How I Never Got to Mexico the Second Time

1
How I Never Got to Mexico the Second Time

• The story of Jasmine Loewens Journey from the
  Womb to LIBR 500
• camella_at_interchange.ubc.ca

2
When I was just a girl

• My brother had an inch worm living in his ear.
• Chocolate bars cost 45cents.
• And I heard a magical story that placed me, not
  in dry Saskatoon, but in utero and my momma in
  Mexico.
• I never quite recovered.

3
Making Plans

• By the time I was 16 I knew that I wanted to be

Deracinated.

Mexico was strong in my mind, but I wanted to go
everywhere.
4
That year I made it as far as
Abbotsford.
(Where my grandparents live.)
5
At twenty, forgetting Mexico for a moment, I
decided to go to Africa.

• Lions,
• Giraffes,
• Safari

It sounded wonderful!
6
I convinced my friend to go with me, but she
wanted to go to
Australia.
When the time came, she was broke and I went
Alone.
7
Australia Was
fa
BU
lOUS

• I liked to lie on the beach and listen to the
  accent and Id broken free of Saskatoon!!

8
BUTT

• There was a lot of wildlife in Oz.
• I worked at a truck stop in the desert. Frogs had
  infested the bore-water system and frogs
  frequently jumped out of the toilet and onto my
  exposed --

9

• I was one year dodging snakes and frogs in
  Australia and becoming one with the ocean (the
  waters off Adelaide were my very first ocean).
• On the way home I stopped in
• New Zealand (which I remember for their
  sweaters),
• Fiji (snorkeling), and
• Honolulu airport (no place to lie down).

10
Australia had confirmed my fondness for travel
and hammocks, but I had grown weary of my
unskilled labours.
I had

• Picked fruit for a pittance,
• Minded cranky teens,
• Vacuumed and waxed,
• Served drinks and fried sandwiches (mmm, nothing
  like an Aussie fry up),
• placed covers on Chinese Harlequins in a book
  factory,
• I even cleaned toilets with frogs swimming around
  the bowl (did I mention Im frog-phobic?).

I knew I wanted to travel and I was also done
with menial labour. So, it was back to school for
qualifications.
11
After School, Desperate to get away from Saskatoon

• I began looking for a teaching position in
  Mexico.
• But, I had student loans and they werent going
  to be paid off down south.
• Diverted again I went to teach English in Korea.

12
I wish Id stayed home.

• Korea was a series of challenges.
• The school I was to work at and my apartment were
  in the same building as two whore houses. Not
  just one.
• I didnt really like teaching English, but
  stayed on in Korea for an interesting and
  difficult year and three months.

13
Back to School

• I returned to Saskatoon to study Spanish and then
  go to Mexico. Before I could make a plan my
  brother and his entourage decided to go to Peru.
  They speak Spanish in Peru. So off I went.

14
My New Plan

• I have a plan afoot to get a job at a library in
  Mexico.

Or maybe, after I get a job as a librarian in
Saskatoon, I will take a vacation there.