Only in Mexico...

...could I live this way.

The lifestyle I took on when I quit a few weeks ago (has it only been a few weeks? Seems like a lifetime...) is far from typical. Come to think of it, it's quite bizarre. Introducing myself is strange...when people ask me where I live, I have to stumble around, and ultimately say, "I DON'T KNOW." THAT is bizarre.

That's right, I'm home-less (and rent-less!) and trusting in the world and people I haven't met yet to get me through. So far, it's working.

But when I consider it closely, I think I realized the real reason I could take the risks I've chosen to take...I live in Mexico. Not only does that mean real chances for decent horn players pretty much wherever you go, but it means a level of generosity of which before I was sub-consciously aware, and now am fully astounded by.

Hospitality in this country is at another level...not only are Mexican people so incredibly open with their homes, their cars, their time, and their cooking, but it seems that foreigners living in Mexico take on these characteristics as well. I don't know what I would do without them! (And there's this guy in South Dakota that was pretty darn hospitable as well...)

So far on this journey I've crashed in the houses of four different friends, new and old, and had offers from about eight others along the way. I've had people drive a total of hours out of their way to pick me up or drop me off. I've had people cook for me, lend me towels, let me use their washer and dryer, take me to the grocery store, and tolerate my long tones in their presence. All of that, and they somehow leave me feeling not like an intruder, but quite the opposite, like they are happy to do so. There is a sincerity to it all that I find quite touching.

I even had someone offer me a place to stay for the entire month of December. "Really, it's no problem."

?!?!

The coolest thing about receiving generosity such as this, is that it makes me want to give. Not to "return the favor" necessarily (I've long since overcome the very American impulse to break even with favors) but to pass it on. I'm envisioning a house of my own some day, with a guest room that's always occupied. Helping out friends of friends, broke college students, freelancing musicians (!) or whatever comes up. Having open doors and cooking good breakfasts for practically strangers and just knowing they appreciate it as much as I do right now.

I have no idea what lies in my future, near or far, but I hope I can work in some of that along the way.