The trip that became neverending

Mexico City airport – youhuuuu, we finally step on Mexican land!!
After the emotions of the passport checking – Mexican authourities can be very, very, veeeeryyyyyy tough, came the medical control for AG. I could barely speak or breathe, and after a set of questions and some tests, I was diagnosed with the boring “common influenza”, recommended the local version of Paracetamol, and applied a mask on my face, “to protect myself and the ones around me”.

The big surprise in Mexico City was not the astonishing look and attitude of the Mexican people – believe me, this place is like another planet to us, Europeans, and we’re not even Western Europeans! -, nor the charming chaos that joyfully rules the life in this part of the world. It was the rain. Thunderstorm. Huge drops. Lightning. Big clouds with loads of water that never stop pouring. I was admiring it when we got on the plane, I liked the strong character of the storm, but it only lasted until we were told that the flight was being delayed by 50 minutes because of the rain. After one hour, a new delay of 1.5 hours was announced. And after that, we were kindly evacuated from the plane and advised to stay in the airport until further notice. The further notice never came, nobody knew what was going to happen, and eventually a friendly but yet annoying voice announced that the airport was to be closed for a few hours because of the bad weather conditions and that we have to take our luggage, check out, then check in again for another flight the next day. Oh, that sure was an adventure! It culminated in the 4-hours waiting in the amusement park called “line to reschedule for the next flight”, and then in finding a place to sleep during the rest of the 9 hours that remained until we were supposed to leave again. Luckily, I was equipped with some mountaineering clothes and accessories, which saved our night once again. The places to sleep varied from a space on the floor next to the check-in offices, from where a “Federal” gently asked us to leave right when we started to dream of the warm Monterrey, to a small area under a desk, where people came in the morning to ask questions about local flights. We must have looked very cool, dressed up with 3 sweaters and 2 jackets, headbands, covered in the sleeping bag and using the luggage as a fence for our shelter. It surely was a good moment to learn and practice survival techniques in airportsJ

The next day at 14.00 we finally got on the plane, flew to and landed in Monterrey without any adventures. There, one of our new Mexican friend offered us a warm welcome which he had patiently but unsuccessfully practised for 2 hours the previous evening.
We then arrived to another friend who is still hosting us, unpacked and went out to have the first delicious Mexican meal. Even though we stayed on the safe side trying to avoid the strong spices, the tacos were still a delight to our taste buds.
Yummyyy, finally safe, sound and happy in Monterrey, surrounded by great mountains and lovely people!