The Arrival

Here are all the delicious details of my arrival in Mexico:

First of all, let me just say this:  I have told different people different things via email, but I am putting it all on this blog for those who I did not tell certain things.  Soooo if some things are a repeat to you, maybe even word for word, don't freak out.  Just skim over that part and move on, okay?  Also, I am usually quite aware of my grammar and what not but I seriously have to blog as fast as possible whenever I get a random spare moment, so DO NOT JUDGE.

Okay.  Proceed.

April 30, 2011 went like this:

1.  Flying freaking rocks.  I LOVE it.  I can't get enough.  My favorite part is the taking off and landing, so I was secretly glad I had a layover in Phoenix because I got to take off and land twice in one day.  It was great.

2.  When I finally made it to Mexico City, things were a little chaotic.  First of all, customs/visa stuff.  ILP (the program I am working with, a.k.a. International Language Programs) gave me a pretty detailed set of instructions for what to do when I got off the plane.  Keep in mind, I was doing this all on my own.  By myself.  With no one else.  At all.  Just sayin.  Anyway, what they forgot to include was the fact that I would have to fill out a visa thing on the plane before I landed and then turn it in to customs in the Mexico City airport.  So I didn't know what I was doing when I filled that paper out, but I did my best.

3.  The plane landed, I got off, followed the crowd for a five minute speed walk, trying to interpret all these signs that were in Spanish.  Fortunately they all have pictures to accompany the words, so it wasn't too bad.  Finally the crowd led me to this big, open, massively huge area and there was simply no more "crowd" to follow.  I just had to read the signs.  The first thing on my detailed instructions was to get through custums.  So I found the right place, and did just that.  But guess what.  No one told me I was supposed to get my luggage BEFORE I went through.

4.  So I'm standing there on the other side and all these Mexican airport workers are staring at me/asking me questions which I obviously do not understand, and I realize that my stuff is on the other side of the doors I just walked through.  And guess what.  Going back is not as simple as just turning around and walking the other direction.  Nope, instead I had to explain to every airport worker in very slow English that I needed to get back on the other side of customs to get my bags.  No lie, I talked to like 10 of them and none of them could understand me.  Finally we grabbed some random woman and asked if she could translate.  She could.  They understood.  They let me back through.  But not before I was frisked for the seven thousandth time that day because guess what.  EVERY time I went through one of those metal detector things, it would beep.  Every time!  What the heck?  So I found my bags, and went back through customs.  Luckily they were nice to me and didn't make me get my bags searched again because they knew I had already been through it once.

As a side note to this little blog post, I would like you to know that right now, as I type, I am watching a friendly cockroach scurry about my bedroom floor.  More about those things later.


5.  Next, I changed my money to pesos.  At that point, pesos meant absolutely nothing to me, so the lady could have easily given me three dollars for the hundred I gave her and I would accepted it with a smile. The next thing in the instructions was to find the bus station and buy a ticket.  So I was walking along with all my stuff.  I keep saying "all my stuff" so let me give you a picture of what that looked like:  two ginormous suitcases that were 50 pounds each, a large carry-on with an unknown weight, and a STUFFED backpack.  It was ridiculously heavy, and ridiculously awkward to transport.  And just so you know, one of the suitcases was full of stuff for my students, like prizes and things, so don't think I just packed a ton for me.

6.  So I was walking along, "reading" the signs, looking for the bus station, when this man walks up to me, takes my bags from my hands, and says, "Where are you going?"

Me:  The bus station.

Him:  To where?

Me:  Puebla.

Him:  You need Estrella Roja.  (Referring to the name of the bus station, and he was correct, according to my instructions).

And then he walks as fast as possible to the bus station, with my bags dragging behind him, and me dragging behind my bags.  When he got there, he put my stuff down and said, "Tip."

So I just pulled out a random bill and handed it to him.  (Remember?  Pesos mean nothing to me a this point.)

And another "just so you know" is this:  The whole time he was leading me to the bus station, I knew I shouldn't have let him take my bags, and I knew I shouldn't have told him where I was going, and I knew he would ask for a tip after, but here's the deal.  I would have NEVER found that bus station without him, so in the end it was worth it.  Okay?  Okay.

7.  I stood in line and eventually bought my bus ticket to Puebla, Mexico.  It wasn't leaving for another 45 minutes, so I decided to get some things done.  First item of business:  Bathroom.  I found the bathroom after about five minutes of searching, which wasn't really that bad.  The bad part was getting in.  It was tiny.  And remember, I had "all my stuff."  So I crammed it all into the little center stall, closed the door, sat down, and just BREATHED.  I had been so rushed and confused and just going and going non-stop.  So I just sat there and breathed and then I cried.  I cried because I was so exhausted.  On Friday I woke up from my three and a half hours of sleep, took two finals, packed and cleaned my whole room, said goodbye to my LIFE and drove home, where I couldn't sit down for two seconds because I had to unload all my stuff, pack for Mexico, blah, blah, until I went to bed at 1:45 a.m., only to wake up three hours later, drive to the airport, and MOVE to Mexico.  So you see?  As I sat there in that bathroom stall in the Mexico City airport, it was only Saturday afternoon, and I was letting all this sink in.  But then I was brought back to the real reality when I heard the girl in the stall next to me vomitting.  And she didn't stop.  She just kept going as I sat there, squished between all my stuff.  So I decided my state wasn't that bad, and I haven't cried since.  So don't worry.

8.  Next item of business:  Food.  I had my first experience with Mexican McDonald's next and it was dandy.  I got some chicken thing.  Hopefully it was sanitary.  It didn't make me sick, so that's a plus.

9.  It was time to board the bus.  So I did.  I found a seat.  Then I sat.  Then I stared out the window and waited for us to leave.  I didn't know what to expect.  Then the bus driver came around with a video camera, filming each person (I have no idea why and I hope I never find out).  He got to me.  I looked at him.  He smiled a big smile and said, "Hola Senorita.  Gracias."  And that is when this trip turned into Heaven.

10.  The two hours from Mexico City to Puebla went by so fast.  I saw so many awesome things, and things I had never thought about, and things I hope I never forget.  It was crazy.

But I'll tell you about that later because right now I MUST sleep!

P.S.  There will be pictures included, so don't worry.