Leaving on a Jet Plane!

What a week and a bit this has been!

So, life got crazy for me. We will touch on this and then talk about all the awesomeness I have stuffed into my last week here.

So, I have lived in Mexico for the last three months and loved it to death. Originally I had planned to come home on December 11 and then spend Christmas with my family before jumping on a plane to explore the awesomeness that Europe is rumoured to hold. Before I booked my flights I made a bunch of calls to make sure I gave myself enough time to come home, send my passport to Toronto to get my visa for Spain and get it back in time to head out. About a week ago, I was online putting together some documents for my visa when, long story short, I realized that the timeline they originally gave me had changed. So, I am coming home tomorrow!! Haha!

I am REALLY excited to come home. I have missed my family like crazy and I am soooo excited to see all of my friends and snow and Christmas lights and everything. But, oh dang am I going to miss Mexico. Seriously, I have had some crappy times, it is true. There are times when I wanted to throw things and times where I have cried but those moments are definitely overpowered by the fabulous experience I have had, the amazing friends I have made, and the awesome adventures I have had. Tears for leaving….

So, my three weeks until I came home rapidly changed to 8 days so clearly I have jammed as much awesome fun as possible into those 8 days. I jumped on a bus and went out to sit on the beach in Puerto Vallarta for a couple of days. Day one was cloudy and blah so I spent the day shopping in the markets and wandering the city. Day two was GORGEOUS!! And I have the worst sunburn of my life to prove it. Seriously, I will never learn.

That day, I jumped on a bus and came back to Guadalajara just in time to head off to the church dance. I am going to miss salsa sooooooo much!! I was super excited to spend the entire night dancing away. But the DJ was a little lame, I was burnt to a crisp, and my shoe was broken. Don’t get me wrong, I got my dance on, but let’s just say it was an awkward evening.

On Saturday I spent the majority of the day with my roommate. Apparently, every year one country in the world puts together these GIANT marionettes. This year, Mexico was selected and they picked Guadalajara as the city that it would take place in. This was the COOLEST thing EVER!!! Seriously! There were three of these giant puppets. One was a 9.5 meter tall man with the Mexican hat and clothing and the moustache. Then there was a little girl and a dog. There is a Mexican story that goes along with this that was told over the span of the week. Ask me about it if you want to hear. But yes, we went and watched them walk by. It was RIDICULOUS!! It took 30 men to operate this giant man. I have videos I will post on Facebook, it was that cool. After playing there for awhile we went out for dinner and had a blast. Mmmmmm…. Food.

On Sunday we had a final FHE at our place. It was really good. We talked about friends and friendships and played Do You Love Your Neighbour until our neighbours came over to tell us they didn’t love us and to quit playing. Haha! So, we switched to charades. This was hands down THE most intense game of charades I have ever witnessed. Seriously. I laughed soooooo hard. Man, we were ridiculously loud. At the end of the night, the entire group took turns telling me that they loved me and why and all of this and I just sat there trying not to cry and I did really good until Laura’s turn and then I was done for. There was no chance I was making it through that one.

Monday I spent with my little group of friends I have developed. I have spent the last couple of weeks hanging out and traveling with Laura and her boyfriend Gabriel and their friend Alejandro. I am more grateful for this group than I will ever be able to express. They have been little angels for me. We went shopping and went to see the city from the lookout and ate some good old traditional Mexican food. Seriously, I am going to miss the food sooooo much! Mexican food in Canada does not even come close to touching the real stuff.

Tuesday was a blast. There is a girl at my work named Veronica or Vero. She is a hoot and one of my favourite people. She lived in the States with a Mormon family for a couple of summers and one day as we sat and talked about her experience we started talking about food she had while she was there. In that conversation we decided we were going to have a night of baking. And a month and a half later and 2 days before I leave, we finally got around to it!! We made some awesome raspberry jello dessert stuff and an angel food cake to put it on top of. I have to say, we didn’t do too bad! Haha! Sooo good!! It was such a blast though. We went out shopping for ingredients and she started showing me all of the stuff I had to buy and the sauces and the mole and the pans to cook them on and everything. Ohhhh we had a good time. I love that girl and will miss her oh so very much.

And today is my last day here. I am at work right now, working very hard clearly. I am going to take off right away to make my final purchases, pack up my bags and get ready to go. I will have one last dinner with my boss, sleep, and then get on a plane to come home. Where everyone can hug me and tell me how much they missed me and love me.

See you all soon!!!

Ps…. Don’t forget about Taco Night – December 12!!!! Soooooo stoked!!!