Quedan 2 semanas.

Two weeks from today I'll be back in Sacramento, hopefully eating In-n-Out or frozen yogurt with Kim. :)

I don't want to go. I'm having such an amazing time here, I've grown so much, my Spanish is rockin, and I've made so many wonderful wonderful friends here, it's going to be really hard to get on the plane. In fact, all of my classmates are all threatening to somehow have me detained in the airport. :) I've been hearing a lot of "quedate aquiiiiiii Alis!" lately, and I really wish I could, but I've got a graduation and a bar exam to knock out, and that's really all there is to it.

I love Mexico City--everything about it. I really do want to come back here to work someday. There's ALWAYS something happening, you can eat like a queen for $1, the people are wonderful and friendly, and the public transportation system is very sophisticated and cheap.

A lot of my time lately has been spent goofing off with friends or working on a huge research paper that I have to turn in before I leave, but I've done a lot of stuff since I last blogged, so here's a quick update:
--Yesterday I actually got VIP access to go underneath the Cathedral and walk through the crypts! We went into the room where all of the bodies of the archbishops since the conquest are kept. It was REALLY creepy, but so incredibly cool at the same time. After the Spanish destroyed the Aztecan Pyramids at Tenochtitlan, they just built their buildings right on top, so the Cathedral sits atop of many pyramids and other Aztecan artifacts. So, the Spanish constructed the Archbishop crypt atop of Aztecan sacrificial altars--the marble tomb that holds that body of Mexico's first Archbishop is laid atop of one of these altars. It was quite a sight to behold. Also, I was promised that I'm going to be able to adventure even further underneath the Cathedral to see the Pyramids, but we'll have to go at night, so I'm working on it. There's supposed to be a ghost, too!

--Last weekend I went back to San Angel for my favorite art market, and then to Coyoacan to hang with my friends Mirelle & Sergio. We had a great time eating in the really great comedors in Coyoacan and platicando over cafecitos. When I came home I convinced Atenea and her boyfriend Alejandro to go to the food & art festival in the Centro de Tlalpan, and I'm so glad we went! I picked up some cool gifts for Vanessa, and ate tacos while listening to the live mariachi music. :)

--Last week some of my friends from school took me to desayunar in the mercado in the Centro de Tlalpan, we had a great time--here are some pictures:



--I finally checked out the Museum of Modern Art & the Castillo in Parque Chapultepec last week. The views from the Castillo were incredible, but what really blew me away were the art collections in the MOMA. I'm really glad I was able to visit before taking off.

--I bought my lucha mask. After a lot of deliberation, I decided to go with Dr. Wagner Jr., his purple option.

--The weekend before I went to Xochimilco with some girlfriends where we enjoyed quesadillas and micheladas while listening to banda and laughing our butts off. Afterward, we went to Gabi's house where we gossiped, danced and laughed until we had to get serious for the America v. Chivas game that night. Great day.




--This weekend should be fun, too--Friday my class is kidnapping me to go to las trajineras in Xochimilco, which is basically a big party on a boat that floats down a river. Saturday I think I'm going dancing or to a birthday party, and Sunday I'll probably spend working on my paper.

So, there's the past few weeks in a nutshell--lots of exploring, laughing with friends, and as always, eating.

See you guys REALLY soon at graduation!
xoxo

Spring break!

I'm officially back in gear after 2 weeks of spring break. Which was glorious.

The first week my parents came to visit! We went all over--Teotihuacan, the Centro Historico, Ballet Folklorico in Bellas Artes, San Angel, the Museum of Anthropology, and a ton of great restaurants! I'm still waiting on my mom to send me most of the pictures, but here's one that I took with my camera:

My mom & I on top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan:

After my parents took off, I went to a small beach called Playa Paraiso with some friends of mine from school. It was incredible--there was no one there, and we camped for 3 days in tents under little cabanas. The weather was perfect. Most of our time was spent lazing around on the beach or swimming in the little laguna nearby, because the waves & undertow were REALLY strong.

After the beach, I took an overnight trip to nearby Puebla, which was meh, sort of mediocre. It was cool to visit, and I bought some really cool art, so that was a definite highlight, but otherwise, it was just a bunch of colonial architecture & churches, so I was like, NEXT.

Here's my top 5 favs from my two weeks off:
1. Showing my parents what I've been up to for the past few months
2. Staying up all night watching cable tv in our hotel room while snacking on the girl scout cookies they brought me (I never watch tv anymore!)
3. Ballet Folklorico
4. Swinging in a hammock and eating fresh tortillas while enjoying the view at Playa Paraiso
5. Laughing really hard about whatever it is my friends and I were joking about at the moment at the beach. :)

I hope everyone is doing well--I come home really soon and can't wait to see all of you! Much love from south of the border. xoxo

This weekend was such a blast!

On Friday, a bunch of great friends & I went to Hookah Lounge in the Condesa, which was really padre. My friend that I met at Cafe la Habana, Chris, came out with us, too, which was really fun.

Some pictures of my friends and I at Hookah.




