Adventures in Zacatlan....or rather Tepango

Adventures in Zacatlan
This past weekend Eliezer, Ben’s roommate in Mexico City, came to visit us. It was so great having him here, I came up with the brilliant idea of extending our time together by going with him part way back to the city. From Zapotitlan you take a combi (a van that’s made to fit about 15 people[important info for later in the story]) to Zacatlan, then you get a bus to Mexico. For those of you who came to Zapotitlan on the church trip this year, Zacatlan is where we stopped at the gas station with the 7 peso coffee machine. The drive from Zapotitlan to Zacatlan should take about 1 ½ to 2 hours. This time the trip took 2 ½ hours. We arrived in Zacatlan at 5:45, the bus to Mexico was leaving at 6:00 and we were told the last combi back to Zapotitlan left at 7:00, but that we should get on at 6:30 to be safe. We went and bought some apples, said adios to Eliezer, grabbed some cheap dinner, and got on the combi that said Zapotitlan at 6:30, just as we were instructed. I also need to mention that it was raining and probably about 30 degrees colder in Zacatlan than Zapotitlan which we weren’t at all prepared for. I was started to doubt the choice we made to go with Eliezer and explained to Ben that when I come up with something like that it’s because I make irrational decisions based on the feelings I have towards the people I’m with, and that he shouldn’t let me get us into dumb situations. The funny thing is that he didn’t want to go, but I convinced him it would be a good and we would have fun. The benefit of the trip, up to this point, was that I had a cell signal for a few minutes so I checked in with mom & dad and got to check my email.
I hope you’re not bored by this story because I’m really having fun writing it.
The combi we were on left the bus terminal and sat along the street for maybe 15 minutes as more and more people got on. I tried to count, and by best guess there were about 28 people on the combi. Remember, when I said they’re made to fit about 15? Yeah, that’s a lot of people, but that’s Mexican style. Pastor Gerardo once said we were taking a Mexican car to church. I knew that meant there would be way too many of us in a car that’s way too small. In the states we might cram 5 into a compact car, but here a compact fits 10 easily. I digress…
The conversation between Ben and me in the combi was deep and good, but also emotionally heavy. I was started to feel pretty worn out by the rain, the cold, the bumps and curves, and just wanted to be home. We got to the town of Tepango and the driving informed us that we’re not going to Zapotitlan, we’re not going any further actually. I assured Ben, who never actually needs any reassurance, that Israel would surely pick us up and all we needed was a public phone. The driving took us to one and Ben checked where the hotel was, just to have a backup plan. That’s why I love travelling with Ben, he’s more generally more logical than I am. The public phone was in a store owned by an older man who didn’t seem to understand Ben’s Spanish, and told Ben he didn’t speak English when Ben was talking to him in Spanish. I found this situation to be pretty humorous. I pulled out my cell, got Israel and Aby’s number, and proceeded to give it to Ben who said it to the store owner. It’s not that I couldn’t have said it myself, but I didn’t want the responsibility of making a mistake. The store owner dialed the number and told us it was busy. Well, that’s not really a big deal because Israel and Aby are never on the phone very long, so we’ll just wait. For ½ hour we kept trying to call and the phone was busy. Ben bought burnt animal crackers to thank the man for his time. Around 9:30 we asked when the store was closing and the man said he was closing, so we left and headed to Tepango centro where the man assured us we could get a (I forget the term) pickup truck taxi (where you stand in the back) back to Zapo.
Centro consists of the municipal building, and a pay phone. I think this is just fine because we’ll keep trying to call Israel until we get him. How long can they possibly be on the phone, right? After walking a few minutes in the rain, and talking about how God’s blessing was not on our trip, we get to the municipal building. Someone is on the pay phone, so Ben commands me to “sit down and pray,” which I do willingly after calling Ben bossy. By this point, our moods have changed from similar to the rainy, cold weather, to jovial knowing full well that God will pull through and be glorified. We prayed and we waited. I would like to point at that at 10:00 at night there are not many people driving through Tepango, and hardly anyone on the streets in the rain. So, we’re kinda outside alone with just the guy on the phone and some random dogs. The guy finished on the phone and walked away. So I went to use the phone. But to use this type of phone you need a phone card. Well, we couldn’t buy a phone card because everything was closed. We had already decided that we would either get a room in the hotel, or sleep on the benches in front of the building and maybe some dogs would come cuddle with us to keep us warm. As we were standing there trying to figure out what to do, and man pulled up to the municipal building got out of his truck and went into the building. We greeted him, and I was hoping after seeing our poor, pathetic gringo faces, he’d offer some help. He went inside and returned a few minutes later with another man. Ben talked to them, and (I think) told them about our plight to get to Zapotitlan. They asked us where we’re from, if I’m Ben’s mom (what the freaking heck!?!??!), and other normal conversational things. All I added was “we need a phone” in my best broken Spanish. The man who arrived in the pickup offered to drive us to his family’s house so we could use the phone. Well, that sounded wonderful so off we went.
The house was probably a 90 second drive up the street, and the man driving said he’s the municipal president. When he said it, Ben asked something like “you are?” And I had to check with Ben to make sure I understood, so Ben told me in English what he said. The man said it again, more simply this time “soy Presidente Municpal” (sorry if my spelling is wrong). And I said “usted?” To which he confirmed it 1 more time to the seemingly dense gringos. We got to the house and called Israel one more time, just to find out that the phone was still busy. Well, that’s about it for us. There’s absolutely nothing left for us to do. I guess we find a hotel and call it a night. Or not.
The president offers for his chauffer to take us in his car. We were like, “really?” So we walk up the street a little further and get in the car with the president’s chauffer. After several “muchos graciases” from the gringos, the chauffer drives us back to centro to pick up a man at the municipal building, and we turn around head towards Zapo. The driver and the man (who I hadn’t yet learned the identity of) joke about the music they start playing and about not having and music in English. A few minutes into the drive we stop along the road and the chauffer disappears for a few minutes. While we wait, was ask the man his name he introduces himself as the Commander of the police, and shows us his police ID. Ben informs me that said he came along for security and I start to wonder what kind of trouble they’re expecting. Honestly, I also start to get a little nervous because Mexican cops aren’t known for their trustworthiness. (Ben and I just watched Man on Fire the other night.) The chauffer comes back a few minutes later with cds in hand. I’m starting to think all Mexicans thrive on music.
We had the most comfortable ride ever on our way back to Zapotitlan. And we couldn’t help but talk about how apparent God was in all of that. We arrived in Zapo, and let the chauffer know he could just drop us off in town, but he insisted on driving us to our door. Ben gave the driver some money, we said many more “muchos graciases” went inside and were eating animal crackers, Cup O’noodles (me) and cereal (Ben) and laughing about our adventure in no time. Even someone who says he doesn’t believe in God, had to admit that was God. To God be all the glory.