"Memories
Of Mexico"
Mexican Logic
By Margie Harrell
When crossing the Mexican border all logic seems to disappear. As smiling
faces approach our vehicle we quickly decide to go with the flow. “You
got papers?” Boy, did we have papers but not always the ones they
wanted to see. I suspected the list changed daily. We are headed to
Chapala, Jalisco where I am to take up permanent residence. Son #l is
the driver and I am the translator. Ha! Our adventure begins right at
the border.
Two uniformed guards motion for us to
pull off to the side. Not a good sign.
“Where you go?” Chapala son
#l replies in his usual Spanish accent. He has never had a lesson in
Spanish but insists on adding an “a” to every word and wonders
why no one understands him. I say nothing. Meanwhile one of them is
rummaging through the van. “You take all out” he barks. Oh
no, it took us three days to get it all in there. They ask for our papers
and ID again and as we hand them over one of them looks at son’s
ID and asks. “You cop?’ “Yes-a Sir-a in-a California-a.”
“You got pistola?” “No Sir, not legal in Mexico.”
Good answer because he then smiles, extends
his hand in friendship and wishes us a safe trip. What just happened
here? Professional courtesy maybe. Who cares, let’s get out of
here!
An hour or so into Mexico we are stopped
again this time by a scruffy- looking bunch of “policia” or
so they said. “Drogas, you got drogas?” I wonder if anyone
actually says - “Sure, right here, want some?” Anyway, we
are instructed to drive over a huge hole in the road so they can look
for drugs under the van. I show them two bottles of vitamins and ask
if they are okay. They do not answer. We wait five maybe ten minutes
as I get very nervous. The word bandidos comes to mind. Just
then one of them approaches my side of the vehicle and asks if hombre
is my boyfriend. “No, Señor, es mi hijo,” I say in
my best night-school Spanish. “You are madre?” “No problema,
Señora, you go.” Again, what just happened here?
It is getting dark so we decide to stop
for the night. We are in a pretty little town and I have spotted a nice-looking
hotel. We enter the lobby which is empty except for the desk clerk.
You have rooms - Si - how much - fine we’ll take it. Oh, by the
way, you take pets right? No, no she says, no pets! This is a surprise
because even in the U.S. many hotels will allow pets. What to do, it
has been a long day and we are tired. I begin to ramble and tell her
he is an old cat, has been declawed and sleeps a lot. NO PETS. Just
then my son enters carrying said cat. He is a Siamese and very pretty,
at least I think so and apparently so did the clerk because she smiles
and asks. “He is show cat?’ Well, I didn’t just fall
off the turnip truck so I quickly replied. “Si, a show cat.”
“Show cat is okay in room, no problema.” With that we hurried
off to our rooms before she had a chance to change her mind, all the
while smiling, Mexican logic had struck again.
As we caught sight of Lake Chapala, a
sense of peace came over me. I felt as though I was home already. The
scenery through the mountains and around the lake was beautiful. A sense
of belonging is with you when you are in Mexico. Soon we arrived in
Ajijic and headed for the Nueva Posada Inn to call friends for directions
to their casa. It was siesta time and only a few employees were about.
By now our sign language was pretty good and as we asked where l6 de
Septiembre Street was, they smiled. Silly gringos, it is right around
the corner, come, we show you. No need for telephones when the natives
are so accommodating. Later, as we toasted my new life in Mexico I knew
then that Mexican logic and I were going to get along just fine. Bienvenido
a Mexico!