Traveling the World at 64

I Love Mexico

/ Gardy Loo Pismire / 1 Comment

So, I have been in Mexico a little over a month and I am loving it here. The weather has been perfecto, I feel safe, and there is always something new to discover. The grocery stores in Juriquilla put the ones in the USA to shame. They are so clean you could eat off the floor. Uber costs me with tip about $3.50 per ride. The food is fantastic and fairly cheap. And thus far I have visited the Colonial Towns of San Miguel Allendende (right) and Bernal (left) both of which are charming in their own way. Barbarita (whose house and dogs I am looking after) has been busy arranging for her friends to babysit me and I have confess it has been wonderful to be looked after in such a loving and caring way. Thank you, Barbarita, and thank you to my new friends!

Since I have been in Mexico there are times I have floundered but mostly I feel as if I am flourishing…as if life is finally opening up to me and I am holding on tight as I direct the ride. I am taking Spanish classes twice a week. I don’t know what kind of superhero I thought I was but for some odd reason I just thought I would be fluent in Spanish within a month or two at the most. The joke’s on me and apparently on others too as I try my best to converse in Spanish. So far I have had two major gaffs. The first was this: I meant to ask a young woman how old she is but instead asked her how many buttholes she had. (Anos vs Anos with the little squiggle over the N) Who would have thought one little virgulilla could make such a difference! Then just this week, I called this wonderful woman named Conchita the word Cochinita which means a nasty-smelling pig like creature of a woman. Oops! Because of this, I am now watching these amazing cartoons everyday that teach Spanish using Spanish subtitles, then English and Spanish subtitles and then no subtitles at all. It is helpful to say the least. The program in on YouTube and it is called Learn Spanish With Simple Story. I can honestly say that all these cartoons are making me feel young at heart and improving my Spanish. Language or the lack of it is definitely the floundering part of life for me here in Mexico.

The second aspect of my floundering has come from having my Facebook account hacked and then Facebook banning me from the site. Every time I have tried to set up a new one they bad that too. Sometimes it is hard to be away from “home” and not be able to communicate with people who have touched my life in profound ways even though some of whom I have never met face to face. In addition, I decided I had to step back and put some distance between myself and a relationship that I treasure.

But the flourishing part of this adventure is what I am truly reveling in. Here I can make my own mistakes without comment. Here I am finding my confidence again by stepping out of my comfort zone and taking chances. Here I am allowing myself “to be” without worry about what any else thinks. And here is where the rubber meets the road to determine how effective I can be out on my own acting as my own advocate in situations that are challenging. And I am proud of how I have handled things that might make other squirm. I am finally living my life with no one to blame except myself on how it all turns out. In the past, I have always had someone else’s hand to hold to give me strength and confidence and now I have to look inward to find those things. Now, I hold my own hand. I am also working on crafting a legacy…one that will hopefully make my family proud.

Yes, I miss my friends and I miss you ( you know who YOU are) but I don’t miss myself anymore for I have finally found her and she is pretty cool.

Traveling solo at this age (64), living out of two small suitcases for long periods, is damn hard at times. You worry about your health, your ability to defend yourself, and if selling everything is an early sign of dementia. Yet, it can also be so rewarding as I look to myself for all that I desire and need. I suspect things will get tougher in Costa Rica and even harder in Colombia. But by then, I think that I will have learned that I can trust in myself enough that I will easily be able to find the courage to face whatever comes my way.

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And if you are interesting in following my travel blog here it is: https://youshouldbeatravelingfool2.com

Getting To Know You Getting To Know All About You

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In the week that I have been here I have gotten to” know ” quite a few people thanks to Barbarita and James. Everyone has been so kind and nice to me even though my Spanish is woefully Malo. But I keep trying to improve so I think they appreciate that I am willing to try. In fact, I have found in my travels that even if you know just a few words in another language and you are visiting for a short time that people appreciate the effort of showing them that you respect their culture or area enough to try to reach out. In this vein, I have decided to take Spanish lessons in an attempt to “fit in” a little more. It will be a challenge due to my age and the fact that everyone tells me that Mexican Spanish is a little different from Peruvian Spanish which is a tad different from Costa Rican Spanish; but I am excited to learn more and to be able to communicate with others.

Learning a new language is so much easier these days than say 20 years ago. This morning I watched Chicken Little in Mexican Spanish on Lingopie. I have also bought several children’s books from New 2 You (the second hand store in which I will be volunteering) in hopes that it will help me learn. It has been quite fun going back to my childhood to revisit stories that I once knew and that my parents read to me when I was a small child. It makes my insides smile.

