OUTDOOR VACATIONS - Essay

When I first arrived in Tuxtepec, I thought I'd made a terrible mistake. The heat hit me like a wall and I actually Googled "can humidity suffocate you?" on my phone. But now, looking back, I realize this trip taught me more than just how to survive tropical weather. I noticed something interesting: struggling with a new environment felt exactly like struggling with a new language, you must take a grip, relax, and go on. At first everything is uncomfortable and confusing, but then... I started to understand as I said. The fish vendors shouting prices, my cousins making fun of us (my brother and I), even the sizzle of meat on the grill... these sounds became my daily "listening practice." Without realizing it, I was learning.

Wild Vacations in Tuxtepec Oaxaca - Outdoor Vacations (Essay)

I must say that adapting to a new environment is, for first instance, uncomfortable, baffling, and shocking, but you have to make an effort in understand how to cope with it. Let me talk about my experience, when I went on vacations to my family's home, as soon as I get off the bus, a hot, suffocating air went into my lungs; I couldn't breathe well, we were from the city where the weather is colder. I can describe it as a feeling of being covered by so many blankets. A cold shower was not enough to me.

The first things you can see getting downtown are the fish markets, fruits, piñatas, and so on... Of course, before getting to the small spring with a small waterfall that we had been told and claimed to be refreshing and memorable, we had to stop in the market to buy the exact quantity of groceries and supplies for the trip, we got some fresh fruit, meats for grill, even flavorful sodas.

When we reach to the place, I got amazed by such sight, and for sure the air was refreshing. The place can assure to be a gift from the nature, so vivid and green with few bugs surrounding the place. The thing is... my brother and I didn't how to swim and ended up looking like a pair of fool babies learning how to swim.

Before we left the place, our plates were full of a variety of food made by our grandmother; as a well-known, Mexican elderly woman, she forced us to stuff our stomachs with an exaggerated quantity of meal. Yes, a great meeting with the family.

(Tuxtepec, Oaxaca. San Isidro Naranjal)

Sitting on the bus back home, sticky with sweat and mosquito bites, I surprised myself. I was actually sad to leave, something I could have never thought. Not just because of the amazing food or beautiful places, but because I had a great time with my far-away family. That waterfall where I nearly drowned trying to swim? Now it's my favorite memory. My grandmother forcing us? A lesson in Mexican love. And you know what's funny? The biggest lesson was that learning happens when you stop worrying about mistakes and keep going; at the end of the day all of us commit mistakes, everyone, but keep going instead doing nothing is just for a few, right?