Travel Journal: Tonala

On Thursday, we wpent the day in the town of Tonala, where a large street market, a tianguis, takes place el jueves y domingos. (Thursdays & Sundays, forgive me as I am still trying to reinforce some basic Spanish!) 

Here, I saw so many beautful things, much ceramic work among other artwork, as well as your basic everyday items. My friend bought shampoo in bulk here, which was given to him in a little plastic bag. We also bought orange juice which was also served to us in a plastic bag with a straw.  I must say, the orange juice was very good, but maybe it was just right for the heat of the day after sipping coffee and brandy for breakfast (also known as cafe espanol.)

The market was huge, and the crowd was shoulder to shoulder through much of it. We walked around for hours, and I bought a beautiful purse.  I have thoroughly enjoyed carrying this purse around with me since I have been back, it is so bright and colorful .. well.. me.  

There were so many beautiful pieces of art here, and so much of it ceramic work. I wanted to bring pottery back with me, but was pretty set on only bringing my carry on with me on the plane. The large pieces were amazing.  I did bring home a few very small painted masks and butterflies, and a small moon painted with a sunflower. They have been great gifts for friends, and I will always love that moon! A moon with a sunflower :) perfect.

We visited one last church while in Tonala, and this is the only church I felt comfortable taking pictures in, though the results were a little darker than desired.  I also took them very quickly, as it felt very strange to be snapping pictures while others were sitting in prayer.

I am grateful that I had the chance to see the few churches and cathedrals that we did visit.  The complexities of Catholicism and its influence over the world are overwhelming to me, but the mysticism of the religion and its art & architecture remains fascinating nonetheless.  It is important to me to observe history and its effects as much as possible, and for the chance to see these parts of Mexico I was most fortunate!

Later that night, back at my friend's apartment, we laid out the vegetables that my friend's roomate had purchased earlier at the market.  She was able to buy all of these vegetables at the market for 200 pesos, which they estimated to be at about $15.00 American.

To contrast this, the next week I went to the supermarker in which I buy my vegetables and got this for $30, twice what she paid.  Not exactly a precise experiment, but it is clear to see she got a much better deal than I did!

Maybe I will be able to convince my friend to take a picture of some of the vegetable markets we saw. The selection was incredible.

The next day, I ate that last meal of tacos and coke I showed earlier, bought a few gifts for friends and a bracelet for myself and then hit the road, or the sky more accurately. 

The flight back was first diverted, the returned to its original destination and then delayed several times due to storms.  Thankfully on my first flight I met a nice guy who worked for Jack Daniel's and had a business tab that he was encouraged to use to buy people whiskey. So, a little whiskey and ice made the time pass quite nicely.  And with my unexpected layover of six hours or so, I found lots of extra time for listening to music and sketching a bit. 

I finally arrived in St. Louis at about 4:20 in the morning, where I met one last person.  He was a non english speaker, I think coming from Bangladesh, looking for a Buddhist retreat center in St. Louis. I really felt for the guy as I was having a hard enough time trying to figure out where to go and how to get there in the middle of the night, and St. Louis is a place quite comfortable to me. I now had a newfound appreciation of being in a new place around a new language, and was thrilled to help him get pointed in what I hope was the right direction.  It is amazing what two people can communicate without the use of language.

Fortunately for me, my friends happened to be up and waiting for me. It is wonderful to know I have friends who will drive to an airport to pick me up at 4:20 in the morning!

So, this was me at the St. Louis International Airport, feeling a little rough but also still pretty buzzed on the whole experience.  In fact, I think I am still pretty buzzed on the whole experience!