My Vespa Ciao...

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My Vespa Ciao...
A European way to get around...in Mexico. 

Once I had finished my English Teaching training course, I started working at Interlingua at the beginning of 1982...

This was something totally new to me and I started loving it right from the beginning.

 When I arrived at the school where I was going to be teaching, I met some of the staff and my future bosses. I met Nelson the school manager, and the Director, Joyce.

I had a brief interview with both of them and we got on fine from the get go...

Nelson was a Mexican born guy, who may have lived in the United States for a while, or so I thought, as he had a very strong American accent, he was well dressed, he wore a suit and tie and shiny shoes, and was a friendly person, although he had a strong character.

He managed the teachers' working schedules, so if you got on his good side, you could get the hours that you wanted. 

The pay at Interlingua was in relation to the hours that you taught, with a minimum of hours allocated to every teacher. I think it was at least twenty hours, then if you wanted to earn more money you would have to work more hours, in order to do so you had to make yourself available, and likeable by Nelson. 

I had to learn the skill to sell myself, in other words, to be liked not only by Nelson but also by the students because if they requested me the more likely I would be asked to work more, which meant more money...and that was the bottom line, I was there to earn money and save as much as I could, so that I could to eventually take off again...

Joyce, the director, was an American, she was kind and usually got on well with everyone and spoke Spanish with a very strong American accent. 

There were several teachers working there, some part time others full time, and I got on well with most of them.

I think I remember them all, let's see...there were three American ladies, Sharon, Karen, Ellen, all blonde and young and single, they were good fun and I believe all Mexican male students loved them all, there was also a very proper Kiwi lady, Anne, (New Zealander), there was a French couple and an English guy and there were a few Mexican born teachers and... there was also one interesting short guy… from India... Deepak...with whom I would build a strong friendship, there's a lot to say about him so I'll expand on that on my next story.

Overall, it was a nice and diverse team of teachers, some stayed long, some came and went...
I stayed teaching at Interlingua for nearly 3 years... 

One of the things that used to bug me though, was getting there and back on public transport...

It would normally take me a good 45 minutes to get there by bus...and to be honest, I didn't like it at all, the only good thing was that it was extremely cheap... 

At that time, I was living at home with my parents, so, I was not paying for rent or board, I was only chipping in with the phone bill...

I didn't have many other expenses, and for that reason, I was able to start saving some money rather fast...and with my first savings, I bought myself a rather cute Vespa Ciao moped!!

This was not a very common sort of transportation in Mexico, it was a new European thing, and it could be slightly dangerous to ride on the busy streets of Mexico City.   

But I had seen them in Europe, in particular in Italy during my trip overseas, and they managed to ride around without any hassles in Rome, where traffic is absolutely crazy, so I thought ...why not? If they can do it in Rome, I could try it in Mexico City too...

By pure coincidence, there was a Piaggio Vespa dealership near my house...so after seeing them in their window display a few times, while I was passing on the bus one day, I decided to get off the bus and have a closer look.
 
These mopeds were like bicycles, with pedals, however, they had a wee motor powered by petrol, just like a motorbike would.

There was a wee 3-litre petrol tank in the middle of the moped… The pedals just gave you the option to ride it like a normal bike if you ever run out of gas... 

They were truly really cool…So, a few days later I went in and bought one! 

I chose a blue one, it was gorgeous, and while I was there, I also bought a helmet and goggles, they were quite retro, like from World War II.

I also bought a waterproof suit for the rain in bright yellow, so that I’d be seen at night. The suit was simply a pair of trousers that could go over my normal trousers and a jacket, both could be folded into a nice and compact pouch. 

I also had a pair of black gloves …I was completely set up for the whole experience... 

I started going to work every day on my Vespa, I was so happy…No more buses!!

I also used to take my Sony Walkman, the original one, the one with the orange headset, and play my cassette tapes on the road! 

I remember clearly that I used to love playing Janis Joplin or Led Zeppelin or Bob Marley really loud to try to cancel out the deafening noise of the traffic in Mexico City... 

I had to learn to be very careful while riding in the city, as most motorists didn't show any kind of respect for bikes, and were quite aggressive while driving, it was truly dangerous, and on top of that, I also had to look out for potholes... 

However, it was ten times better than travelling by bus and it was so unique that it made me quite popular at school amongst my colleague teachers and students, they all thought it was so cool, no one else had a VESPA, and when I'd ask them, why don't you get one?

They'd say..."Oh, no way, that's not for me".... I'm too scared, or some other excuse...

I rode my Vespa to and from work and to anything or anywhere else, however, at times, while still living at home, I'd borrow my dad's car to go out at night If there was somewhere to go or something to do... 

This is the way it was for the rest of that first-year working at Interlingua until one day...I found a flat, a flatmate and I was offered a teaching position at a new branch of Interlingua, a few blocks away from my new flat...

It all fell into place quite nicely... 

Another chapter of my life was about to unfold...