As we drive down the road today, “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift comes on the radio, and I am instantly transported to another car, on a very different trip, in what seems like a lifetime ago.
I’m 29, finishing up my 2nd year teaching abroad in Ecuador, and it’s Carnival, which means an amazing five day long weekend. If I close my eyes, I can remember this car ride as if it was yesterday. Ed is driving, because 6 months into owning my car, I still hadn’t bothered to get my license. (The hassle of the tramite that would likely take 2 days only to be told I still didn’t have the right documents seemed more of a bother than it was worth. As an incredibly obvious gringa, I had been told on numerous occasions that paying off the police would be much easier. Nevertheless, I was nervous about driving through the multiple checkpoints we’d encounter on the way to the beach, so Ed had offered to drive my car instead of riding with his wife.) Ed’s daughter, having been dubbed DJ of the trip, has her phone hooked up to the car’s stereo, and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” comes on. Windows rolled down, humid coastal air flowing through the car (encouraging my curls to reclaim my flat-ironed hair), steaming pan de yuca from the town we had just driven through practically scalding our hands, a star studded sky stretching as far as we can see, we belt out the chorus. The world is our oyster. We are free. Life is good. Sitting in the car today, I smile, reliving the warm air on my face despite the fact that it’s a rainy 50 degrees in Chicago today. I silently thank Taylor Swift for the vivid memory as my kids giggle at some joke in the back seat. I look at them in the rearview mirror and think, The world is our oyster. We are free. Life is good.
1 Comment
Brian Rozinsky
3/30/2022 07:32:15 pm
What a fun, well-crafted slice, showcasing music's sneaky power to transport us in a blink across distance and time. From Chicago to Ecuador, form chill to heat.
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AuthorHeidi. Archives
March 2022
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