Last Saturday, May 15th, 2010 I got my first visitor. My older sister Veronica flew in from Pennsylvania for a week to experience a small piece of Mexico. It was her first out of country experience and her first in an airplane. She didn’t seem to be too bothered by the newness of any of it and in the end I think I was more nervous for her than she was. Before her trip I reminded her a million times not to forget her passport and to bring sun block. During the week I was telling her to use the restroom whenever we came across one even if she didn’t need to because restrooms are harder to come by here. And, before I sent her off this morning I got out a check list I had made for her and verified that she had remembered everything. She’s probably relieved to return to her home in the woods where I can no longer smother her. I forget that she’s older than me, has lived by herself for many years and has somehow survived without my constant surveillance. I really wanted this trip to go smoothly so she’d enjoy herself and consider returning again someday.
Saturday evening Fabian drove me to the airport just 30 minutes away. When we arrived I impatiently stood by the exit for the international passengers and watched the updates of the flights on the board posted overhead. I shifted my weight from one leg to the other, paced and fidgeted constantly. I slapped Fabian’s hand away from me for the millionth time as he endearingly pinched my chipmunk cheeks. This is a routine we go through frequently; I move uncontrollably with excess energy as he does all kinds of annoying things to get my attention. I reminded myself how much I missed that when we were separated but continued to chide him for not stopping when I told him to the first time. We are very similar in that manner. I’m sure you would never have guessed this but I too pick at him incessantly even after he’s demanded that I stop. I guess that in some strange way we enjoy bothering each other. (Don't worry, we are still as in love as ever).
Finally, the sliding doors opened and instead of yet another stranger emerging I saw Veronica’s familiar peaceful face. She picked us out of the crowd quickly since there weren’t many other blondes jumping up and down, and waving at her. Fabian leaned over the metal retaining barriers to relieve her of her heavy suitcase while I walked briskly in the same direction as she did so I could meet her at the entrance. She gave me an amazingly strong and long lasting hug which helped me release some of my suppressed emotions through short bursts of tears. I always spend a long time describing the reunions instead of the rest of the week and the goodbyes because it’s the reunions that we spend more time dreaming about, picturing and looking forward to expectantly. Everything that comes after the initial meeting is wonderful and beautiful but that first moment is what sets the stage and many times is what is set in our memory even more vividly than the other moments. Also, I like to cling to the beautiful teary moments instead of the ugly goodbyes that inevitably follow.
Fabian and I chattered away and drilled her about her first experience in an airplane as she insisted she didn’t have any great reactions, or stories to relay to us. This continued the entire week; we/I drilled her and she came up speechless. She never has been a lady of long descriptions and wordy analysis. Obviously in that area we are quite different. I give her detailed descriptions of the most boring moments and she listens intently (that trait comes from mom) or at least does a good job of pretending she’s listening intently (that trait also comes from mom) and I always appreciate it no matter which is the case.
The other thing that happened repeatedly throughout the week was her noticing a new and beautiful plant, bird or rock and turning to me exclaiming, “Oh, look at that!” and then asking, “What is it?!” I would then respond, “Ah, yes, that is beautiful! I see that all over the place but I have no idea what it is.” Poor girl thought she was going to learn all kinds of new facts about the natural things native to Mexico but she must have forgotten that I have not taken a dendrology (tree identification) class and nor do I have any bird, plant or geological identification books. We tried to investigate some of her questions online but mostly came up unsuccessful. I took her to a greenhouse so she would have someone knowledgeable handy to answer her questions but even when the greenhouse lady told me what something was in Spanish all I could do was translate it literally and hope that it had a similar name in English.
While Veronica enjoyed seeing all of the new sites both rustic and modern, I enjoyed going to the touristy town of Ajijic which is on the shore of Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico. Ajijic is just an hour away and is the adopted home to many American and Canadian retirees. Its architecture is beautiful, the town is tranquil and it is an ideal place for an artsy American to escape to; I of course being the artsy expat that I’m referring to. I got a bit jealous of the people that live there and wished I could afford to buy a house and settle there as well. I was shocked to find that they even have a library of English books. The fact that they are in English is less important to me than the fact that they have a library. As soon as I stepped into the library I took a deep breath and enjoyed the scent of pages upon pages of words. I walked slowly between the rows of books letting my fingers touch each one and leaned in close to them to get a better sniff. Books are something that I didn’t learn to appreciate until later in life when I started traveling and realized how rare they can be.
Veronica has concluded that besides being book starved I am also so animal starved that I am dangerous! When we were at the zoo I saw a man walking with a very healthy and sweet looking golden retriever. I stopped the man, asked permission to pet his dog and proceeded to kneel on the ground, hug the dog and rub my face against his. He seemed quite fine with my affection. However, in Ajijic I came across two very healthy and tame looking cats. Oh how I love cats! I tried to mellow my approach for them because I knew they might not be as receptive to my love as the dog but my “mellow” was still too intense for them. The one hissed at me and the other one ran with terror. A few seconds later, Veronica approached the one and picked it up in her arms. I gave her an evil glare but realized that my over eagerness could be frightening to a harmless animal.
Today was the end of my refreshing time with someone that I can trust and who understands me. I drove Veronica to the airport by myself at 4:15 a.m. and put her on the plane. I won’t drag this part out because it’s not the part I like to focus on. Anyway, I was thrilled to have a whole week with her and am now looking forward to my parent’s visit in July (sorry mom, now that I’ve published it you can’t back out).
As always, thanks for your prayers and support!
Love,
Alicia
P.S. The picture of the pink house is to show you that even bright pink can be a charming color for a place of residence! I’ve also included a photo that shows tea time with Veronica; a family tradition of ours.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
-Matthew 6:33 & 34
-Matthew 6:33 & 34
