Episode 52

Viva México, I Have to Pee

I end up in a World Cup celebration unlike anything I've ever experienced, get spectacularly lost wandering Mexico City after my phone dies, and share audio dispatches from a 20-year-old German hitchhiking across the US with almost no money. Plus: the Mexican national anthem is secretly a death threat, every guy Jonathan meets in Texas has done time, a thunderclap broke a seismograph, and a little discomfort goes a long way.

Follow Jonathan Wiest's journey hitchhiking across the United States on Instagram @jonathqn.w

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Thank you for listening, please do it again, but walk in a straight line.

Onefjef is produced, edited & hosted by Jef Taylor.

Transcript
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This is episode 51 of onefjef

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51. 51.

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51. That's the one.

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51. Look what it's done.

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Half 100 plus one more

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This is also CDMX Dispatch number 10, but I've decided to make this

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a full regular episode because it's chock-full of top choice content.

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Chock-full, my friends.

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So stay tuned.

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Don't change that dial.

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Don't turn that dial.

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That's what it is.

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And I hope you all are thriving.

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I hope you all are relaxed, comfortable, perhaps doing some

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yard work, perhaps driving in your car, perhaps taking a walk.

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Whatever it is you're doing, I hope that it's pleasant and that you are relaxed.

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If you're not relaxed, take a deep breath in

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Hold it and let it go

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See?

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Now you feel better.

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Moving on.

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Quick show note.

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In the last episode of the podcast, I said, quote, "It's ridiculous to

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describe things you experience," unquote

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And that's a ridiculous thing for me to say considering much of this podcast is

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me describing things that I experience or other people doing the same thing.

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So I retract that statement.

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Retract it.

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It's gone.

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Okay, good.

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World Cup fever has hit Mexico City.

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I know I mentioned it in the last episode, but since that last episode, Mexico City

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won another game against South Korea, which I actually also used to live in

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South Korea many years ago, weirdly.

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I mean, it's not that weird I guess, but kinda weird.

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I wanted to watch the w- game somewhere fun so the language school that I am

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going to arranged like a, a meetup kinda thing at a local bar here.

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It was a weird bar.

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It was in like a hotel.

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Dog Patch or something or Dog… Woof Top.

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Woof Top.

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I guess it's 'cause there's dogs inside, but not very many dogs.

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Anyway, yeah, it was fun.

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Everybody was watching the game.

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Everybody was cheering, blah, blah, blah.

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It wasn't a very exciting game, but they won the game.

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And so me and, have I mentioned Jonathan?

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So I met this German guy in my Spanish class.

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He's this 20-year-old German guy, he's a skater.

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Super interesting dude.

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So we, the two of us just decided to walk down to, th- there's a statue in the

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middle of town where everybody convenes.

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Um, I think a statu- Independence Statue, Angel of Independence Statue I believe.

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I would try to say that in Spanish, but I screw up angel.

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Angel.

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I can't do it.

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So we started walking down there, and it's crazy already.

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Like, cars are going by with flags out their window.

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People are screaming.

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And as we walk, there's more and more and more people, and by the time we

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get there it is just blocks deep.

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I mean, must've been 100,000 people there.

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And people are selling beer.

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People are selling this foam to spray in the air.

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People are walking around with like bottles of liquor and just

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pouring it into your mouth.

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Everybody's super friendly.

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They're asking us where we're from.

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Jonathan, he's got a vibe.

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He's got like an interesting haircut.

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He looks very German, so he was almost a celebrity.

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All the women, like these young women wanted to take pictures with him.

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At one point I was telling these women, "Uh, he's a famous German.

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I'm, I'm his agent, so please no pictures." It, it was super fun.

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And everybody's drinking in the street, and everybody's dancing.

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And at one point, they do this thing here, I don't know what it's called,

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maybe a reba or something, but a group of like five, six men get together

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and just start throwing people in the air for no real reason aside

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from just to throw people in the air.

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I mean, they're, it's a voluntary thing.

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So Jonathan did it, and then I was standing nearby, and before I knew

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what was happening they had me and they're throwing me in the air.

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It was absolutely an experience I'll never forget.

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The positive vibes that were going around were palpable, right?

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Palpable.

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And I'm not a huge sports fan, but anything that can bring people

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together in a unifying way and a joyful way is great by me because

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this-- everybody was friendly.

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There was no negativity.

