Day 3 - Taxco..... Thru-hiking...

I wrote my entrance exam today to the CEPE - Autonomous University of Mexico…

There are 8 levels of Spanish offered - at Level 8 you are considered "Fluent".  Each level takes 6 weeks, and there are 2 weeks in between each course.  Classes are from 9am to Noon each day, and the afternoons are spent studying, and attending cultural and artistic activities.  Interaction with other Spanish speakers for the afternoons is also expected as our form of study and practice.

I will be complete here on August 14, 2019 - that means I've got 10 months in Paradise - I will take it.  I will make the most of it.  I am finally here.

So I am entering at Level 5 - about what I expected.  The exam was 2 hours - way more intense that I had anticipated or expected…  I am glad it is behind me.

I've got 9 days until school starts.  I am looking forward to it - SO much - but also looking forward to just acclimatizing myself here over the coming days.

Do you know what is interesting - right now, I couldn't even tell you why I want to be bilingual.  What is my purpose?  I know there is a reason - I have trusted that since I started studying Spanish two years ago now.  It's like I see the path I am supposed to take, but it is winding, and kind of up-hill - but I have no idea what is around the final bend.

But the point of this post today is to discuss thru-hiking.  I read a book recently, titled, "Thru-hiking will Break your Heart."  I was BLOWN away.   Blown away.  Besides Spanish, I have a new dream: a long thru-hike - completed at least once in the rest of this life time.

Here are some examples of thru-hikes:

1. Appalachian Trail -2200 miles - made famous by Bill Bryson - one of the first books I ever read that literally started my journey to nearly full-time travel in the past 20 years.

2.  Continental Divide Trail - 3100 miles - Mexico to Canada!  This is the one I am thinking of mostly right now…  Some day!!!!!!

3.  Grand Italian Trail - 3800 miles!  Nearly the whole coast of Italy

4.  Whales Coast Path - Literally the ENTIRE coast of England.  870 miles.

5.  Pacific Crest Trail - 2660 miles through the American desert and down to the Canadian border.

6.  The Long Pathway - New Zealand - 1900 miles.

OK - so these ones are epic!  But that is my new goal - to complete one of them in this lifetime.


The book is written from the perspective of a mid-30's woman, walking the trail on her own - and encompasses her dreams, sorrows, highs, lows, achievements, failures - it is so beautifully written…

It takes Carrot Quinn 6 months to hike her trail - about 25 miles per day.  Wow.

I have always wanted to walk the Santiago Camino Trail - that was always a dream - but I let it go a few years ago, after watching a few newer documentaries on it - and how radically "full" the trail is now…  The hostels you sleep in at night are literally full of hundreds of people.  I realized that wasn't the atmosphere I was actually looking for.

Well, we shall see - but thru-hiking truly sounds the most epic adventure that one could undertake in a lifetime….  You ship your food and necessities to "check-points" along the way - because there aren't always stores to stock up on along the way - and obviously you can only carry a few days supply in your backpack.

I think what intrigues me the most, besides the walking, and walking, and walking - is the strategy behind it.  The goal.  The commitment.  The adventure for sure - but also, truly surrendering to nature, and following through.