Aug 11—Chiapas to Mexico City
| Today is the day that I expanded the suitcase! 😱 Blame it on the free coffee gift! Or realistically I just can't repack the same way when my clothes configuration (% clean & dirty; what I'm wearing on the day) changes. I'm hoping that it won't be a problem. On the previous flight no one seemed to look twice at anyone's carryon and there was plenty of room in the overheads. But. But. Butt. Something to learn from travel is that new situations are sometimes going to make an ass outta me. That's also the big obstacle to overcome in language learning, being willing to be foolish, to make mistakes, to accept correction. The US is so big that, for the most part, we can protect ourselves from uneasy situations. I've thought that about the success of chains. We know what to expect. Travel is opening up to the unexpected. I made a fool of myself at the security checkpoint on both domestic flights in Mexico so far. Last time I had excess of water & toothpaste. I was so flustered in a hurry that I didn't keep track of all my things & lost my sunglasses & a couple things fell off my suitcase. I think that I want to put an identifying sticker on it. Here in Chiapas the security went differently than in Cancún. A data set of one is insufficient yet I counted on it. Here they didn't accept my Florida drivers license as ID and asked for my passport. Perfectly reasonable, I'm a citizen of another country. But since they accepted my license as ID before I didn't even have my passport convenient this time. Again, my bags are packed too full—although my host Laura said that I knew how to travel, with only a small bag! She drove me to the airport for 300 pesos. So anyway I had to tell the guard that I didn't understand his long pronouncement & he spoke "your passport" like I was a fool lol which I was in that situation. This time I had plenty of time before my flight so, even with the embarrassment, I'm not stressed. There's comfortable seating here. I'm about to get up for sanitario and a drink.