Arrival
Mexico 2008: Jalisco Journey
CHAPTERS:
2. Tequila
3. El Lago Chapala
4. Guadalajara
5. Guadalajara II
6. Colima
7. Volcano
8. Volcano II
9. Volcano III
10. Volcano - Lakeside Meditation
11. Volcano - Departure
12. Dinner
13. No Smiling
14. Mayahuaral
15. Probably Her Mother
16. A Perfect Island
17. Ceviche in Vallarta
18. This is a Road I Travel Only Once
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I board a bus for Tequila, the birthplace of the famous bebida made
from the blue cactus called "agave." The landscape out the window turns
rocky as we climb from the beach into the foothills of the Sierra Madre
del Sur. The beauty is spoiled for me, however, when the bus's two
television screens flash on and bellow a miserable slapstick Hollywood
film called 'Little Man,' which follows a midget criminal as he fools
an innocent couple into believing he's a baby. I take out Eat, Pray, Love and follow the woman's transition from pure
sensual pleasures in Italy to pure meditation and devotion in India,
but I'm near the back of the bus and as we wind into the hills, I begin
to feel sick. I have to stop reading and look straight ahead, and I'm
drawn into the movie, for which I have, as a guru might say, aversion.
I get up to speak with the driver -- to confirm that he will let me off
in the town of Tequila. "
No, no se puede," he shakes his head. ("I can't"). "This bus is
going to Guadalajara, and it doesn't stop." I argue with him for a
moment, but I hear the foolish errors in my Spanish, and anyway I don't
want to distract him as he takes the hairpin turns. I return to my
seat, feeling imprisoned, feeling like the Wayans brothers onscreen are
my jailkeepers. I gaze into space, and there they are, the words.
Here is Suffering.
May I have no aversion to it,
May I endure it bravely and patiently,
This is a road I travel only once.
I laugh a little, at myself. "Bravely and patiently." The words seem melodramatic. Everything is a problem of perspective.