I met them in a vestibule between the cars, a little spot with three doors over which you can lean and see the train curve around the bends, the scenery come right at you, and get deep breaths of fresh air mixed with diesel smoke.
A young Mexican couple from Chihuahua City, Alma and Leo. Alma is one of the most naturally charming people I have ever met. The very act of speaking makes her smile, showing off small, bright teeth. And she has a lisp from the top of her mouth, present in both English and Spanish. Delicate face, very dark hair, high but unpretentious cheek bones. Her English is fabulous and flows smoothly. She has never taken a formal class outside high school but worked at a Subway sandwich shop in North Carolina for 8 months, going from "credit or debit?" to near fluency. She went to school for architecture and her intelligence shows in a sharp sense of humor and a light, laid back way, radiating everywhere she goes. Easy to adore.
Leo is full of Rockabilly style: fauxhawk, Armani t-shirt, perfect rebel jeans. He went to University of Texas in El Paso and majored in finance. Driven in everything. He worked summers at a country club in North Carolina, pulling 15 hour days with no breaks so he could save money for his tuition. He´s had interships with NY Life and Microsoft and, like Alma, is currently unemployed. They said they are currently solving the traveling conundrum: no job, no money, with job, no time. They feel confident they´ll find work soon.
They´ve been together 8 years. She´s 25 and he´s 26, so that is their whole adult lives. I´m in love with them as a couple- established, comfortable but still affectionate and in love, and possessing great humor, to each other and as a couple. You can´t help but feel at ease around them. Beautiful.
We talked for hours on the vestibule, alternating the spot at the window. When they found out I was going to Mazatlan as well, Alma simply stated
"Then we go together."
Leo handled everything- taxis, buses, hotel arrangments. We got an overnight bus from Los Mochis at 3am, arriving in Mazatlan at 9am (something I could never brave on my own). I had picked a super budget motel from Lonely Planet, but with the help of the taxi driver, they found another in the same neighborhood that was much nicer. Even though they had selected another place for themselves further up town, they insisted on staying in the room next door to mine.
I can´t explain Mexican hospitality. They listened carefully anytime I offhandedly mentioned what I´d like to do: buy a Lycra rashguard (surf shirt), look for a skirt, eat seafood, see the strange church-shaped nightclub on the jetty. They made these things a priority. What? I couldn´t refuse, but I quit mentioning my plans so there would be more room to do what they wanted too. We went to a perfect spot to enjoy a beer and simultaneously watch the moon rise and the sun set. There we met a couple of other guys who drove us to and from the nightclub, one teaching me all the new Mexican dances.
My time with them gave me great confidence, not only in bettering my Spanish and learning more about this beautiful country, but also in bargaining and making my way around. A confidence that was quickly shaken when, going to buy a coconut by myself, I was charged 25% more than when they were around, and was unable to talk the guy down. Anyway...
I don´t know how the repay them for their kindness but we talked about them coming to Colorado for skiing lessons, so hopefully I´ll get to try. I let them sleep the next morning and just left Alma´s dress she let me borrow on their door, along with contact information and the cowboy hat I had bought on the beach. It looked better on her anyway. The next part of this trip stretches out in aloneness again. Not all that bad, but missing the sweetness that comes from other humans. As my Swiss friend at the farm in New Zealand said:
"Some people don´t leave home because they say all their friends are there. That´s not true. You don´t know where your friends are."
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