April, 2010

Danger in Mexico
 

When I left San Diego in 2009, many people warned us about the danger in Mexico.  The drug wars.    People being killed.  Overall danger.  Don’t go.  Well, obviously we went anyway.  To date, the most violence we have seen was helicopters hovering above the city when they arrested a drug king in LaPaz.  Other than that, we haven’t seen anything related to drugs or danger. 

However, last night I encountered a dangerous situation.  I was sleeping in the castle/mansion on the plaza in Patzcuaro from the 1700’s.  In the middle of the night, I went downstairs to the water cooler to refill my water bottle.  I was thirsty after sipping some tequila the night before.  OK, more than sipping.  Since it is after the Easter holiday, we were the only guests in the 42 room mansion with 16 foot ceilings, huge 10 foot wooden doors with stone arches and columns.  There wasn’t a single light on anywhere.  The little green light on the TV set was the brightest light on my journey through the upstairs halls, down the stone stairs and on to the grand hall doorway where the water cooler is located. 

So I cautiously crept downstairs so as not to fall on anything, and was in the process of filling my two water bottles when I saw a big black figure in the corner.  Uh oh, it looked like someone watching me.  It was very, very large and dark.  Uh oh . . . my heart started pounding and I didn’t quite know whether to stand quiet or run.  Then I suddenly realized it was a big, black, full suit of armor at the far end of the hall.   Wow, I gave a sigh of relief.

So there it is, my most dangerous situation in Mexico so far.

P.S. After some practical thought, I’ve decided that sidewalks are definitely the most dangerous hazards in Mexico.  I wiped out a couple of weeks ago and fortunately only bruised one knee.  A friend also wiped out and has several pins in her hand.  I was lucky.