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Palanco W/ Marielle & kids
I’ve been coming to Teotihuacan for more than 15 years. Way longer than I’ve known my husband – in fact I was a very young woman the first time I arrived in this city of pyramids. For certain I was Princess Know It All, which you all understand is tongue & cheek – as I see her as my character that can do the most damage as she keeps me from learning new things, or looking at things I believe I’ve mastered making it difficult to gain a new perspective on an old wound.
Returning to Teotihuacan and living here with my girls is a very powerful experience, as I no longer head out on to the ruins, joining the groups that Lee leads – instead my journey is inside, it’s while I’m parenting, cooking and living. I immediately feel the energy shift within my body, a few days before arriving. I get anxious just as I did years ago, however now I understand what is happening to me – I’m fixing to jump. In some way some how, my day to day life is about to get a kick start.
Teo, is major forward moving energy – locomotive is how I see it. Any blocks in becoming my greatest self are removed, and I see who I am and how I’ve been living my day to day life. What I see this time around is actually a very positive view. I moved to Nashville to live full time (I’ve had a home/ranch there for 9 years) almost 3 years ago, I arrived in Nashville kicking and screaming – yearning for Mexico and California. Almost 3 years later I’ve fallen for Nashville and all it’s wonderful comfort – ’cause that’s what Nashville has become for me the most comfortable place I have ever lived. The past few months Lee is being pulled to the west coast and so have I. I’ve been putting it off, almost afraid! I’ve fallen into a comfy couch and I don’t wanna rock the show.
We arrived here Thursday afternoon, the easiest trip we’ve made yet – the car service was on time, the flights were only 2, one hour and forty-five minute ride each , both on time. The kids didn’t have melt downs, I had plenty of real food to eat, Mexico City traffic was minimal allowing us to arrive at our house in Teo around 1:30pm – PERFECT. Then on Friday my dear friend Marielle (if you remember she lived in Nashville with me my first 1.5 years and moved to Mexico City a year ago, we were all crushed) drove out to Teotihuacan. We’d not seen each other since she left and it was a fantastic rendezvous. Isabella and Lola were just as thrilled as Ines and Isabella had become best friends in Nashville. Marielle and I shared lunch here, the women that run the kitchen here in The Dreaming House don’t mess around, bring ancestral food – no additives all WHOLE to the table. After lunch she returned to Mexico City leaving her girls Ines & Alexia to spend the weekend with us.
They played non-stop, sleeping in the hotel here and living like Eloise, Mexican Style. On Saturday more inspiration showed up at my doorstep – Adriana and Maru, two dear friends from Mexico City. To put it all in a nut shell I can only say that Mexican women have had and have a profound effect on who I am. There is the devotion to family, relationships, beauty, style, cooking, laughter and strength that I strive for on a personal level. Maybe it’s because in Mexico there is a role model, Guadalupe – the blessed mother. As a woman here you are reminded every day that you can do it, that it is all inside of you to overcome and become. Saturday was spent chattering away, and I found myself revealing my greatest desires to my friends.
Sunday the little girls all four of them and myself climbed into a chauffeured van – destination, play date Mexico City. I packed snacks for the ride in and at one point giggled to myself thinking how wonderful that our world is so big, my girls not only go to the park for play dates but to the worlds largest city – 24 million people live there. As we drove through the hills I was amazed at the amount of humanity that inhabits this city – the house’s cover the hills – most of these house’s have no water or electricity. My first journey to Mexico City I was shocked by what I referred to as poverty and I too had a difficulty understanding that there was anything else in this amazing city; as the shock of such poverty swarmed my vision. However what I have come to understand is that our concept of poverty is off – here in Mexico people are not poor in the ways we are – yes they lack water & large quantities of mass produced foods. What they have is simple foods, rice, beans, soups, veggies. They are incredibly wealthy as they have family ties and connections, they have a work ethic and determination and they don’t complain of what they don’t have. In the States after returning from living here in Mexico for a long period of time, I was slammed by the amount of poverty, lack of relationship to towns, Savannah and St. Augustine are novelty places turned into Disneyland environments as people crave to walk around an actual town. Most of our towns and cities have become soloist suburban sprawls with out genuine centers. The Disneyland type towns aren’t actually towns with local economy, they are full of tourist shops and Starbuck like corporation run restaurants and cafes. Mexican’s still have towns and relationships with them, they also have not lost their connection to food, yet.
Poverty is a big word with a giant meaning.
Marielle lives in one of the most beautiful parts of Mexico City, Lomas de Chapultepec. Her house is a perfect example of Mexican elegance, stone floors, stone fireplaces, large windows, Spanish accents & court yards. We spent the first part of our play date catching up, you see Marielle is in the middle of too jumping – they are moving to Toronto, packing the house as I write.
The last time I sat and had tea with her she was packing to move here to Mexico City – I was sad she was leaving, and our conversation was all about the unknown. This time we spoke of how exciting it is to take a risk, to move our families and explore a new life. She herself has moved many times, from Paris, Mexico City, Nashville, back to Mexico City and now Toronto.
What I have loved about our friendship is that we are both expansive.
We went to lunch in Palanco, fantastic Japanese restaurant and then walked the small area of shops and cafes, stopping at a park for the kids to play with remote controlled boats. Palanco is the Beverly Hills of Mexico, the shops are amazing and the restaurants fantastic. Our girls are a perfect match, as they all understand just how big the world is, yet how small and intimate it can feel when connected to each other.
At 4:30 our driver returned and we said our goodbyes, the girls sobbed and I reflected on all the people that I am connected to that live far away. I felt bad that I couldn’t mend Isabella’s heart break, but I know that I am teaching her to hold a line of connection with those she loves no matter where we go.
As my girls wept, the music played in the van and we passed through the area of shanty towns, my mind danced with the duality that exists in Mexico – you see there is no lie here it is all upfront and honest, life is complicated, people suffer, there are wealthy and there are poor and most often there are both. Mexico is full of artists and intellectuals, farmers and indigenous magical people – I am alive here with it all.
Marielle, Maru, Senora Gina, Maria, Sonia, Belinda, Adriana, Emily, Veronica, Yolanda, Miriam, Maria – you are in my heart, my connection to you all moves through my blood and with gratitude I grow from our relationship.
Tomorrow Lee’s journey ends and we will drive 4 hours to San Miguel Allende, a magical town where I will have an adventure of what I don’t Know.
