Adventures in Mexico: Part 3

          A couple more days on the road after leaving the motel and rat behind, Mark and I finally reached Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, and continued our adventure.  It is one of the largest cities in the world, with more than 20 million inhabitants. There were skyscrapers everywhere. We had no idea it would be so big. If you have ever been to New York City, Mexico City is larger and a lot more difficult to drive in because everyone drives so fast and no one obeys the traffic rules and signs, not even the cops. Mexico City was an exciting end to our adventures in Mexico.
         To avoid driving in this crazy traffic, we parked my car to visit different parts of the city using the subway (Metro), which is very modern, clean, cheap, and has lines that go everywhere in the city. When we got down in the Metro, we were looking around, and we had no idea how to get a ticket or where to go.  I'm sure we looked very confused and frustrated.
         After a few minutes, a short, old man with white hair walked up to us and in perfect English said, "Are you boys lost?"  We couldn't believe it. We told him that, yes, we were very lost.  He offered to show us around the city on the Metro. We followed him. We were a little scared because we didn't know him and thought he might be taking advantage of us. We traveled with him on  different lines of the Metro to different interesting places like Chapultepec Park, the Zoo, the Museum of Anthropology, and the National University of Mexico as he explained everything like a tour guide. We were getting hungry and found out that people in Mexico usually eat lunch around 2pm. He took us to a cafe he liked and ordered for us. The food was delicious. When we finished, he asked for the check, and told the waiter "Traeme la cuenta y un policia" which means "Bring me the check and a policeman." It was a joke. The waiter laughed and brought him the check. This kind man (I can't even remember his name) paid the bill and asked us if we had a hotel to stay in. We didn't. He said, "You can have dinner and stay at my home tonight if you'd like. I live on the outskirts of the City."
          Mark and I looked at each other. Could we trust this stranger?  Why was he being so nice to us?  We decided to accept his invitation. After all, we didn't have hotel reservations yet. He drove us in his old Volkswagen (at that time, almost everyone in Mexico drove Volkswagens) to his small home, in a poor area outside the city. We met his wife and six children and tried to use our best Spanish to talk with them, but the man had to interpret for us most of the time.
          We found out that he had lived in the US for many years when he was a young man, so that's why he spoke such good English. His oldest son was a motorcycle policemen and was living there with his family,  too. He showed us his motorcycle. We had a delicious dinner, spent the night, and the next morning the man drove us back to Mexico City and said goodbye. We thanked him for all that he had done for us. We offered to pay him, but he wouldn't take our money.
          To sum up, this was the best part of our Mexican adventure, visiting the capital of Mexico. We never saw this kind man again. I believe he might have been a guardian angel. Whether he was real or a guardian angel, we learned from him how kind and generous Mexican people are. I will never forget the experience.

Adventures in Mexico: Part 1

          I will never forget my first trip to Mexico after college with my friend Mark. We had both studied Spanish for a couple of years at college, so we thought we would go to Mexico and try it out. Well, we were in for a surprise.
          First of all, we crossed the border with no problems and after we were about 20 miles into the country we were getting hungry, so we decided to stop for some lunch at a cafe in a small town. They didn't have menus. The server greeted us and told us about the day's specials, in Spanish, of course. Mark and I looked at each other and then at her. We didn't understand a word she had said! So we just shook our heads and said "No entendemos." (We don't understand).
         So she smiled and gestured for us to follow her. She took us back to the little kitchen. Everything smelled delicious. She pointed at the different pots and told us what they had to offer for lunch. We still didn't understand anything, but we could see what looked good and what smelled good, so we just pointed at what we wanted while saying "Esto" (This one).  She nodded and took us back to the little dining room with four tables.
       A few minutes later, our food came. It was delicious! We asked for more. When we finished, we paid, gave her a tip, and said "Gracias" (thank you) and "Adios" (goodbye).  That day taught us several  things--we found out how good Mexican food is, how patient and kind Mexicans are, and how bad our Spanish was!
      In conclusion, this was only the first of many adventures that we would have on our trip to Mexico.  Understanding the language and culture of a new country can be a lot more difficult than you might think. But it is worth the effort. Have you ever had a similar experience when you visited or moved to a different country?

Soccer

I was watching Mexico play South Africa this morning in the first game of the World Cup. I realized what a great game soccer is. It's a simple and elegant sport. There are no complicated rules like in American football or baseball, only one way to score, and the players are great athletes in excellent condition. I doubt most baseball or football players could run up and down the field without resting between plays for two 45-minute halves. I hope that soccer continues to become more popular in the US, so the US teams will play at the same level as the best teams in the world. That will take a few years, but it will be worth the wait. Maybe the US will be able to win the World Cup someday.