Our final hours in Mexico were an appropriate ending to this chapter in our lives. More than a week before our departure date, we took our car in for an oil change. Unfortunately the mechanic damaged the motor. So, in the midst of our final packing we were also scrambling to get it fixed by a more trustworthy mechanic. Trustworthy, yes. Timely, no.

Our friend Memo Bernaldez (left of me in the picture) did us the incredible favor of taking our already packed car to and from the mechanic all the while keeping watch over its contents — so we could enjoy the concert with our friends.

Since by this time our house was empty, we all stayed at a hotel in Mexico City and had planned that Memo would bring us the car on his way to an appointment at the Argentine embassy. But he called us early the morning we were to leave to say that the mecanic was running 24 hours behind schedule and the car wouldn’t be ready in time. He was stressed, we were frantic.

To make a long story longer, instead of leaving at 9:30 in the morning as planned, we left at around 3 p.m. But we had a nice breakfast with Kyle & Nell (at right in photo) and got to see not only Memo but also his sister, Adriana, and her husband (who ended up driving our car into the city for us).

As we drove off into the proverbial sunset, we were vividly aware of the best and the worst of life in Mexico: the infuriating frustrations of things that don’t work the way they should and the overwhelming kindness of people who put their life on hold to help you.