Vacation

I'm back from vacation and have a lot of planned upcoming blog posts, but for now I would like to share a little of my vacation with you, and the changes happening in my life.  In my last post I talked a little bit about burnout and how this vacation was an attempt to refresh myself.  However what I learned on this trip was that I'm not happy in Mexico.  It isn't exactly Mexico, it is our situation, and no vacation is going to fix it.  I mentioned in previous posts that work for my boyfriend is hard here because he doesn't have a degree.  It's hard for me too because while English schools are paid well, they don't pay their teachers well.  My boyfriend and I will celebrate our two year anniversary in October, and we have never gone anywhere together.  We've never vacationed anywhere, and we've only taken one day trip in all of these two years.  Because of our schedules we rarely see each other and when we do we are sleeping or exhausted.  We don't eat dinner together at night.  We don't have breakfast in the mornings.  We don't go to movies on Sunday, or dinners on Fridays.  We don't even get to do these basic things.  It's depressing, and we both are depressed, and we both feel hopeless.

But this trip gave us both hope, and before I explain why, let me tell you about the first part of my trip.

I missed my flight out of Mexico because there was a protest in Mexico City and all highways into the city were blocked by protesters.  The bus came to a stop about 20 minutes from the airport and didn't move for 3 hours.  It was a little unnerving, and upsetting, but luckily I met a very nice guy who let me use his phone to contact my boyfriend.  My boyfriend contacted my Mom and she rescheduled my flight.   She was a lifesaver because originally they wanted $800 to reschedule but my Mom cried and they gave in (ha ha go Mom!).  The airline would not honor my bus ticket showing it was not my fault, so it was very good she called.  I was desperate that my vacation would be over before it even started.

No body's going anywhere.

I was flying first to New York city to see one of my oldest friends.  I met her when I was 10 years old and we were inseparable for many many years.  She will always be like family to me and I hadn't seen her since she moved to New York three years ago.  The most disappointing thing about the trip was that because I missed my flight I missed an entire day with her that she had taken off work.  She is the head chef at St. Anselm, a really trendy restaurant in New York, and could not take much time off.  I made the best of it though and we ate some great food and I did a lot of shopping.

Gelato might be my favorite thing.  Lavender gelato tops them all.

I did the tourist-y thing alone and trekked to the Statue of Liberty because it was the only thing my boyfriend was sad not to get to see.  I did it for him.  And really all it was was standing in a million long lines alone without anyone to talk to.  I will never do it again ha ha.

I will admit she's pretty and impressive.

Next I took the bus up to Boston where my dear friends Sarah and Adam were picking me up.  They live in Portland, Maine where they have just started their own video game company, Chickadee Games.  Check them out, and play their games, and give them money so they can continue to always be awesome.  

Adam and I making breakfast.  (Well he was making breakfast.  I was drinking mimosas, eating doughnuts, and snapping photos).

Let me explain something about Sarah and Adam.  I met them many many years ago when they were living in Eugene.  They moved back to Maine about 3 years ago and that was the last time I saw them.  When they lived in Eugene it was the happiest I ever was.  We did all kinds of things together.  Friday nights our entire group of friends got together at a local bar and then we would all walk over to a friend's house and play rock band.  I did this with them every Friday for several years.  We BBQ'd, crafted and cooked together.  When they returned to Maine the group kind of broke up.  They really held everyone together.  So it's no surprise that in the last year two pairs of couples from our group of friends have moved to Portland, Maine.  Adam and Sarah are worth moving across the country for.    

I visited Maine several years ago when I was in their wedding but never got a chance to really see it, and this time I fell in love.  I realized very quickly what has been missing in my life for the last year.  Laughter.  I laughed so hard with all my friends in Maine that my face hurt.  I realized that it had been a long, long time since I felt that happy and laughed that hard.  It became clear that I can't go on like I am here in Mexico.

Delicious ramen right around the corner from their apartment.

Here's the big news!  My boyfriend and I are planning to move to Portland Maine within the next year.  Just writing it makes me feel like it's impossible, but once I know what I want I always find a way to do it.  Did I mention that my boyfriend is an amazing artist?  No?  Well he is.  Just look at some of my favorites.

When I showed his work to Adam he was super excited to get my boyfriend enrolled in Maine college of art where he is a professor.  I am my boyfriend Adrian's biggest fan, and have told him for years he should be doing something with his art instead of working such long hours at boring, meaningless jobs.  When Adrian heard Adam's opinion it lit a fire of hope within him that I have never seen before.  So in the next month or two I will be moving back into Adrian's mom's house in order to save money for this new adventure we have planned.  In the meantime Adrian needs to create a portfolio and began looking at ways to finance his education and expenses.  If anyone has any ideas or knowledge of studying abroad in the US, specifically a Mexican, please let me know.

  

Stay tuned...big things are coming.  For now, never underestimate the power of laughter.  Never underestimate the dear friends you make in life.  Sometimes you have to not only follow love to the ends of the Earth, but also friendship, because true love and true friendships are rare indeed.