Where, oh where is my best friend?

The bus station is about five minutes from the airport, so we didn’t have far to go. Since Iván works there, he called ahead to see if the flight was on time, etc. It was. It would land in about ten minutes. Perfect.
I was prepared to pay the parking fee since Iván was doing me a favor, but I forgot I was with VIP. We went to the employee lot which gets closer to the entrance, and of course is free. There went my helpful spirit.
We walked in, saw that the plane had supposedly landed and made our way to the exit area. There was no one. We asked the guy if the plane had landed and he said yes. I asked him if international flyers would be exiting the same place (because once when I flew in, I had to go through an international room to pick up my luggage since it had been checked all the way through to Culiacán and I hadn’t had to go through customs anywhere) and he assured me that yes.
Soon we saw people! I was getting so excited! Ashley is pretty much always my airport pick up service unless we’re flying together (and usually then it’s her dad), so I was excited to be on this end! I was poking my head through the people around me. Iván was asking me at each girl’s entry if that were Ashley. No. No. No. No Ashley! Where could she be? We waited about ten minutes and didn’t see her. The room cleared out. I got really nervous. We went to the international area and saw some suitcases, but none looked like what I thought she would have. Moreover, the lights were off and there were no employees in there. What to do?!
I had visions of her stuck in the DF airport having missed her flight. I knew she wouldn’t turn her phone on, but I decided to send a text just in case. We walked over to the Mexicana counter to ask if they could look her up. They couldn’t do it there; we’d have to go to the office. I was antsy and super worried, so I told Iván to go do that and I’d look back at the arrival gate. No Ashley. Where could she BE?!
I had visions of her somehow bypassing us and getting a taxi, and sitting outside my locked house. I went out to the front of the airport, and there she was, rolling suitcases upright beside her, leaned up against the wall.
“ASHLEY! Hey!” followed by a huge sigh of relief. We hugged, I quickly explained what had gone down in the last 20 minutes that seemed like an eternity, and we headed back inside to look for our ride.
A couple of sighs of relief later, we were getting into Iván’s truck. It was one that seated two people in the front and two people turned sideways in the back. I think Ashley was cramped, but we were getting home. For free.
Ashley and I caught up on a few things and then Iván started interviewing her in English. He asked a few things in Spanish, but reverted to English most of the time. I had never heard him speak English before. Like most of the Mexicans I’ve met, he knows way more than I would expect. On average, Mexicans know markedly more English than your average American knows Spanish.
We talked about Tennessee and the weather and her flights. I had forgotten that Iván had white water rafted down the Ocoee. We had talked about that at the party where I met him and Marco before Christmas. Apparently he did some sort of exchange in Atlanta or somewhere in the South maybe in high school?
On the way to the airport, Marco had called asking what the plans were. They had discussed going to see Yes Man with Jim Carrey. Since I had already (unfortunately) gone to the circus on Wednesday, Ashley and I were looking for something to do! I had told him we could do a movie or whatever.
On the way home from the airport, we decided against the movie and on dinner. Wings (thankfully close to my house) it is. That was on the list of things I wanted Ashley to experience (it’s kinda the Dan McGuiness of my Nashville life in Mexico), so it was perfect!
Ashley arrived at 6. We were in the car on the way home making plans at 6:30. I texted my gals- Alma, Tania, Imelda, and Cristina- and Iván put the word out to the guys- Topete (the Goolsby clone), Marco (and girlfriend), Carlos (roommate), and Renato (Lilana’s boyfriend). Ashley later commented on how what happened on Thursday night would never happen in the US. At 6:30, we made the calls. At 7 we got ready. By 8 we were at the restaurant, and at some point in the night, everyone we had called made an appearance. Welcome to Mexico, Ashley!