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And I feel like in the United States when sports teams win a big championship

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or anything, in this case, the Mexico City just won a game, but it's

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the World Cup, so it's different.

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In the United States, if a sports team wins something, there's usually a, a

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burning car of some sort, or people stomping on cars, or destruction

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of property in some way or other.

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None of that here.

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The closest that I would say it got was there were a bunch of shirtless mens

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who climbed up on top of the bus station and were j-jumping off into the crowd.

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But they, they didn't seem to be hurting the bus station, so… Anyway,

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it was truly one of the most amazing experiences I've had since I've been here.

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Yeah, it was joy.

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It was so much fun.

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But eventually, you get to a point when the crowd starts to, you know, get to

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you, and that was about an hour or two in.

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I mean, we were drunk, so it, you know, it helps to be a little

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intoxicated in situations like this 'cause you can kinda go with the flow.

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It helps a lot, to be honest.

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Anyway, so we decided to, to take off.

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It was, I don't know, midnight or so, and my phone had died 'cause

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I'd been taking a lot of videos and, uh, photos and stuff, and I will put

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those on the Patreon page as well for my subscribers, patreon.com/onefjef.

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Anyway, didn't have my phone 'cause it was, it was dead, so I

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had no mapping device of any sort.

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And, you know, I know my way around Me-Mexico City pretty well, at

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least the area that I live in.

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But it was dark, I was a little drunk, and the streets here are not, like, obvious.

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Some of them just turn different ways sometimes.

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It's not a grid by any stretch of the imagination.

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So it can be a little confusing.

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There's a lot of angles, right?

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Not 90 degrees, if you catch my drift.

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So I start walking in the direction of what I thought was the right

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way to go, which as it turns out, had I just kept going straight, I

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would've been home in 15 minutes.

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But I turned right at a certain point, and I don't know why.

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I just had this impression in my head of which way to go, so

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as a result of the right turn, I ended up getting insanely lost.

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I was looking around.

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I didn't recognize anything.

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I'm like, "I have no idea where I am I wandered around for probably

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a half an hour, 45 minutes, just trying to get my bearings, and none

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of the street names looked familiar.

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I really don't know where I was.

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So eventually, like I got the genius idea to start asking people

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like, "Where is Tonalá Street?"

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And they were very helpful.

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They pointed me the right direction.

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So I just started walking in the direction, but 'cause the people who

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give me answers seemed confused, I didn't entirely trust the responses.

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I assumed they were true.

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Not that they were lying to me, just that maybe they didn't know.

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I don't know.

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Anyway, I walked in that direction 'cause that was the best thing I had at that

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point, and then I asked another person, and he said, "Okay, same direction."

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And eventually, finally, I, I get to Parque México, which is in Condesa,

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and I know my way home from there.

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So I'm like, "God bless America," or God bless Mexico or Viva México rather.

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I can get home, right?

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I was still 20 minutes from home though, and another element of this is that I

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had to pee so bad, like one of the worst times I've had to pee in my life, and

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it wasn't gonna last until I got home.

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Like I was gonna piss myself.

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Pardon me.

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Wet my pants.

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Is that better?

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If I didn't pee before I got home.

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So I'm by the park, and there's not a lot of people around, so I kind of just look

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around incognito-like, and I find a little secret spot and, uh, relieve myself.

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I, I apologize to the park.

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I apologize to the City of Mexico City, and, uh, I apologize

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to the country of Mexico.

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I did not mean to pee in your park, but sometimes these things are necessary.

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I did pee, and it was great, and then I walked home, got home at

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45, 1:00, uh, having walked like five miles or something.

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So that was exciting.

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That was exciting.

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And since that victory, like the city, maybe it's just me, but Mexico City

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has felt like it's always pretty, you know, there's always good vibes here for

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the most part as far as I'm concerned.

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It always feels like there's pretty good vibes.

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But the vibes now are fantastic.

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I just feel like positive energy in the city.

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People are happy.

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Seems like there's a lot more, um, what's the phrase?

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It's a French phrase.

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En humour?

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No.

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I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.

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Anyway, it's been wonderful, you know?

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Mexico really knows how to celebrate a victory, celebrate

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anything, let's be honest.

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They're very good at celebrating anything.

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Joy.

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Anyway, Jonathan left last Friday.