Saturday was easy going. I headed to the Bosque de Tlalpan to go running, since I want to do Bay to Breakers again this year. It's so convenient to live SO CLOSE to a beautiful park where I can go running--I should've taken advantage of this much earlier in the semester! Running is a little tougher here given the altitude and the hills, but I figure it's great preparation for bay to breakers, especially heart attack hill.

Sunday was the best. After tomando cafecitos with Chris & Diana in the Centro de Tlalpan, we headed to Estadio Azteca for the America v. Morelia game. Estadio Azteca is IMMENSE, which made for an incredible experience. It was a really fun combination of people, too because for Chris, who is an huuuuuuuuuuge soccer fan, it was almost like a pilgrimage. For Diana, it was a huge sacrifice because she HATES the team that played, and for me, I just thought it was fun to drink bears and yell at the players. I also like to check out all the weird food that they sell at the stadium. Like raw pigskin in a cup. See for yourself!



Representin' Cal at Estadio Azteca:



Diana, me, & Chris at the game:



That's all for now. This week should be pretty easygoing since we're out for 2 weeks of spring break next week! I'm also really excited to see mom & dad, who are coming on Sunday!!! :)

Drop me a line, I'd really like to hear from you! Cuidense!

Estoy enamorada.

Today I decided to play hooky from school to explore D.F. a little more, and I'm officially in love with the city. It's just incredible, everything about it. Okay, the traffic annoys me sometimes, but everything else is really amazing and I never want to leave. I really feel muy chilanguita. My professors are trying to convince me to stay here and work, saying they can easily get me really great jobs. I really like the idea...I mean, not for another couple of years because I obviously have my obligations back in California, but the idea of working and living in D.F. como abogadita really interests me.

I started out in Reforma to visit one of my friends who works for a Senator in the Torre de Caballito. It was so cool to head up to the 25th floor and be in an actual office of one of Mexico's Senators! What was even cooler was the he wasn't there, so my friend took me into his office and everything--and WHAT A VIEW. You can see the whole north end of the city from his office, totally incredible!

Here's a picture of the Torre de Caballito:

Afterward, I headed to Cafe la Habana where legend has it that Fidel & Che spent many hours planning the Cuban Revolution over a strong cup of coffee. It was there that I met Chris, an English traveler who had just arrived in Mexico City! We became fast friends and ended up chatting for a couple of hours about everything from former travels to Flight of the Conchords.

Sipping a limonada in Cafe la Habana:

(The picture makes it look a LOT bigger than it really was!)

After Cafe la Habana, we decided to head to El Cuadrilatero, a torta restaurant/shrine to lucha libre!!!!! The walls are covered with lucha masks and pictures of the owners with luchadores, and they sell a torta that must weigh at least 20 pounds called "Torta Gladiador"--if you finish it in 15 minutes it's free. What a deal, huh? The heart attack is also free of charge. Apparently the luchadores come to eat there all the time!! How cool is that?!
Anyway, I introduced Chris to micheladas, which he of course loved, and then I made the 2 hour trek back to my house in Tlalpan, which I loved because I got to take the metro. I REALLY miss the metro--I almost never get to take it these days because I live too far, so it was really great to be back on it.

Que viva la lucha!


With Chris in El Cuadrilatero:


Hope everything's well with all of you--I'd love to hear from you soon, it's been such a long time! xoxo

Rando pensamientos

I had an epiphany today: I can speak and understand Spanish really well. I'm understanding almost everything, and am speaking without hesitation. I was even really angry today and I reacted in Spanish! Isn't that increible?

Things have been going well--I'm in the middle of my midterms and I feel good about them. I've been spending a lot of time studying and trying to sleep here and there, because normally I get about 3-4 hours a night during the week thanks to the fact that I have to get up so early to make it to school. I'll never complain about having to be at the office at 8 EVER again.

So yeah, things have been same ol' around here, just studying, dealing with public transportation, and platicando con amigos. Since I haven't done anything too exciting, but have random thoughts I'd like to throw out, I thought I'd just make a list of top 10 random thoughts on Mexico:

1. Peseros: I noticed the other day that peseros actually race each other in order to pick up more bus riders. I often fear for my well-being when I'm on a pesero, but last week I actually thought I was going to die when another pesero nearly broadsided us. Uuuffff, que miedo. Also, I definitely don't recommend jumping on the peseros that are all pimped out, like the ones that are low-riders, have black lights, and car racing decals. The last thing that I think is funny about peseros is that ALL of the drivers recline their seat so it's more like a chaise lounge than a chair, which also means they can barely see over the driver's wheel. hmm.

2. Burritos: I FINALLY found a burrito in Mexico. Is that weird? Burritos are NOWHERE to be found, I think it might be a northern Mexico thing? Anyway, what's important is that I found them, they're a block away from my school, and they're the stuff dreams are made of. You can actually order a 3 foot long burrito if you're up to it (the overlap the tortillas). Anyway, the consist of an amazing homemade flour tortilla, any kind of meat you like with queso oaxaca, two types of really good salsas and FRENCH FRIES. They put FRENCH FRIES IN THE BURRITO. Oh man. I had one on Friday and thought about it every day until Tuesday when I had another one. I need to cut that out though, I'm definitely puttin' on some pounds thanks to the food.

