Toluca and Back

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Thursday I flew down to Toluca for an overnighter.  I was a guest speaker at the museum there.  The talk was on culture in the classroom.   It was a long day and I finished pretty much exhausted.   My flight didn't leave until 9:30 in the morning but Juan took me to the airport early so we could have a birthday breakfast there for him.

As I have said before, Mexico is a big place but in terms of the business traveler it is a small world.   On the flight down I got up to use the head and as I passed I heard someone say,  "hi teacher!".   It was an employee from a company I used to teach at and he wasn't even my student.

Coming home in the Monterrey airport I was using the ATM and a quiet voice said, "is that you Chris?"  A woman who worked at the local cigarette factory here maybe 15 years ago.   She is married now with two kids.

Anyway, Toluca was freezing in the morning but warmed up by about 1 p.m.   I was impressed with the city itself.  It is well-organized and the traffic flows smoothly.  Lots of people commute to D.F. and its outlying areas for work everyday.  I guess it is the solution to having your cake and eating it too.   Just too much these days for me.  The more time that passes the less I like the busy lifestyle.   Being home is nice, no people, no noise or traffic.  

The trip home was not uneventful though.   We call this crazy February, "Febrero loco y Marzo otro poco" goes the saying in Spanish.  About 10 minutes out of Monterrey airport the pilot told us to hang on as it would be a rough ride and he wasn't kidding.   He said it was normal for this time of year.   People were clinching the seats in front of them a you could here a few muffled screams.   As we were coming in for the landing and literally over the runway, the plane was moving sideways to the point where I could look out and see the runway in front of us but out the window on the opposite side of the plane.   The nose went up and off we went for another round.   Truly amazing.   The second time we came in hard but safe.

So much for the life of a landlocked boondocker who feels the rubber rotting under his feet.   I think we need a weekend get-a-way.