The Day I Fell in Love with Mexico

Today was extraordinary. Let me try to explain…

Today after class, I left to work at my service learning site named VAMOS (a small non profit nestled on the outskirts of Cuernavaca. It’s an incredible place that holds many functions with the main services consisting of classrooms, and classes that teach local woman marketable skills…stay tuned, I will write more about this).

I left with my two program compadres Maggie and Danny. It was our first time going to our service learning site by ourselves and taking the RUTA (the public transportation here). While I’m sure we were secretly a little nervous we headed out, confident that our intuition would lead us and we would be just fine. As we rode the bus, I sat behind a little boy playing with a chunk of play-doh. My limited knowledge of Spanish words for food and animals allowed me to actually play with this little boy and I was amazed at how much you can connect with people with facial expressions alone. As he left, I saw his mother whisper in the little boy’s ear as he turned around and said (in the most adorable voice a four-year-old could have), “have a good day.” This little moment alone could’ve made my day.

Well…our intuition led us over an hour in the wrong direction. The bus driver pulled over next to a small stand on a quiet road and I turned around only to realize we were the only ones left on the bus and instead of being at our desired location, we were miles and miles away in a place we hadn’t even heard of. Finally, the bus driver turned around and said in spanish, “So, where are you trying to go?”

Despite our frustration and disappointment, we began talking to the bus driver and found that his name was Pedro and he loved his job. We talked about his family and friends in the U.S. and to our surprise, and parched delight, he ended up buying us three, ice-cold beers from the nearby stand. Eventually, we came to the topic of how much Maggie and I have loved that people can dance here (and we’re not talking, the typical “lean against your backside and bob” type dancing, we’re talking real, partnered, feel the rhythm and respect your partner type dancing). Turns out, Pedro is an excellent dancer and lover of salsa as he kindly began to show and teach us some of his moves.

So, there we were, three completely lost students having a great time drinking cold Victorias and salsa dancing with Pedro the bus driver…all the while speaking a language I just really began to learn two weeks ago. Eventually, it was time for Pedro to return to the zocalo in Cuernavaca which would allow us to get back to our homes. As we got off at our final destination, we exchanged numbers with Pedro, just in case we ever find ourselves lost on another ruta.
I had seen so much of the city in the last two hours, listening to the people around me and looking at the small simple shops that line the city streets, and I couldn’t ignore a certain feeling in my chest that stopped me and caught my breath. I know this type of feeling and it is a rare and beautiful thing. It’s like when you are dating someone, and you know they’re wonderful and you know you really care about them, but you simply needed the light to hit them just right to realize that you are in fact in love.

Well, in the course of three hours, riding the number 5 ruta, I realized I was in love.