On Friday we rather grudgingly departed Sayulita, and made our way to Tepic. I had mixed emotions about showing my parents my home for the year. On one hand, Tepic is definitely true-Mexico which means a healthy portions of views include dirty, dilapidated buildings, poverty, and garbage. On the other hand, it also possesses a much more authentic beauty and culture compared to Vallarta. While Tepic isn't by any stretch of the imagination a booming, glamorous social hotspot, it is my Mexican home and as a result I've developed a soft spot for it over the year. And it is pretty cool to finally show off people and buildings in the flesh (or physical entity, I suppose) after talking so much about them on Skype! My parents were awestruck with the view during the drive there. I suppose with the multiple times I've travelled that same highway this year, I had gotten used to it and forgotten what a novelty it is to see the giant canyons and dormant volcanoes following lush forests between Vallarta and Tepic. It is actually a pretty awesome view, and with my parents there I renewed my appreciation of the stunning landscape, just like when I first got here. I even learned more about Tepic, as I translated Hector's lesson on the sugar cane economy and farming process as we were driving past the fields of cane plants and passing the trucks on the way to the factory, all loaded down with burnt cane stalks. Once you've been living someplace long enough you almost forget to keep asking questions and learning- which is a pity! For me at least, (as swotty as it sounds), I want to learn as much as I can about my host country and city so that I can represent it to a point when I return, just like I'm the resident Canadian here. I don't mean memorizing Independence dates or anything, it's just important to remember as much as possible from what people tell you on your year abroad. Who knows, it may come in very handy in the future! For example, if anyone ever wants to know about the process, origin and class system of Tequila, I'm your gal!
Upon arrival in Tepic, we basically arrived at the Castillo's house, changed our clothes and continued on to La Quinta for a Rotary party welcoming my parents to Tepic! Iliana and Pepe had very generously offered to host a party in their ranch outside of Tepic, which was beyond amazing. It's an absolutely gorgeous place, and both Iliana and Monica (from the gringo party in the Cierra in March), who was helping, had outdone themselves. There was a giant table filled with scrumptious
mole, tostadas de pollo tradicional, caldo de pollo, and more! Then there was the dessert table, with
pastel de tres leches,
flan and
arroz con leche..... Yummmm. A bit overwhelming for my parents I think, what with all the new food and a large group of people all enthusiastically trying to make conversation in a different language. I guess it was almost like giving my parents a taste of what exchange feels like for the first bit! Everyone was friendly and really made an effort to communicate, it was a pretty great example of the Mexican hospitality! Another great surprise guest was Mike, a Canadian exchanger from my district who was in Tepic two years ago. He came to Mexico for the week, and luckily his coincided with my parent's visit. It was pretty great seeing him a year later in a completely different setting (we had met in Canada last year to talk about exchange before I even knew I was going to be living in his former host city), and we had a fantastic chat about Tepic, the Ruta Maya, general shenanigans during exchange and then what to expect afterwards back home- basically every exchange-related thing we could think about! It was also nice to have another translator present to help my parents. Sara, Johannes, Melissa and Gosia were there as well to help out. Finally my parents could meet in person some of the people I've gone on endlessly about during my Mexican Adventure Time stories. I personally had a fantastic time visiting with my lovely friends after a week or two apart, and it was amusing watching my parents reacting to Mexicans and the cuisine (confusion, surprised delight, awkward hand signals). My mum began to accompany "Muchos gracias" with a little hand bow, which was pretty hilarious, some sort of Oriental/Latino mashup haha. Despite the overwhelming situation, I think my parents enjoyed themselves!
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| Gooooo Canada! |
The next day, being the fit Flemings and all that, we got up at the crack of dawn (okay, 7:00), to hike up Cerro de San Juan. While it is only a hill, it's a very steep and hot climb. We were puffing and red-faced when we reached the top but the view was absolutely worth it (it also felt nice to work off a bit of the heavy food from the night before). From the semi-birds-eye view, I pointed out all the major buildings and locations in Tepic, ie the sugar cane factory, La Loma (the major park), Cerro de la Cruz, etc.. I could also give them the general location of my three houses, the North side, South, and Center! From the Cerro, it's easy to see how Tepic is basically in the valley of a circle of extinct volcanoes, which is pretty sweet. After the descent, we had a refreshing coconut. (Man I'm gonna miss that- you request a mature or young coconut from the gent waiting with his truck loaded up with them at the bottom (more meat vs more juice), then you receive a coconut the size of your head with a hole drilled into the top with a machete. After you've finished the juice you hand it back, and a few aggressive machete manoeuvres later, receive a bag with the meat. Which you then cover with lemon, salt and chile, yummy)
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| The spectacular view form the top (to the right you can see the extinct volcano Sanganguey) |
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| Whooo family victory photo! |
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| Dad enjoying his coconut |
For breakfast Sandy made her scrumptious chilaquiles, and afterwards my parents and I went to their room and exchanged suitcases. They had brought a mountain of Canadian souvenirs and candy to pass on to my families and friends, and in return I gave them 8 months of accumulated souvenir junk, and my 'winter clothes'. (A somewhat unfair exchange.) I'm embarrassed to say they took home an entire suitcase filled with my things and I STILL have no idea how I'm going to fit everything in two suitcases to return home. How is it possible I collected so much?! Anyways, my parents and I picked out some ball caps, candy, and Canadian figurine type things, a bottle of Alberta-distilled whiskey and then went downstairs to present it all to the Castillos. Both my parents and my club are incredibly grateful to them for all they've done for me throughout the year even when they weren't my host family, and my parents said that all the gifts couldn't even begin to cover their gratitude. They included their generosity during the week as well, seeing as how amazing they were to drive me and my parents around and act as our personal tour guides. The Castillos seemed genuinely surprised as to why we were showering them with gifts, and said they'd done nothing to deserve them, which just shows what an amazing family they are. They simply said that I was their daughter, as well as their first child from exchange, and for that we were all family now despite being from different countries. I will definitely always remember Sandy saying it so simply- through our mutual daughter we are all family now and because of that I know we'll see each other again. Sandy started to cry and I admit I was about to as well- it was such a heartfelt moment. It meant so much for my two favourite families to get to know each other and despite the culture and language barriers connect with each other so well.