3. Amiguitos nuevos: I really love my classmates. There are only 12 of us, which is a really small class size for Pedregal, and I get along really well with every one of them. They all want to take care of me all the time, invite me places, want to practice their English, want to visit me in California, etc. I've also met a ton of other really great people here at the University. Everyone is just so friendly and interested, I make new buds every day. Saturday I'm heading to San Angel to see a comedy show and eat crepes with one of my new girlfriends, Diana, and since we finish our midterms on Monday, a bunch of us are going for Aztecas to celebrate.

4. Television: Sucks. The novelty of novelas has long since worn off; they're really just awful. But that's all that's on tv, soo...I don't watch a whole lot of tv. I think that when I come back I'm going to watch tv for like two weeks straight before bar prep starts. Speaking of which...

5. Graduation: I'll be there! I booked my ticket for May 7, so I'll make it to the McGeorge grad party as well as our graduation. I wasn't planning on making it back so early, but I'd really hate to miss it. Booking the ticket did make me really sad though! I don't want to leave I love it so much here!!!

6. Micheladas: totally amazing. I think I've talked about them before, but whatever, I love them. Micheladas are beer with lime and hot sauce served in an ice cold glass with a salt coated rim. They're even better with tacos. No wonder I'm gaining weight.

7. La Hora Mexicana: In Mexico EVERYTHING runs late. If someone tells you they'll meet you at 3, they'll meet you at 5 if at all. I'm actually waiting on someone now, who is currently running 30 minutes late. The word "flake" doesn't translate and if you have a reputation for running late, it means that you consistently arrive at least 3 hours late, not 10 or 15 minutes like in the US. It used to REALLY upset me until I realized that being stood up or having to wait hours for someone doesn't mean the same thing here as it does in the US. At home, if someone stands you up or makes you wait for them without advising you beforehand, it's really rude and often considered a big FU that's often taken personally. However, here, it's the norm. If someone stands you up, or shows up really late without letting you know they're showing up late, it's not a big deal and it doesn't have any significance. So, if you're in Mexico, and your new Mexican friend tells you they'll be there "ahorita," that translates to anywhere from 20 minutes late to never. Hay que tener paciencia no mas.

8. Shopping: You wouldn't BELIEVE how expensive it is to shop for clothes here! Also, what I think is kinda weird is that Sears is here in Mexico, but it's REALLY nice. Sears is like Nordstrom here! They sell 7 jeans, but they cost $200USD!!! What is that about? Shoes are also incredibly expensive...so looks like I'll be bummin' it out of my suitcase until May. :)

9. Mi casa es su casa: The people in Mexico are so incredibly gracious; the're willing to welcome you into their lives and make you a part of their familia. Just yesterday I was invited to lunch at a friends house, and her mom served us sodas in the living room while we listened to music and chatted about the new Judicial Reform in Mexico before eating. It's just really wonderful.

10. Market food: So sometimes I forget that I'm not Chilanguita and I get really bold with my food choices. Mexico has AMAZING street food, but I need to be smarter about my choices. It's just so hard to say no sometimes, especially after living here for awhile...jijiji.

Hasta pronto, chavitos!

Quick update

it's been awhile since I've posted, so I'll give you a quick update and think of more funny stories to tell you later, you can bet on lots of new pesero adventures.

School is in full swing so a lot of my time is spent in class, getting to and from class, and studying. I obviously need to work a lot harder than the other students because of the whole "soy de California y hablo ingles" thing. I usually like to study in Cafe de la Selva in the Centro de Tlalpan, which is a really cool coffee shop that reminds me a lot of Cafe Milano in Berkeley, but the coffee is cheaper, there are ALWAYS tables available, and you can smoke.

I LOVE hanging out in the Centro de Tlalpan. It's gorgeous and really relaxed, and there are always really great food vendors around, not to mention a really wonderful little bakery that sells fresh baked bread for really cheap. There's usually something going on, too, live music or people performing, protests, etc., so I love hanging out over good coffee or atole and a fresh roll from the bakery and just watchin the sights.

As far as touristy stuff--A couple of weeks ago, I made the trek to the Centro Historico to hit up some museums and sights with one of my classmates, Paola. First we went to the top of the Torre Latinoamericana then to the Templo Mayor, which is an amazing museum exhibiting many archeological artifacts found in the Aztecan Templo Mayor; a huge pyramid that the Spanish ruined when they showed up. The ruins are smack dab in the middle of the Centro Historico! Right behind the Catedral! The juxtaposition is absolutely incredible--while walking through the ruins you are right in the middle of the city with all of its sounds, sights, and smells. It's really incredible.
The next day, my friend Diana and her brother took me to watch the UNAM Pumas Soccer game! It was a total blast, I'm learning all of the gritas and the Pumas are officially my favorite team because UNAM is a huge prestigious public university and their colors are navy blue anad gold. What more could I ask for?

