Recently I went with few friends to Chipinque and we did the Pinal. I had already done it, almost one year ago: it is the opportunity to give an overview of what has changed.
The first time that I did the Pinal, it was a cold Sunday of January and I was with my other half. If we were at 15°C in town, we didn’t realize that in the mountains it was way colder: we literally lost 8 degrees! I was wearing a short with a sweater from the Knicks of NYC and I was frozen!
If it was tempting to finally go back to the car we didn’t give way to the temptation.
The Pinal is one of the track of Chipinque: 17 kilometers to reach a mirador (height: 1507 meters) with an incredible view on Monterrey. It is not that physical: the end is simply more intensive because steeper and with high stairs directly drawn in the ground. Why to go there? To enjoy the nature. Doing the Pinal it’s forgetting the city. No car noises, no pollution, no artificial lights and no neon signs.
On the contrary of Cerro de la Silla it is really green: you are surrounded by a majestic nature. I think that it starts to be vital for me, those moments disconnected from Monterrey which is highly Americanized. I would say that mountains all around the town, such as Chipinque, are the strength of Monterrey, especially for a European who is not used to so many commercial places, so many cars and so little culture.
The second time that I did the Pinal so, was two weeks ago. Again, with my other half, but also with 3 other friends.
Time has passed since January 2017. I achieved the second semester of my Master in Paris and I went back to Mexico to share my life with the man that I love. I met new people, who to the contrary of some could think, don’t make me forget the ones that I left behind me. I miss some really close French friends and I miss my family, but nobody can live in a perpetual “missing”.
This is why it is so important to come out of its shell and to move forward. For some of us it is not that spontaneous and easy, it requires efforts, especially in a language that it’s not ours. But it is vital. I thus met incredible people, people who are now friends even if, as a good French and with all my oddity, I am still quite distant sometimes.
After one year, I have friends with who I can enjoy a simple walk in the mountains on Sunday morning and I am grateful for this.
