Saturday non-stop

Saturday, I had to be at the airport at 6 for my 7:15 flight.  That would likely be cutting it close, but I was okay with that.  I was up at 4:30 and checked out by 5, waiting on the taxi.  I got to the airport at 5:40 and man is it a bigger airport than Culiacán's!  It was huge and crowded!  After 30 minutes of standing in line, I got to the counter and got checked in.  I made it to my gate and waited, wishing I could be on the plane and asleep.  That came soon enough.  I was asleep before the seatbelt announcement and not awake until we were almost landing.  I had and empty row again, so I had occupied two seats, getting actual quality sleep.  I didn't want it to end!

When I arrived, I took a taxi to the house and hit the bed.  I thought I would sleep until the next day, so I set my alarm for 11.  I was leaving around 1 for Cosalá with the PISI folks and didn't want to oversleep or be dirty or unprepared.

I got my two hours of sleep, my shower and my packing, and then was told Shania would pick me up at 1.  Of course that ended up being a bit later.  Shania, bless her heart, is punctual.  I don't know if she was before a year in the US, but she's on it.  Problem is, she doesn't have a car, so she's dependent upon others for her transportation.

When she pulled up, it was her brother driving, her in the passenger seat, and Neyva her sister and Citlali her cousin already in the back.  My overly stuffed backpack didn't fit in there with us, so Shania took it.  I was impressed with how little I had packed (though I also had my pillow and purse), but Citlali asked me if I would be staying a week.  I wanted to tell her I needed two suitcases for a week, but I just laughed.

We got to Centro de Idiomas and I went in to give Alma some clothes she had asked for.  At 1:30, we were finally on our way.  There were 29 of us on a charter bus with a pot of beans and several coolers of beer and other beverages.  Alma and I both promptly put on our face masks and went to sleep.  I couldn't sleep much longer than an hour of the 3 hour ride.  When I woke, I decided to try to read since I was in the front seat and could catch a glimpse of the road if I felt nauseous.  But let me get back to that.

It started just as I would have predicted.  Not ten minutes into the drive, the music was too loud (thankfully the driver had sympathy and turned it down) and people were begging to stop at the Oxxo.  I mean, we had just left and had been standing next to a store.  "What is with these people?!" was my actual thought.  I blame it on a week of true lack of sleep.

Within the hour, a lot of several bottles of liquor had major dents in them and the (very loud, very annoying) English was coming from all parts.  Most people found it hilarious.  I wasn't one of them!

I must admit there were several really good accents.  Close enough that I think they spent quite a bit of childhood time in the States.  The semi-authentic accent, though, was not enough to keep me from being super annoyed.  Had I been better friends with these people, I would've told them what I thought.

It didn't a lot better when the over-served stumbled out of the bus into the lobby.  And of course getting our room assignments took longer than my taste.  I was irritable!

We decided to hit up the town before everything closed.  Alma thought she remembered a museum, so we went in search.  It took awhile to get those rounded up that wanted to go.  Then, even though it wasn't sunny, or necessarily hot, it was MISERABLY humid.  Maybe worse than in Culiacán (but in Culiacán, there's always the heat, too).  It was about to rain, so I'm sure that was it.  We walked around the town and saw the two churches, the plaza and got some ice cream along the way.  We got back to the hotel just in time for a big rain.  I wasn't up for swimming in the rain, so I read while the rest swam.  After awhile, I went to dinner with Alfredo (I went to coffee with him and Mabel early in my stay here) and four other teachers.  One of them had lived in the US from the age of 5.  She and her daughter both were teachers at Centro de Idiomas.  The mom bugged, but it could've easily been my mood.  Why everyone has such a hard time with the concept of exchange, I'm not sure.  But everyone thinks I'm here learning Spanish.  It gets kind of old, though I should get over that.  Anyway, the mom was like, "So you already speak Spanish.  So you don't say un otro like my friend?"  To which I responded, "Well, no.  That's one error I don't make.  But there are plenty of mistakes I make on a consistent basis.  I'm not a perfect speaker."

Then there was Alfredo, who accidentally translated everything for me.  "Y salimos de la prepa, high school, y habían quemado un carro, they burned a car."  It's probably how he teaches (which by the way is not a preferred method), so it just carried into his conversation with a foreigner, but I finally had to tell him, "Look, I understand you.  If I get confused, I'll ask you."

After that, we headed back to the hotel to miss the storm and the others came back from having gone to a taquería on the square.  I took a shower and changed into pjs and everyone gathered around while Alfredo played the guitar and sang.  Of course I knew none of the songs.  Shania requested he play something in English so I could sing along.  He chose November Rain.  Guns N Roses?  Yeah right I knew anything besides, "Nothing lasts forever, but the cold November rain," and I can't even be sure I got that right!  Around 11:30, the manager came out and told us we needed to move because we were too loud and there were elderly people staying at the hotel, and that at midnight we had to stop altogether.  I went for a little while and then decided to head to bed.  My eyes were drooping and I wasn't enjoying myself anymore.  Off I went.  Within the hour, my three roommates (Alma, Karina, Quinantzín) were in bed and asleep, too.