Other than that things have been pretty relaxed. I've been going out on weekends with my sisters and new friends to different cool places in the City, hanging out a lot at home with my host family, and studying for my upcoming midterms. Life is bueno!

Adventures in public transit, officious defined, and buena suerte

Every morning I have to wake up at 5:30am to catch a funky-ass pesero at 6:30am so I can make it to school on time. And every morning, the bus is so full that I have to stand. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to stand in a completely enclosed space on the bus, but lately I've been hanging out with the driver sitting on the large dashboard because there's no space in the bus, or actually hanging from a pole with half of my body out of the bus door!
Peseros really suck, but they have a certain charm to them...to me at least. I think the general population of Mexico City actually hates them, but I think they're a blast. They're disgustingly dirty, the seats are horribly uncomfortable, the drivers drive like MANIACS, they smell heavily of gasoline, and they always contain about 20 more people than an American fire marshall would allow for...if you have money to pay, the driver will take it.
Also, I've noticed that at the bus terminal, there are these chavos (young dudes) that just sort of hang around eating junk food. When a bus pulls up, they'll jump in and sit in front so that when the bus pulls over, they jump out and announce where the bus is going (even though the sign in front clearly says where it's going). When they get back in, the bus driver gives them a couple of pesos for whatever it is that they're helping with.
Despite their quirks, I'm a big fan of taking peseros. Everyone I go to school with is pretty fresa, and they're totally appalled when they hear that I take peseros, the metro and the light rail all the time. But how can you beat getting nearly anywhere you want to go in Mexico City for less than $.20?? I'm telling you, you can't be that with a stick!

Also, a note on "services" in Mexico. It seems to me that people here throw something in your face here and expect you to pay for it--this is a good example of officiousness, which we learned about in contracts.
Here's a good example: I was in the car at a stop light with a couple of friends just the other day, when this fat old guy shoddily dressed as a clown approached my friend who was driving and complained to him for the entire duration of the red light about how because he entertains people, we needed to give him a few pesos? What the heck is that about? We didn't even SEE him do anything slightly entertaining! He might as well have just come up to the car and said that we'd have to pay him to go away!
Also last night we went out to a club, and when we parked, there was this old dude that was hanging around the street where we parked. He approached us and said that we'd have to pay him to watch the car! Like a pirate vallet service or something? What is that? So we were like, okay, we'll pay you afterward, thinking he'd be gone. And he TOTALLY wasn't! He was there at 2am, "watching the cars." We had to pay him 10 pesos so he'd go away because he wouldn't let us pull out of where we'd parallel parked until we paid him! Oh Mexico.

On a more pleasant note--I hung out in the Centro of Tlalpan today to get some studying done. I'm so lucky to live in such a lovely district of the city! After studying, I took a walk around the plaza. After buying a beautiful pair of handmade earrings from the guy who made them, and having a pleasant little conversation with him about Tlalpan and things I should do in Mexico, I stopped over to this amazing little bakery where I bought some great fresh baked bread (Katie, it's the same bread they served at Girasoles but better!!!).
Tonight I hung out with my sisters. Atenea and I made pancakes with cajeta and watched dubbed Disney moves in bed. We joke about how it's so much more fun to stay in bed and gossip and eat rather than go out! We have such a great time together. It's usually just the girls, me, my host sisters Atenea and Farath, and my host mom, Cairo. I'm so so lucky to be living with such a wonderful family in such an incredible place. I couldn't be happier!!!

Escuela, fan clubs, y fatigue

Monday was my first day of school, I can't believe it's only Wednesday. I'm exhausted.

Mexican law school is like high school with cigarette breaks. It's not exactly the break-back Socratic method hawking stress pressure cooker that I'm used to at McGeorge. The concepts are really basic, it's just the language barrier and new legal terms that throw me off and take me a little longer to get, but I understand nearly everything in class and I've been participating in class discussions, so I'm really happy with how my Spanish is coming along!

Regardless, I'm tired. I have to wake up at 5:30 every morning to take the bus at 6:30 to get to my classes on time. I have classes straight through from 7:30-1:30, and the past couple of days I've been up until 2am doing homework, so, I feel like a zombie! There's really nothing like being on a Mexican bus at 6:30am jam packed with people going to school and work. It's unbelievable how many people are packed like sardines onto the micros, and it's incredible how much the micros feel like rollercoasters. Something else is that there are no driving rules or regulations here. Literally. In order to get your driver's license, you go to the supermarket and you buy it. Traffic lights are ignored on a regular basis, cars drive down the wrong way down one way streets, it's incredible. Dad, you'd hate it--it'd give you anxiety.

The students at the school are really fun, and I'm the only exchange student there so they're all trying to claim me as for their group of friends as soon as possible. Kindof like steal the bacon, and I'm the bacon. I have this group of 19 year old boys that follow me everywhere and always invite me out and stuff, my girlfriends here have dubbed them my groupies. It's pretty funny. I think it's just because kids here aren't used to hanging out with extranjeros, especially from California which is apparently superpadrisimo. :)

So, not much more to tell other than school's going well, I'm making fast friends and am studying hard, but enjoying myself, too. The best part is my Spanish--sometimes I don't even realize that I'm speaking or understanding it, as if the divide between the two languages is starting to crumble a bit, which is really exciting!!!

