(P) Mexico 1983

Mexico

I arrived at about 10 pm in Mexico city  at the address of the sister of Luis Rodriguez (called Myrna). I remember looking up and her looking down at me shouting something in Spanish. This was the first real test of my Spanish skills I had been dreading it -she and her boyfriend Fernando spoke so rapidly I couldn’t keep up!

Anyway, the next few days were spent being shown around the sights of Mexico City and then we made our way to Yucatan on a 24 hour bus ride.

We arrived in Merida and were picked up by Myrna and her friend Maria Acevedo who drove us both to the house in Valladolid –a two hour drive. Maria had a Volkswagen Beetle. I was in the back and was alarmed by the speed at which Maria drove! Her head seemed to be turned at almost ninety degrees for most of the journey in order to carry on her  conversation with Myrna.It was bloody hot and both windows were down and the two of them shouted away at each other.! I hadn’t a clue what they were saying. Later on, Maria was to tell me that they referred to me rather unflatteringly as ‘Cara de changla’ which means “Face like a flip-flop” in Spanish!

I was pretty much ignored for the journey as the girls caught up on their gossip.

We arrived at Valladolid and Dona Zoila (Luis’ mother ) greeted me and treated me royally..  I was constantly supplied with food of every possible type. Luis was still in England –finishing his Masters Degree.

I passed a very pleasant week or so practising my Spanish and settling in. My daily routine was as follows:

A long lingering breakfast –practising speaking my Spanish with the family Rodriguez. This was followed by a short nap in the hammock to recover from the mental effort. It was boiling hot!

Then I would read the newspaper for an hour or so. This necessitated another nap!

Then lunch, which was followed by watching television for an hour or so. This necessitated another nap!

In the second week in the evenings Myrna’s sister, Zoila, and Myrna’s friend, Maria started to arrive to take me out to the Plaza for a coffee or soft drink. I think they felt sorry for me –as I was struggling with the language. Other nights we would stay in at Dona Zoila’s and play cards. I found these evenings increasingly enjoyable and I soon began to realise that I found Myrna's friend Maria particularly attractive . Physically, she was very pretty, but I liked her quick and easy smile. She also had a great sense of humour and we all spent a lot of the time laughing together – even though  I couldn’t follow the conversation most of the time!

After about a month my Spanish was beginning to improve and I was feeling pretty good about things. There was no sign of Luis yet. Although I thought I was getting on well  with the girls unbeknownst to me, I was not so popular with Don Luis-Luis’s Father. Don Luis was a fairly gruff character who was friendly enough but more distant than the others. In the afternoon he would lie down on the lounge floor spreadeagled like a cross and go to sleep.

He drank a lot and one day after I had been there for about a month, he got drunk and had a go at me. Of course I couldn’t understand a word he was saying –but I got the gist of it –that I was overstaying my welcome in the house. At this, the girls sprang into action and found a place for me to stay with a friend of theirs – the Dentist Ernesto!

Ernesto was a debonair young dentist who seemed to be very popular with the girls-except for Maria –for some reason. Anyway, he was very decent to me allowing me to stay in his little bungalow and sleep in his hammock.

Cuba

I am getting a little ahead of myself. Before the incident with Don Luis, I received a surprise invitation from Myrna, Zoila, Maria and another friend of theirs called Rosaura. They asked me to go to Cuba on holiday with them!

I think they didn’t expect me to agree! At least that is what Maria says now. I loved the idea and arranged to have my savings sent out to Mexico to pay for the trip!

For me Cuba will always have a special place in my heart-because that is where I fell in love with Maria. I can remember the exact place–it was at the Tropicana theatre!

The rest of the holiday in Cuba passed like a dream. On the island we met one of Myrna’s friends who invited us to his father’s home for dinner. Because I was Irish– potatoes had been cooked in my honour. He claimed to have rolled into Havana with Fidel Castro in 1959.

The beaches were white and pristine and the water turquoise. We swam and ate and courted till our hearts were content.

We returned to Mexico and events proceeded at a fast pace. Exactly five weeks after my arrival in Mexico I asked Maria if she would Maria me.

The rest is history!

I sent a letter to Mum and Dad with a photo of Maria. They later told me they were stunned by the news.  But I know they were pleased and excited because they had begun to think I was never going to get married!

Returning to Mexico I moved into Ernesto’s house and my Spanish improved rapidly. I would write letters in Spanish  to Maria while she was at work and she would read them when she came home. My writing was better than my speaking at this time.

Thinking through things with Maria we decided to go to Veracruz for Christmas to meet Maria’s Mum-Gloria. Before that we both fell ill with typhoid fever and had to have a dozen painful injections in our bum to get rid of it. Apart from this time passed for me  in a blur of excitement. The evenings when Maria came home from work were passed very pleasurably in the plaza drinking coffee and fruit juice.

Doesn’t sound like much fun –does it?

Well it was–it was the happiest time of my life. Like a fairytale.

I remember the trip to Veracruz took 24 hours by bus. I had eaten something that was ‘Off” and I had to stop the bus, get off and throw up. I actually fainted and passed out momentarily beside the bus. Maria was there to nurse me. By the time we reached Veracruz I looked and felt awful! I was introduced to Maria’s mother and it seemed to go well.she was so welcoming and I was very relieved. The next day I revealed to my future mother-in-law my plans for her daughter:  that I was going to take Maria away with me to Ireland and from there apply for jobs in Africa. Gloria must have been very surprised and saddened by this news, but said nothing at the time. What she must have thought I cannot imagine-but she was very gracious indeed. I only hope one of my own children doesn’t do the same to me someday!

We had a good time meeting Maria’s friends and relatives, and going to the ‘Malecon’ to look at the ships and going to the beach and to the cinema

We went back to Valladolid in Yucatan and started to make plans for the wedding which was to be in a registry office in Veracruz.

The Wedding in Veracruz

We spent a lot of time in Veracruz going to the movies and getting the paperwork in order for the wedding. The day before the wedding Maria and I had to go to the registry office for a rehearsal. I had to bring the ring and the witnesses. When the rehearsal was over and just as we were leaving the official who was conducting the rehearsal said to me

“ Senor, quizas manana estaremos en huelga”

Which, roughly translated, means “ Sir, we may be on strike tomorrow”

“ But” I gasped, we have booked our flight to Chihuahua after the reception tomorrow, Senor, what do you advise us to do?

“Mejor se casan ahorita!”

Which means “ You’d better get married now!” He said.

So we did! – we were both in our shorts and flip-flops and we did not even have a camera!

The next day of course there was no strike. We hadn’t told the guests that we had been married the day before, and all the guests came and watched us ‘pretend’ to sign the register. (If we had told them we were married on the previous day we were afraid they wouldn’t turn up!)

We had a small reception at Gloria’s house and then we went on our honeymoon to Chihuahua. From Chihuahua we took the train through the copper canyon to the coast at Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. It was a beautiful part of Mexico.

Returning to Veracruz we booked our ticket to Belfast and sent our belongings by ship to Belfast. We had decided that I could only get a job with any money based in Belfast.

The box for our things was constructed by Maria’s cousin in the upstairs room of Gloria’s apartment. This was fine except that the box was so big we couldn’t get it out of the door down the stairs! In the end we had to lift the box over the balcony and lower it down onto the busy street with a rope. The passers by were curious and I took photos which I think I have now mislaid.

In April 1983 we flew to Belfast.

We were greeted at the door in Dundonald by my Dad in his dressing gown at the door around midnight!!