Mexico, Mariachi, and LOTS of Raicilla ⛪️ 🌮 🌵

Gilkeson Island (AKA my sister Celia + Jon’s wedding) 👰 🤵 🏝️ 

It seems silly to be writing about Celia and Jon’s wedding, mostly because the 3 people who actually read this (Celia and my parents) were in attendance! (only half joking!)

But given that I have yet to purchase Celia and Jon a wedding gift (you have until the 1st anniversary, right?!?!), AND that she requested I provide a deep dive of the wedding festivities as if we were continuing our backpacking escapades, I will do my best!!  

Sam and I noticed a distinct difference/ vibe while traveling from South America to Mexico that surprisingly shocked us. Although it is a Latin American country, so much of it felt more American than we expected (granted, we did fly into the US vacation hotspot of Puerto Vallarta during a long US holiday weekend!). 

San Pancho, where the wedding took place, is a ~ 1.5-hour drive from Puerto Vallarta along the coast. It neighbors Sayulita, a nomad/ travelers hotspot (AND where Bachelor in Paradise is filmed/ where my older sister Adriana + Mike got married!). 

After the heavily anticipated reunion I had with my parents after 9 months, it felt SO GOOD to be back and slip right back into the role of youngest daughter. From the airport, we drove to San Pancho after a few stops (HELLO COSTCO!!! I missed you so much!!!) and an unintentional stop by a Mexican cop who clocked my dad 'speeding'. Rod worked his charm and paid the guy off after Sam and I co-played their “daughter/ future son-in-law who were getting married” while sitting in the back of the car (my acting skills were fantastic). 

When we finally arrived, we said a BIG hello to Celia and Jon (We hadn't seen THEM in 11 months!!) and caught up on everything wedding-related. I had lots of FOMO from missing out on Celia’s bridal shower, dress fittings, and bachelorette this year that I was excited to help her stuff welcome bags before the guests' arrival. 

We had a whole 24 hours to chill with my Mom/Dad and Celia/Jon before the rest of the family and wedding guests started to pile into San Pancho. It was lovely to get some 'normal' time with them catching up and hanging out. 

Thursday was spent roaming San Pancho (all 3x3 blocks of it!), getting a sister-time mani/pedi with Celia, and drinking cocktails at this incredible Mezcal bar in the center of town. We had prime viewing as wedding guests and families' taxis rolled through the town en route from the airport! We gave them the proper welcome and set the tone for what was about to be one hell of a party...

Friday was the first day of wedding festivities (pool party beach club day!!!), which included delicious craft cocktails and BOMB fish tacos. Unfortunately, the sun had yet to grace its presence since our arrival on Wednesday, but we still made the best of the beach club and ended up pretty much taking over the whole place. Me and my sisters drunkenly convinced our significant others (AKA the 'Brosas') to complete a tequila-filled swim relay race. Still questionable who ACTUALLY won (Sam's input: we know this isn't the case…. superior male dominance and all that). That evening was the rehearsal dinner with speeches that were given by the wedding party and family members (we were forced to speak against our will!). It then rolled into a talent show led by the sisters (no one was surprised), where we danced and sang to Selena, our childhood idol (notice this will become a trend of the weekend). 

Saturday morning we woke up (albeit slightly worse for wear) to the blistering sunshine! Just in time! The majority of my day was spent visiting the wedding venue, rehearsing, and enjoying the beach at Celia and Jon’s villa. Sam input: My personal favourite day of the wedding weekend. All the women cleared out the villa. Me and the fellas got on the bevvies early at lunch near the beach then retired to the pool at the villa (poolside bar fridge a few steps away), embarked on a 3-hour game of poolside dominoes and did not leave until we were forced to get ready for the welcome party - electric.

The wedding villa and location became a logistical nightmare due to the heavy rain that had swept over San Pancho the days prior. When Celia and Jon picked this venue, they loved how remote the location was, inclusive of a drive through the jungle to finally reach a private beach!!! It was all fun in games until the road turned into a literal mudslide and blocked any cars from passing through. Luckily, ATV buggies came to the rescue and were the only transportation able to trek the villa guests to and from town. As for the wedding vendors, they had to wait till the morning of the wedding to set up to get the trucks onto the beach. The wedding planner and the vendors literally created a paved road by throwing down huge slabs of rocks to allow cars to move through the mud. Only one bus shuttling guests to the wedding got stuck (LOL).  

After rehearsing and spending time on their beach, it was time for the welcome party. Celia and Jon obviously pulled out all the stops and had a grand entrance through the beach to the welcome party venue while on... you guessed it.. horseback. Celia THEN hopped off her horse to duet a mariachi song with my dad and serenade Jon. (For those who don’t know Celia… she LOVES a microphone!! This was her weekend where no one could yank it out of her hand!!!). 

