#59 / 2005 Tour 3: Appreciation

Factors that have prepared me for this journey

#59


My heart is so full and so many things I have found pleasing to my eyes and ears. They are not important matters, but the simplest things that are making me smile inside and out.

For instance, back at mother's house, in the last few years we were there a new Hispanic neighbor moved onto our street and with him came a rooster. Years ago someone had chickens up on Briley Parkway, but I haven't heard rooster crows since the 80s.

I loved hearing rooster crows again, early in the morning. And in Zihuatanejo the rooster crows are a much a part of the day as the music.

I fell in love with the Hispanic music during my senior year in college, not that long ago. I loved the Mariachi musicians that played on Friday evenings down at a local restaurant. I was there every week to listen; the music was so happy and the only thing that really relaxed me during those stressful months before graduation.

Music fills the air here from early morning to late at night. It vibrates out of restaurants, clubs, clothing stores, markets, and I just love it.

Four semesters of Spanish language at Tennessee State and the subsequent years of practicing with Joe serve me well here. People are patient with me; I haven't had any trouble asking questions. It's understanding the answers that is the larger challenge, but that's when I call Joe over.

I so appreciate the architecture here, too. Here in Josie's neighborhood, as almost everywhere in this mountainous terrain, the villas are built in a stairstep fashion up the hillside. Most homes no matter how grand aren't much thicker than the width of a single concrete block, which is reinforced with rebar.

Most rooms are arranged to be open-air, so you don't close a door but rather pull to the doors to a wrought-iron gate. It is all so practical, embellished with arches, urns overflowing with ferns and florals, lap pools, fountains, and mountains of brilliant flowers shaded by tall cocoanut palm trees with leaves spinning in the tropical breezes like giant green pinwheels. The whole experience is exotic, musical, and languishing.