Oaxaca

I just got back from Oaxaca and I had such a great time and have so many stories that I decided to make a top ten list rather than drone on about things nobody cares about.

OAXAQUENO TOP 10 (In no particular order)

1. The food!!! Oaxaca is one of Mexico's culinary capitals, and for good reason. I had some amazing moles, soups, breads...all of the food here is so amazing and totally cheap.
2. The art. Oaxaca also happens to be one of Mexico's art capitals, and I spent way too much on some of the most amazing artesania pieces I've ever seen. You could easily spend your entire trip shopping in Oaxaca, there's just so many amazing things to see.
3. Meeting Isabelle (from France) & Michelle (U.S.) in the really cool hostel I stayed at. Michelle only stayed with us for a day in Oaxaca, but Isabelle stayed the entirety of my trip and we had such a great time together! We went out a lot and went on adventures that we wouldn't have otherwise gone on by ourselves.
   
4. Being a superstar for a night in a local bar. Isabelle, Michelle, & I went out to this crazy blacklight bar where chelas (beer with hot sauce, lime, & salt...incredible) were only 10 pesos each and there was a funky rock band playing covers all night. We got a little tipsy, danced to some of the ska music, and had a great time. When we took off, EVERY guy in the bar, including all of the band members pleaded with us to come back "NO TE VAYAS, PORQUE NO REGRESAS? ADIOOOOOOOOOS!!!" It was way too funny.
   
5. The CHOCOLATE. Oaxaca is also Mexico's chocolate capital! I had a cup of hot chocolate from the well -known Chocolate Mayordomo everyday! :) It puts that Nestle Abuelita garbage to shame!!!
6. Going to the Guelaguetza recreation with Isabelle, and being asked to dance onstage TWICE by the cute dancer! Of course I accepted!
   
7. Visiting the Centro Cultural Santo Domingo--an ex-convent that was recently transformed into an amazing anthropology & art museum. I was most excited to see the exhibit of artifacts pulled from Teotihuacan (where I'd just visited and climbed the pyramids just outside of D.F.) and the treasures recently extracted from Tomb 7 of Monte Alban, including a jade encrusted skull and a number of exquisitely preserved jewelry from centuries past. Mom, you would've loved it! Apart from the amazing exhibits it stored, the ex-convent is quite a sight to behold, and behind it there's an amazing botanical garden.
   
8. Live music. Almost everywhere you go in Oaxaca, you're bound to be surrounded by live music of some sort or another--mariachi, marimba ensembles (which I believe is characteristic to the state of Oaxaca), guitarristas, or even orchestras!
   
9. The Zocalo. Oaxaca's Zocalo is beautiful, covered with trees and currently adorned with Poinsettias (or Nochebuenas as they're called here, which means Christmas Eve), it's always filled with people relaxing and live music playing. I loved to just spend time in the Zocalo, read my new Isabelle Allende novel over a cup of Oaxaqueno chocolate and listen to the music. So relaxing.
10. The Mercados. Oaxaca has 3 big ol' mercados: Mercado Juarez, 20 de Noviembre, y Centro de Albestos. It was fun to explore them and find treats like fresh baked bread or freshly sliced coconut with lime and hot sauce.

My ONLY complaint about my trip was that I came down with food poisoning last night, which was really awful and caused me to lose my last night there. Thankfully I was able to pull it together to make the 8 1/2 hour trek back to my host family's house in Tlalpan. I should be 100% by tomorrow, but I plan to take it easy the rest of the weekend since my classes start Monday.

Hope everything's great with all of you! xoxo

Catholicism & Men

My dean here is the best--he's really taken care of me so far and has made sure that I'm very comfortable and happy. He's a pretty important and controversial dude--he's the lawyer for the Cardinal of Mexico. Needless to say, our politics differ substantially; regardless, we get along famously.
He invited me to mass at La Catedral in the Zocalo, and I received VIP treatment the whole time--it was insane. We were escorted by the police to the Zocalo from the freeway all the way downtown, I was personally escorted by members of the Cardinal's security to various special places in the Catedral, and I was allowed to enter rooms not available to the general public, which included some of the most incredible art I've ever seen.
After mass, I was escorted into a special room where the public is not allowed to go, and the door was locked behind the small amount of people that were allowed in to see the Cardinal off. After he changed out of his vestments, I shook his hand before he left. Again, though we disagree politically, it was pretty impressive to shake the hand of someone so politically powerful. I also wonder what my grandparents Olga & Nick would say if they could've seen me going to mass at the Catedral & shaking the hand of the Cardinal!? Que locura!

