Before I continue with my regular schedule, I want to talk about my vacation. My family and I used to take yearly vacations (nothing extravagant), but we’ve had to hold off the past few years due to personal issues. So to make up for it we extended our trip an extra week.
Don’t mind the expression haha!
For those of you who don’t know, I was a nervous wreck in the weeks leading up to the trip. I’ve been to Mexico before and I’ve flown quite a few times. But after having my son I’ve developed a few fears. Suddenly I was afraid of flying. I tried to keep busy by making lists and cleaning. When the day finally arrived it started off surprisingly well. I got my hair done a few days beforehand, but my curls had fallen out. I have a difficult time curling my own hair, but on that morning my hair turned out really nice. My skin was cooperating too so my makeup went on effortlessly. Everything was going great!
The first flight was a bit nerve wracking, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined. I had my iPhone filled with upbeat music to keep my mind at ease. Then we landed in Texas. First we were alerted that our flight was delayed due to engine issues. Yeah, not what you want to hear when you’re a nervous wreck. We decided to use the time to eat and recharge our devices. Then things started to go downhill. Our flight got cancelled! We spent the next hour and a half trying to get a new flight, but was told no flights were available due to the weather. They managed to get us on a flight the next day, but it would land in Mexico City rather than Puebla City. My husband very carefully planned this trip catering to each one of my fears. He opted for Puebla City because it would have only been a 2 hour drive up the mountains instead of the 5+ hours had we landed in Mexico City. We took it because we had arrangements and needed to be in Mexico by the next day.
Not a fan of Texas, but I still got my souvenir. Back when I worked at Starbucks I started collecting cups.
Since lots of other flights were cancelled everyone hurried to make hotel reservations so that they wouldn’t have to be stuck in the airport. Which meant we were left with… well some not so great choices. We took what we could so that our son and my mother-in-law could get some rest. We had no access to our luggage since they were in limbo. That meant no clothes, no toiletries, nothing. I wasn’t too happy. My pretty hair? That Texas humidity destroyed it! My makeup? I had to wash it off with whatever I could find at the nearest gas station. I opted for baby shampoo. I suppose it could have been worse.
The hot pink bandana that saved our luggage!
The real fun came the following day. We arrived at the airport 3 hours early. We start the check in process and are told that we have reservations, but no actual seat has been assigned. They tell us to go to the original airline so they can fix the issue. It’s all the way on the other side of the airport. No big deal. This is why you arrive early, right? We did this back and forth thing about 6 times. Finally we throw our hands up. Our flight was paid for. It was successfully rescheduled. We were told our luggage would be transferred. Now we are being told there’s nothing they can do. Thankfully someone stepped in and offered to help us. We were told to head to the gate and wait. If seats opened up we could get on. I don’t know how, but somehow there were only 4 seats available and we were able to board. Our luggage was waiting for us in Mexico City. The ONLY reason they even found our luggage was because I used an old trick my father taught me. I tied a hot pink bandana around the handle. When they asked us to describe our luggage and I excitedly shouted ‘pink bandana!’ they were able to locate them all and have them transferred.
Thank you, Aeroméxico!
I have to say, going through all of that really took my mind off the fact that I was scared to fly in the first place. I was just so happy to be finally leaving Texas. No hard feelings, Texas, but I’m so not a fan!
The ride is scary, but the view is amazing.
The 5+ hour trip up the mountains happened. In the dark. In the rain. It was terrifying. My husband worked so hard to make this easy on me and the universe just took every single one of my fears and served them to me on a platter. In fact, during this whole trip I was exposed to every single fear over and over again. Until it became somewhat normal. And you know what? It really wasn’t as bad as I had remembered. I’m not going to say I’m cured. But if I was told we had to hop on a plane tomorrow and do it all over again I’d be all for it. So long as we can skip over Texas.
Cecina tacos.
As for the rest of the stay… we stayed at my mother-in-law’s house. She lives here in the states, but she also has a house in Mexico. Aside from the heat and savage mosquitos, it was wonderful. Most nights we sat outside and enjoyed the cooler weather. We talked and snacked until we got tired and went to sleep. During the day we took trips back down the mountains into some neighboring towns. We bought food and souvenirs. I’ve always enjoyed the food there. Everything is so fresh and delicious! I miss it all already.
One of the biggest reasons for this trip was to finally baptize my son. My mother-in-law’s town has a very unique tradition. It was quite the event. If I’m being honest I only understood maybe half of the ceremony. It was still very beautiful.
I really have to work on my Spanish for the next time. It’s very rusty. Everyone helped me and not a single person laughed. There was one incident where we were in a store and I had wandered off and was approached by a sales person. He kept talking and very fast. I thought I had told him ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’ But when he squinted and pulled his head back and quickly walked away I had to track down my husband. Him and his mother had a good laugh as they told me what I had actually said was ‘No YOU don’t understand!’ Oops? I suppose that was less embarrassing than my first visit where I asked the churro man for a chorro. Seriously, why are those two words so close? Believe me. One is definitely not like the other.
My mother-in-law sent someone out to get me some churros. They really are my favorite haha!
I think I’ve written enough. I could go on and on. While I may have been scared at first and we did encounter some obstacles, we all had a great time. We got to end our trip the way it was supposed to begin. In a really nice hotel not far from the airport complete with air conditioning, a clean bathroom, and room service. I guess in the end it worked out.
I was afraid to go for a swim because I didn’t know if the water situation was safe. I figured I had come this far and hadn’t gotten sick. It sure did look inviting though. When I finally decided to go for a little swim it started raining and they locked the doors. You snooze you lose.
I’ll post some photos below with captions. I’ll try my best to spell everything correctly. Also, keep an eye on my Instagram stories. I’ll be sharing even more photos and videos from my trip there.
I was taking a nap when my husband ran inside to wake me up so that I wouldn’t miss out on this shot. This was taken just outside my mother-in-law’s house.
Statue in Acatlan.
Church in Acatlan.
Outside the church in my mother-in-law’s town.
Inside the church in my mother-in-law’s town.
Church in a neighboring town.
The best rice and chicken I’ve had in all my life!
Chorizo taco at this nice little spot in Acatlan.
My mother-in-law and my son. Look at that smile! Much different from the usual Chandler Bing type photos.
To compare, here is my mother-in-law and my son again back in 2006.
My love.
My not so little guy.
Taken outside Catedral de Puebla.
Taken inside Catedral de Puebla.
Taken inside Catedral de Puebla.
If you know me, you know that I can’t resist donuts. So when we finally arrived in Puebla City and I saw their plaza/mall had a Krispy Kreme, I nearly ran to them. They had a Barbie promotion going on.
I didn’t get the Barbie donut (I opted for the brownie cake instead), but I did get this cute cup.
I like these throw type blankets. I’m always cold and covering up. Even in Summer.
Handmade basket and towel to keep my tortillas warm.
I thought this little guy was cute.
I was really drawn to these salt and pepper shakers at first. But now the more I look at them they kind of give me the creeps.
When we were leaving my mother-in-law was pretty sad and started going through all of her souvenirs and handing me things. I turned most down assuring her I was ok and that I had more than enough. I did take this apron though. I’m always in the kitchen and I tend to make a mess of myself. The pockets are handy and the color is super cute.
Picked these mascaras up for my friend. I got a few for myself too. I’m a little worried about trying them though. They weren’t sealed. All of these ice cream lickers got me worried about everything now.
Until next time.