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Unfortunately, he took a 23-hour bus ride across the border to Laredo, Texas,

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where he will begin, or has begun, hitchhiking across the United States

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and to Vancouver, Canada, while spending the least amount of money possible.

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I'm Jonathan, 20 years old, born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and I'm

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currently hitchhiking through the US.

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I'm trying to go from Laredo up until Vancouver.

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The last time he was in the United States was when he was a

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kid, so he doesn't really have many, like, adult memories of it.

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So he's very excited to experience what a mess and a magic and

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whatever else the USA is right now.

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And he's hitchhiking, which I've never done.

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Actually, one time I did it when I was in college, but it was only for

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about, I don't know, uh, five minutes, and it was honestly super creepy.

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Uh, everybody's fine, but it was creepy.

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But if you're from the United States and you hear, you know, 20-year-old

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hitchhiking across the country with very little money, your first response,

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your first thought was probably danger, danger, danger, largely because I

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would suggest the media you consume portrays a country where it is unsafe

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to leave your home and strangers are to be feared and not welcomed.

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Am I right?

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I am right.

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I'm not suggesting that what Jonathan is doing is not a little bit dangerous.

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Of course it is.

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But I also know that most Americans are pretty nice and pretty

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generous if you actually talk to them, which most of us don't.

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So I told him to be careful, of course, but I think he'll be fine.

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I do.

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Anyway, I'm hopefully gonna have him on the podcast from the road at some point.

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But for now, he's sending me these short audio dispatches with his

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impressions of the United States as a hitchhiking German expat.

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So here's the first.

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Stay tuned for more.

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Quick story time before I go to bed.

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I'm very tired, and this is just a couple loose thoughts of myself about

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what I've experienced the past two days.

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So I haven't, shit, haven't really settled into my head yet.

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I haven't, can't really grasp it.

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But I love it.

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The US is hella comfortable.

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Everything can be done by car.

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Everything can be done within your little capsule, and you don't even have to

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leave your sedan or your pickup truck.

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Everything can be done conveniently within…

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Like, you live in your climatized house, go to the, I don't know,

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drive-through gas station, go to your DC in Austin, go to your tower and

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work, and then go in front of the TV.

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You may even went to fucking Target and talk to people, but all the

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places you do go you consume.

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Like, it's all places of consumption.

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It's not that different than it is back home.

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It actually isn't probab- probably.

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It's just more extreme.

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It's just more visible.

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Like, comfort is advertised to you way stronger than it is back home.

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Like, the story is sold to you way more obviously here than, and, and

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lived also than it is back home.

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It's just weird.

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I arrived in fucking Austin today, and I got picked up by an anon--

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like a automatic self-driving car.

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I think they're called Waymo cars, and I drove through a city with

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over a million people, and I didn't even saw people in the streets.

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Just people in their capsules, in their cars, going from place A to place B, going

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from work to Starbucks drive-through.

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I don't know.

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It's… And it's convenient.

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It's fun.

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I get it.

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I understand, but it also makes your world hella small.

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It makes your world hella small Like, you, you could have saw it

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all through the window of your capsule, but you never touched it.

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You never experienced it, and this life of comfort doesn't fulfill you to no extent.

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It's too comfortable.

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You have to suffer every once in a while to feel alive.

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Jonathan's also documenting his trip on Instagram.

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So if you're interested in following him and his trip, he's at, at jonathqnw.

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I'm gonna have to spell this one.

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It's at sign, of course, J-O-N-A-T-H-Q-N dot W. That's at J-O-N-A-T-H-Q-N dot W.

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Did y'all get that?

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I hope you did.

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I saw a family of rednecks today, bro, something I will

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never forget in my life, bro.

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Never.

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There was a white guy, ugly as fuck, rolled into the Road Ranger

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like, like a fucking… He was round like a donut with a T-shirt on.

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It says, "Trump Daddy." And then his, like, like, four chicks went after

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him, every, each, each and every one of them fatter than the next one, and all

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of them pregnant, and with hella kids already, and they didn't look above 30.

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Some of them looked like, like teens, like teen moms.

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Came in a rundown pickup truck.

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Nah, bro.

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But I wasn't the only one who, uh, who found that funny.

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I saw some truck drivers taking pictures of them because they looked…

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There wa- there was, there was quite something, this kind of family.

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No clothes.

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The girls were almost naked.

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Yeah, oh, another thing.

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Bro, insane, but, like, I got hit up on Instagram by motherfuckers who

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wanted to start sending me money.

