Mexico

The Baby Bat

by J

In the back yard of the house, there are different things show up out of no where. Spider web, trash bag, big glass hopper, a piece of plastic that I have no idea what it is for, a big piece of pine tree leaf, and so on…

One day my wife told me there was a bat hanging outside in the morning while I was at work. She said she was so surprised that she forgot to take picture of.

On the next day, while I was watering the back yard, my wife in the house suddenly yelled, “bat!”

I looked at the direction where she was pointing at. It took me some time to recognize the little dark gray creature sticking and crawling on the mosquito net at the door.

I immediately took my cell phone and started filming. Some of you may have seen bat in real life but they are not anything pleasant to look at but I had never seen one so, I was filming as I observed what it does.

I have observed it for some time out of curiosity but at the same time, I was a little scared of the creature. I wanted to go into the house but I was worried that it may fly into the house when I open the mosquito net.

After a while, I realized that the little bat would not go anywhere for some time so I picked a stick to see if it would grab onto it so that I could remove him out of my way. I may have scared the creature, and it has started crawling again on the net. I’ve tried to offer the stick but it just ran away from it.

I looked in the yard and I saw a piece of palm tree leaf with a big dried surface that looked like a scooper. I have grabbed the leaf and glided against the mosquito net so that the little bat would hop onto it or fall onto it.

Bingo! Though unwillingly, it has fell on the leaf. I have hurried to the short bush area of the backyard and placed the leaf on the soil.

The bat has crawled off the leaf, and crawled towards my onion garden. After exploring the area, it has started climbing the wall behind the onion garden.

After climbing the wall to about a foot height, it fell on the ground. It has tried to climb the wall again, and it has climbed to my eye height. Then it has paused and rested for some time but when it started moving again, it slipped and fell on the ground.

I do not know if bat feels pain but it did not move for a moment… but after the moment, it has started climbing the wall again. Then fell again. The little creature has repeated this several times.

I was getting a tired of watching it fall, I went inside the house.

While I was fixing dinner, I still saw the creature on the wall but I saw less movement.

On the next day, I looked out in the backyard, I did not see the bat anymore. I was wondering where it went but after my breakfast, I went out to my onion garden where the bat may have fell again.

After observing the area for some time, I saw the bat hanging upside down at the edge of a plastic pot. I don’t know if I was being too loud or if the sun was too bright but it started moving and hid it’s head under the onion leaf.

Still, I did not think it’s a pleasant creature to look at but I started growing attachment to this little creature… it has round ears that make it look a little like a mouse. It has a sharp little tail. It’s foot have some fingers but hands have a single nail that can be used to hook on the wall…

I did not see what it eats or if it eats anything special but I saw a plenty of leaves and some insects so I thought it can survive just fine in my little onion garden.

I may have been wrong…

When I came back from errands in town, I saw it lying on the onion pot. I did not see it moving… I picked a stick and poked the little bat gently but there was. No response…

I did not know what I should do but I thought maybe it was just dehydrated under the sun so I watered around him but nothing…

I have regretted I should have googled what baby bat feeds on but it was too late. I have removed the body from the pot and placed it on the soil to see if there is any sign of life but I saw none at all. It was already just a little piece of corpse.

I dug a little bit of soil next to the onion garden and buried him. There was nothing else but the his body… I wanted to put something next to his body so that he wouldn’t feel so much loneliness but i could not think of anything he would like.

I wonder… how did he even end up in our backyard? Was he left alone by his parents? Was he a messenger from the great being to me? Anyways, he must have been lonely and scared…

I could have used the technology to search how I could save him but instead, I was using the technology to take video clips of him suffering… too late now but I hope I won’t make the same mistake. Great power comes with great responsibility…

I only wish the onions in my garden has gave him some comfort and cheered him, at least…

Gasoline Replaces Wedding Rings?

by J

Mexico Gasoline Crisis

Maybe it was two years ago, around this time in January or February． It was found that mafia group had been stealing gasoline from the pipeline that distribute gasoline to different parts of the country.

Mexico’s oil industry had been controlled by the government until recently. What the industry does is to produce oil, export it the US, and import gasoline back. I wonder why the government does not invest in the refinery technology more so that Mexico can do a lot more with its resource but it must have its own reasons…

Anyways, what was stolen had been sold in black. Someone must have been getting a lot of profit. To prevent further loss, the government shut the pipeline, and started transporting the gasoline using tank trucks. The problem with tank trucks is that they are inefficient.

Because of the inefficiency, all of the gas stations in the central Mexico ran out of gas. Many cars drove around looking for a gas station that still has gas but many stopped looking, eventually to save what is left in their tank. It was a big hit on Cab and Uber drivers. No gas, no business so, many of them lined up in front of gas stations for hours.

The crisis lasted for a month or two. During the crisis, some people went creative, and came up with those below. These works have been shored with me by my colleague, S.R.

