I pack my trunk, and in it I put...

For those of you keeping track, we leave Oaxaca in six hours, twenty five minutes.  If all goes according to schedule, we touch down in San Francisco about seven hours after that -- the four of us, our four personal items, our four carry-ons, and the seven bags we will check through.  I have felt like many different things during this trip, but a nomad is not one of them.  We do not travel light.  


We are going home with approximately twice the amount of stuff we brought, and that does not even include what our visitors already shuttled back for us.  There is just too much cool stuff here to leave with empty bags!  Of course, we also gave away bags of clothes and other things we will not take, and we have tried to use up any remaining food, wine, shampoo, and, obviously, temporary tattoos and face paints.

Finishing the face paints as Joker and Jokerette.  Also finishing the Choco Krispis.  We have put the kids on notice that the heyday of sugar cereals and processed white bread is coming to an end.  (While here, we could not pass up the opportunity to buy bread from a company called "Bimbo.")

Here is what we plan to do in the next four and a half hours, before we leave for the airport:


* Finish packing
* Return borrowed bike to Miguel, who lives downtown
* Eat brunch at La Brujala, which is the cafe we went to on our first morning in Mexico.  We were so excited when Max asked for a spoon in Spanish.  Boy, does that seem like a long time ago.  It was Max's idea to go there on our last day in Oaxaca as a way to get some closure.  (Sniff, sniff.)
*  Final straightening up of house
*  Dummy check all drawers, closets, under beds, etc., for things we missed while packing


We are getting a ride to the airport from our friends Mercedes, José Manuel, Arely and José Andrés (in two cars).  We hope to get there early enough to have a pitcher of fresh juice (something Natalie and I saw a group of businessmen doing on our way home from our scouting trip to Oaxaca last year and have thought about ever since then) and a shot of mezcal.  And who knows, maybe we will try to sneak our friends into our baggage.


Ok, back to packing.  --Harrison