The Mibby Post

Date: February 2nd 2006

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Hey all,
Happy Sunday morning. Here´s a brief submission to the Mibby Post,
-before rumors get out!

Yesterday´s home school lesson for Anna, Lily and Marley was one they
probably would not have received at Calais Elementary. We had finished
our math problems and were half way up a mountain on the edge of town
-climbing rocks, getting weird rashes from this little plant we brushed
against, wondering if Aztec ghosts were testing us as we came closer to
the summit -when out of the brambles stepped two large men, one with a
hankerchief on his face and a very large knife blade glistening in the sun
towards us!!

Only Anna and I saw the knife, so it took a little while before Lily and
Marley realized that we were being robbed. I immediately started emptying
the many pockets on my travel pants (I was headed to immigration after the
walk, so I had passports, credit cards, cash on me). By the time he got
to my travel wallet and backpack, the girls started crying and freaking
out a little bit (as one would expect!) while I was repeating, "It´s O.K.,
It´s O.K." and asking them to sit to the side on a rock and the Bandits
were saying urgently, "Tranquio, Tranquio" to them and "Mas!, Mas!"
(More!) to me. I asked him, "Please not my credit cards and passports!"


Finally, he got about 100.00 U.S. dollars, politely handed back all my
credit cards and my wallet and pack with my passports. He did also look
through my First Aide kit only to take the Swiss Army knife engraved with
my initials that Jimmy Pease gave me 15 years ago (at least it went with a
good story! Sorry Jimmmy). And then he waved us down the hill where we
promptly ran about a mile to the the nearest road!

Ironically, we did give a pretty clear message to a police officer there
-Anna had remembered ¨the word "Robar" (robber) and with Denaro, and a few
pantomimes we told our story. And as one might expect of a low paid,
apathetic Mexican police officer, he nodded in recognition, smiled and
then laughed, and we kept walking.

So I guess the home school lesson is...
If you are in Mexico, don´t go walking in isolated places so near to large
urban centers where you are so vulnerable to attack. But if you do get
held up at knife point, ¨"Tranquio" -remain calm and give the guy your
money!! (then head immediately an outdoor cafe on the Zocalo for Tres
Flan and Una Cervesa!)

So the next time you all get depressed about the latest ice storm, just be
thankful you´re not being robbed by bandits in the Broad heat of the
Southern sun!

Take care all,
Love Matt, Louise, Anna, Lily and Marley