This is an episode for anyone who has ever given off the completely wrong impression. A visit to a small town party in Mexico with a friend was an exhilarating experience for Callie… until the locals thought she was a married woman trying to cheat on her husband. And, sometimes showing up at a foreign house party at the very end can lead to some extremely embarrassing situations. It all goes to show that even when you can speak the language, some things just don’t translate well.
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Transcript
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Callie King 00:00
I thought you know what I'm gonna, I'm gonna go back to this party good for you went back to the party. And I could tell there were a few people that looked a little surprised that I was there that I started talking to one of the older seniors there. My Spanish is pretty limited this time. But I definitely understood that they were under the impression that I was his wife. The -
Andrea Wady 00:26
70 plus year old man, yes, no, no. -
Callie King 00:33
It had been scandalous on a number of counts, because number one, they thought that I was very young to be with this older gentleman. Number two, I was dancing with a bunch of the guys there that were by age. So then his young wife is running around with all these. These young guys, I -
Andrea Wady 00:54
bet they thought you were a hooker. Jump in with both feet. -
Callie King 01:01
Go Big. Follow your dreams grab life by the reins. -
Andrea Wady 01:05
This is how we live. We're Callie King and Andrea Wady two horse trainers always looking for adventure -
Callie King 01:12
and finding it. Join us for stories of dangerous travels wild animals, new challenges, -
Andrea Wady 01:18
and in the end, always learning alongside -
Callie King 01:20
our magnificent horses. So saddle up and follow along. You're listening to grab life by the reins. -
Andrea Wady 01:39
I was just laughing with Callie that I've taken a picture of what we look like while we're doing podcasts. I'll have to post that sometime on our social media. I'm sure people imagine us in this really fancy studio. Right now Callie sat in her closet. And I've got my head in a cardboard box. -
Callie King 01:57
All the things we do for better audio. -
Andrea Wady 02:02
We'll do anything? Well, not anything. -
Andrea Wady 02:46
Oh, no way. This story. -
Callie King 02:49
I think it was the gossip of the town. So a friend of mine that I had met in California. He was an older gentleman. He was probably late 70s. And he was an artist. And we met because he was selling his art on the beach in Santa Barbara. And we became friends for the year that I lived in Santa Barbara many times I would go walking hang out. I would practice speaking my Spanish with him. And he was from Mexico. So living in Santa Barbara, but he was from from Mexico City. And when I moved down to haka, he was down in Mexico City visiting his family and he took the bus to Wahaca and came to stay at the ranch that I was at for a few days. So his his great grandparents were from Wahaca. So his immediate family was Mexico City. He was born in Mexico City, but he had heritage and Wahaca. So he wanted to come see some of the Pueblos and I told him that I would happily you know, drive him around and and he could stay there at the ranch. So the the last day it was the day before he was heading out. We were driving back in to see this one Pueblo that he thought he might have a family connection to. And when we got there, and we pulled up to the church, you know, like the big, beautiful Mexican churches gorgeous. And there was obviously an event going on here. There were lots of people they were dressed up there were people coming in. So as we go in, he starts talking to people. And it turns out that what it was was the new ordain mint of a new Padre, the new father for the church. It was a Catholic Church. Yeah. And they were having you. Oh, they were having a big party. And this was a pretty small town. But there were probably there were several 100 people that there gathered at the church. So they had finished the ceremonies at the church and they were gathered outside. They were getting ready to start the dancing and start the procession to where the real party would be held. They had a whole bunch of live turkeys that were going to be You know the meal. And that's part of the dance, they carry the turkeys over their shoulders to where they then do the cooking. -
Andrea Wady 05:15
So it's a ritual sacrifice basically. -
Callie King 05:19
We do it every Thanksgiving. We just we just skip the part where we see the live turkey, but we're doing the same thing. Yeah, that's -
Andrea Wady 05:25
the truth of it. Yeah. -
Callie King 05:27
So we got invited, or more appropriately, my friend got invited because he was Mexican. He was already talking to people, you know, he had, they were making connections where he, his, his family was, may have been from this town or spent time in this town. And I by proxy, as his his family was, may have been from this town or spent time in this town. And I by proxy, as his driver got invited along as well. How cool. So we join the procession. It was about a 45 minute walk from the church to where we were going all along the way. You know, there's music, there's dancing, the band is up front leading the procession. The people with the turkeys dancing are behind the band. There's, there's several people walking through the crowd with five gallon containers, like you would put gasoline in but filled with mezcal, and offering this caliber to anyone who would like to partake. So we're drinking mezcal, we're having a great time. Get to the where the party was, and