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Like e- like a lot of Americans texted me.

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I got hella American Instagram, by hella, what means hella, like

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10, 15, asking me for my Instagram when I told them that story.

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They, they've been texting me like they're, they're fans, bro.

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They're fans.

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Like, one of the… Like, on my first day, I met a couple in Laredo.

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They're actually kinda cute, like a guy with his Mexican girlfriend.

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They were very nice, and I told them my story.

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We got along.

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They couldn't offer me a ride.

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They had something to do, but they said, "Well, next time if you're

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still here," blah, blah, blah.

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And he's been texting me multiple times that he, like, been thinking about me,

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and he had been reconsidering his life.

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I don't know if this is an American, like, way of Showing affection

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or just, just, or if it's an exa- exaggeration, but I… He did, it

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doesn't, it d- doesn't seem like it.

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Like, he seems hella impressed.

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It's, it's not an exaggeration.

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Like, most of the people here are very expressed, uh,

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impressed of what I'm doing.

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Never left their comfort zone, I guess, like, for real.

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They say, "Yeah, I wish I would, I would have loved to do it, but I c-

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couldn't. I can't." I guess for most of them, they, they probably can't.

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They're not… Like, I'm, I'm, uh, very aware that, like, I'm a hella privilege,

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and that makes all of this possible.

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But there have been some who definitely couldn't, but they're too frayed, afraid.

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Like, talking about being afraid, bro, today somebody came to me while

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I was sitting at this gas stop, and I asked him, "Hey, you going north?"

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He said, "Yeah." Like, he was a man, like, two heads taller than I, big-ass

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pickup truck, gun by hi- by himself, like I saw it through his pants.

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And he was like, "Nah, bro, I won't take you. Not letting no one know me."

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He said, "I, I will go inside, get a drink, but I p- probably won't thank,

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take it. You can be a murder, murderer."

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And then he went out and didn't even ta- said anything to me, just passed me.

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Like, bitch, what are you afraid for?

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I, I'm, I'm, I'm the 20-year-old motherfucker who should all be afraid.

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What are you afraid for?

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Uh, no, okay, it's not that deep

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We need to get out of fucking Dallas.

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Shit One of my Spanish teachers told me to look at the lyrics for the

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national anthem of Mexico, and I have admittedly completely been ignorant.

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I have no idea how the Mexican national anthem goes or whatever.

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I, I don't know that I could hum it.

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Not that I could… I don't think I could hum the national anthem of

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any… Well, some of them, like, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, and, like,

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Canada, da, da, da, da, da, da.

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But that's about it.

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And the United States, of course, but that's about it.

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Yeah.

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Anyway, so I looked up the lyrics, the translation of the Spanish national

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anthem, and, um, yeah, it's intense.

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Let me just read a bit for you here.

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"War, war without quarter to any who dare or to tarnish the coats of arms of

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the country. War, war, let the national banners be soaked in waves of blood.

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War, war in the mountain, in the valley, let the cannons thunder in horrid

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unison, and may the sonorous echoes resound with cries of union, liberty."

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And I'll just read one more.

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"O Fatherland, are your children defenseless behind their neck, behind

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the yoke? May your fields be watered with blood. May their foot be printed

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in blood, and may your temples, palaces, and towers collapse with horrid clamor,

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and may the ruins continue on saying, 'Of 1,000 heroes, here the Fatherland began.'"

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Wowza.

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Wowza.

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Uh, not a lot of gray area there.

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The national anthem should be called Don't Fuck With Mexico.

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That should be the title.

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Um, I don't know what the title is, but it should be Don't Fuck

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With Mexico, because we will spill your blood all over the motherland.

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Wowzers.

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It makes me wanna look into other national anthems, because,

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uh, I had no idea that national anthems could be quite that brutal

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So yeah, a little trivia for you there.

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I don't know if it's trivia, but you know what I'm saying For whatever

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reason, but I have the feeling every fucking Texan been to jail at least once.

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Just had a ride with some guy who was… I didn't figure it, he had his

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sunglasses on, but when I left the car, he just took me like five miles up

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north to the next gas station because the first, like the, the other one at

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the road rager, they didn't wanted me.

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So I asked him, "Hey bro, can you take me up?" He looked fine.

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He looked like a redneck, but he looked, he was nice and fine.

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But I figured he was on hella shit.