Also--a note about men here in Mexico. They stare at me like I have 3 heads (unlike my experience in Chile, apparently I look different than the general population here...people can tell right off the bat that soy gringa), and if they're over the age of 40, they like to ask me out on dates (which happened to me today...DURING MASS!!! GROSS!). I talked to my host parents about guys here--and they explained to me that the culture is simply different. Here, there's really no shame in telling a woman she's beautiful and asking her out, even if it's TOTALLY OBVIOUS THAT SHE'S NOT INTERESTED, NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. The machismo will take some getting used to...it's not at all out of the ordinary to get asked out or be told that I'm beautiful and that they're totally in love with me--it's weird and I'm not used to it.

Teaching English & Fryin' up Platanos

I have to say that spending a semester in Mexico is the best decision I could've made for myself--I couldn't be happier, and I don't feel like I've been this genuinely content for a really long time. I'm also really happy with my Spanish--it gets better and better every day, which is incredibly encouraging!

I was up at 5:30am because my host mom asked me to come to her classroom and speak English to her students--she's an English teacher at Diego Rivera Middle School. We had to levantarnos REALLY early to take the micro (bus...pronounced meecro) to school. And let me tell you--there's nothing like a little cumbia in a rickety ol' bus at 7am to get the blood flowing. I love cumbia, but that early? It's almost offensive!
I spoke English in two of her morning classes and it was just too funny. Everytime I spoke, the students actually applauded me! hahaha! It was a little surprising to be applauded for saying things like, "I'm from California," and "I have a cat named Josefina." When I told them that I liked cumbia and tacos al pastor, they went NUTS...yelling and all excited. After my little presentacion, they all wanted to take pictures with me and a bunch of the little boys actually asked for my number. Ridiculous!

Afterward, Farath and I grabbed a coffee from the local oxxo (just like 7 11) and headed back home to fry up some platanos. On our way home from the bus stop Farath showed me a couple of little tortillerias, where they make tortillas with a machine.

AND THEN Farath showed me how to make fried platanos, which ended up being incredibly delicious. We feasted on sopes that we made ourselves and had the fried platanos for dessert. Oh man.

Then we decided to head to the Tiangui, or open air market, to explore. I love hanging out in Tianguis...there's just so much to see and everyone's yelling at you to buy whatever it is that they're selling.

Tonight we'll take it easy, just novelas, knitting (I'm teaching Farath), joking around with Cairo & Farath, & tacos, but tomorrow we're going out dancing and then Sunday to the museums, which are always free on Sundays. Also, I'm VERY excited because Cairo (my host mom) told me that there's a cumbia dance studio closeby...so I'll be an experta when I come home.

xoxo--shoot me a line if you have time, it'd be great to hear from you all! Shout out to my homies in Sac & everywhere else.

Pictures

1. Makin' sopes in the nearby Tiangui, or open air market. Every Tuesday they use blue corn maiz.

2. Mmmm...sopes.

3. Farath putting hot sauce and limon on our popcorn at the movies

4. Isn't my tia cute?!! Here she is showing me how to make refried beans


Also...check out my new slideshow on the right hand side.

Getting situated

I've spent the last couple of days hanging out with my family and settling in to my new casa. There's so much to tell about my host family--they're so much fun. Last night, I went with Farath and a couple of her friends to a movie and a little cafecito afterwards. They're muy buena gente, I'm really excited to be rollin' with such a relaxed and fun crowd. At the movies, we put salsa picante and lemon on our popcorn, and I'm never eating popcorn any other way ever again. It's delicious.

Afterward, we came home and watched the rest of this RIDICULOUS novela called Pasion, that I'm actually starting to get into. It's one of those things where at first you're like "are you serious?" and then you can't stop watching it! The rest of the night was spent chatting with my host mom and sister over homemade refried beans and tortillas and cafecitos.

Tonight we're making mole and platanos fritos...mmmmm.

So, no new news...I've just been exploring Tlalpan with my host sister, getting oriented to the district, and getting to know my host family. They're really incredible people...I must've done something right to live with them!

Fotos nuevas

1. Hangin´with Diego y Frida in the Palacio Nacional

2. Flexing our muscles after toughing out the very steep climb up Teotihuacán's Pyramid del Sol

3. By Mexico's first ever (an maybe last?) ice skating rink in the Zócalo. We didn´t skate on it because the line was so incredibly long!

I´ll upload pictures of my family soon. My sister wouldn't let me take pictures of her yesterday because she hadn't done her hair or anything. :)

It's really wonderful to stay in Tlalpan with such a wonderful familia y casa. Tlalpan is very quaint--the Zócalo is really cute and surrounded by very cool cafes and restaurants. I can´t wait to explore it more!

Ya tengo familia!!

So much has happened since my last post!

Almost immediately after I left Cafe AM (a really great cafe in the Centro that's worth checking out) to tomar cafe and upload some pictures to my blog, not only did I have someone confess their love to me and ask me out (after about 5 minutes of chatting), but my host family called and I moved in with them last night!!

My host sister, Atenea came to pick me up last night from the hostel, and we drove a very long way to the Delegación Tlalpan, where I now live. We immediately clicked, she´s so much fun. After only about 30 minutes in the car we were already joking around, making promises to go dancing all the time, and singing loudly to Julieta Venegas and Juanes. We went to pick up my other host sister, Farath, to get tacos. Then we went to a taco stand and I swear to god I had the best tacos I've ever eaten in my entire life. I had 3 de pastor, and 1 de carnitas, and they were so incredible...I'm so glad the stand is close to our house and that the girls go all the time!

