After enjoying the cool air of the high elevation of central Mexico, we have made it to the southern end of the state of Oaxaca. Back at sea level, we are feeling the heat and humidity.
We had an incredible stay at a small mezclaría, the brand of which we tried back in Todos Santos. We stayed with a variety of Warm Showers hosts who made us feel welcome in the bike touring community in Mexico. We met some other bike tourers heading to Argentina. We did some super fun mountain riding, winding up and down the volcanic terrain in central Mexico. And we found ourselves too tired and disorganized to leave the city of Oaxaca often just a few hours at bike shops and instead chose to stay the night in the city, where we had some of the best cauliflower wings we have ever had.
Now, we are less than 500 km from the border with Guatemala, and we are feeling excited and anxious to cross into another country.
The border with Guatemala feels especially near, because we have passed hundreds and hundreds of people walking along the road in the opposite direction of us; all people trying to get to the United States. We stop and talk to a few of them, and wish good luck and a good journey to all that we pass. Most the people we talk to are looking for work, hoping to make enough money to send back to their families and save for a house in their home country. Other people are fleeing hyperinflation or other problems in their country, many people have children with them. Some people do not speak any Spanish or English; they flew to Central America, likely Nicaragua because there aren’t many regulations for entering/exiting the county, and our now making the journey towards the US through Mexico. All of the people we have talked to have walked some or most of the journey including the Darian Gap for those who came from South America, and all have said that Mexico is the most difficult country to cross.
It has been hard to face the reality of humanity in these situations, and likewise it is hard to face our privilege as we ride our colorful bike to vacation in the countries in which many of these people have left on an incredibly dangerous journey to find work in our country. When we stop and talk with someone we try and share a little food and water, but the amount that we choose to give away is small as we try to stay within our means. Every time we choose to buy a snack for someone, we ask ourselves where our line is for what we are willing to give. Usually if someone asks us for money we say no, usually if we stop to talk to a large group of people we don’t give away anything because we can’t afford to give something to everyone. But often if we are having a snack break and we spend the duration of ten minutes talking to one or two people, we’ll buy them some food or water before we go on our way. It feels arbitrary to make these decisions when there are so many people who need help and we have so relatively much, but we are choosing to continue our trip, to not give everything away, to try and be kind and graceful as we listen to many of these people’s stories.
It has been ideologically uncomfortable to ride past so many people on this arduous journey north as we somewhat leisurely trek south. We are learning to accept this discomfort, and hopefully learn from it as we try to realize not to squander our privilege in ignorance.