Babylon and Beyond

Last night I saw Havana lights while flying to Babylon. I was reading Ragtime over a couple screwdrivers, getting excited about the anarchist Emma Goldman. Kyle has a copy on his bookshelf, so when I spotted it in a book exchanged I figured it'd a be a goodie. During Emma Goldman's speech about how socialism and anarchism need to be united worldwide the captain said, "Ladies and gentleman, to your left you'll see the Havana city lights glowing. We'll be arriving shortly in Miami in 20 minutes." Except he said it in Spanish. And all I really caught was Havana, left, Miami and 20 minutes.

I never really wanted to stop off in Babylon, but beggars can't be choosers. Can they? And man o' man, what a joke. I was laughing with a Colombian dude named Miguel - he purifies the water in Bogotá - about how they'll take a retinal scan to ensure we're not terrorists. Being Canadian I had no problems, but others actually had to get all their fingers scanned and a photo of their eyes!! Paranoia, paranoia coming to get ya. My favourate part of the Babylonian airport was the security on segways. What a contrast to where I've been. And then instead of a lady mopping the floor a frail old man drives a zamboni around to buff it up.

While trying to find a bite to eat in the Miami International Airport (which shares the same acronym as Missing In Action), I discovered something about my Spanish. No one could understand my English! So when people don't understand my Spanish it's probably the same problem: theirs. Nah, the real reason is no one in Miami speaks English, just Spanish. No worries though. The only food that was open was a coffee shop or Burger King. I haven't seen that many fat people together in one place in a while.

Did you know that the MIA benches have arm rests? Makes it awkward to sleep on. The elevator music doesn't help either. I felt like I was being drugged to stay happy, but I knew better. The only pause from the music was the lady on the intercom. She'd tell me the time every 15 minutes and reminded me not to bring liquids or gels on the plane.

Currently I'm in the very center of Mexico City. At 5pm tonight I'm going to meet Carlos - a buddy I met in Mendoza, Argentina - and crash at his place. Cool guy, Carlos is.

Alrighty, I'm gonna go kill some time before meeting him. Maybe do something touristy or Mexiano. Like eat an empanada.

written by

ryanmyers on October 14, 2009 from Mexico, Mexico

from the travel blog: Ryan's First Sabbatical

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