Plan, plan... what is plan?

Before I left on sabbatical, some colleagues were teasing me about the lack of much of a plan that I have for these eight or so weeks. Now - admittedly, there's some family stuff going on that's causing me to hesitate to cast it all in stone, but even without that as a factor, these past two weeks have already been a lesson in how little control we mere humans truly have, and an adventure in living in the moment.

Still in Queretaro. The plan for today was for the Student to go to an archive here, and for me to visit the art museum (a former convent) and a regional cultural museum, and then to do a little shopping for folks who've asked me to bring stuff back besides Guadalupe souvenirs, Catholic kitsch, or pharmaceuticals.

But upon arrival at the archive, the Student learned that it was closed for the week. OK - on to Plan B, an archive in Ceyala, a city about 60km or so away, mas o menos. (I will learn to do accents, truly I will.) Took a taxi from the zocalo in Queretaro to the bus station and hopped the first bus to Ceyala. And in Ceyala - the archive was unexpectedly closed - the one person who controlled access had taken the day off.

And so it goes.

Two weeks ago, I think my borg-brain would've still been in overdrive, trying to construct some sort of solution to it all. Instead, we had lunch in Ceyala and then caught a bus back to Queretaro, where I proceeded to wander over to a local mall to check things out (and picked up a CD). Lazy evening in the hotel, complete with room service and watching a movie the Student had brought along.

Tomorrow - back to el DF - Mexico City. Or such is the plan for now. Another friend is headed into town on Wednesday, and because of his tight schedule, I think we'll probably have some semblance of structure from Wednesday through Sunday. All bets are off from Sunday 'til the flight home on the 11th, though. Might be back in Queretaro, might be in Guadalajara, and a new name came up today - Guanajuato. That could happen, too. That's next week, though. For now, this week is enough.

Or even this evening.

For those keeping track at home, we've been on three bus lines now:

• ETN - the elegant "executive" service. So smooth of a ride it's not even real - floating around enough to make Dramamine a good travel accompaniment.


• Primera Plus - nearly as elegant as ETN, same weird floating feeling, just a little less space per seat.


• Flecha Amarilla - which I've only just learned this instant owns Primera Plus. That explains why, when we went to the Primera Plus counter in Ceyala to get tickets back to Queretaro today, we ended up on a Flecha Amarilla bus. Much less elegant, no bathrooms, but the sensation of being on a sailboat was absent, too.

Going to check out ETN schedules for our trip back to el DF tomorrow. Still a few posts behind, but hope to catch up soon.