MEXICO

We are all connected.  People go to jungle parties to follow their bliss, without considering the monkeys who run away from the sound system, or where the sewage from the tightly built hotel zone will run off, if the toilets are still flushing

On a recent trip to Mexico I visited the cenotes, and met a teenage Mayan tour guide, and a senior Mayan priest who blessed me and a German couple before embarking on a journey underground, swimming through majestic, endangered caves

The priest said a prayer, a traditional incantation in the Mayan language, words I cannot translate.  I tried to absorb the sounds and intentions of his words with an open heart, as this person was palpably rooted in an ancient lineage of priests.  After the ceremony, returned to my teenage guide, an impressive youth who knows so much about the history, culture and nature of his people, but only a few words in Mayan language

He was able to tell me clearly, in heartbreakingly articulate English, that many of the cenotes in the region are already too contaminated for humans to go inside.  I learned the word Tuluminati is a derogatory word in his community, for the clueless folks who come from all over the world to follow their bliss and post it on Instagram, without considering how their visit and actions in Mexico affect the place or the people of Mexico.