Museums and Fiestas

Sweet murals

FRIENDS! :)

Bellas Artes

Outside the cathedral in Tlatelolco

Don't you wish GA Tech looked this pretty at night?

Chiquitas lindas :) - Ramira, Dani, Carla, y Yo celebran la cumpleanos de Dani

Clubbin'

Another wonderful week in Mexico! Monday was just class - nothing terribly exciting at all. But Tuesday...that was a day like no other. We went to four museums in one day! Secretario de Educacion Publico, another school-like building that I can't remember the name of, Palacio Nacional, and Bellas Artes. We saw tons of great murals, mostly by Rivera and Orozco, two prominent Mexican artists during the Revolucion Mexicana. It was a long day, but we got to see A LOT of paintings.

Wednesday, we went to La Plaza de los Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco. It was silent, sad. A political protest, organized by local college students, had been held there on October 2, 1968 and resulted in the massacre of three hundred by soldiers and PRI radicals. The Olympics were coming to Mexico City, and the PRI didn't want the world to see the discontentment in the nation's citizens. When the protest began, the military began to show up. After the started shooting, they started searching the nearby apartment buildings for escapees. It was a bloodbath, but they cleaned it up overnight and kept it out of the news for over thirty years. I still don't understand how so many deaths could be kept quiet for so long. Tlatelolco is the most solemn and heartbreaking place I've visited in Mexico or any other country.

Thursday was class, delicious tacos at a place down the street from my house, movie-watching, and essay-writing. Yesterday, class got out more than three hours early! Some of my friends and I met to study at a nearby cafe, where we had licuados (which are sort of like milkshakes or smoothies, depending on what you get in them) and coffee and just an all-around good time.

At night, we went to a birthday party! I hadn't met the girl whose birthday it was, but I was excited to actually get to spend some time with Mexican students and practice my Spanish a bit more. The party was at what I guess would be described as a lounge. There were two or three different little meeting rooms and there was a menu that was mostly drinks and appetizers (like nachos and palomitas, or popcorn). We sat around and talked about the differences between Mexico and the U.S. as well as just normal college-kid stuff - school, music, etc. It was a lot of fun! Afterward, we went to a club in Polanco for a bit. It wasn't really my scene, but it was fun and I'm glad I went (even if I did almost die as a result of Joyce's crazy driving). There were lots of trendy Mexicans and a surprising number of people of other races. One thing I love about the U.S. is the diversity, and it's a totally different kind of diversity in Mexico. Here, people are more indigenous or more Spanish, but mostly everyone is some sort of mestizo. It was really interesting to see a different side of Mexico at this club.

My parents are visiting this weekend, and I'm so excited to get to spend time with them! Now I'm off to the metro station so I can meet them at their hotel! :)

Reuben y yo

Pulque (P.S. I did NOT drink that entire thing)

Castillo de Chapultepec - Que bonito!

Economics museum

The kids at Universidad de la Comunicacion are so artsy! This is a display of some of their projects.

It's been a CRAZY week. The first half was really just studying and tests. REALLY that's all it was. We had two exams on Wednesday. The first was on the Mexica and all of their gods and such, and it was three hours of writing. The second was on business culture in Mexico. We were all exhausted after our tests, so we just did relaxing things. Peri and I went to Condesa to a store called The Green Corner. I LOVE going to organic food stores, and I got gluten-free bread (yay!) so it was a good day! Later, we watched Como Agua Para Chocolate for an assignment for class. I have to say that it's one of the better assignments we've had. I highly recommend this movie :)

Thursday was more class and more school work because I had a presentation on Friday. We also went to a really neat museum about Mexico's economy. It was geared toward kids, but that was a good thing for me because my Spanish is about at that level!

We went to a Tortilleria first thing on Friday morning. I don't want to go into too many details, but it wasn't my favorite part of the trip. At least I got a free tortilla out of the deal!

The next part of Friday WAS my favorite part of the trip - Castillo de Chapultepec. The castle was beautiful, and it was a perfectly sunny day. Castillo de Chapultepec has been the home of Maximiliano de Hapsburg, Porfirio Diaz, and other Mexican presidents/leaders. Now, it's a museum full of interesting artifacts from Mexico's history and massive murals and paintings of Benito Juarez, the revolution, and more. My presentation, which took place here, was on El Porfiriato (the era of Porfirio Diaz's reign). My partner and I took the class through his room, his study, his wife's room, and his gorgeous rooftop garden. I would absolutely love to live in that house.

That evening, almost everyone in the class went to a pulqueria with David, a guy who has helped with the Mexico LBAT for the past 5 years and who is dearly beloved by our teacher as well as all of the students on the trip this year and, probably, every student from years past. He's just great. Anyway, a pulqueria is a bar where they serve pulque, a Mexican drink made from the maguey (agave) plant. It's kind of slimy, but so was the pulqueria. Not to mention the people inside. There were quite a few borrachos (drunkards) who just wouldn't leave us alone. It was a an interesting look into another side of Mexican culture, but I won't be going again.

