A plane hijacking, and how to live in a country less stable than your own

A plane hijacking, and how to live in a country less stable than your own

By Lesley

If you didn’t hear, a group of men hijacked a Aeromexico plane returning from Cancún today. They demanded to speak to President Calderón, or said they’d blow up the plane. The standoff ended peacefully maybe an hour ago, when federal police surrounded the plane and took the men into custody.

No one was harmed, thank god. UPDATE: CNN now says a 44-year-old Bolivian man was solely responsible for the hijacking, believing God was trying to send him a sign because of today’s date, 9-09-09. (Sigh.)

But upon hearing the news — Crayton told me quickly over the phone — I felt… weird. I was walking home from a wine store, and looked around for signs of panic. No one looked any different from any other day.

The dude in front of the Zona Rosa Starbucks was still playing his saxophone, with his lobotomized Strawberry Shortcake piñata set in front of him to collect change. People rushed across the street in front of oncoming cars. A man outside the Plaza Insurgentes said over and over, “Me regalas una moneda. Me regalas una moneda.” (”Give me change. Give me change.”) You know, the usual stuff.

It hit me that human beings are pretty resilient creatures. I wasn’t suddenly tense, or deeply scared about the hijacking, because everyone around me was conducting their normal, daily routine.

Then again, maybe Mexicans are just used to this. We’ve had a string of bad luck this year. Swine flu. Earthquakes. Economic recession. Police officers killed in drug violence. Screaming U.S. State Department Travel Alerts urging Americans to stay away from Chihuahua and Tijuana and Michoacán. And that’s just this year. I’m happy there hasn’t been a peso devaluation, or things would really be in the crapper.

Anyway, this is all just a long way of saying that living here is tough sometimes, in ways that I never thought it would be. I expected the language problems and cultural issues. What I didn’t anticipate was how conflicted I’d feel when things go wrong. I’ve fallen for this country, hard, and it’s a little scary to think that maybe things aren’t as organized here as I’d hoped.

In no way does that mean I want to move back to the U.S. (Sorry, mom.) In a weird way, it’s almost like all this stuff is bringing me and Mexico City closer. She was my heady, beautiful, spazzy crush when I first arrived, and now I’m seeing her realistic side. But I’m still in love. Been thinking lately about taking a beach trip to the Riviera Maya with Crayton in November, and this doesn’t change my plans.

For more details on the hijacking: Check out The New York Times’ coverage, the BBC and, in Spanish, El Universal.

Tags: expat life, turmoil