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I don't know what he was on, but he was definitely a drug addict.

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I ju- I just figured when, like he was high.

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Like when I left the car, he would offered me everything, his watch,

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every, every belongings, a knife, everything he had in his car, and

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he behaved in a very weird way.

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And then I just looked at him properly, and I figured, yeah, bro.

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And he was like, we were just within this five miles.

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He's from there.

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He just said, "Yeah, I went to school here.

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I got three nine milli- like I got shot by a nine-millimeter over there.

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And, and at this other gas station, my girlfriend used to

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work, but she's now in jail.

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Oh, by the way, I've been to jail three times as well, but I'm not a

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bad guy." He, he wasn't a bad guy.

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He was probably, probably a drug addict.

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That probably what he, what's brought him there.

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But in general, like whatever, what the fuck is going on?

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Whatever the fuck is going on in Texas, I think you get locked up pretty easily.

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Out of the past five people I talked to, three been to jail at least once, and

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one been on the road for nine months to escape jail for minor drug possession.

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What the fuck?

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Oh, if I would live here, I would take drugs as well, bro.

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That ain't no crime.

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That ain't no crime About a week or two ago, a guy I knew in high

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school discovered this podcast.

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His name is John, and I don't think I've seen him since we

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graduated about 35 years ago.

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Apparently, he really likes this podcast because he's left me four

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or five voicemails in the last week.

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Hey, Jef.

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It's John from Westlake High School, '90, '92.

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Uh, saw your podcast, uh, on your Instagram and, uh, subscribed,

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and I will soon be, uh, a loyal One Jef F- One Jef-ites?

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Gotta, you gotta get a catchy name for your followers 'cause I'm gonna be the

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king of the followers, so I need to be, like, king of the, the One Jefs?

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I don't know.

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Two of them were 10 minutes apart actually, and he's also liked and

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commented on many of my Instagram posts and on Spotify, et cetera, et cetera.

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John here.

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You may remember me from Westlake High School, 1992.

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Uh, just started listening to your podcast, kinda caught

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up, uh, kind of binged.

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Yeah, so you'll see me on your Patreon possibly.

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I'm gonna be, uh, I'm gonna be the One F, one of the One Jef groupies.

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So first off, I wanna be clear.

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I appreciate any and all engagement with this podcast So

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thank you, John, for engaging.

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Secondly, though, I hope you're okay, John, because the amount of

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engagement has been a bit, um, much.

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Hey, Jef, this is John, um, J-O-H-N.

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OneHJohn?

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That's not-- That doesn't sound as cool as OneHJef.

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Anyway, uh, just finished listening to podcast, and you said, uh, you

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had a question at the end of it that says, uh, "Can you say I deem?"

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Uh, I deem as in I re-- is, is more like I regard.

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So usually, usually you need an object at the end of it.

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So like I deem it, or I deem, uh, Jef's podcast as the best

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podcast I've heard in a long time.

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I'm not one to criticize or judge one's behavior, particularly when

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that behavior is engaging with this podcast, but this level of it

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makes me a little bit concerned.

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Uh, in the English proper language, you should use an object when you use I deem.

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But if you wanna be avant-garde or outside the norm, you can just say

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like, "I deem." It makes me wonder what exactly is going on with you, John.

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Like I regard.

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So I'm like, I deem the universe to be, I don't know, universal.

:

I care about all of my listeners, and also honestly, because

:

I'm a little creeped out.

:

And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

:

You said you're coming back to the States, uh, for a couple of

:

weeks for the Fourth of July.

:

Um, if you get a chance, give me a ring.

:

Again, this is John from Westlake High School, uh, nineteen ninety-two.

:

Uh, my number is

:

Hasta luego So I've decided, in lieu of all this, to extend an

:

invitation to you, John, to come on the podcast and talk about this.

:

Not for a long time, mind you, not a whole episode, of course, but for

:

enough time for me to understand, and my listeners, what an obsessive

:

fan of this podcast is all about.

:

What's going on up there, as it were?

:

So John, if you're interested, you clearly know how to get in touch with me.

:

But if the rest of you don't know how to get in touch with me, you can reach me

:

by email at onefjefpod@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-669-241-5882.

:

I need to do, like, one of those pirate shanty songs with that number, you know?

:

Oh, 669-241-5882.

:

Something like that, but a little bit more girth to it.

:

Anyway, let me know, John.

