12:20 pm
wake-up call grâce à sergio
les routardes think alike:
there are curtains on the wall
there is a window in our room
windows let light in
so when the sun rises
there will be light in our room
oui mais...
at motel leon windows can open onto hallways
so there will be no light no matter when
la preuve:
we're in love with this city
and this guy's in love with marie
ce n'est qu'un au revoir
and we walked back to united states
la frontière
where do we begin?
after a long wait in line for pedestrians, still with sergio
we greeted a US Customs Border Control Officer, henceforth known as "le connard"
*we'd like to reassert that we had no troubles in mexico until we walked back to amérique and encountered this man*
he looked a little like this...
armed with our passports, how could anything go wrong?
but dear connard thought otherwise
"Why is there no stamp here?" le connard
"Er, I don't know...." mdv
"There is a stamp on this ladies paper and in your own passport. Why is there no stamp here? le connard
"Er, I don't know..."mdv
"Noone gave her one" gp
General confusion, arguments, translation, interruptions and even a hand in Justine's face ensued concerning the whereabouts of the stamp.
Then connard realises something.
"This is a copy. This is not the original J-1 visa. You see how there's no border here. This is a photocopy. You're here illegally"
"Yes" mdv
"Plus. it's signed. This is fraud."
Oh Marie.....
And so, the routardes realise, marie is in a pickle. Her original paper is in the car in United States. Geraldine is sent over the border with a ten minute time limit to find the real visa.
"If that girl doesn't get back here in ten minutes, I'm going to cancel your visa."
"But she doesn't understand." jr
"Do... you... understand...STUCK IN MEXICO?" le connard
"Yes yes yes" mdv
And so, the routardes receive the third citation of their voyage. Under reasons: "Possible fraud".
Meanwhile, Geraldine runs across the border in an attempt to save the day. The ten minute limit dangerously threatened by the fact that she has no idea where we parked Hugo, is weighed down by a baby blue mini guitar and a plastic bag full of tequila and the night has fallen all too quickly. The sight of Hugo in the distance was the definition of relief. She tears apart the car, finds le classeur rose with the original paper and races back into mexico to meet another CBP officer.
"I'm looking for my friends. I need to give them a paper" gp
"Oh, they've been locked up." connard no 2. Apparently, some CBP officers think it's OK to joke.
Miraculously, one CBP officer understands Marie.
"Oh, you were trying to help us, but actually made it harder on yourself." Voila.
So les routardes walked free - or so we thought.
"Where are you girls going." connard no 1
"Errrrrr" les routardes
"You need to see buena ventura." Buena ventura is connard no 3
Again we recount our story. He doesn't understand and manages to find new discrepancies on marie's papers. He calls on connard no 4.
"That's not your problem. What IS your problem is that your program director has not signed this form to give you permission
to travel."
(connard no 3 asks for marie's fingerprints. marie grabs the whole fingerprint machine with her hand. this is indescribably funny.)
"but geraldine has exactly the same form" jr
"well she shouldn't be going anywhere either. let me see your forms." connard no 4
bien fait justine
connard no 4 to connard no 3 "this is a DPS" (begins to type and nod)
Are the routardes STUCK IN MEXICO? They don't know.
Connard no 4 tries to bond with geraldine over england and his family's castle in Warwick. we take this as meaning we're free to go.
we return to hugo etourdies par la longue nuit.
miles north in the OC
les routardes finally stumble into a campsite
and pick a site completely à l'hasard
it takes them several minutes to realize:
FUEGO awaited!
for those of you who don't know,
marie has wanted to make a fire since we left canoe island
(specifically on the beach but the fear of more citations loomed)
so on her last night in united states,
fuego found her, ready for us to whip out the s'more materials stored in hugo since santa cruz
as you all know,
fire requires 3 essential elements:
1. Heat
2. Oxygen
3. Fuel
& the OC is lacking in #3
