My Twelfth Post

Alright! I'm back in action. I've had a few days of no access to internet connection and very little time to blog - but I'm in LA now for a few days and can catch you up on some things.
First, the goats.
So let us return to Truth or Consequences, and my lovely little hot springs hostel. It was early evening and I had spent the day sitting in the hot tubs, in the sun, napping or reading. Delightful. I was coming out of one of the tubs when I encountered a kind and hairy hippie man whom I had noticed wandering around the hostel. He asked me how I was doing, and then asked me if I would like to come meet the goats? Now a little, back-story, the man who owns the hostel also owns a lot of land around Truth or Consequences, a portion of which I understood was used for goat-keeping. I had also met a younger couple who was living with said goats. So needless to say, I was a bit curious, and I accepted his invitation. I ran to get my things and hopped into a boat with hippie man, named Tomás, and Lee, the owner of the hostel. I should have known something was up when Lee gave me a funny look. We drove about 20 minutes down the river, and hopped off the boat onto a small muddy patch. I assumed that we would all get out, hang with the goats for a bit, and then head back. But as soon as we got off the boat Lee turned around and headed away in the boat. Ohhhh great...that's when mild panic began to set in...how do I get back to the hostel? Well...I'll figure it out. Tomás meanwhile really begins to show his true colors. I have never met a more peace, earth, animal-loving man than this, to an almost freakish extent. He began yelling to the goats, calling them "babies!" in a very high-pitched voice. I could hear them bleating and they came running. Every so often Tomás would stop and look up at the sky and raise his arms, and look at me and welcome me to paradise, and tell me that I was welcome there. The goats were quite sweet, I must say, and I enjoyed meeting them. Tomás took me around the little garden they had, where he was growing various veggies - and then suddenly I heard a dribbling noise - he was pissing on his veggie garden. "I'm just giving them some nitrogen - the plants need nitrogen" he said to me. Ok....As I was petting and feeding the goats Tomás put some native american necklaces around my neck as an offering. Kind, but in keeping with the rest of the experience, a little strange. Eventually we walked up the hill to the mesa where the campsite was. The other couple was there, which brought me a little relief, although I also received some strange looks from them. At this point, I was wondering what the hell I was doing there, they were wondering what the hell I was doing there, and Tomás was wandering around lighting candles and singing to himself and chanting. There was a large, round cavern with a dirt bottom and sort of cement/rock top - it was a spiritual place, part of a project that Lee is working on. The other three proceed to smoke something - am not sure exactly what - before we entered the cavern and started dancing around and playing various instruments. You should have seen me, I was standing there, shaking my little noise-maker thing, while the others drummed and shook other noise makers, trying to exude calm acceptance of the situation but inside I was flippin' out. I wasn't so much scared for my life as much as scared that I would not make it back to the hostel for another day - and the idea of that was too much for the New Yorker/planner/itinerary keeper in me. And of course, Tomás suggested that I just camp there for the night - an invitation I declined. Luckily I was able to chat with the couple as Tomás wandered off for a minute, and I told them the situation, and they were very very kind. They had a car and could give me a ride back, although it was a ways away and they were high, so we had to sit around for a while longer before they could drive. This involved sitting in the cavern and listening to heavy metal while Tomás lit some sage and waved it around in our faces. Eventually we all piled into the car and they took me back. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of this experience; all I have are the memories in my head and a necklace and stone offering that Tomás gave me. So that is my story. Perhaps I could have shown a little better judgement; perhaps I could have not gotten into a boat with a long haired hippie to go see some goats; I am just happy I am here to tell the tale. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm off to a bakery now with my friend Kathleen but will be sure to write more later today - I have to update you on my travels with my four new foreign friends - Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, baby!