Thoughts as I sit in the departure lounge, part II

Another early morning, another departure lounge. Only this time the music of Frank Tuner's 'Peggy Sang the Blues' is in my ears, I am considerably browner than before (though nobody in Mexico believes this) and I am trying to work out how to show you all a photo slideshow of my time in Mexico without missing my flight while uploading pictures.

Mexico, my friend. We spent a month together. You taught me a lot of things, including:

• Enchiladas an Quesadilla are not the same thing
• Enough Spanish to successfully talk to a taxi driver at 3 in the morning
• 11am is a very acceptable time to visit a bar
• Turtles really DO just hang around near the beach, waiting to say hello
• How to hold a taco properly to stop all the sauce from falling out
• The Tzolkin (ancient Mayan Calendar) and the concept of Galactic Time

And the history! O Dios Mio, do you guys have some history! From the steaming jungles of Palenque to the Great Yucatan plain and beyond, the beauty of the Mayan, Olmec and Mexica (the proper name for the Aztecs) civilisations has left me speechless. Stonehenge is cool, and very old, but it is just a circle of stones. But you guys went all out and built pyramids, tombs, jade masks and intricate calendars. I am in awe of it all.

But I think, most of all, the thing that has astonished me time and time again is the people. In the UK we are not taught much about Mexico; it's a dangerous place, it has a massive drug trade, and you can't trust anyone. But here, I've seen a totally different picture: people who are happy to open their doors to a stranger, to welcome them, and look after them. I've been offered food from people's picnics just because I was sat near them. At least three Mums have sent me off with packed lunches as I got on a bus, and I've had dinner bought for me more times than I can mention, despite my best efforts to pay for something. The generosity of Mexicans astonishes me time and time again. Their trust has also been something of an honour, as I have been left alone in houses, or helped to look after kids, all belonging to people that I've known for a day or more.  Now I'm not stupid; I know there are people who aren't so nice in Mexico, and I know that I have been lucky because of my Scouting connections. But even so, I think I am still right about the people of Mexico; the bad people are no worse than those in the UK, or the USA, or anywhere else in the world. And Mexicans... I don't know how to describe it. They just seem to live more than we do in the UK. Their passion for all things - Scouting, cooking, drinking, partying - they live it all on the outside of their skin in a way that is quite incredible.

I've also gone and learnt some stuff about myself on this journey so far. The best way to sum it up came to me last night as I was sat on my 12 hour coach from Guadalajara to Monterrey, as the music from the credits of whatever film was on played. One phrase stood out: "you can do whatever you want".  Now that phrase probably makes you think of wild antics, doing as much in as possible, and pushing yourself as hard as you can because you might not get another chance. But I would say, after my experiences in Mexico, that is only a part of what those expressions are about. "You can do whatever you want" isn't a challenge to do as much as you can; it's an invitation to do as much - or as little - as you want. Looking back over my life thus far, I can think of far too many times when I haven't wanted to do whatever was going on at the time, and felt bad about it because I felt like I wasn't living up to my potential. And that's wrong. In Mexico I've done what I wanted, when I wanted to, and if that wasn't as much as everyone else would have done then it didn't matter. Nobody in Mexico made me feel bad when I wanted to get some sleep to get up early, or to just sit and read a book for a day instead of dash off to see the sights, and when I think about it, nobody in the UK actually makes me feel bad when I want to do my own thing - it's just me, feeling like I've failed some sort of test. So, going forward, I'm going to try and keep the phrase "do whatever you want" in mind, to remind myself to be comfortable with what I want to do, whatever that is.

Right - time to go get on the plane. See you all stateside, and thanks for reading so far! I promise to try and get some picture related things up soon; if anyone has any ideas for how to o that then just leave a comment!