I went to Mexico for my graduation present from my mom for my senior year in 2010. We were in Puerto Vallarta for ten days at a wonderful resort that had a swim up bar. Because I was eighteen at the time, I was allowed to by alcohol for myself, which I found highly amusing.
One night, mom and I decided to ride the bus down to the Malecón for dinner. We paid the bus driver in pesos, walked along the cobblestone streets and saw many things I hadn't ever seen before.
First thing I noticed was that there were police officers everywhere. Luckily they were really nice and helpful, especially when it was concerning things like crossing the street and giving directions. The second thing I noticed was the trucks that were carting around heavily armed soldiers. That kind of freaked me out. It was even more unnerving when the soldiers stopped and unloaded to get gelato at the place my mom and I had just been. I imagine that my eyes were bugging out of my head when the huge machine guns went bouncing past me.
After looking at sand sculptures and paintings, we made our way over to a restaurant where we ate chips and guacamole. Mom ordered some chicken dish and I ordered the duck. We sipped on our margaritas and smiled because our table was in the sand and we could hear the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing on the beach. The moon was bright in the sky, and the "pirate ship" that circled the bay was floating by.
After we paid, we went back to the army-approved gelato place and got two cups of gelato. Then we wondered up and down the streets, telling the street vendors, "No quiero nada," and "No quiero."
After a while, the buzzed feeling from the margaritas started to wear off and we were getting tired. It was almost eleven o'clock anyways. We made our way back to the bus station and hopped on the blue bus heading back to "the hotels." (That was hand painted onto the windows.)
We paid the driver then sat down waiting for our stop.
The only problem was, unless you wanted to leave, the driver didn't stop. So we passed up the hotel station, and kept going. Past the Starbucks, the super market, and the Sam's Club. All the way until we were out of Puerto Vallarta all together.
Mom and I were a little worried. I figured that the line had to loop back around. But he didn't. For a long time we just drove northeast.
It got really weird when we turned down a road that lead to a dirt road and bus driver turned off all of the lights. Like he was driving a secret agent bus.
By this point I was hot and sweaty, and it wasn't just the humidity.
The bus driver finally looked at us and said, "Where you going, chicas?"
"Um, the hotels?" Mom answered tentatively.
"No. You get off now." Mom looked at me. I looked at her. "You get off here. Wait for azul bus."
"Uh..." Mom stood up, and I followed. What else were we going to do?
"This bus is going to la montaña. The mountain. You wait here. The azul bus going the other way. You get on that. Bye now!" We walked out onto the dirt road. Across the street there were three large men sitting at a folding card table and old benches. They looked at us.
Behind us there were a two story square building with a basement. There was a neon sign that said something in spanish. I had no idea what is said. We stood under a street light that was next to a tree.
Across the street, one of the three guys got up and poked at a low burning grill. He threw on some hamburger patties.
We stood and waited.
And waited some more.
And some more.
I started drawing designs in the dirt with my shoe. I was pretty much convinced that there was never going to be an azul bus. Mom fidgeted.
"Maybe we should walk that way." She looked off to the right down the pitch black road.
"Or... not." The first rule to being found was staying put.
"There is probably a gas station or something. We could get a cab."
"No. There will be a bus." It had been a long time waiting though. I wasn't totally sure, but I needed to sound confident. A couple walked up behind us from the neon-signed squared building. The guy and girl were wrapped around each other like a snake that was constricting a mouse. They went and stood under the tree and made wet kissing noises.
The guy across the street slid the hamburgers onto buns and passed them to the other two guys, then sat down. They popped open some beers and began eating.
By this point, three blue buses and a green bus had gone by without stopping. I was feeling ridiculously nervous that my mom and I were going to starve to death or get eaten by coyotes or be killed by hamburger lovers.
Apparently I wasn't slated to die that day though.
A bus finally rumbled to a stop. Mom and I got on as did the girl who had been getting her face sucked off. I sat down with a sigh and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Never in my life had I been so glad for an old creaky bus.
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