Free Association

When I finally made it to Mexico for the first time, it was September 5th, 2015 – a quiet late Saturday Night in Mexico City. I lazily hailed a taxi at the airport rationalizing it to myself “Hey, you don’t want to miss Saturday night” although I was tired and suspected that I would only wind up having a beer or two that night. I hoped however that I would be refreshed and awakened fully soon, an exhilarating combination of exotic breezes, generous pesos and attractive accents jarring me to my senses. That never happened. It took forever to find my way, my cabbie got yelled at by a cop- these charming cobblestone streets were too narrow for a taxi they said- and so I walked around in dark circles, helpless and phoneless and carefree. It was the museum district (one of god knows how many-kudos DF) and all I found was the backs and sides of castle after fort after palace. Sure, I was happy to walk around lost, not all who wander are lost and all that, but the slight responsibility of carrying my bag was really beginning to upset me off. I was definitely hangry. 

I found my room, showered, changed. Got ready to crash and hit the next day with a vengeance. I look up and there is a bat on the ceiling. I can’t believe it. The last hostel I was in was on the other side of the world, and a bat had come into my room through the air conditioner and terrified me in my sleep. There is nothing cool about bats in person, Batman is full of it. 

I ran out to the night watchman, a huge loud coward in the quiet Mexican night, and motioned for him to come to my room. I pointed to the still, black, winged bastard on the ceiling. He said with zero confidence “Oh, es mariposa.”  

I don’t know Spanish. But I did study Spanish. And I suddenly remembered that means Butterfly.

And suddenly-er even, a few words of that ole espanol came back to me and I said “Que? Amigo, es muy grande no? Es  mariposa grande or es murcielaga poco?” BRO, IS THAT A REALLY REALLY BIG BUTTERFLY OR IS THAT A KINDA SMALL BAT? 

And yes, I do only know that murcielaga means Bat because of the Lambhorghini. And no, my Spanish is probably not grammatically correct. This actually and tragically wound up being the highlight of my Spanish skills for this trip.

The next morning I walked out after a breakfast of jam, baguette and cornflakes to a train to a bus to a village that my new buddy Ulysses (Hugh-lee-zees) had recommended to me from across the aisle on the plane. It was a day to remember. I had Googled “Best Spanish Rock Groups” before I went to Mexico and Soda Stereo kept getting mentioned. 80s and badass, and I think a lot of other bands stole their riffs because they were shredding it all the way from Buenos Aires in the 80s and 90s. I walked the streets and mountain all day long, buying Micheladas and leaving a trail of taco plates in my wake. Men threw fire crackers a few feet from busy crowds all day long. The loud bangs would go off and scare passersby for what seemed like a second before nervous laughter would kick in mixed with the belly laughs of the local village men who threw the crackers down. This repeated itself until darkness.