My Scouting Trip to Four Cities Across Mexico (Part Two)
Second Stop: Cholula! Also, I found grants for women of color, job opportunities, and soooo much more.
TL;DR:
Holding space for a big feelings around Keenan Anderson 🤎
Where is Cholula and why was it a strong contender? 🤔
A brief talk about astrocartography and why it’s a fun tool to use while traveling 🌎
Why Cholula isn’t right for me 😞
Cholula might be right for you if you like… ✨
🚨Job, Grant, and Networking Opportunities for WOC🚨
Paid Subscribers get a fun choice 🙌
Holding Space 🤎
Most of us have heard the tragic news about Keenan Anderson, the Los Angeles teacher and cousin to BLM founder, who was murdered by the police a few days ago. The year just started and it already feels like more of the same sadness. I just wanted to give his life and our struggle a moment of recognition before I dive into this week’s content.
Personally, one of my biggest motivating factors to moving out of the USA is the fact that I live in constant fear that I could be the next hashtag. Yes, there are dangers everywhere and, yes, there is anti-black sentiments everywhere, but there’s no where in the world that treats Black people with such ongoing brutality like the USA. If you are interested in learning about my process to moving out of the USA, what kind of research I did, and how to get started, check out this free newsletter where I outline my first steps to my big move (I officially leave on Jan 23!!!).
Let’s Talk About Cholula
Quick catch up for those who are just joining this mini-series: I sent a month in Mexico scouting 4 cities by myself in the hopes of deciding where I want to move to in January 23. Cholula was my second city.
After Playa del Carmen, Cholula was the second stop on my month-long scouting trip to Mexico. Mexico has several major cities that have lively “suburbs” just outside of the city center (think of Manhattan’s relationship to Jersey City). One of those cities is Puebla. Puebla is one of the five biggest cities in Mexico and it’s the birthplace of the Mexican Revolution.
I’ll talk more about that in my newsletter about Puebla Centro (my third stop), but my first stop in Puebla was in the suburb of Cholula.
CHOLULA
Cholula is a suburb of the city of Puebla located about 2 hours south-east of CDMX (Mexico City). Also, Cholula is a college town that's about 45 minutes away from Puebla Centro (aka, the heart of the greater Puebla area). According to my research, it seemed like Cholula would’ve been my little slice of heaven.
The researched pros: 🤔
Right next to a massive archaeological site and largest pyramid in the world (a biddie loves history)
A thriving food scene (I mean the Cholula hot sauce literally came from there)
The massive university meant that there would be people around my age and, probably, a decent amount of them might be open to helping me learn Spanish in exchange for me teaching them English
30 minutes from the Puebla airport
The least expensive city (housing-wise) out of all 4 that I’ve researched
Dozens of local markets
The astro stuff 🌎
Before I share about my astro research, I need you all to know something. As I’ve said before, astrology is an ancient science of patterns, which is why I enjoy it so much. It’s not about definites; these are about the patterns around our lives based on the only constants we have as a human species, the stars. For the Christian people reading (because I know there’s a lot of you) remember that the “three wise men” that found Jesus literally were astrologers. Now that we’ve gotten that covered, here’s the astrological research:
Without diving too deeply into it, astrocartography is a study of the stars around the earth the moment you were born. The theory is that those planets and their trajectories can show you the energies of different places around the world and what lessons/benefits you can get from visiting/living in those places. Why do I think this is worth diving into? Because I was almost kidnapped a few times in Moscow, Russia, and when I looked at my astrocartography chart, years after the fact, two ominous planetary lines crossed in only one location on my world map…a few miles outside of Moscow, Russia. There are other wild “coincidences” on my chart but I can dive into that another time. If you’re interested in learning more about astrocartography definitely check out this resource. It’s very easy to read and can inspire you to look into different regions of the world that you never really considered before. When it comes to Cholula, I had one beneficial line (which focused on growth interpersonal relationships and a few other things) running through Cholula so I figured, why not give it a shot?
The longest story short, Cholula is not for me (specifically regarding my long term stay) 😞
I stayed in the city for less than 24 hours before I left my Airbnb and went to Puebla. So, what happened?
