NEGOTIATING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Saturday I came back to Tequisquiapan, but this time I had to get here on my own. Those who know me, know that I have a bit of anticipatory anxiety around traveling from one place to the other. For example, I always have to get to the airport 2 hours before flight time. So maybe you can imagine the anxiety I experienced around knowing that I would have to call a taxi, get to the right bus terminal, and buy a ticket to the right place --- all in spanish.

Fortunately, Jorge Luis ( the caretaker of the house ) had given me the numbers for good taxis. However, telephone calls are particularly difficult for me to negotiate in spanish. But I called, they understood what I wanted and I understood when she asked between which streets my house was located. The taxi arrived within 10 minutes, I locked the house and we were off to the bus terminal which was a good distance away.

Bus terminals in Mexico are sort of like small airports with several different wings depending on your destination and/or bus line. I got to the right one and from there it was fairly easy to find the counter for Tequis and buy a ticket. And I understood when the agent directed me to the gate where I would find my bus.

Once I was on the bus, I called Ceci to let her know what time I would be arriving and then sat back to enjoy the ride feeling quite proud of myself for having accomplished the whole thing without a hitch. It was really quite a good feeling!

By the way, to give you an idea of the cost of pubic transportation here: my taxi ride cost about $2.00 and the bus ticket was about $3.00.