Last week’s post looked at the serious side of our trip to Mexico, an emotional and heartwarming reunion. This week I thought I’d share a more comical take on the cultural immersion experience. Driving in foreign countries is always an adventure. With a baby in tow, driving (or really riding – nice to have chauffeurs!) in Mexico challenged my adventurous spirit.
As it turns out, our initial ride once we reached Veracruz was a nice easing in, you might say. The fabulously generous Gabriel (our brother-in-law) picked us up from the airport. Side note: Neither Jorge or I had ever met Gabriel or really talked to him, so we had to pull up a photo of him on the phone to make sure we didn’t run up to the wrong guy in the airport’s arrivals area. Luckily the airport was tiny! Gabi has a small car similar to what you would expect in the States but maybe smaller. I had plenty of room to put in the car seat that we dragged through airports all the way to Mexico and have Camila sit in luxurious safety. Great. Thus the easing in. The downside – we arrived at 12:25 pm, in the midday sun, in 100 degree heat, and the car had no air conditioning! For two hours, we drove on a highway filled with pothole after pothole. Gabi had clearly made this trip a thousand times, because he knew exactly when to swerve, slow down, and practically drive on the shoulder to avoid insanely deep holes. I received a crash course in how to effectively use windows when you’re dying of heat and need air but the car is driving too fast to tolerate the tornado on your face if you keep the window too open. Again, Gabi was a great guide. Like clockwork, he would roll the window down more when he slowed for towns, construction, extended periods of potholes, and quickly rolled it back up (mid-sentence, by the way) when he hit the gas. For my part, I tried to follow his lead.
Let me just expose my vanity here for a second. I was about to meet my in-laws for the very first time and experience the lovely reunion I wrote about last week. I had imagined this moment in my mind a LOT as we planned this trip. What would I wear? What would I say? Now imagine how I felt to arrive in Casas Viejas for this great moment dripping with sweat, prying the sweat-soaked skirt from my legs, and patting down my tornado-swept hair in an attempt to look at all presentable. Wasn’t what I envisioned, but hey, life rarely is.
With this easing in, it was less surprising for me to find that almost no vehicles we encountered had air conditioning. Mi suegra (mother-in-law) called a taxi one day that advertised having AC as a way of being nice to me really (gracias!!!). When he arrived he said, “Oh sorry. The AC’s not working and it costs too much to fix it.” And that was that. Another side note: the taxi driver was a primo (cousin). Everyone I met in all of Mexico I think was somehow related to my husband.
So no air conditioning and 105, 110 degrees. I can deal with that, I guess. The true adventures were about to begin.
Almost all subsequent vehicles we rode in could be categorized as jalopies. Urban Dictionary definition of ‘jalopy’: an old, beat up piece of sh** car/truck (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jalopy&utm_source=search-action). Apt description. We routinely crammed 12 or more people into the farm trucks, along with a mountain of stuff, to drive on the bumpy dirt roads to the arroyo (little river) or even to a neighboring town. My favorite jalopy was loving referred to as the “Combi” because it was two different colors, the cab from one truck and the bed from another. Where all the family and stuff was piled in the back, there was no tailgate, so the sides were simply held together by rope. Perfectly safe!
All of these vehicles either got us to our next adventure or were the adventure in themselves. And I’m grateful for each new adventure!
Oh wauuu Kristina me he reído tanto con las experiencias q tú viste es tan cómico, y me da mucha alegría q disfrutaste tanto me hubiera gustado haber estado ahí en esos momento y si así es la vida en México para todo encontramos solución
LikeLiked by 1 person