esta es la vida

It´s been another week of heavy drinking in San Cristobal, but I´m still doing my homework and speaking a little more Spanish every day. Wednesday night began innocently enough, seeing a French gypsy jazz band play in a little venue. But we switched from beer to whiskey, later switched from sophisticated jazz club to trashy dance dive, and eventually switched to some strange colourful creamy cocktails that left us all messy. The next day at school my teachers had their patience tested so I made a point of sleeping well on Thursday night and redeemed myself on Friday. Friday night it was time to move houses so I said a slightly awkward adios to my temporary host mum. When I arrived with my backpack my new housemates had a little welcoming party laid out (they´re so damn lovely...). So we had beer and vodka and tostitos. Later we all went to meet my fellow students for another night of farewell drinks, a really nice night that also ended in stupid dancing all round. Yesterday morning we went via colectivo (public minibus transport) to some kind of fundraising fete. We sat in the sun and watched an incredibly charismatic Mexican party band try their best to rouse the sleepy crowd. The two young guys they had dancing on either side of the stage had amazing stamina. In the afternoon I was invited to a little family lunch with my new housemates. We drove to some kind of drinking hall, where a guy in cartoonish Mexican garb and a great big sombrero sauntered around singing traditional heartbreakers that were bringing tears to some of the ladies´ eyes. We drank beers mixed with salsa and tomato juice, rimmed with salt and chilli - other variations include prawns. It was totally revolting, to me. I was the only non-Mexican in the place but it had all the hallmarks of a tacky tourist trap. A lot of fun. We continued drinking from about 4 o´clock onward, stopped to buy some tequila and more beer on the way home and made a night of it. I had arranged to meet other friends at 10 o´clock, by which time I was pretty much ready for bed. Nevertheless, we went to a private club where you need to ring a doorbell for entry, and I think I drank some bosch (local gut-rot). Today seems like another significant day in the lead-up to the Guadalupe festival (I find it hard to tell fiesta from vida in San Cristobal). The road up to the church is lined with market stalls selling Virgen de Guadalupe souvenirs, and I´m seeing infrequent little processions of pilgrims, often running behind a truck decorated with flowers, streamers and balloons. It´s very beautiful. This morning I bought the makings of an old-fashioned breakfast: cornflakes and milk with orange juice. Quite bland after weeks of hot breakfasts...