As you can see from the previous posts, I had a really great time over the last few days. So instead of a summary, maybe I’ll leave you with one final story.
Our flight was on Sunday at 6 AM, which meant we were trying to be at the airport around 4 AM. We hired an Uber to pick us up around 3:25. When I got up, I went to the bathroom. While Sam was laying there, he heard a noise in the house. He wasn’t sure what it was. As we started to turn on lights, we noticed a black animal attached to the upper part of the ceiling.
Instantly, we thought it was a bat.
We both really freaked out because we didn’t know how long it had been there. Our car was coming in 20 minutes. We started to collect our things, both of us basically squatting as low to the ground as we could, making sure all of our stuff was packed up. We didn’t want to forget anything but we were really freaking out. It was scary. It was 3:05 AM and we were a little confused and our anxiety was pretty high. I hate bats, and Sam is no fan of them either, but I was absolutely useless.
Then, at one point, it detached from the wall and started to fly. We both hit the ground as fast as we could. That’s when I noticed that it didn’t fly like a bat. It had a little bit more of a loping gait to it. It flew into the other room against the far window and there it sat.
Sam decided to see exactly what it was because if it was a bat, we knew we would have to get rabies shots once we got back to the States. He approached it a little bit more closely and zoomed in with his phone.
Lo and behold, it was not a bat.
We’re pretty sure it was a black witch moth. The black witch moth can be pretty big and this one had a wingspan of about 6 to 8 inches. It was a really big insect. And it was very dark in complexion so it was hard to see the spots that you can see when you look up the moth online. But that was our escort out of the country. We opened up the window a little bit more and actually got it to fly outside before we sealed up the Airbnb upon our exit and took our cab away.
There are actually some superstitions about it. In many cultures, it’s believed to carry messages from the spirit realm—some say it represents someone from the dead coming back to communicate, or that it brings ancestral wisdom and guidance. Others see it as a symbol of transformation and change, even good fortune.
The last time we were in Mexico was when Samer’s mom had her first serious turn on her sickness that would eventually lead to her death about nine months later. She was admitted to the hospital while we were there and we had to cut our trip short.
I don’t believe in superstitions, but sometimes there are just some very serious coincidences that make you think about things. The moth’s appearance at the end of this trip—a journey marked by transformation, art, and reconnection with a place we love—feels like it carries weight, even if I can’t quite name it.
Guadalajara was an excellent trip.