(Español versión publicada anteriormente en rojo.)

Route:  Colonia Capultitlan/Industrial  to  Lindavista/Barrio Tepetates

Day 21 - last day, happy and sad...

Introduction

My last day, my last storyteller…

Once again, I ended up walking with one person for the entire afternoon.  He shared his city with me, his life story and, ultimately, his faith, as we stood side by side in the Basilica de Guadalupe, gazing up at that famous image of the Virgin Mary emanating golden rays.  It was the perfect ending to a strange and tumultuous journey.  

Exactly sixty people helped me traverse this city.  We crossed all 29 kilometers, on foot, under the midday sun, across the barriers of culture and language, through good neighborhoods and bad, with a Swine Flu outbreak, torrential downpours, and two earthquakes to boot.  During all this, there was not one unpleasant interaction. Not one perilous moment.  All my companions were gracious and kind.  Even the people who turned me down, were nice about it.

I came here to have a humble, human, intimate experience on the “longest avenue in the world” in the second largest city on the planet, and to trust its citizens to help me journey safely along this route.  I also came here to get to know my southern neighbors and experience a Mexico that is not in the guide books or on the nightly news.  My expectations were exceeded.  The hospitality I have encountered on the crowded streets of Mexico City has renewed my faith in human kindness, in our similarities and the richness of our differences. 

All it took to make this happen was an open hand, extended in trust and friendship.  Perhaps I’ve been lucky, perhaps Mexico City is not so bad as its reputation, or perhaps we all want a chance to share a moment and make a visitor feel welcome in our home.