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Up to you.

:

You know what they don't get here?

:

They don't get that I do this because I want to and not because I need to.

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They don't get that I get out of my comfort zone to have fun.

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They give me money.

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They feel bad for me.

:

They buy me dinner, but they don't do this because they understand that I have fun.

:

It's, like, hard to imagine for them.

:

For most of the people, they don't understand why one shall leave

:

their comfort zone to have fun.

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You go north by any chance, brother?

:

I am moving in two days.

:

It's quite exciting.

:

It's also kind of exhausting.

:

It's surprising how much goes into just packing two bags, although I'm

:

not necessarily packing two bags.

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I'm leaving a bunch of stuff here in Mexico City with a friend of mine.

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God bless her.

:

I've also had to put the apartment back together with all of the motorcycle-based

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artwork and vaguely Christian artwork as well, which I won't miss whatsoever.

:

But I'm moving on Wednesday morning.

:

Well, I'm not moving.

:

I'm going to Cleveland, Ohio in an aeroplane, and when I come back here

:

in about two or three weeks, I will be moving into my new apartment.

:

As I'm approaching this move and this respite -- respite isn't the right

:

word, but you know what I mean -- from my Mexico City life, I've been thinking

:

about and reflecting on my last four months, three and a half months here,

:

and you know, it's not been easy.

:

This is why most people don't do things like this, because they're difficult

:

and people don't like to do hard things, even though it's really the

:

best thing you can do for yourself.

:

There's been very high highs and very low lows.

:

It's really a roller coaster, and roller coasters are fun.

:

Actually, no, I don't really like roller coasters, but

:

the metaphor is still intact.

:

It still works, even though I don't myself enjoy roller coasters.

:

I enjoy watching roller coaster videos, which is odd, isn't it?

:

Hmm?

:

Maybe it's not.

:

I don't know.

:

I like some roller coasters, just not, not so ones.

:

But this podcast is not about my liking or disliking roller

:

coasters, so we're gonna move on.

:

One of the things I've noticed since I've been here, especially early on,

:

is that-- and I would talk to people from back home or from back in the

:

States, wherever, and they would ask, you know, how the experience has been.

:

It, you know, it feels hard sometimes to say anything negative

:

or anything that's less than great when you do a thing like this.

:

You know, when you do things like this, you're putting yourself kind of on a limb

:

of sorts, and you want to give off some impression that you're-- that everything's

:

fine, that everything's good, that this decision you made is the right one.

:

Because it is, in spite of the fact that there are days and weeks where

:

it's not clear that that's the case.

:

But it's very difficult to express this to people back home, A, because

:

they don't entirely understand, and B, because you want to seem correct.

:

You don't want it to seem like this was a stupid thing to do.

:

Not that they would assume that, but you know what I mean?

:

It's hard to explain, but I've noticed this quite a bit as I've

:

been here, and maybe it's just my inability to be vulnerable or

:

something about this experience.

:

Maybe I should just open up.

:

But I also don't wanna give people a bad story.

:

Like, people wanna talk to me and hear about Mexico stories, and I don't

:

wanna be like, "Oh, it's really hard, you know. The-- It's all tacos all the

:

time," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

:

Is it an ego thing?

:

Maybe it's an ego thing.

:

I don't know.

:

Anyway, maybe some of you can relate.

:

If you can, I'd love to hear from you.

:

I'm not gonna give you the phone number or the email address again.

:

You can look in the show notes if your memory is not what it used to be.

:

Good morning, America.

:

Oh.

:

Spent the night in somebody's pickup truck

:

Like a weird fascist let me stay in the back of his pickup truck.

:

I'm gonna take it.

:

I won't ask questions if people, if you ever need to tell me something, I

:

will listen and I will play the naive little German kid who doesn't know shit.

:

The guy I stayed with in Austin brought me out of town to like a small ass

:

gas station where like two gas workers who definitely had a crack history in

:

their life or some, some drug history.

:

They told me I kinda think they're key now, though they didn't look like it.

:

But I kinda made friends with them.

:

They've been cute, to be honest.

:

I think I spent like almost the entire day in that gas station.

:

And then I got another ride from like a Christian couple who like found their way

:

to God 20 years ago, blah, blah, blah.

:

And they brought me to past Waco.

:

Like I didn't want to stay, spend the night in Waco, so they brought me to

:

the next gas station outside of town.

