from the beach to mountain tops

This week has been full of amazing adventures. At the beginning of the week we traveled to the beach in Puerto Escondido. This excursion involved a seven hour bus ride through many potholes and twisting roads. The ride to Puerto was adventurous, but nothing could have prepared us for what lay ahead. We arrived at our cabana which is basically a fancy term for a hut with palm fronds for a roof. We soon discovered that the Pacific Ocean (which I had never seen before) was only half a block from our cabana. The next day, we left early in the morning for a boat ride in the ocean. To our amazement we were able to swim with wild dolphins and sea turtles. The rest of the weekend was spent exploring the town and sampling the local food. Then we had a long ride back through the winding mountains to Oaxaca

Puerto Escondido opened my eyes to yet another type of lifestyle, one of nonstop adventures and excitement. How often does one get the chance to swim with dolphins and look back to the shore and see a beautiful mountainous landscape? As much fun as Puerto was, I soon realized that the lifestyle was not for me. I often found myself becoming overwhelmed with the amount of activities available. For example, it was common for us to walk down the street with waves crashing to our left, venders selling crafts on our right, and a couple of stray dogs following us from behind. I enjoyed our stay at Puerto Escondido, but I was also glad to return to my home stay mom.

The rest of the week continued on as normal, but there was another trip in the back of our minds… Benito Juerez. Benito Juerez is a mountainous range located near Oaxaca. The part that our group hiked on had an altitude of 10,000 feet! We hiked up part of the mountain; I surprisingly did not have any difficulty breathing even though I have asthma. Every inhale was deliciously fresh compared to the polluted city air found in Oaxaca. When we got most way up the mountain we were greeted by a set of zip lines, which stretched over a small valley. I was the first to go across the zip line! It was an amazing experience, to let go of all control and trust completely in someone else’s engineering and equipment. When I finally reached the other side, I was jittery from the adrenaline rush and I immediately hopped in line to go again. By the end of the day everyone had gone across the zip line at least once and we all left with a new sense of accomplishment.

The next day I was thinking about the events on Benito Juerez. I thought to myself, if I had never come to Mexico then I never would have had the experience of zip lining. This then led me to recall all of the amazing adventures that I have had over the past couple of weeks. It was almost scary to think that I could have missed out, because several family members and friends had advised me not to go to Mexico. As I was thinking, I felt an extreme sense of happiness and pride that I had put my own desires first, and accomplished the goals that I had set. After this past weekend, I realize how important it is to take chances, trust, and never let fear prevent you from attaining your dreams.