I need a vacation. Circumstances demand it. An extended get-away. Something more on the order of a pilgrimage.

So, after brief but exhaustive research, I have decided on a suitable destination. I am packing up at this very moment, assembling the necessary provisions, arranging for the required immunizations and finalizing travel plans. It will be quite an adventure.

But I regret to tell you all: It may be some time before I return. I cannot possibly tie up all the loose ends or say good bye to everyone before I depart. My heart is heavy, but I cannot be concerned about that right now. I trust you will understand. I must go, and there is little time to waste.

Why the urgency and where exactly am I off to?

I am a restless adventurer. A trained geographer and anthropologist. But for much for too long now I've felt as though I've been sitting idle, spinning in place, watching the world go by, when there is so much to see and do in the world.

No more.

Deep inside of me, at my very core, I feel an extraordinary pull to seek out new places and peoples, to explore a foreign land and immerse myself in a new culture. I must respond to these urges. And that is precisely why I am off to Mexico, in search of...

... The Sacred Corn Beer of the Tarahumara!

For as we speak, deep in the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains of Chihuahua, the Tarahumara Indians are gathering in the village of Norogochi in celebration to drink their tesguino, or corn beer. In fact "the entire of town of Norogachi turns into a giant brewpub" right about now.

For the Tarahumara "beer is an elixir for healing, a barter item and a divine beverage," says Guadalupe Espino Palma, the traditional governor of the Norogachi district. "We make offerings of tesguino to God himself, and He drinks it also."

Can't go wrong there.

These are my people! I must go and be one with them. And have one with them. Soon. Before all the tesquino is gone.

Until our paths cross again... Bosasa!

NOTE: This is an early April Fool's joke! Much as I'd like to venture off, I'm not really going anywhere. The Taramuhara will have to go on without me...