Category Archives: Carnival posts

May 7, 2018 · 12:00 pm

A to Z Reflections 2018

So another April A to Z challenge has finished and here’s what I think about that. This year my blogging group and I did one challenge as a whole instead of 26 individual posts. That took a lot of the pressure off and I was able to dedicate more time to other things. Even with less accountability, I found that I didn’t have the time I needed to devote to the challenge this year. I felt like I only was able to visit a smattering of other blogs and comment on even fewer. I just had too much going on in April. Such is life I suppose.

Anyway, since this was an A to Z challenge, I thought I’d share the full alphabet our group wrote. There’s some great information in these posts so you should go ahead and check them out!

A–Playing Tourist– Los Amoles, GTO

B–The Many Aspects Of Beaches In Baja

C–Catavina, The Beauty Of Rocks & Cacti

D–Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

E–Why Expats Need Easter

F–Family, Blood From A Far And As We Create A New One Here In Mexico

G–Natural Healing–Guayaba Leaf Tea

H–Playing Tourist –Huandacareo, Michoacán

I–Indigenous of Northern Baja

J–Jungle Living at its Best

K–Kumeyaay (Kumiai) – More Detail Of A Local Indigenous Tribe

L–Loving the Land of Limon

M–Mama Sofia

N–Nispero Leaf Tea

O–Olive Oils, Oh My What To Do!

P–Playing Tourist–Puruándiro, Michoacan

Q–My Love Of Quesos

R–Real de Catorce

S–San Felipe, The Land Of Gringos

T–Tecate Pueblo Mágico

U–Playing Tourist–Uriangato, Guanajuato

V–Valle De Guadalupe, A Place Of Many Options

W–Wildflowers and Butterflies in Mexico

X–Xochimilco

Y–La Yacata Revolution

Z–Zoológico Parque del Niño Jersey

So until next year’s challenge—Hasta la vista Baby!

Flavors of Mexico

When we first arrived in Mexico, my senses were overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and tastes of my new home. I was willing to try just about anything. I even managed to choke down the unpleasant bits in the name of experience. Everything was incredible. Everything was fascinating. It was a lot like falling in love.

As I’ve passed the 10-year mark here in Mexico, that initial euphoria has taken a nosedive. I am no longer willing to gag on my life experiences for the greater good. That doesn’t mean that Mexico still doesn’t inspire me to heights of great passion. It does, but it’s not the same as when I first fell in love.

There’s a word in Spanish that I think foodies would understand. Saborear. Literally translated, it means to savor. Saborear goes beyond that brief moment that the food actually touches your tongue. To saborear something is to hold it in your mouth and experience the flavor and texture of the food, to enjoy the act of eating. To seek out the individual nuances of the ingredients and ponder them separately and in conjunction with the other flavors. It’s not a sandwich cramming type of lifestyle.

I’ve learned to saborear my life in Mexico, which means making more deliberate choices, now and in the future. Unfortunately, living here in Mexico is often much like Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Jellybeans of the wizarding world. Sometimes you think you’ve chosen a nice toffee flavor and it turns out to be nothing more than ear wax. Alas!

Because of this alteration in life choices, my lifestyle over the past year has been undergoing some drastic changes. (See A room of her own) I’m still in the transition process. I’ve made some headway as you’ll see in my Mid-year Goals update, but there are still some aspects I’m working on. Meanwhile, I’ll saborear the moment I am in.

How do you saborear your life?

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Filed under Carnival posts, Cultural Challenges

Tagged as carpe diem, expat life, learning, living in Mexico, living life deliberately, saborear

May 1, 2017 · 7:00 am

A to Z Challenge Reflections

Whew! We made it! Now you know that the best bug out location is found in central Mexico. Let me know when you are ready to make the move.

Posting every day was an exhausting experience. I have to be honest here. I worked on these posts for about 6 months prior to the challenge. Yep. Sure enough. Even after having a draft ready to post for each of the 26-day challenge, it was a lot of work. Some of the links I included no longer existed. There were some typographical errors to fix. Sometimes new information had come to light since I had written the draft (like that volcano crater forming just minutes from my home). And then sometimes I just wasn’t happy with the draft and redid the post completely. Facebook decided it would rather share my disclaimer image than any of the photos and graphics in my posts, so that was annoying. Then I had some additional obligations and blog posts I had to SQUEEEEZE in during the month. Well, I made it!

I expect reading daily posts was a bit overwhelming for you as well. Did you miss any? I’ll post links at the end for you.

Part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge A to Z Blogging Challenge was to read and comment on other participants’ blogs. This year there was a Bingo board to help with the motivation. Although I worked diligently at finding the Bingo squares (and sharing them on Twitter) I wasn’t able to get a Bingo. Darnit! I hate to lose! I did read a number of good blog posts though in the process, so I guess it wasn’t a total waste.

Right now, I’m not sure that I will participate next year in the challenge. I haven’t come up with a fabulous and relevant topic yet. If you have any ideas, let me know, please! I have determined to do a 31-day challenge sponsored by Writers Bra, but don’t worry, I plan on spacing the posts out over the course of several months.

Meanwhile…….