SAYULITA
For the Love of Mexico
White Chedda
Chapter 5
El Camino de Buenas Ondas
Here we go!
Today is the day.
I will officially start with my feet in the Pacific. Look out west over that vastness beyond and enjoy one last view of the ocean side mountains crashing into the coast in my favorite city on Earth. Vallarta. I’ll miss you my love.
About Face!
Turn 180 degrees.
Face East.
Face my destiny.
Today all my dialogues shift.
My mental state shifts.
It turns to complete Spanish.
My brain does not work to translate anymore. It flows both languages without a second thought. And that is good. I will need that. I had a chance to use my mother tongue to give you my soul in this text. Now I will curl my double rr’s, not pronounce my h’s, h-ify my j´s and twist my
tongue to connect with Mexico.
But I don’t know how to say ‘twist’ in spanish.
There is much to learn.
We tend to be compassionate to those who make themselves vulnerable. That is me. I will be in dire need of compassion and that is how we find our story.
A great one to tell. About how people are.
How Mexican people are.
As I walk, my identity adapts to be more present.
There is White Chedda, the symbol. That is an idea. A dream. That is not present. That exists in some
ether between dream and future.
But this new focus is on Kirk. A man.
Or a puppy. I think we still have not decided,
which DNA strand runs stronger.
Needs. Desires. Hopes. Fears.
Living. Breathing. Struggling.
Cherishing. Bowing.
God is here. And she is smiling.
How will I present myself to the
people I meet on my walk?
That is an important element of the success of this journey, because connection is my new currency. The stories of kindness reaching past race or heritage.
Now, that is all that is left to show. And I will do my absolute best to paint those pictures.
This isn’t a trip with an iPhone. In fact I want to have as little of value on me as possible. This is a trip where writing is the window to experience. My challenge is to tap into something deep inside of you. Your imagination. Your instinct. To call to it like a Siren from the sea.
And see if it finds the same beauty that I found
in living the experience.
I designed an interaction flow.
A potentially common exchange
when meeting someone on the walk.
What are you doing?
¿Que haces?
I am walking across Mexico. From the Pacific to the Gulf. Estoy caminando Mexico. Desde el Pacifico hasta el Golfo.
Why?
¿Porqué?
I am writing a book.
Estoy escribiendo un libro.
What is the book about?
¿Cual es el tema de tu libro?
That Mexico is Awesome (Magnificent)
And that the people are wonderful and kind.
Que Mexico es magnifico y su gente es muy amable
Quiero recordar la gente en mi país que todos somos hermanos. Y que el mundo es bueno.
Ya! Con este.
I’ve done a lot of sales in my life. Even towel to towel poetry sales. Which might be one of the toughest sells on Earth. But that there, that is my pitch to the people of Mexico. Short and sweet. They don’t need to know about riQueZo or #CheddHeads in the first minute.
That comes around the dinner table.
They need to know that I am walking because
I love their country and I love the people.
And that I want to share that perspective
with my fellow countrymen.
Can’t break down barriers any better than that.
What’s the response going to look like?
The most common one will be a moment of silence, followed by a slight or not so slight head nod with a slowly growing smile that can’t contain itself from sliding out of the corner of the boca.
Orale.
Y vas caminando toda esta distancia?
Si!
Ocupas algo?
Solo tu bendición realmente.
Y que ores por mi en este viaje.
Claro que si. Que Diós te protege.
¿Seguro que no necesitas algo?
Pues si ustedes tienen una botella de agua, no voy a decir no porque ando sudando como un puerco
Claro!
Ustedes saben si esta ruta que viene
es muy montañosa?
and so on and so forth.
That's how you make a friend.
Of course not all exchanges fit an archetype. But many do. You have to be able to improvise and luckily, that’s also something I have put to practice in my life. Reading the situation and going with the flow.
In the world there are many pilgrimages of old. Paths that saints and sinners forged when walking was
the most relevant way to travel.
That is what we are doing here. Forging a way.
A Pilgrimage with purpose.
The walk is a metaphor.
Something big to dream.
And what will this path be called?
El Camino de Buenas Ondas.
The Good Vibes Walk
Pray for me today.
I love you.
X