Off the topic, but this guy is one of a kind. He was in Mexican Air Force, parachuting from the sky, and combat on the ground. One time, he drove one of the company vehicle, Mazda 2, got into an accident. I have no idea how it happened but some how, the little Mazda 2 rolled several times to the side, and stuck in the ditch.

The car was completely crashed, and bystanderds thought the driver was seriously injured, or possibly dead. When we received a call, another one of my colleagues rushed to the site, where S.R. was standing by the chunk of metal, without a scar!

Anyways, going back to the gasoline crisis, here are the creative art of the crisis shared by S.R.

People, really, are creative…!

The god of gasoline, Huachicoloyotl

The State Security Force Searching the Clues of Scarce Hydrocarbon Case

Will You Marry Me?

Oaxaca Taxi

by J

It is a story when my wife and I went to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Oaxaca, pronounced as Wa-ha-ka, is located in the south of Mexico, and it is culturally very rich place. There are many crafts in Oaxaca, and my favorite is very colorful Alebrijes. It is wooden craft that are carved by men, and painted by ladies. They represent “Tonas,” the animals in Zapotec calendar, and “Nahuales,” the animals fused with humans. They are your protectors and spiritual guide, and you can find them out based on your date of birth. (sorry, I do not remember which of Tonas and Nauhales are the protectors and the spiritual guide…) They are just like the animals that appear in the movie Coco.

Anyways, we went to Oaxaca because there was an Aikido Gasshuku seminar there. My instructor in Mexico was originally from Oaxaca, and that is why the seminar was held in there.

The seminar was held in far north west of the downtown, where no tourist would go. A long narrow curvy local street extended from the far tip of the downtown, through various local villages and farm land, then to the Gasshuku dojo. The trip from the downtown area is about one hour drive. My wife and I were probably the first Asian persons to step in there… well… except my Aikido instructor’s master, who is a Japanese maestra.

After the morning seminar ended on the first day, I have decided to take my wife to the hotel in downtown. My instructor took us to the taxi stand nearest to the dojo. There, we took a taxi. I took the front seat, and my wife sat in the back. Up to this point, everything seemed fine.

The taxi was Nissan Tsuru, which is a very common car in Mexico. It is so basic that you would realize how much unnecessary things cars nowadays are equipped with once you drive this car, but we’ll talk about it some other time…

The driver was very fascinated to drive two Gaijins. Yes, we were a total strangers to him. I do not remember much about what we talked but he was very curious about us.

Through the narrow street, the taxi curved left and rights, and up and down.

After about five minutes of the ride, the taxi suddenly parked at the side of the narrow street. A young lady opened the taxi door and sat next to my wife. She may have said “hola” or something but that was it. Then the driver started driving again. I was thinking that she maybe the driver’s wife or a relative.

After another five minutes or so, the taxi stopped and parked again. While I was expecting the passenger in the back may get off, she skewed towards my wife! Then, I heard someone opening the door in the back. A skinny boy came in and took the seat.

By then, I understood that the taxi was a shared ride. Two persons in the front, the taxi driver and myself, and three passengers in the back. Reasonable, and environmentally friendly, I thought.

The taxi took off again, and as I was wondering if we would be splitting the fare or if there is a set fare for each person, the taxi slowed down… I started having a bad feeling… how can we fit another person?

It is amazing how many people you can fit in a car! Four persons in the back now! I had to look at my wife to make sure she is still okay. Good thing that everyone in the back was skinny.

I told myself, okay, just another 10-15min or so, then we’ll get off the car and transfer to the taxi to downtown. By the way, there are area limits where taxi can go in Oaxaca. The Aikido dojo is outside the city limit where the taxi from and to downtown can reach, and the taxi that we were riding could not enter downtown.

Soon after the fourth person took the seat in the back, I saw a lady waving at us. She was probably twice as large as I was, side ways. There was no way she could fit in the car. I expected the taxi driver to pass on her. How naïve was I…

The driver stopped in front of her. Nope, can’t fit any more person in the back…

I thought she would give up. Again, wrong…

She opened the front door, where I was seated. Somehow, she pushed me towards the center console of the tiny Tsuru, I supported my butt on one foot, and she some how was seated.

Now I think about it, I do not know how that was possible but some how, three people fit in the front seat!

The good thing was there was no more person got in the taxi, and the ride lasted only about 5 minutes.

The fare? it was MXN10 (about USD 0.5) per person.

It was an interesting experience, which has become part of a good memory of us but since the second time on in Oaxaca, we decided to rent a car. I do not know about now but back then, there was no Uber so we figured it is better to rent a car.

Before ending this article, let me introduce just a little more about the place, simply because my wife and I love the place. If you get to go to Oaxaca, be sure to check out, like pottery called Barro Negro, textile called Zapotec Weaving, Monte Alban Pyramid, and frozen (so it looks…) waterfall called Hierve el Agua. I like the festive feeling of the downtown area, and the food too. Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to visit the beach in Oaxaca but I have heard it is quite something too… Anyways, Oaxaca is “the place” that I would recommend people to visit in Mexico!