We enjoyed the live mariachi band, too many margaritas, and danced all night. It was the perfect official “start” to the wedding weekend. My parents also decided to hop on the horses and gave a toast WHILE on horseback, which was the biggest surprise of the night because I had NEVER seen my mother on a horse before (Tequila does crazy things 😛 )

The next day was the wedding and Celia had already lost her voice from belting mariachi the previous night. She was on 'vocal rest' to ensure she could recite the world's longest vows later that day (hehe). The wedding was beautiful. Celia and Jon made the day super unique and wanted the wedding to reflect their goofy relationship. Their groomsmen threw out beers while walking down the aisle, Ilene surprised the crowd by singing while walking down (and officiated!), and the vibe was just FUN! 

Celia and Jon decided to have a Survivor-themed wedding since they are HUGE fans of the show. During cocktail hour, guests solved puzzles and searched the beach for immunity idols to claim prizes. People got super into finding the idols and it became a hilarious addition to the wedding night. Guests also had to find their table numbers on a wall of maracas and cut them with a knife. 

As the sun set, we moved into dinner, which was beautifully decorated and accompanied by a Cumbia singer. Later, Celia and Jon showed off their choreographed first dance, which halfway through included surprise pyrotechnics/sparklers around the edge of the dancefloor. It almost burned me in the face (a little warning would have been nice!!). The party turned up with a saxophonist who accompanied the DJ and LOTS of raicilla (our family’s tequila) that was guzzled like water. Everything was perfect and so fun. I didn’t want the night to end!!! 

The following day was spent with family and friends lounging at our pool and ended with a bonfire on the beach at the wedding villa! It was SUCH a great few days spent with family and friends (who feel like family!!)

Mascota ⛪️ 🌮 🌵 

My Dad’s hometown of Mascota is just 2 hours from San Pancho, so we took the opportunity to visit since 7/10 siblings were in town for the wedding. My dad and his family left Mexico in 1974 so he had only been back to Mascota a handful of times since. I only visited 28 years ago and learned to walk there! This time was one of the first times in recent history when the majority of the Rosas siblings had been able to return to their hometown together. 

I can't really put into words how special it was seeing my Dad and his siblings back in their childhood homes. My dad turned into a little boy running around the backyard pointing out fruit trees, furniture, and his old bike (!!) to accompany stories of his childhood. One of my uncles lent us his ATVs to tour around the town to visit more of my dad's favorite places as a kid. We even went to his favorite ice cream parlor (somehow it's still in business???) and his old elementary school. The town itself is SO charming and still has an old-school feel. 

The next day, we all went to a neighboring town, Talpa, and enjoyed walking around and visiting the church where my grandparents got married. We then ventured to their original hometown, Cimarron (a TINY pueblo with only a few hundred people), and visited the house where my dad and his brothers were born (like LITERALLY birthed in). The house is located directly in front of the town church, which I'm sure my grandparents strategically based themselves so no kids could be late to Sunday mass. 

 I can’t emphasize just how special it was to see the places my dad grew up, especially with his brothers and sister sharing the experience together. We ended the night with a big dinner, joined by a mariachi band where we all sang songs, danced, and continued to guzzle Raicilla like it was water. Sam even learned to dance to Mariachi songs (we’ve got some work to do!!). And finally, after dinner, we paraded with the mariachi to the town plaza and continued the party there. Whenever my grandpa returned to Mascota after working in the States, he always paid for a mariachi to play in the town plaza for everyone to enjoy. My dad and his brothers wanted to honor their dad by doing the same; it was such a special night. 

Sadly, 2 days in Mascota passed quickly, and it was time to head off and say goodbye to my family. Sam and I planned to fly from Mexico City to Bolivia (by way of a long layover in Bogota, Colombia) but during our layover in Bogota, we changed our minds and decided to stay in Colombia! We had heard such amazing things about Bolivia, but it's definitely a full-on backpacker travel type country (to do it right!) and after literally 2 and a half weeks of partying we needed to just recover and recuperate! So, we exited the airport and said hello to Bogota! 

Colombia 🇨🇴 

One of my girlfriends, Karla, and her mom were gracious enough to offer me and Sam their vacant apartment for the week where we pretty much did nothing but relax, order Rappi (food delivery each night), and watch Netflix (big up Money Heist season one and two!) I also was suffering from a bit of altitude sickness (as well as a sinus infection that I'm still trying to fight off), so the chill time was much appreciated. 

After a week we flew to Medellin to continue chilling. Medellin is a city full of life and vibrancy, as well as what seemed like thousands of digital nomads! We had a great Saturday at Communa 13, which was the old neighborhood/favela where all the cartel dealings ran through. When that was all stopped, they revitalized the area into an artistic tourist hub. It was a VIBE! Local vendors sell everything you can imagine, pop-up bars everywhere, live music, and DJ sets galore. It brought us back to life after a week or so of in hibernation and set us up for a great (albeit still very chill!) week in Medellin. We had only been given a 14-day visa by the Colombian border patrol, so we had to leave by March 9th!

After having numerous ideas of where to go (Venezuela was almost booked!) we luckily found cheap flights from Medellin to the Galapagos Islands where we will be exploring for the next 17 days!!!! This has been top of our list since we started traveling and 2 days in we are already in love with San Cristobal Island and the animals. There are sea lions EVERYWHERE!!! More on this next time!!!