:

They've been quite nice.

:

They've been decent people, interesting people, talked about community.

:

But also what they did, they bought off a story that justifies,

:

justified their misery kind of.

:

In their case, it was God, but it was… Like they've, again,

:

they were aware of everything.

:

They just consumed a story that kind of justified their misery and more, even

:

more importantly, justified the system.

:

Like they were fine living in an RV, working as an Uber driver, like not

:

really can come up for their six kids.

:

Then this fascist pulled up, but he got me in the back of his pickup truck.

:

And I don't know fascists.

:

Don't use this word too easily, but definitely confused the little guy.

:

Every place I've lived, people walk differently.

:

In Korea, they walked very close to you.

:

There was no personal space.

:

And sometimes men held hands with men.

:

True story.

:

That's not really about how people walk.

:

It's just a weird thing to me as an American, as a Statio Iudensis.

:

Pardon.

:

I lived in New York for a while.

:

New York, generally people walk, you know, in a straight line.

:

There's things that annoy me about people in New York.

:

These, you know, a skinny businessman will be holding a golf-sized umbrella

:

And walking down the street, and everybody has to walk in a wide

:

thing around him, and he's oblivious.

:

Or maybe he's not.

:

Maybe he's just like, "I'm rich businessman.

:

I don't care.

:

I need a big umbrella.

:

These are expensive shoes.

:

I don't want them to get wet," et cetera, et cetera.

:

Anyway, in Mexico City, people walk, like, they meander.

:

They kind of walk back and forth.

:

It's very unusual.

:

At first, I thought it was maybe just a few people, but as I've

:

been here now three and a half months, it's definitely a thing.

:

And I've talked to somebody else about it from the United States, and she agrees.

:

You know, I'm a fast walker, so I'm trying to pass people often, and it's difficult

:

because I'll be trying to come up on the left or whatever, and then they'll kind

:

of weave to the left, and then I'll k- try to move over and come to the right,

:

and l- and it, it, it it's maddening.

:

It is.

:

It really is.

:

Maybe you should slow down your walking pace then, Jef.

:

Oh, all right.

:

You know what?

:

That's not a solution.

:

There's no solution.

:

The solution is for me to just accept it or for maybe I should start to

:

learn how to weave when I walk.

:

And I mean no offense by any of this.

:

I'm, this is observation, 'cause it's strange to me that this

:

is definitely a thing here.

:

So if anybody has any thoughts on this Mexican weaving, walking,

:

meandering thing, please let me know, onefjefpod@gmail.com or 669-241-5882.

:

I'll mention it again.

:

Why not?

:

Because, you know, it's been a while.

:

So yeah, that upsets me.

:

And we have entered rainy season.

:

It hasn't been raining every day, but it rains most days, just for a little bit,

:

and it also hails a lot here, uh, because it's so high up and we're so close to the

:

cold air in the atmosphere that apparently some sort of a meteorological s- something

:

something causes it to hail quite a bit.

:

It hailed this afternoon, like a torrential hail storm.

:

It's very exciting.

:

I like severe storms, so it's kind of fun for me because the storms

:

here are pretty m- pretty crazy.

:

There was one, uh, two or three nights ago where there was a thunderclap

:

so loud I have never heard such a loud thunderclap in my life.

:

It shook the building.

:

Apparently, there was an article I, I saw an article that said that

:

the thunderclaps were so loud that night that they actually read on the

:

seismic or seismic meter thing, the seismograph they call it, I think.

:

Yeah, it was loud.

:

Yeah.

:

So that's exciting.

:

I mean, I don't mind a giant thunderclap.

:

I just wish I would pr- prepared for it because my heart took a boing.

:

Did you hear that?

:

Boing.

:

And underneath this, you can hear a recording of the rain as

:

I recorded it the other evening.

:

I hope you enjoy it.

:

It's a peaceful, tranquil rain that I recorded just

:

for you, my podcast listeners

:

Is that exciting for you?

:

I don't know.

:

Probably not.

:

But hopefully it's all interesting content.

:

Hopefully it's enough to merit an episode number.

:

I think it is, and I'm the decider.

:

I'm the decider.

:

Although, as I said, if you have any requests for the podcast, anything

:

at all, like throw them at me.

:

I'm curious, at least.

:

And frankly, I might do some of them.

:

Not all, you know, there's a limit to it, but throw them at me.

