Postcards from My Soul

Hola from Mexico City!  The weather in Oaxaca was much better in the low 80's and sunny.  Mexico City is a high of 75 and partial clouds today.  I've had terrible wifi service and didn't pay for much data so I've a little out of touch!  Spanish language update: it's still terrible but more people can understand my accent. :) and I can read and understand much more. But it's just the tip of the iceberg.  Let the stone shopping frenzy commence! I went a little heart crazy so far. But people love heart shaped stones and I found some great ones! Include meteor and pyrite! I'm sort of on a pyrite kick! Pyrite is fools gold and can be in the rough nugget form or highly polished. It looks great with lapis lazuli!  And a bought a lovely very different labradorite! Will post fotos on the Steel and Stones Facebook page in a day or two.  I picked the hotel last night because the lobby looked really interesting in an old was once beautiful kind of way. It wa...

Rain. Everyday. Not all day but a good dousing every afternoon and or all evening. Enough to inconvenience things at times.  And with night time lows in the 50's I wasn't always happy with the weather. Most of you have been enjoying (or dying of) the un-Portland-like summer. I'm super jealous!  I'm hoping to catch some of it!  We went to a sexual preference (LBGT) anti-violence march on Saturday. The group had hired Julio and his band to play. I received a t-shirt and as we were getting ready to start the march it started to rain. African style drums with real leather don't do well in the rain so we had to leave. The guys were then only paid 100 pesos which covered our transportation there and back via bus. It was a waste of 3 hours.  Julio and I had custom orders consisting of: some pendants, and 3 custom necklaces of varying styles.  We had one stone casualty. Thin tear drop shaped stones are the biggest trouble makers. Sadly, one of my favorite shapes! So...

Disclaimer: Not for the easily grossed out.  This email could have been titled "Night Bus Nightmare".  At about 2:30am  I started feeling rumblings in my stomach, followed by quite a bit of uncomfortable air and burping. Which I was hoping would just pass. Then I felt the same as I did last fall in Cannon Beach when I had my first bout of food poisoning.   Julio was asleep and in the aisle seat. He was rudely awaken by me slapping him awake and saying I needed the bathroom NOW. I stumbled down the steps to the microscopic (think small plane bathroom) bathroom, closed the door and found the light and opened the toilet just in time. Julio thought I was motion sick. I assure you this was not the case. I had a couple other close calls and thankfully no one else was using the bathroom.  I can count on one hand the times I've puked, non alcohol related. 2nd grade in class, last fall, and last night. It is possible when I was younger than 2nd grade and don't r...

Disclaimer: Not for the easily grossed out.  This email could have been titled "Night Bus Nightmare".  At about 2:30am  I started feeling rumblings in my stomach, followed by quite a bit of uncomfortable air and burping. Which I was hoping would just pass. Then I felt the same as I did last fall in Cannon Beach when I had my first bout of food poisoning.   Julio was asleep and in the aisle seat. He was rudely awaken by me slapping him awake and saying I needed the bathroom NOW. I stumbled down the steps to the microscopic (think small plane bathroom) bathroom, closed the door and found the light and opened the toilet just in time. Julio thought I was motion sick. I assure you this was not the case. I had a couple other close calls and thankfully no one else was using the bathroom.  I can count on one hand the times I've puked, non alcohol related. 2nd grade in class, last fall, and last night. It is possible when I was younger than 2nd grade and don't r...

Week 6 of 6 ended around May 6th.  I'm very late sending this out!  It was mostly working on jewelry and having mixed feelings about coming home.  :)  Thank you so much to those of you who have been so supportive both verbally and those who have bought Julio's (and some of my) lovely pieces.  We both really appreciate it!  <3 I've updated this Travel Update list, so as always if you are here and don't want to be please send me an email.  Emailing this from my phone is a challenge at times. I'm still trying to sort out how to email a "group" from my phone. And just a heads up, I'll be headed back to Mexico Friday for a short rainy season trip.  Happy Solstice and first day of summer!  Enjoy the sun while you can and be sure those you love know you love them!  xo!  Serena