After packing my bag and drinking a pineapple smoothie, I took a colectivo (group taxi van) westward across the river to the slightly-larger city of Tuxtla, where I bought a ticket for an eastbound bus to the larger-than-Chiapa-de-Corzo-but-smaller-than-Tuxtla city of San Cristobal. The colectivo was slower than I anticipated, so I ended up having to wait at the bus station for about an hour, during which I called a friend and explored a nearby mall. I found a bookstore (coincidentally named after the greatest philosopher of all time) and also got some Chinese food for the first time since leaving Madison. Apparently, in Spanish, chow mien is just called ‘spaghetti’, which had me very confused.
The bus ride to San Cristobal took about an hour and a half, during which I slept and looked out the window. Upon arrival I checked into my hotel, then went back to an art gallery/used bookstore which I had passed on my walk from the bus terminal to the hotel (in total I ended today with six new books, all in Spanish*).
In the evening, I met up with a girl who I had been messaging on Tinder/WhatsApp and we walked around the city. San Cristobal is much more tourist-oriented than either Chiapas or Tuxtla, and there are many streets which are closed to traffic, full of performers, vendors, and restaurants. It reminded me a bit of Madison (this is also the coldest I have been while in Mexico; San Cristobal is high up in the mountains). It was fun to spend time with someone my age and practice some Spanish, but we didn’t have a ton of chemistry. There seems to be is a very specific type of girl I attract, and this one fit the pattern. She was very fun, but insecure. A bit crazy, and looking for someone who can bring stability and reassurance. (I’m realizing here that I don’t normally write about people [partly a privacy thing, partly because I don’t talk to many] and I don’t feel as comfortable doing so). I did have a good time so I might try to see her again, but not romantically, which seems to be her interest.
*The books are: Pedro Paramo, the Popol Vuh, Pedagogy and Imperatives of the Times, Imperialism and Universities in Latin America, Globalization and the End of History, and Political Migration and the Rights of the Migrants in Mexico (I also just realized I’ve been neglecting footnotes since my arrival. That ends today. Get ready for more and longer tangents).
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