Two Cents Tuesday: temazcals & taco cleanses

Jan 25

Jan 25 Two Cents Tuesday: temazcals & taco cleanses

Temazcal: a sweat lodge originating from the indigenous people of Mesoamerica and still used today in Mexican/Central American culture for spiritual cleansing, holistic healing, or giving birth. In layman's terms: a TINY mud hut with an even tinier door to enter through (on all fours), where you sweat your ass off as a ridiculously raunchy leader guides you through a four-part ritual to spiritual awakening for two hours. I could never hope to properly (or appropriately) convey what happened in the temazcal that evening, but I will say it involved spooning and hitting each other with tree branches.

It's my last week here in Mexico City and I'm trying to maximize every minute. I did pretty well Thursday through Sunday, starting with the unforgettable night in the Temazcal, to a Friday spent eating delicious seafood and exploring a market (I bought a woven poncho hoodie for 130 pesos and it's awesome), to Saturday hot air ballooning and pyramid climbing, to a beautiful Sunday hiking in Tepotzotlan.

If you're curious about how my work has fit into all this, I won't lie, it has been hard to focus with so much going on around me. However, I had my first local FTF client meeting this morning where my Mexico City-based coworker and I gave a brief presentation to the country head for the Mexico division of a large pharma company. We have another meeting queued up for tomorrow and hopefully one more following that. Exciting new territory for me!

My final two cents for Mexico City:

1. Sketchy as it may sound, go to a Temazcal at some point in your life (if you aren't faint of heart, or claustrophobic, or sensitive to extreme heat, or scared of the dark, or weirded out by being VERY close to other sweaty people).

2. Even if you stay out partying all night long and never go to sleep (wasn't me), you can make it to a 5:30am hot air balloon ride, and it will be worth it.

3. Don't be afraid of street food. I broke all of the cardinal rules (stall must have a long line, only go at designated meal times, don't go to one where the money-handler also prepares the food, etc.): stall was deserted, yet outside of a very crowded nightclub, went around 11pm, and the 15-year-old who took our pesos bare-handedly prepared our food. I did not get sick, and it was actually one of the better tacos I've had!

4. If you're hiking down a mountain, don't snapchat at the same time, or you will fall and catch it all in your snap video. #Don'tSnapAndHike.

5. Try to take time to wander around any city you find yourself in, alone. As forewarned by previous remotes, you finally get comfortable in a place around week three, and then leave seven days later. Yesterday I chose to work from a sidewalk cafe, take a walk WITHOUT the help of my Google maps for once, then stumbled into a hole-in-the-wall taco place, slammed with locals on their lunch break. I walked up, ordered en espanol, stood around and ate my tacos like the rest of the crowd, paid my pesos, and went on my way. No one stared at me like I was a gringo, and it was one of my favorite moments from this month.

5b. Definitely do a "taco cleanse" while in Mexico. I'm on day 5 and still going strong.