We exchanged thoughts on one of my favorite places (the UW) and eventually said our goodbyes as Judy was leaving for her true home--Portland--on Tuesday. As I exited her bright green abode, I thought it funny that sometimes it takes a trip around the world to make a friend from next door.

After that, I went and slept... a lot. The next day, I went to Academia Falcon and met almost everyone that worked there. When the women found out that I was Adrian´s brother, it was as if somebody shook a bird cage (I mean that in the most endearing of ways). I´ve always been proud of my brother because of his accomplishments: hard-nosed high school quarterback, college radio station DJ, Fulbright Grant Recipient. Yet it´s always the things like being a good, kind, and loving person that make me the proudest of him. Cheesy, I know. But I felt good. Good enough, in fact, to go back home and take another nap. It was then, on the rainy walk home that I got homesick for the first time... I wonder if it´s because I can´t stand being away from home, or the shear length of time that it will be until I am back, or both... Oh well, in the end, I probably won´t have been away long enough.

That´s all I´ve got for now though... I apologize if this entry doesn´t seem to be as spirited as the rest, as my cold seems to have gotten the best of me today, forcing me to rest up. Oh, and on top of that, it´s about 55 degrees here in Guanajuato. No pictures either...