Landslides, Hitchikers and Serendipity

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"Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger, sometimes you're the ball."

-Dire Straits

Sometimes you find yourself in the south Mexican mountains in a torrential downpour in the middle of the night with a landslide in front of you that just washed off the mountain and blocked the road. Then you realize another tree has fallen behind you and you're stuck on a small stretch of road with a few other vehicles, and must team up with other drivers using machetes to cut these trees up so you can escape; meanwhile rocks are falling and you're wondering if your car, which includes all your material possessions, will just sort of disappear off the edge. And sometimes you make run-on sentences with way too many commas. Then maybe you find peace at the local hotel with the first real hot shower you've had in months. Or maybe intead of all this, you just get out of bed in the morning and go the office for eight hours so you can contribute to your pension or mortgage and retire comfortably. Sometimes you describe things that happened to you in second person too. Whatever. You're still alive. Also did I mention that you're here illegally with no car permit or visa? And that you can't return to your own country in your car because you have no insurance, the registration is expired, and your license is suspended and you might get detained at the border? Throw caution to the wind, motherfucker.

The next day, as I drove through the Oaxaca mountains to witness the aftermath of all the destruction from this crazy storm, I saw a man pushing his bicycle, soaking wet and covered in mud, hauling several kilos of beans. It dawned on me that I still had my bike rack on my car (I left it there because it partially obscures my license plate and makes a nice drying rack when I'm camping), so I offered to take him to wherever he was going. He was very grateful and I was able to practice my Spanish with him for about 30 minutes while we drove to his house. I can only imagine how long this would've taken him pushing a bicycle. He was filthy and it took a couple days for the stench to leave my car. The most inspiring part of this experience though, was that when I first pulled up and talked to him, as he turned to face me, he was wearing a smile. Despite a life that many of us would consider arduous and perhaps even painful, he was a happy man. I have no words to describe how much this moved me... Except for all the ones I just used.

Serendipity is very very real. When I found myself at Hierve el Agua, a beautiful and rather remote place with gorgeous natural springs which have formed mineral deposits on the sides of a mountain, very hungry and tired, and carrying only 28 pesos and a quarter tank of gas with no ATM nearby (because I'm so bloody good at preparation), I met three French guys who needed a ride and were willing to fork over some money for food and gas. We made a 2-hour drive to Arbol del Tule, a holy place with the biggest fucking tree you'll ever see. They were filming a documentary about sharks or some shit, I didn't really understand. Didn't matter though, I was happy to have some transient companions. We travelers have to look out for each other, and the karma flows plentifully between us.

I was lucky enough to visit Monte Alban, a pre-Columbian Zapotec ruins near Oaxaca city. They have a lot of human skeletons in their museum. Awesome. I met a couple (American girl, Dutch guy) there who were traveling around Mexico in their car with their dog. We had a little conversation, drank a little red wine, and enjoyed watching those Cajun girls dancing to Zydeco! Wait, no we didn't. I've just been listening to a lot of Paul Simon.

I'm so eager to see the ocean again. It's been way too long.

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