this is a church, well, we're going from the church to where the party is. So we're walking through the town through all of the streets, you know, they're setting off the fireworks and the whole thing. So we we get to where where the party is, it was it was obviously someone's house, you know, outside, they had tables out beautifully arranged space for the band, the band starts playing many of the scenarios that were already there and had been cooking. So with in pretty short order, you know, the the turkeys were prepared. And we were sitting down to eat amazing meal, amazing food, and just really good people too. Yeah, you know, was getting in conversation. At that time, my, my Spanish was was pretty limited and even more difficult in that type of environment where there was a lot of sound and a lot of stuff. But I was enjoying it. And I was feeling like I was making really good connections with a lot of the people there. So after dinner, then the band really fires up. They clear out all the tables and the dancing begins. And yeah, yeah. So we're, we're dancing, we're having a great time. Again, my friend is your late 70s. He's having a great time. He's dancing. He's up interacting with the band. There was a definite distinction between the culture of the townspeople and his culture, even big Mexican, he's still from Mexico City has lived in the US. You could tell he was still outside their culture, if you know what -
Andrea Wady 07:59
he was an outsider. Yeah, I mean, you see that a lot in the cultures, don't you? You know all I love how they're beautiful people in Central America. I absolutely love them. But they have the same regional differences that we have for sure. Yes. -
Callie King 08:11
And I of course, vary outside the culture. But we -
Andrea Wady 08:16
had a great time. Yeah, you're sticking out like a sore thumb. -
Callie King 08:18
We danced all night long. A dad's with the new father of the church. I mean, he was right in there having fun with everybody else. It was really it was a great party. And then I was told that the party continued the next day. So if I wanted to come back, the next day, I could party again. So friend and I left at the we we closed down the party. So you know what, in the morning, we're leaving, make the walk back to where we had parked outside the church drove back. And early the next morning, I took my friend to the bus station where he was going to go back to Mexico City. And I thought, You know what, I'm going to, I'm going to go back to this party. So good for you. So I I even went to the market and and bought myself some more appropriate, you know, cultural Yeah, cultural dress of that, of that place, and went back to the party. And I could tell there were a few people that looked a little surprised that I was there. It was a bit more. It was still a good party, but it was definitely more muted. The second day, you know, they were they were winding they were hung -
Andrea Wady 09:27
over. That hung over to the back teeth, I should think. -
Callie King 09:31
So that I started talking to one of the older seniors there. And again, my Spanish is pretty limited this time. But I definitely understood that they were under the impression that I was his wife -
Andrea Wady 09:48
for 70 plus year old man. Yes, no. No. -
Callie King 09:55
So it had been it had been scandalous on a number of counts, but because number one, I thought that I was very young to be with this older gentleman. Number two, I was dancing with a bunch of the guys there that were by age. So then his young wife is running around with all these. -
Andrea Wady 10:17
These young guys, I bet they thought you were a hooker. I bet they thought you were a hookah. They bite and you sullied the Padre. -
Callie King 10:27
The Padre was very welcomed, but you did the second day. He was a was cool. -
Andrea Wady 10:32
Did you leave like, were you shamed and shunned. It's like, you've come back without your husband looking for all the younger boys. Oh, -
Callie King 10:45
no, I explained that he was definitely not my husband. He was not a boyfriend. He was nothing of that sort. He was a friend from the states who was visiting. And once that was cleared up, super welcoming. Again, I enjoyed the night's festivities. And I was actually I was gonna drive back. So it was about a 40 minute drive from this town to where I lived at the ranch. Or another town. Yeah, I was gonna drive back and, and the same Senora was very, very clear that I was not to be driving that night that it was dangerous for a single woman to drive that stretch, which I'm grateful for. Because I wouldn't have known it was a very, it was very rural. I had spent a lot of time in both of those towns, and never got any feeling of discomfort. But she was very clear that it was not a good idea. So I went and I stayed at her house for the night. -
Andrea Wady 11:41
I love that. You know, when you're open to that sort of stuff. People always say to me, Oh, were you not scared? You know, you're in a really dodgy place Central America. Do you know what? I think the amount of times that I felt worried or threatened, I could count on one hand in 18 years. Beautiful people, welcoming people and I think depends on what attitude you bring. You know, you met really cool people. You ended up staying at someone's house because you know, you can read people I love that I love the experience of meeting new people and having tons of fun and learning about their culture. And blending in you know, can you be a chameleon and blend in to that culture? I love it. Oh, what a cracker. You had a 70 year old husband. Hey, nothing wrong with that. -
Callie King 12:34
