Monday, September 16, 2013

The time I almost got kidnapped in Mexico.

I have been wanting to write a blog for the last few days, but nothing has seemed to come naturally, so I've put it off.

Then something happened last night...
Boy, do I have a story for you guys...

So, I have been home alone since Friday. Heidi, Conrad and the kids went to Tucson to buy groceries and I decided to stay behind. The drive is long, the roads are awful, I just figured I would have a relaxing weekend with the house to myself. Daisy, Heidi's sister, lives in town, about a ten minute walk away. We spent a lot of time together over the weekend. We watched movies, talked for hours, played with her little boy, went to church. It was a blast and I am really grateful for the bonding time we had.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous to be home alone at night. I mean, I am an American girl living in a town full of Mexicans. My Spanish isn't that great, I don't have a phone and we live down below town so our only neighbors are Conrad's parents. A friend back home told me, "Don't let anyone know you are home alone!". However, this is a small town. I went to the store Friday morning and the owner asked me, "Are you going to Tucson with Heidi and Conrad?". I didn't know that she knew they were going, let alone that she knew that I might not be going! Needless to say, everyone in town knows I am here alone! The town is very tranquil though. There is no crime, everyone knows everyone, its harmless.

The weekend went great...
Until last night...

It is Independence Day weekend here in Mexico, so last night there was a fiesta in the plaza. Live music, food, raffles, etc. Daisy and I went up and walked around for a little while, it was fun. I came home after, around eleven, and was checking Facebook and chatting with a friend when I heard the dogs barking. I was curious as to why they were barking, but it didn't last long.
Soon after, I heard a knock on the door. Alarmed, I ran into the bathroom, the only room with a lock on the door. I started thinking of any possible reason someone would come to the house at this hour. My only logical conclusion was that someone followed me home from the plaza. I messaged my friend Lindsay saying that someone just knocked on the door. Once she realized that I wasn't joking she told me to FaceTime her. I was sitting in a dark bathroom talking to her, and the knocking hadn't stopped. She could even hear it through the computer and she said, "You need to show them that someone is home! All of the scary movies I've seen show that if they think the house is empty they will break in!" I told her that the TV was on, the lights were on, they had to have known someone was home. Daisy has an iPhone so I knew I could iMessage her over the wifi. I must've sent her six messages in a minute. No reply.
The knocking got louder and sounded like it was coming from the roof or the side of the house. It was becoming more frequent. You can imagine at this point Lindsay and I were both in a panic. She would say something like, "Call Heidi and Conrad!". To which I would reply that I didn't have a phone. Then she told me to call the police, and again I said that I didn't have a phone. She was googling the police in Mexico, asking me for anyone's phone number she could call, trying to add Daisy on Facebook, etc. She told me to go get a knife, but that meant walking by a window where they could see me, so I said no. My heart was pounding and I felt more scared and helpless than I ever have in my entire life.

Then... Daisy texted back. I read her text to myself and quietly said, "Oh my gosh, Lindsay...". I read the text aloud, "I think it is the echo of the fireworks." At the exact same time, Lindsay said, "Are there Independence Day fireworks in town?".

HA! We both immediately started nervously laughing and crying all at the same time. Crying tears of stress relief and joy that I wasn't going to die, and laughing at how ridiculous this whole thing was.

So, I guess the title of this blog should've been, "The time I thought I almost got kidnapped in Mexico". I just wanted to make you guys sweat like we did last night! ;)