Fond Memories of Mexico City

The Trip That Almost Wasn't

That was the trip that almost ended before it started! When I was a single guy with a job, but with no other obligations, I decided to take a trip to Mexico city with a university group to look at all the ruins. However, it almost never happened because of a flat tire.

It wasn't even me who had a flat. The professor who setup the trip and taught the class may have been experienced in Astronomy as it relates to Mexican pyramids, but he was a traveling fool. All he had to do was bring the airline tickets with him to the airport. 

All us lived in various parts of the state. I lived 2 1/2 hours away from the departure airport while the professor lived only an hour away. Because this guy was going to be efficient and not hang around town or the airport any longer than he had to, he left for the airport the morning we were to be leaving. There we were, 40 of us pacing around in a windowless concourse straining to see him come down the aisle with the tickets.

Other enterprising would-be travelers ventured up to the desk to try and cajole the airline into allowing us to board without the tickets. No deal! The group even offered to buy new tickets for the designated flight with the understanding that they could get a refund when the original tickets showed up. No deal! We were stuck. Either this guy showed up with the tickets, or we could all go home.

Suffice it to say, with only two minutes to spare, the professor eventually did come running down the concourse breathlessly  muttering something about a flat tire. Mad, but relieved, we let him live. I vowed never again to trust anyone else with my tickets. I also make sure that when I'm going to leave on a trip, that I allow plenty of time for normal but unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances. Since I live in Wisconsin winter weather, if it's more than 2 hours away, I get to the departure city the day before the plane is set to leave.

I also buy travel insurance so that if something does happen, at least I'll get my money back so I can try it again. Once I'm at the airport under the airlines control, I relax completely.

I also have quite a few other fond memories of that trip.

For example. That nutsy professor was the only one in our group to get their pocket picked. It was also an experience I can visualize quite nicely even though I wasn't even present. After a week with these characters you know just how it went down. Some of the group were taking the public bus down Paseo de le Reforma in downtown Mexico city when the professor noticed that his wallet was missing. He was sure that he had it when he boarded the crowded bus.

An ebullient older woman in our group, who spoke fluent Spanish, reacted instinctively and decisively. She pushed her way to the back of the bus, flung herself onto the door, threw her arms up, braced her feet, turned to face the crowd and shouted in Spanish "Nobody Gets Off". The stunned tourists and equally shocked locals stared at her in disbelief and then simply and mutely complied. After she regained her senses, she realized that the only way she'd ever find the wallet was to frisk everyone on the bus. Not wanting to risk anything so bold, she allowed people to disembark at the next stop. The locals, including some who had missed their stop, acted quite amenable and without any concern or annoyance.

Other not so funny or notable memories include these

Hide and Seek with the bottle - I opened the drapes in my hotel room to find a full unopened bottle of booze snuggled up to the baseboard near the window. Instead of toasting my good fortune, I put it in my minifridge. However, the next day it had disappeared from the fridge and turned up in the closet under some extra pillows. Always a stickler for tradition, I put it back in the refrigerator to await another astral projection. The following day it was no where to be found. Because I didn't want to get anyone in trouble, I never told hotel management what was going on and I never got a factual explanation. For some unexplained reason I always remembered the traveling bottle.

Construction activity - Our group traveled from site to site in a tour bus. Along the roads there was always construction of some sort and buildings either in the process of going up or falling down. One day while we were stopped in traffic I noticed workmen on the side of the road. Being  a smart alec I remarked rather loudly and nonchalantly "Oh look, they're making rubble". It may have been the long bus ride or the heat and dust of so many ruins, but it struck everyone as quite funny. It was one of those times that you just had to be there to see the humor in it.

Teotihuacan pyramids - The pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacan are huge. The site is larger and grander than that of Chichén Itzá near Cancun. I remember them vividly even though I never bothered to take a camera to Mexico.  

Tips and local customs - Our big glitzy tour bus winding down narrow back roads and stopping in front of a very modest disheveled looking dwelling. The place turned out to be the home of the caretaker of a local monument. The bus driver stopped and tipped the local village representative who then removed the cable blocking the road to the site.

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