Yeah, that was one of my still is one of my highlights in Mexico. I love when you can get those experiences. You just fall into them. You can't play on that. You can't go on a tour for that. No, you just right place right time. And it happens. -
Andrea Wady 12:50
I have a funny story again about Costa Rica. And not dating because obviously I'm very happily married. And I went to Costa Rica with my with my partner. But when we first moved there, my Spanish was terrible. I mean, even towards the end, you know, I'm not great with languages. I never have been. I mean, I could. Everyone that worked with me and worked for me. They only spoke Spanish. So I could converse quite comfortably. I just wasn't very grammatically correct. But when I first moved there, I can remember meeting a bunch of friends. Later on for dinner with my husband. They were actually mostly American, and a couple of Costa Ricans. And I said, you know, because it's quite small town where we were and I said, I think I must look like somebody. And they were like, really? What, what makes you say that I said, because several times now I've walked through town. And I've seen people always guys, always guys and they say, Allah Linda, Allah Linda. And I'm like, there's obviously a woman called Linda. And I looked just like I want to meet her. Well, everyone's just starts cracking up laughing the Costa Ricans are laughing they're like, Yeah, you're Melinda. I'm like, do you know Linda? Linda? They're like, No, it means Qt or pretty and they're just giving you a compliment, which was great. And I'll take it but I was like, who's Linda? That's good. I must look like her. That's good. You got a laugh and you but on the theme of the wildest stories, we've been loving this. Kelly, I wanted to ask you what's the wildest thing that's ever happened to you on a date? Okay, that sounds really dodgy. Keep it clean? -
Callie King 14:48
Most of my dating, when I moved to Mexico, was not actually about meeting people or about love and romance. It was about learning language. I would only date to native Spanish speakers, I did have some people that I would date if they also, like wanted to learn English and we would do half and half. But mostly I preferred if they had no interest in English, because then we could speak Spanish the whole time. -
Andrea Wady 15:13
Okay, wait a minute. So, rather than enrolling in language school, you thought you'd manipulate it, I was really -
Callie King 15:21
upfront about it. Like I wasn't I, I wasn't breaking hearts. I was like, hey, this Yes, I want to go on a date. I've got to tell you right now. Well, actually, no, I didn't do that. I would use Google Translate when I was communicating in the messages. And then when I showed up, I would, I would basically say, you know, practicing my Spanish. So just keep talking. And I'll try to figure out what you're saying, essentially. So. -
Andrea Wady 15:49
Yeah. So that that -
Callie King 15:51
was my motivation for dating. So I was on a date with a language learning friend. And he had picked me up, we went to a neighboring town to get a bite to eat. And after dinner, we were using quite a bit of Google Translate to communicate. But it was, you know, it was going well, I was feeling like I was making some improvement in my language learning. And we finished the dinner. And he's like, my cousin lives close by and he's having a little party. He's got some people over at his house. Do you want to go ahead? Sure. Sounds like fun. So we, we leave the restaurant. We drive across town show up at his cousin's place. And I was like, it's really it's really quiet. I thought there was a party here. Oh, not that I was worried. I just thought this is this seems this doesn't seem like a party or if it is, it's very tame party. So we go to the front door. My friends knock it on the door, knocking on the door. Finally, the door, the door swings open. And there's his cousin. Drunk and naked. -
Andrea Wady 17:00
Oh, no. So the Oh no. But naked. -
Callie King 17:06
So the party had obviously already hit its peak at everyone had left. And he'd just been there sleeping and heard the knock on his door and knew his cousin was coming over. And I guess thought it would be funny to open the door. Naked first cousin. He sees me and he just starts Absolutely. Cracking Up, closes the door right away. I still hear him inside just like rolling and rolling and rolling with laughter puts clothing on opens the door again. And we had a great time like he was a super good guy. I ended up spending a lot of time with both of them over the next few months. You know, as friends had going different places. And it was super fun but what a start to the night. -
Andrea Wady 17:53
I bet they still talk about that every family Gavin it'd be like shut up you you're the one that opened the door naked to Cali. How embarrassing. Oh, oh my gosh, that's so fun. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. You can still make an ass of yourself. -
Callie King 18:11
Or show one. -
Andrea Wady 18:14
That is a wildest story. I love it. Thank -
Callie King 18:17
you everyone. It's been awesome to have you here. Love sharing these stories with you. And I hope you find the adventure in your day. -
Andrea Wady 18:24
Thank you for listening. This has been grab life by the rain season two. It's all over. But not for long. We will be back season three. We can't wait. In the meantime, life is sweet The time is now. -
Callie King 18:42
Thank you for listening to grab life by the reins. If you want to see ridiculous photos from our adventures be the first to know when we release new episodes and be a part of war shenanigans. Join our email family at grab life by the reins.com shenanigans. Join our email family at grab life by the reins.com