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| Dad on his way to the first bite of possibly the best Mexican breakfast out there |
We went to Santa Maria del Oro to eat, introducing Mum and Dad to the famous
chicarron de pescado (like breaded fish fresh form the lake that you then eat with the classic tortillas, salsas and lettuce). We had a fantastic afternoon admiring the beautiful volcanic lake, swimming around, and stuffing ourselves with the food. My parents said they fully understand now how I gained so much weight initially in Mexico, they told me they were going on a diet of lettuce and water upon their return to detox from all the delicious rich food they'd been eating all week. I don't think they believed me before about how hard it is to diet with Mexican cuisine, but they definitely do now!
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| The complete family photo |
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| My two pairs of parents |
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| Santa Maria del Oro, restaurant viewpoint |
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| Not the most appetizing photo, but trust me on the quality flavour |
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| Everyone chowing down on the food (as evidenced by my squirrel cheeks) |
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| Gosia and me mum |
Upon our return we stopped at the best candy store in Tepic to pick up the best kind of souvenirs- edible ones. They got a large variety of
dulces to bring home, including spicy gum, tamarindo jelly, cocadas (bars of coconut), and peanut brittle-type squares. As an update, they fell in love with the cocadas but found everything else between pleasant to downright disgusting. (I think the spicy gum and tamarind flavours are an acquired taste.)
That night I left my parents to their more tranquil night with an earlier bedtime and went out with the exchange students to Palazzo for a night of dancing and fun times. It was great to see everyone and dance our pants off. I don't know if I pulled off club dancing or just looked like an idiot, but in any case it was very fun!
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| Feliz semana de Pascua! (Hence the bunny ears) |
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| All are having a ball, as evidenced in this photo |
I got up early the next morning to see off the aged P's, who had to leave at 8 with Hector for their flight in Vallarta. I felt a bit weird to see them go, but at the same time I knew I'd be seeing them again in a little less than two months so it was more of a see-you-later type farewell. It was a fantastic week, and I was pretty drained after being the resident Mexican-Canadian guide/translator. I spent the next few days at the Castillos, relaxing with friends and making use of their exercise room. Then, on Wednesday I left early morning to Queretaro for the district conference! Stay tuned for the next post!
Obviously, I was so excited to see my parents after almost 9 months, and to enjoy a beautiful beach vacation with them, but I also appreciated their visit in a completely unexpected way. A great thing about having people visit from your home country, and seeing their reactions to the culture, is that you realize to what extent you've acclimatized to your host country. It takes the entire year abroad as you make subtle changes to your character, knowledge and grasp of the culture. You almost don't notice the magnitude of changes in yourself as you've gone through it slowly. Having your family there is almost a marker of what you started off as, and then you can clearly see how far you've gone. For me, going from being the flustered individual who understood nothing on the menu to being the translator explaining the happenings and information about Mexico is a pretty significant change! I've gone from eyeing the street tacos nervously to insisting that these are the most delicious you'll find (appearances are decieving in Mexican restaurants, remember?). What is a novelty to them (and once for me too) is now pretty common- you almost forget to appreciate every beautiful tropical landscape and every greasy savoury taco. It feels like you've been living here forever and it's not special anymore, right up until the point that someone reminds you you're living a life with a limited number of days. There's a countdown that not so long ago seemed to show that you had over a hundred days left, and suddenly you check and realize the days have slipped by and you're this close to finishing your year abroad. So many scents, sights and experiences may be commonplace now, but being reminded of the fact that in the all-too-near future it will be but a memory makes you renew your appreciation. Not only that, I was also so proud to show off Mexico from my perspective, to make my experience a bit more real for those who will be there when I return home to Canada. They will understand when I talk about 'greasy street tacos' or my crazy generous first host family, which will definitely make my readjustment a lot easier. Originally I was thinking my parent's visit would basically be an awesome opportunity for a vacation, but it also reminded me a bit of 'Canadian mentality' and I think helped me prepare for my all-too soon return. I love my parents, and I have truly come to think of my first host family as my real family here in Mexico. Having both families together, and the prime location made an unforgettable week.
Thanks for reading!
Hasta luego,
Wendy
