¿Cómo siente volar, Seño?

“What does it feel like to fly, Seño? Is it like riding in a camioneta?” a woman from Guaxpac asked me yesterday as a plane flew overhead—a rare occurrence here…The question almost made me cry.

How do you fully explain to someone a sensation in which she will never in her life experience? The closest these women have ever been to a plane is seeing them pass thousands of miles above their heads. Most have not even visited the capital, which is only less than 120 miles away (though it takes anywhere from 3 ½ to 5 hours to get there). I have seen more of their country in my five months here than they ever will.

Coming from a country of privilege, there are so many experiences in my life that I take as commonplace—flying being one of them. I have been riding in airplanes since before I could walk, and never once has someone asked me to describe how it feels. People in the States don’t need to ask. They know.

So with 15 indigenous women and their children intently listening, I tried my best to describe in detail the take-off and landing, “And other than that, yes, it is basically like riding in a camioneta…except for the turbulence.”