My Airbnb was spider-infested 🤢. They were in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and in the closet. I took pictures of them, and contacted Airbnb. I had to spend the night there just because the Airbnb owner was 2 hours late to open the door for me and, by that time, it was late and I just wanted to eat and sleep. I slept with my hat on so spiders wouldn’t get into my ears and got a full refund the next morning before I left the city.
If you aren’t a fluent Spanish speaker, Cholula will be very difficult for you to navigate. While the city itself is very pretty, my 3rd grade level Spanish language skills were not enough for me to get/find what I needed. Luckily, I got food not too far from my Airbnb and there was an OXXO nearby (a chain of convenience stores similar to 7-Eleven) where I got water. Then I just stayed in the Airbnb, charged my phone, and vented to my mom about every spider I continued to discover in the bathroom.
Cholula (and Puebla, in general) can be significantly colder than PDC. It’s not a winter tundra by any means but it was surprisingly chilly. Thankfully, I brought a few sweaters and a pair of sweatpants because I definitely needed them.
Basically, while I might enjoy the city at another point in my life, when it comes to finding a place to call home for a few months, I don’t have the skills yet to navigate a city like Cholula so, instead of finding another Airbnb in town, I decided to jump to the next stop of my journey: Puebla Centro.
Just Cholula isn’t my forever place doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t adore it! From my time in town, ✨I think you would enjoy visiting/living in Cholula if you ✨:
Speak Spanish very proficiently (or, are traveling with someone who speaks Spanish).
Love archeology and visiting historic landmarks (the world’s largest pyramid, Zona Arqueológica de Cholula, is in Cholula).
Enjoy a walkable city and don’t mind sweater weather.
Want to go on a food adventure and learn about the origins of an iconic hot sauce. Also Cholula has an AMAZING bar and drinks scene.
Are in your early-to-late twenties and like to party. The Cholula is a university town and the young people (I’m thirty now, I’m allowed to call them “young people”) LOVE a good time.
Love local markets. They’re EVERYWHERE. Clothes, food, spices, all you can think of is just a quick walk down any street.
🚨Jobs, Grant, and Networking Opportunities for WOC🚨
As many women of color know, it can be very difficult for us to find work for a number of reasons (most of which include anti-Black racism). This is probably why Black women are the fastest growing demographic to become entrepreneurs (love this for us)! I want to use this section to connect women of color, and people actively looking to support and network with people of color, to opportunities that I come across. Here are a few that came my way this week:
🎉 Andrea is a Black publisher who reached out to me on TikTok and is looking to fix the representation gap in the literary industry! While she’s based in Atlanta, you don’t have to be based in ATL to work with her. You can reach out to her on website or TikTok (her links are attached)
🎉 Ebony Rose is another Black publisher looking to get manuscripts from marginalized people! Her personal IG is @Ebony_Rose717 and her publishing IG page is @ignitedink717. She also found me on TikTok :)
🎉 Bosch Beauty Bar, a Black-woman owned beauty bar in Bethesda, MD, is looking to hire a few employees! If you know how to do brows, nails, facials, lashes, and/or waxing, AND you live close enough to her brick-and-mortar location, definitely reach out! She also found me on TikTok (I hope you’re all seeing a pattern here). Please email her through her website.
💰Feed The Soul Foundation Grant: $10,000
This grant is for marginalized professionals in the culinary arts. This grant includes $10k and 6 months of free business development training! The deadline is January 31, 2023 so SPREAD THE WORD and apply IMMEDIATELY.
💰Incfile Fresh Start Business Grant: $2,500
Remember how I said that Black women are the fasting growing demo of entrepreneurs? Well, this grant is specifically for entrepreneurs and people wanting to grow their business. If you get this grant you also get free formation services from Incfile! The deadline is March 31, 2023, so you have some time but definitely don’t wait until the last minute to apply!
🙌Paid Subscribers🙌
I’m in between sharing one of two newsletters tomorrow.
Option 1: I share my spider-infested Airbnb info with you (so you can avoid this place if/when you choose to visit Cholula), along with how you can contact Airbnb to get your money back if you run into an unsavory situation like I did
OR
Option 2: All the best food that I ate this week around New Jersey and Manhattan during my last 7 days in the United States (AHHH!). Basically, it’s a list of all the best places I ate at in my final days here.
If you have a preference of which you want to here, LMK below:
Stay tuned :)
I cannot WAIT for more México content. I really want to do an extensive trip there and your recs are always fire 🫶🏻🔥