It was the winter of 2013 and it was the last day of school before Christmas break, the weather was cold and grey as usual this time of year. I was excited for Christmas break but mostly nervous because my dad and I planned a trip to Mexico for the next two weeks. I had never been to Mexico or even thought of going because it was unfamiliar to me even though my whole family was from there.
As a ten-year-old my view on Mexico wasn't bad or good, I couldn't judge since I have never been, but I'm not going to lie and say I was thrilled because I thought it would be really different. The day finally came for us to leave, my mom drove us to the bus station, yes, we were taking a bus instead of a plain because my dad wanted me to experience all of the Mexican cities on our way there. We got to the bus station and said bye to my mom. “Cuídate hija te quiero mucho”, - my mom said, which meant ‘Take care I love you so much’. I gave her a kiss and got on the bus with my dad. I could tell my dad was excited for me to finally go to the place where he grew up in and finally experience it.
It was around four in the afternoon when we boarded the bus and this ride would take about nineteen hours, twenty-one if you include the stops and the switching of buses at the border. On our way there we were crossing the cities in Texas. I wasn't so excited, I had already seen most of the South Texas cities since my dad was an eighteen-wheeler driver, and I've had been on the road with him a couple times. I feel tapping on my shoulders and a voice saying “wake up”. It was my dad. “What time is it?”, - I ask. “It's one in the morning, were about to cross the border to Mexico and I need you to get ready, because we’re going to switch onto another bus”, - my dad responded. I couldn't believe I fell asleep for eight hours but at least I was finally going to see Mexico and see why my dad has been so excited this whole time. We load off the bus and they check our luggage and ask us questions like: “Why are you going to Mexico?”, “Are you a US citizen?”. As a ten-year-old I didn't know it was a big deal going into another country, so of course I panicked. Luckily, my dad had my back so they let us board on to the other bus taking us to Mexico City.
As the bus started crossing the border, I said something that is so funny to me till this day, “Dad this doesn't look any different from Texas”. “Well honey that's because we just crossed a border that separates the United States and Mexico like 10 feet”, - my dad said sarcastically. My dad proceeded to tell me that we still had eleven more hours to go to get to the actual city of Mexico. I groaned in boredom and planned to take another long nap on the bus until we got there. Once again, I woke up only this time it was during the day, I had no idea where we were but I looked outside the bus window and it was so beautiful. All you could see covering the land was really big grassy hills which in Mexico are commonly known as ‘Cerros’. On top of those hills were really amazing designed buildings. They had their own uniqueness and were very colorful, I had never seen anything like it before. A few minutes later the bus driver announced that we were a few minutes from the bus terminal and to get our stuff together so we could be ready.
My palms were sweaty, but because now I’m full with excitement to experience another country that I’ve never been to. My dad and I get off the bus and immediately the smell of food hits me. It was Christmas time so around every corner of the bus terminal were hard working people selling food. My dad calls the person who was going to pick us up from the bus terminal and says it was going to be a few minutes before he got there, immediately I asked my dad if we could go to one of the food stands because the food looked so good. He says “yes”, and we walk up to the stand and order something. Since it was Christmas time, the only thing they had was tamales and ‘champurrado’, so that's what we got. As I took the first bite it was so delicious, it was full of flavor and you could tell everything was made from scratch, it was better than any Mexican food I had tried back home.
The guy finally picked us up and I stood there while my dad greeted him, my dad told me to say hi because that was my cousin, I was surprised not going to lie because the only family I’ve ever met were two of my uncles and two of my cousins that lived back in Dallas. Growing up, I always thought I didn't have much family because I never saw anyone. I was really happy to know I had a cousin here in Mexico and it probably meant I had more family here to. He drove us to a house where we would be staying and it turns out it was one of my aunt’s houses. As I walk in many people come up to my dad and I and start greeting us and hugging us, I was very confused because I didn't know who they were, but of course it was more family. Everyone was so welcoming and I felt at home right away.
The next day I woke up to the sound of a rooster making noise, which I thought only happened in movies but I was excited because it was Christmas Eve. My family was woken up already making food for tonight because Mexicans usually celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and stay up until twelve in the morning for Christmas. I went to the kitchen to help make the food, and making the food my dad grew up with just gave me a view on how his childhood was. As the day continued it was eventually night time and my aunt said we were going to another one of my aunt’s houses to celebrate there, all I could think about was how big my family could get. We hopped on a ‘microbus’ which is a very popular form of transportation in the city of Mexico and drove to another city. On our way there I was looking outside the window of the bus and it was so beautiful, kids playing on the street, colorful lights filling the city, music blasting, fireworks in the air, and the famous statue of baby Jesus with the Virgin Mary in front of every house we passed. It was like a whole different world to me; people were full of joy and excitement.
When we got off the bus, my dad said “Guess what the name of this city is”. “I don’t know I've only been here a day”, - I said laughing. My dad proceeded to tell me that the name of the city was ‘Neza’, I gasped in joy because that was my name and I couldn't believe I was named after a city in Mexico. My dad told me that he grew up in that city and that it was very special to him, that's why he decided to name me Neza, after he told me that I felt more connected to my dad than ever. We start walking into a very large house, and as we walk in, I see about fifty people in that house, I felt very overwhelmed because I’ve never seen that many people in one place alone. My dad told me everyone there was related to me in some way. “See you have family”, - he said with a big smile. As the night went by, I met some of my cousins, we played out in the streets the whole night until it was time to eat. We ate and then the clock finally struck twelve, my cousins and I opened our presents, and all I could think about was how blessed I was to have such a wonderful family by my side.
Christmas finally passed and after that we spent the rest of the trip going to different places in Mexico City. I got to go to one of the biggest fairs there, to the famous Aztec pyramids, and many more places. The last day of the trip came and I was very sad it was time to go, I got attached to my family really fast, and it was hard having to let go. My perspective on Mexico definitely changed at the end of this trip, I got to learn more about my culture and my family history in just two weeks. As I got on the bus, all I could think about was how I wanted to go back again already because this trip was something I could never forget.