Catching a late bus home

by Alexia De la Cruz Aguilar (Mexico)

I didn't expect to find USA

“Who’s the Mexican?” I listened the border officer said that from the back seat of my Canadian host family’s car. My three host siblings pointed at me proudly saying “It’s her! Say hi Ale!” not understanding that, to him, I had the wrong passport color. I was on my way back to Seattle after a weekend in Canada where back in 2012, I did a summer program and stayed with a host family for 6 weeks. When they found out I won a scholarship to go to University in Seattle, WA, they insisted on me visiting them and, since I still had my Canadian visa, I decided to cross the border to see them. The immigration officer made me get out of the car, inspected my bag, asked for an explanation on why I was studying in the US, why I was with a family from a country that wasn’t my own, how long it has been since I got my American visa, and the last question: “Why are you able to speak English so well?” This question caught me out of guard, and looking him straight in the eyes I said “We would not be talking right now if it wasn’t able to”. He stared back at me, no words came out of him. After what it felt like hours, they decided I was good and let me go. Thanks to the hours I spent in the police office, I lost my bus back to the city and had to wait in the station for a new one, “Its ok Ale, we won’t leave you alone” said my host mom while I was buying my new tickets. On my way back to the bench where everyone was sitting, I heard a woman with an apologetic tone saying: “I’m sorry ma'am, I can’t understand what you are saying”. I turned and saw that two Cuban women were trying to buy their own ride to a new home. I immediately went to where they were standing and said to the saleswoman behind the counter: “Hello, I can speak Spanish, don’t worry I’ll help you” I turned back to the women, asked what I could do to help them and said “don’t worry, I won’t leave you alone” After figuring out what they needed and they bought their tickets, we said farewell, they hugged me as if they knew me my whole life and waved as they entered their bus. Soon after that my own ride arrived, I said goodbye to my own and waved them goodbye as my bus left the platform. While admiring the mountains outside my window, I started thinking how the little moments, like the one I had just lived, makes you appreciate your position in the world. How a smile from a stranger, one that you will never see again, can make you feel like home as much as a hug from one of your own family. Smiling to myself, I thanked the border officer in silence that made me lose my first bus, without realizing it, he helped me feel more welcome than the first day I stepped foot in what was, for the moment, my new home.