:

I'm curious.

:

What do you wanna hear?

:

Do you wanna hear me do a whole episode singing?

:

I'd think about it.

:

I'm not sure that you would enjoy the whole thing, but I can sing, so…

:

Or I could do the whole episode in like a different accent or something.

:

You know, I don't know, something to spice it up.

:

You're probably just like, "When are you gonna release the, uh, expat episodes?"

:

Well, this is kind of the beginning of an expat episode because Jonathan is an

:

expat himself in United States of America.

:

Mexican American dude who took me in his truck.

:

Like, everyone I met been so nice and so kind and so helpful.

:

But politically, the, the moment I mentioned I'm from Germany, he went

:

straight up to Hitler, and then s- bro, he started to shit talk every fucking

:

conspiracy that exists out there.

:

He's built like the usual conspiracy.

:

He wasn't that bad.

:

You… He did some good.

:

Um, but when he went real crazy, it was like that, like

:

Hitler wasn't the biggest evil

:

Devil will come soon-ish and we have doom day.

:

And I was like, "Huh?" And then he asked me about my opinion about

:

Germany, and about how we dealt with the aftermath of what happened back there,

:

and how Germany is, and how… Yeah.

:

He, he considered himself being educated on history, and he

:

knew quite some, I would say.

:

But, like, when it became politically or, like, recent history, he got confused.

:

He asked me about my opinion, and he was quite curious about it.

:

I didn't want… I didn't set my opinion, I just told him raw facts that we in

:

Germany, that due to the fact that basically everyone been involved or

:

their family been involved, everyone had a family business or still has one

:

today, that business was involved in Second World War for sure, and most of

:

our granddads, granddads were involved for sure, and we kinda feel that we have

:

a responsibility that something like that will never happen in the future.

:

Like, he lit- I literally silenced him, and he was like, "I never heard another

:

perspective." He was a truck driver, I think, and he said the same, like,

:

I think his world is really small, and he just… He, he didn't made it far,

:

though he made it to every fucking si- single state on the mainland of

:

U- of the US, but he probably living in his capsule and not experience

:

the shit that happened around him

:

Thank you all for listening.

:

As always, thank you all for giving me your ears and your attention.

:

Please like, rate, subscribe, and review the podcast on whatever

:

platform you happen to be using.

:

As I say every time, it does help indicate to the algorithmic gods

:

which podcasts are worth listening to.

:

And please do join the Patreon page, patreon.com/onefjef

:

for as little as $5 a month.

:

That's about 100 pesos, maybe like 90 actually now at this point, but whatever.

:

You can get access to all sorts of videos.

:

I will post some videos and photos from, uh, from the World Cup celebration,

:

and there's all sorts of other stuff on there for you to enjoy and

:

watch and listen to and all that.

:

And plus, you will get the privilege of being able to say that you are a supporter

:

of onefjef, and I really do appreciate it because as I've said, this is me, me, me.

:

Solo me.

:

So any bit of money helps.

:

Follow the podcast on Instagram @onefjefpod.

:

That's O-N-E-F-J-E-F-P-O-D.

:

Follow it on TikTok @onefjefpodcast.

:

You get it.

:

And on other platforms, wherever you find onefjef the podcast.

:

As far as I know, I am the only onefjef podcast, so filtering things

:

out shouldn't be too difficult.

:

And finally, please do share this with one, two, three friends of yours just

:

quickly right after you finish it.

:

Click Share.

:

Send it along.

:

Word of mouth is how these things kind of spread, so please send it

:

along to somebody else you think might enjoy this kind of a thing, whatever

:

this kind of thing actually is indeed

:

Is there anything else?

:

Yeah, if you'd like to email the podcast, onefjefpod@gmail.com.

:

And I will close this episode with a quote from Jonathan

:

from earlier in this episode.

:

"You have to suffer every once in a while to feel alive."

:

I'll see you next week.

:

Very good, Jeffrey

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About the Podcast

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onefjef
Expat life in Mexico City: interviews and solo dispatches about language, culture, and what it really feels like to leave your life behind and move to CDMX.

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About your host

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Jef Taylor

Jef Taylor is an editor, filmmaker, and reluctant grown-up. He hosts onefjef, where he talks to people (and sometimes himself) about work, purpose, and the strange ways life unfolds. Before podcasting, he spent years shaping other people’s stories—now he’s telling his own.