My Ticket Out of Boring
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006My heart jumped when the phone rang. I knew it would be him. The tension on the line was seeping through the earpiece into my head and lodging itself somewhere in my neck and shoulders where it would surely solidify. Cyril wanted me to take a bus with him from Mexico City to Buenos Aires. I wanted to fly. I could feel my natural tendency to appease start to push me over. Seated comfortably in my bedroom, I wondered what I was getting into, travelling with my French ex. I managed to convince him that bussing down would be a long, grueling trip. “Ok,” he said, “Je t’aime.” I felt the same words teetering on my own tongue but sealed my lips against them.
That was last week. Today I buy the ticket. This afternoon I will be holding in my hand the paper that ties it all together and seals it in and then, on the 5th of January, 2007, I will once again leave my hometown of Boring, Oregon (yes, it’s really the name of the town) to jump blindly into Mexico and South America, willy nilly.
I’m hoping my heart will be tough enough to stand up to this recycled romance. I’m really wishing that my French will help me stumble through Spanish. I’m wondering how my body will do in bus seats. I hope I don’t get sick. I want to find just the right ticket.
I can’t wait to see Argentina.
bonniecaton