Vacation, Vacation, Vacation (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)

Bailing on the real world and traveling all year probably sounds like one gigantic vacation, and it can be, I'm definitely not complaining, but it isn't always refreshing and relaxing in that real vacationy way. The last month, and particularly the last week of my trip however was pure vacation within vacation within vacation. My friend Lauren (a once roommate and current Portland me-replacement) met Manda and I last Tuesday in Mexico City. We local-bussed our way north into the hills to small colonial San Miguel de Allende where we went straight to an amazing house my parents own and very generously let us borrow. My childhood friend Sarah, and Lauren's current roommate, met us there. We had 3 glorious days to soak up the pretty light and pretty shopping and luxurious accommodation of SMA. We had lunch at the home of my first Spanish teacher who I met when I was 12. She and her husband Francisco are in their 60s and are quite possibly the kindest people on Earth. Elvira wears crocheted dresses (the same once she has been wearing for the last 15 years) and has 2 long braids swept up in loops. Francisco is retired and a musician. At the end of our visit he played the guitar and sang us traditional Mexican songs, but during lunch he thought we'd prefer American music. Over vegetable soup and quesadillas, he blared the Beastie Boys at deafening volume and nobody batted an eye. It was amazing. One night my aunt Darlene and her greatest-ever Irish husband Niall came over for margaritas, which I mix up quite expertly when properly focused. Distract me however, and the proportions go crazy. Yes, I did indeed pour tequila into the fresh hand-squeezed lime juice. Nuts. Other days we went to hot hot hotsprings with pools in dark caves, Darlene and Niall took us out to dinner, we went dancing at Mama Mia. We spent a couple of days in nearby Guanajuato climbing up to pretty viewpoints, getting caught in rainstorms, visiting museums, and eventually Sarah and Lauren went back to Mexico City and Amanda and I went back to San Miguel for last minute shopping, yoga, massages and facials, a fancy fancy dinner, and other girly vacation wrap-up activities. Last Friday we made our way to the Leon airport feeling sad to see it end, but very content with our Central American jaunt. I for one, was thrilled to have Amanda to distract me from the bigger issues of the ending journey. For one, who else was going to tell the Continental agent we would rather not sit in the "asshole" of the plane. Thanks, Hart. And I'm the one stuck on the anti-swearing regimen? We IPod-ed our way to my favorite George Bush airport in lovely Houston and said our sad goodbyes. That was the big finish, folks. More from North America.