I moved into my little room, which has its own bathroom and everything. The house is great and in a great location on top of a hill south of the city, so at night you can see all of the city lights. It´s incredible. The family is so friendly and the girls are really fun, life couldn't be better. We also have a little pet turtle named Tuga, that lives with me in my room. :)

It feels so good to have a place to live and move out of the hostel--everything has fallen into place and I feel genuinely relaxed and totally comfortable. It also helps that my Spanish is getting better little by little, which makes me feel more independent and less niñita. So, bring it on, Mexico.

Ya te echo de menos, Katie!

Today was Katie's last day, I'm so sad to see her go!!!
This morning we headed to Cafe el Popular to tomar cafe con leche y pan dulces. So good. We had to roll ourselves to the metro station after filling ourselves with so much bread. Ridiculous.

Afterward shopping for some artesania, we went to this amazing little coffee shop really close to our hostel which I've been eyeing all week. I ordered Cafe Arabe and it was so fancy the way they served it! I really love coffee here, when they do it right they do it right. Not that nescafe crap they serve in Chile.

I'm hoping to move in with my host family tonight or tomorrow, I have yet to hear from them, which is starting to frustrate me, but asi es la vida. More pictures to come!!!

Pyramides y LUCHAS

SO...today I climbed the Pyramids at Teotihuacán, it was just so incredibly powerful. I hung out most of the time with Mirelle's dad, who was such an amazing tour guide! It was also really great to speak Spanish all day, it's starting to flow a lot better, which is very exciting! It's actually starting to become harder to speak correct English, I'm starting to use English vocab with Spanish grammar when I speak in English (which won't be for much longer since Katie leaves tomorrow. Which I'm really sad about!!).

After vistando las pyramides, we went to LUCHA LIBRE and I haven't had so much fun in SO LONG. We sat RIGHT NEXT to the tv commentators! And El Flash and El Sensei waved at me and blew me kisses!!! All we do the whole time is yell groseros at the luchadores and laugh like crazy--"SUBETE PENDEJO!! SUBETE A LAS CUELGAS!!" I'm learning all my bad words from lucha. AND the lead commentator signed my program for me! I'm going every week, es bien paaaadre.

I promise to post pictures soon, it's that I have yet to have a whole lot of time on a computer and a dependable internet connection.

la gringa anda bien cansada

It's tough to believe I've only been here for a week--the US feels so very far away. I feel so lucky to be here, to be doing and seeing things that I never thought I'd have the chance to experience. I'm also really tired! We've been walking & using public transportation all week long, and I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be to use my Spanish all the time.

I definitely am ready to settle in with my host family--with whom I have yet to connect. It's tough to feel so uprooted, I'm ready to move out of this funky ass hostel and into a place without vinyl mattresses--I can't wait to take a real shower and not live out of my suitcases. I've decided hostel stays are not really my thing-maybe it's just the one I'm staying in, but I've realized that having my own room and bathroom is something that my patience and sanity seems to require. It's great to save money, and I'll tough it out for the next couple of days, but what I need above all else right now is some quiet time to myself, which is absolutely impossible to come by here.

What's great is that my host family seems like they're going to be wonderful. They live in a big ol' house and they have two daughters that're my age. Perfect.

Today we headed to the Parque Chapultepeque (think Balboa or Golden Gate Park) and though there are a ton of incredible museums there, I was totally fascinated with all of the street vendors that line that walks and assault you with all the crap they have to sell. It's incredible--like the ramate multiplied by a million -- DOS CINCO HELADOS DOS CINCO HELADOS, ¿QUE LES DAMOS? or yelling about their chicharrones or any other thing they have to sell you. They seriously yell right in your face!

Alright I'm off to bed because we have another really early morning tomorrow--we're going to Teotihuacán and want to climb the pyramids before everyone else gets there! I promise to post pics soon, I've had bad luck with internet connections so far.

Drop me a line if you have a sec, it'd be wonderful to hear from you!

Some pictures & a quick update

We're back at our funky little hostel in Mexico City's Centro Historico--here I am next to my vinyl coated mattress, and then falling (not really) into a hole outside of our hostel. The construction made it a little scary to walk on the sidewalk outside!

Yesterday was incredible--not only did we go to Frida Kahlo's house in Coyoacan, but we ate churros filled with nutella and cajeta. If you've never been to Mexico and you think you know what a churro tastes like, I'm sad for you.

It was so incredible to be in Frida's house--we saw her bed, her casts, some paintings, letters that she wrote to Diego, and many other amazing things that belonged to her and her family. Frida has quickly become an idol of mine, so it was amazing to be in the place where she was born and grew up.

After heading to Frida's house, we hung out for a bit in the plaza in Coyoacan where people come to pasar tiempo no mas, a concept pretty foreign in the U.S. We then went to a teeny place where we ate sopes and quezadillas--they made the tortillas and everything else right in front of us. I was a little worried because that place definitely would've been shut down by the health dept in the US, but I'm turista free so far. Knock on wood.

