What next?

Erin left for Oaxaca yesterday and, despite the fact I wanted to see Oaxaca again (I went when I was 12 and thought it was amazing), I´ve decided the time it would take travelling there and back can be better spent on other adventures.

When Erin first arrived, it was weird to see someone from my "normal" life in the context of trip to Latin America. But, in hindsight, it seems even weirder how normal it felt to be around her after first meeting up with her. I think the hostels have had something to do with that, meeting random people with whom a dynamic of friendship is instantly initiated.

In anycase, it was sad to see her leave because it´s always sad to say goodbye to a buddy, especially when they´re going somewhere that you really want to go. But last night ended up being really neat. I went to a local showing of a film on the Zapatistas with two other backpackers, a French guy (Julian) and a British girl(Freya), both of whom are really enjoyable. Later, we grabbed some beers on the way back to the hostel where a bonfire was started. More and more people gather around until there were close to a dozen young people hanging out. It was a seriously internatioanl crowd. In total,there was: a spanish couple; four Israelis; a Turkish guy; an Australian guy; Julian; Freya; and myself, the lone American. I could be forgetting some people. We swapped travel stories, opinions on the relevance of the Super Bowl, and theories behind the whole `what´s with everyone staring at fire´ thing. It was a really good time.

The next morning, I logged into Facebook and got a message Nicole telling me that Erin was robbed on her way to Oaxaca. They took her passport, debit card and all her cash, but she reached Oaxaca okay and has managed to get some cash. At the time of me writing this, that´s all I know, but it doesn´t sound too dreadful. Erin, I´m still waiting to hear back from you.