Saturday, I attended a party to welcome me to Mexico and to thank the volunteers who work at the store. It was thrown by Barbarita and I met many people who were kind and welcoming. In fact, two of the ladies, one of whom is a great cook have offered to come over during the week to break bread and learn each other’s respective languages. Gabby (who speaks no English) and I had a good time trying to talk to one another through hand gestures and when the going got rough using a translator. She is going to make Sopas for me next week and I am so excited about it. Several other ladies offered to make dinner dates and to go walking together in the mornings. I am excited to get to know these soon to be friends.

Deciding to make the move and experience to different countries at my age has been an interesting adventure. Yet, I can say that I truly believe that the love and acceptance I will find on my travels, while unexpected, will be a gift that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to get to know various cultures, geographies, and people as I make my way to exciting and unexpected places. Best of all, as I learn Spanish it will open even more doors of opportunity and friendship as I learn to connect with people who value connection and mutual understanding just as I do.

Adios por ahora

Scared Shitless…But Doing It Anyway!

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Three weeks ago I was in Thailand with my boyfriend, who, on the second day of our trip, decided to end things with me. There was no fight. No argument. No nothing. Just a surprise conversation while lying in bed together. Talk about a sure fire way to lose your libido!

If I am honest with myself, I knew the relationship wasn’t quite right (mostly for him) I am optimistic and he is a pessimist. He is a neat freak whereas I am not so anal. I embrace life and love fiercely whereas he says he isn’t sure what love really is. But I knew the end was coming when he said I reminded him of his mother..he disliked her. And, well, the big thing…he has never found me attractive…yes, he had the gall to say it (more than once) and as we all know there was nothing I could do about that except lose my confidence and start feeling somewhat insecure. But still I persisted. Why? We laugh a lot, had great ___, are compatible and were economically similar. And he taught me things, important things like fly fishing, he values our friendship and a truly nice man who tries to look out for my best interests even when I am sometimes unable to determine what they are. Sometimes as you age the things that were once high on your priority list suddenly slip a little while other once inconceivable things now take their place. Luckily, we are good friends and enjoy each other’s company so we still had a good time but seriously walking on the beach NOT hand-in-hand was not exactly how I envisioned a beach trip to Thailand and Laos.

Anyway, the day before leaving the country, I put my house up for sale…kind of on a whim but then again not. It sold in one day. I worked hard on this house. New wood flooring, painted the inside and outside myself, new roof, faucets, fixtures and tile in the bathroom, a beautiful garden with 7 ft high fence to keep the elk out, along with numerous other projects all completed in two years. I love this house, that I painted red which was located then two miles from the ocean. And I sold it and a whole lot of what I owned. Why? Right now….this second…. in this moment of complete panic… I am not sure why. But deep in my heart I know I did the right thing and these are the reasons I believe I did:

Fist off, I think the housing market is going to crash and wanted to get out while the getting was good. I didn’t want my house to be worth less than I paid for it. Secondly, I live on almost an acre and one-half and with the traveling I have been doing it isn’t practical with all the mowing and upkeep on the garden. Furthermore, I do not like the direction that this country is headed at the moment. And finally, I always wanted to try to live in another country for a bit. Everything combined created the perfect storm and I went for it. Now, as I pack boxes and unload many of my earthly possessions I am questioning myself.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Perhaps it is early onset dementia?

“Yes, maybe. I couldn’t remember the word for fork the other day”

“Everyone says start writing notes to yourself.”

“You tried that and lost the notebook”

“What kind of 64 year old woman sells everything and sets off an a big adventure that most 18 yo’s without gut issues, hearing aids, and often severe gas don’t even consider?”

And so it goes. The never-ending songs inside my head.

So here is the plan. I hope to housesit around the world. I will be homeless May 15th, a week later will attend my youngest daughter’s graduation from college, fly to my other daughter’s house in Tennessee, visit my Dad in Michigan then by the middle of June arrive at my best friends house in Las Vegas. Then, June 20th, I will leave for Queretaro, Mexico to housesit for two months. It’s a beautiful historic town and I think I am going to enjoy stepping back in history a bit. From there…who knows. But Ecuador seems to be calling my name.

I hope you will join me on this crazy journey that I am taking and know if I can do this you can do something scary and a bit difficult too. And if you want to know about where I was five years ago with a cheating husband and my six kids, well then, just read this blog!