Today was pretty tranquila. We're exhausted after doing so much in such little time, but we're resting up because we're heading to an antro tonight with Mirelle, Sergio, and some of our other nuevos amigos. It should be pretty fun.

Cuernavaca

Estamos en Cuernavaca, a really cool city about 1 1/2 hours from D.F. We´re staying in this AMAZING little bed and breakfast and have done some really cool stuff.´ Speaking of the b&b, this morning I had my first plato of huevos rancheros autenticos, and oh my god. I´m going to come back so fat because the food here is to die for.

Our first night we went to a small cafe called La Maga, y era perfecto...totally bohemian with great food and coffee for super cheap. Our big adventure was yesterday though, when we visited the Pyramids at Xochicalco. We decided to take the cheapo busses to save $5, and it turned out to be a big adventure. We almost died like 5 times. Our bus driver liked to play chicken, and road dividers and signals or more like suggestions here than requirements! It was fun...Dad, you would´ve hated it! :) The Pyramids were incredible to see--the pictures don´t do them justice. What´s nice is that there was maybe 10 people total there, so it was very quiet and we seemed to have the place to ourselves. Y que vista.

After resting a bit after our crazy trek home, we went out to Los Arcos, a really great restaurant and bar for la hora feliz and had some great food and a few coronitas while listening to live cumbia, salsa, and merengue. It was there that we met Angel, who is from Cuernavaca but now lives in Chicago. He was so much fun, we hung out with him most of the night, which continued on to Harry´s bar, which serves foreigners for free on Tuesdays. Harry´s was totally bizarre, we didn´t really like it--habia demasiados gringos.

So, so far so good. I really love it here. Although sometimes my Spanish can get stuck in my mouth, it´s going really well and I´m excited to see how much I improve over the next few months. Mirelle and her friends are great, so I feel really established and comfortable since I already have a really fun easy-going and energetic group of friends.

More later, we´ve got to continue conquering Cuernavaca! :)

Ya llegue!

I can´t believe that I´ve only been here for a couple of days. Katie and I have already done so so much, it feels like we´ve been here for at least a week! I LOVE IT HERE. The city is just incredible. Dios mio I don´t even know where to begin.

Katie and I connected in baggage claim at the airport at around 8pm, about 6 hours after my flight landed. We decided to take the metro because our hostel doesn´t provide its shuttle service on Saturdays. Of course, right? Let me tell you--if you have about 120 pounds of equipaje, don´t take the metro from the airport to your hostel just to save some money. Although it can be totally entertaining, it´s a huge pain in the ass when you realize that you don´t know the metro system and are lost, have about 20 flights of stairs to ascend or descend, and that´s its 9pm and you look very gringa y turista with all your stupid luggage. Thankfully we received unsolicited help from about 5 guys at different points in our trip, and I even scored some digits! haha, I probably won´t be cashing in on that offer.

Despite the headache, I totally fell in love with the metro. You can get anywhere for $2 pesos, which is about $.15 USD, and there´s always someone selling something or singing or playing music for a few pesos. It´s really chaotic and it always guarantees a belly laugh about something or other.

I also immediately fell in love with Mexico City--the first thing I saw was the Zocalo at night, which is totally incredible. The Palacio and the Catedral are so striking and the energy of the Centro is just so lively, it´s amazing.

OPn the 6th we wandered into the Palacio, and saw all of Diego Rivera´s murals there. Afterward we finally met up with Mirelle, and before taking us to her house to share the rosca de reyes, she took us through the Catedral in the Zocalo and treated us to a tour of the top of the Catedral! We were above the entire City, actually walking on the ceiling while mass was taking place. Y que vista! We finally headed to her house in the evening, and a ton of her friends came over to hang out. We thought we´d have a really traditional dinner to celebrate the Dia de los Reyes, we thought we´d eat tamales or something like that, but Mirelle was like, ¨¿qué quieren comer? ¿A ustedes les gusta sushi?¨ And when it turned out that the sushi place didn´t deliver, we just had pizza. We finally cut the rosca de reyes, a big circular fruitbread (that no one really enjoys) that has little dolls inside. If you find a doll in the piece you cut, it´s a blessing, but you also have to throw a little tamale party for everyone in a month, so no one really wants it. Katie found two in hers!!

Right now I´m in Cuernavaca, staying in a really amazing little bed and breakfast about 3K away from the Centro. We´re going to visit some ruins today and go out tonight. This weekend, Mirelle and her friends are taking us out dancing, to Teotihuacan, and to Six Flags Mexico City!!! Crazy. I also plan on checking out lucha libre, ballet folklorico, and Frida Kahlo´s house in the coming weeks. Oh, and the food here is incredible--we´ve had good luck so far.

There´s so much more to talk about, but for now I´ve gotta head out because we´re catching a bus to the ruins. I´ll upload pictures asap.

Les mando abrazos y millones de besitos! Hasta luego!