Shoulda . . .woulda. . .probably coulda.

I'm home now. . . one week post Mexico trip to Chiapas and Oaxaca for the ATMEX travel trade show and I'm having a few regrets. They are trivial regrets, mind you but they are travelers regrets.

I rarely walk away from a journey regretting what I have done; on the contrary, I usually regret what I didn't get around to doing or in this case, buying. While I was in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, there were hundreds of runny nosed, long, braid-filled haired, beautiful soulful eyed women and children pounding the pavement selling everything from hand knit Nemo dolls, woven bracelets, seed necklaces and reposos which is similar to a scarf but cooler because it's name is Reposo and it simply sounds better than scarf. Those sweet women and children would circle me as soon as I made eye contact with one of them. . .which I always did because honestly, their little souls spoke through their eyes and called me in like sirens. I bought bracelets, a few reposos, and a beautiful shirt all the while thinking,  " I have no idea how I'm going to fit all of this stuff in my suitcase."

San Cristobal Sales Force 1. 

One afternoon, I was deep in conversation with some colleagues in the center of San Cristobal, all the while attempting to "ignore" the women and children vendors that were encircling us. I can't just simply ignore people ~ it's not in my genetic make up so from over the shoulder of my colleague, I see this little Chiapan lady holding up a shirt for me. She sees that she's sucked me in with her beautiful smile and sparkling, yet weathered  brown eyes and  I shake my head and mouth, " No gracias." I continue talking.  A little while later, she's holding up an even cooler shirt and has an even BIGGER smile. As I tried to hold out on having any other interactions with her, a little voice inside my head said, "That's a pretty cool shirt,  I  doubt it will fit your non-Mexican sized upper body but try it on. " So, I did. She was super giddy and I told her I didn't think it would fit me but she was certain that it would  because it has seams in it that will allow for my broad American-sized  shoulders ~ on a side note, I wondered if they had shirts specially made for American sized folk?? I stripped down in the center of town and threw on the shirt and wouldn't ya know, it fit. She knew her stuff and she had just sold me a gorgeous, hand made shirt for $200 pesos ( roughly $18).  Purchasing this shirt was NOT a regret. After this soulful sales exchange, both of our needs were met ~she walked away with $200 pesos and I walked away with a great shirt at a great price that actually fits my American sized body ~ score!

By the end of this particular "shirt buying day", I was a walking, talking billboard for Chiapan artisan goods. I was dripping in seed necklaces, was sporting my black reboso, had a pair of new amber earrings on and was carrying a sack filled with coffee, bracelets and everything in between. Yes, I was clearly a sucker ...or was I? At every purchase, I again pondered the ability of my suitcase to hold all of my Mexico finds. I wondered if there were any clothes I could pawn off just so that I could fit more cool finds in my suit case, I wondered how many shirts and reposos I could actually wear throughout my travels home so that I wouldn't have to put them in my suitcase ~ my need to scoop up every little trinket and treat was overwhelming. I finally had to call myself out and simply put a stop to the street sales mania. I started saying no to the women and children in a firm but pleasant voice. I'd shoot them a smile and point out all of my finds that I was already sporting and they'd persist with, "Mas?" and I'd walk away feeling almost defeated but not quite.

 Even after I exhausted my suitcase capacity as well as all of  my pesos, gobbling up  great deals on the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, I can't help but think of a cute little hand embroidered dress that would have been a GREAT gift for my niece. Maybe I should have bought another shirt for my best friend who would have loved the shirt as much as myself. Had I bought the 10 for $20 pesos bracelets, imagine how many Christmas presents I would have already stowed away by now.

As I checked in at the airport in Tuxtla, Chiapas, I hoisted my bulging suitcase on to the scale and cringed. Considering it was 4:00 a.m., my ability to recall conversations is limited but I do recall this fact : I was over weight by several kilos which would in turn run me X amount of pesos. I handed over my pesos and said a little prayer that my jar of pickled peppers, Oaxacan Mole, Mezcal and Tequila would make it home safely and not break open and wreck my new shirt I tried so hard not buy but did.

Las Senoras from the Sierra Juarez Mountains of Oaxaca who sold me the pickled peppers!

There's always so much to see and do on a vacation and sometimes it's hard to say no to it all. My take away from this thought is this: if you feel so connected to a destination and the people, trust in your heart that you'll find a way back there and when you do, you can buy that cute little embroidered dress ( or maybe 3).

Viva la Vida!