Oaxacabound

Day 10

I just realized I’ve been doing exactly what I pledged not to do at the outset…getting as fast as possible from A to B with these posts. They’ve been like a bad movie, all plot and no character development. I’ve also been committing what is likely the cardinal sin of blogging by not commenting on food or lodgings. That’s not going to change. No sense of smell minimizes my excitement about food, and I’m fine with any lodgings that have clean sheets and functioning facilities. If anyone is still reading after my last snoozefest post, what I do want to talk about are the local people because they are what make Mexico a paradise.

I arrived in Guadalajara last night and took perhaps the best photo of my life. These are blue agave fields, the main ingredient in tequila…

I signed up for a food tour (no, not going to talk about food) and met Carlos and Tina, a couple from Mexico City celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary. Who does that? 10th for sure, 15th maybe, but 13th? Every year, they pick a different city to go celebrate on their own without the kids and renew their vows. I think everyone has the correct perception that family is incredibly important in Mexico, but I have also found that the bonds between married couples are much closer as well.

I got to my hotel late (no, not going to talk about lodgings), checked in and was asleep in 5 mins. Very boring I know, but then it got interesting.

I was awakened at 6:30 this morning by a knock on the door. It was someone from the front desk returning my wallet! Apparently I had dropped it in the estacionamiento (parking lot) a block away. Someone found it,  saw it was an American’s and assumed I was staying at this hotel. I rotated through shock, fear, wonder, appreciation and amazement in 5 seconds. Of course, all my credit cards were missing…NOT TRUE, all present and accounted for.

This reminded me of one of my earliest buying trips. It was the 90s and all business was conducted in cash. I would typically bring $35K US, over $300K pesos at the then conversion rate of 9 per (Mexico also uses dollar sign, very confusing) stuffed in a duffel bag. I had visited multiple rug weavers in a couple of small villages and when I got to the next and was about to make a purchase, I noticed I didn’t have my bag. O m g. How could I have forgotten it? Where could it be? I felt overwhelmed to the point of nausea. I would have to retrace my steps and hope no one had found it and/or looked inside. But just as I was getting in my car to go back, a kid came riding up on a bicycle. They found it after I left, saw the direction I was heading and figured where I would be stopping next.

In what world does this happen? Mexico.

When I first started coming down here and certainly as I’ve had my extended stays and began this drive, many extremely well-meaning people have asked if I would be safe. I am touched that they are so concerned, but my answer is always the same. I feel safer in Mexico than the US.

Of course there are places no one should go. I used to go to Juarez (border town at El Paso) all the time when I owned the stores for rustic furniture, ironwork, glass etc. I stopped going when the cartel started hanging bodies off the bridges. Seemed sensible. But in my experience, its only border towns that are scary…Tijuana, Laredo, Reynosa, Matamoros…and only because Americans go there for drugs, creating demand for a nasty infrastructure. I also hear Cancun and a few other resort towns can be sketchy for similar reasons.

But in the real Mexico, people could not be better. Again, in my earliest trips, towards the end of the day, people would always invite me to have dinner with them. Even if they only had one chicken for a family of 6, they would serve me first. Several times, I was invited to stay overnight at their, their parents’ or grandparents’ house. With no glass in the windows, dogs barking all night and roosters crowing at dawn, that was a one time only, but still. It’s become a lifelong adage of mine…those with the least offer the most.

Imagine the reverse. A stranger from a different culture and different color comes to a small American town. Are they going to be invited to dinner and a sleepover or have the cops called on them?

Ok, today another joy provided by Mexicanos…tequila.