On a sunny afternoon in March, my cohorts and I were supposed to go on an excursion to three different towns to tour churches. However, all of the churches that we were supposed to see were closed because of the earthquake in September of 2017 even though the web sites said that they were open. So there we were, standing in a sleepy mountain town two hours away from home with nothing to do. We decided to just go with it and moved on to the next town to see what was happening there.  The town of Totolapan was having a huge fiesta. There was food, music, and costumed people doing intricate dances. After observing the outside of the church we were supposed to visit, we explored the town and took part in the celebration.

Soon, it was time to go to Tlayacapan. While we were driving, the art teacher suddenly had us pull over next to a field of cacti to give us an impromptu lesson about an insect that is used in red paint dye. My cohorts and I were skeptical at first. It was pretty hot outside. However, when we emerged from the van, we found that the lesson was actually pretty interesting. It also helped that there was a mountain looming over the cactus field, which made for a majestic sight.  When we got to the third town of Tlayacapan, there wasn’t a fiesta, but there was still plenty to do. The market was open since it was the weekend. There were a bunch of cool places to shop, eat, and drink. We split off into groups and explored the town once again. After doing some shopping, my group found a cute little restaurant were we enjoyed food, drinks, and conversation. We had a good time there, but soon it was time to leave. We met up with the rest of the group. Some had spent the whole time shopping and some got food and drinks like us, but it was clear that we had all had a good time. This excursion illustrates a strong cultural value in Mexico: just go with the flow. It might be annoying when things don’t go as planned, but you shouldn’t let that ruin your day. We could have just driven back to Cuernavaca when we found out that all of the churches were closed, but if we had, we wouldn’t have had any of those experiences. I personally am glad that I chose to go on the excursion that didn’t go as planned.