two months later i´m back in tapachula, mexico, a biggish city about 30 minutes from the pacific coast. last time i was here to renew my guatemalan visa (obligatorily exiting the country); this time it´s to get away, briefly, from my sleepy little life building benches and bookshelves up in the hills of motozintla. the heat here in tapachula is nicaraguan, but luckily the beers are not. the main draw is the movie theatre, where i´ll head in a couple hours.
being here reminds me of a conversation i had with a honduran fellow when i crossed the border back into guatemala two months ago. i had showed him where the immigration office was, and then a few minutes later he fell in step with me as we crossed the long bridge into guatemala. he was about 45 years old, weathered and crumpled, maybe a little drunk. he asked me where i was from and then told me that he himself was just returning from the united states. how long did you live there? 14 years. in what part? tennessee.
i commented that he probably spoke good english after so much time, to which he replied in barely recognizable english that yes, he spoke some. i can´t remember exactly, but i think he had been working in roofing, which to me is the more punishing possible job. and to make matters worth, every time he climbed down that ladder and set foot on the ground, he was touching down on tennessee soil.
so the fellow´s second or third question was if i have a girlfriend, and when i said nope, i don´t, he asks why not. ya know, i´ve been traveling a lot in the last few months, i tell him. he explains to me that i am afraid of women. huh! instant diagnosis in the thick border heat. in a paternal tone, he explained that talking to latina women is easy, it´s really no different than talking to gringas: you just say "hey, beautiful, hey gorgeous." i think "mamacita" was another good option. and the real problem with american women, said my border companion, is that they are crazy. he twisted his face and mock-whined, "child support, police, child support, police!" a moment later we reached the guatemalan immigration booth and parted ways.
