Pre-expedition musings

Last summer I decide that I wanted to take a chance on traveling in Latin America for an extended period of time. With that decision, I wanted my travels to be full of discovery and research and decided that earning a Fulbright grant would be the best way to pursue this. At this same time I attended the infamous Cherry Creek arts festival where I discovered a booth full with pictures that captured the spirit of Latin America that I love. Each photo emanated the colors so common to Mexico: reds, magentas, azul, gold. I rested my eyes on a simple photo taken of a home in Columbia: intricate yellow, red & green tiled floors, a green painted chair in the corner, various family photographs hung haphazardly around a door frame, and towards the right side of the photo the puerta verde (green door). As I wrote my application to the Fulbright commission, sent off applications for grad school, and simply considered my future, I would lay in bed at night and stare at this puerta verde, contemplating what could possibly stand behind that colorful wood barrier. What was it that was behind that door for my future? I later discovered that I received an alternate slot for the Fulbright, and that I didn't want to attend the PhD program that had accepted me. Instead I decided to take a risk...To travel in Latin America studying with traditional healers and volunteering at midwifery clinics. On October 25th I will depart to Mexico City to spend the day of the dead amongst the golden marigolds in Michoacan, followed by an intensely long bus ride to Chiapas where I will work at Luna Maya La Casa de los Partos midwifery clinic. I will later depart for Costa Rica to spend the holidays with my family, traveling on to Nicaragua. In February I will cross the equator heading to Peru to reach Bolivia where I will volunteer at KUSKA center for Andean Traditional Medicine. Later I will circle back to Peru to hike the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu. I have no idea if this is how my trip will progress, but its a preliminary itinerary! What I do know is that when I land in Mexico city on October 25th I will get my first glimpse behind the puerta verde...I hope you follow my adventures with this blog to sneak a peak for yourself!