After the pulqueria was Lucha Libre! What is Lucha Libre? Directly translated, it's "free fight," which to me sounded an awful lot like Fight Club. But it was wrestling. Really, really theatrical wrestling. Which translates directly into, in my opinion, tons of fun! Lucha Libre is a popular event in Mexico, and vendors outside sell masks like the ones the wrestlers wear (which parents of small children and gringo boys happily purchase). There were also four extremely vulgar guys from London sitting behind us. They had been traveling all around South America for the past 3 months. I'm totally jealous!

Yesterday (Saturday), we went to a small town outside of the city to make crafts with kids. I love working with kids, and I love speaking Spanish with kids - they're so forgiving! We made puppets out of cardboard and painted them. I made an oveja (sheep). It was a very long day, and all I wanted to do when I got back was rest. I wanted to do something fun (it was Saturday night, after all), so two of my friends and I went to see Iron Man 2 at the Cinemex at Plaza Insurgentes right down the street. It was only $61 pesos (around $5 US), and it was really relaxing.

Today, I went with seven of my classmates to the zoo. It was absolutely packed because admission is free every Sunday, but it was still a lot of fun. We saw lots of animals (many that I've never seen before), and LOTS of kids on leashes, including one girl who looked to be about 12 years old. After the zoo, we went souvenir shopping at Ciudadela, which is kind of like a mall of souvenir shops squished into a relatively tight space. No one did much buying because we were just so tired from the zoo and the heat.

It was so nice to have such a fun-filled weekend. I'm loving Mexico City more and more by the day and really getting to know my way around. I can't wait to see what this week will bring!

Photos! A bit out of order....

Hardcore dancing. In masks. Yeah.

Rock on!

Sweet graffiti

Basilica de la Virgen de Guadalupe

Melodika - karaoke!!!

La Casa de las Sirenas

I think I've officially fallen for Mexico City. The people, the culture, the food, the COFFEE, everything.

On Tuesday, we had our first official class at el Universidad de la Comunicacion. It was intesive, but we definitely learned a lot about the history of Mexico (the Mexica people mostly) and business etiquette in Mexico. We also got to meet some of the students. They are interesting, incredibly artistic, kind-hearted, and open-minded. They want to know us, and it's a great feeling.

Wednesday was presentation day for the majority of my classmates and I. We got to play the role of tour guide at the Museo de Templo Mayor in the historic district. It was interesting to learn about the structure of Mexica society and the advanced practices and understanding of math, time, medicine, and agriculture that they had. It was, however, INTENSIVO! Afterward, we went to La Casa de Las Sirenas. Great view and great food, but a little pricey for us poor college students.

In the evening, we went out for karaoke at Melodika in Zona Rosa - SO much fun! Of course, lots of nineties-throwback songs were sung. It was an all-around wholesome good time :)

Thursday was another day of classes - 6 hours a day! Some of my friends and I really wanted a chill evening. Plus it was raining just a little (it's the rainy season in Mexico), so we went out for helado (ice cream) in Condesa, a lively neighborhood next to Colonia Roma (my hood) in which some of my classmates live. It was great to see a bit of Condesa. The nightlife is a lot more lively there, there is more demand for things labelled "organic," and there are more trash cans (just something I happened to notice, haha). I got mamey-flavored ice cream. Mamey is a fruit that is sort of sweet-potato-like in flavor and texture - muy rico!

Friday was my favorite day so far. We had class and then went to see the Basilica of the Virgen de Guadalupe (Virgen Mary). Every time I walk into a church in Mexico, I can almost feel the tradition, the solemnity, and the strong faith and reverence of the Mexican people. This was no exception. Every year, 15 million people from all over the world visit this basilica. It is rich in history and full of miracles. The virgin Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego and presented him with rare roses. When Diego went to the bishop of his church to tell him what he saw, the bishop didn't believe him. However, when he dropped the roses, which he was carrying in his tilma (cloak), the image of the virgin was imprinted there. The image is still there, and, though many hands have touched it, it has not faded. Scientists have studied the cloak for hundreds of years and still cannot identify the source blue and flesh-colored pigments. Wow.

At night, I went to my new favorite place in Colonia Roma - Multiforo Alicia. It's an indie-rock venue that features a lot of surf and ska bands. It's similar to Under the Couch - the graffiti, the scenesters, the girl taking pictures, the sense of community, the absence of judgement. Needless to say, I felt at home. I loved the band that we saw - Yucatan A-Go-Go - and the venue in general. I loved the hardcore dancing, moshing and conga line. It was just great.

Saturday was a day of rest and homework and a night of salsa dancing at Mama Rumba! We went in a group of 13, and it was a combination of my classmates, my host-bro and his friends, and friends from the Universidad de la Comunicacion. I had a great time dancing with different people and especially with my new lawyer-friend. He showed me some great salsa moves and was really great company. I had my first mojito, too.

Today was Museo de Antropologico and studying at El Globo - mmmm cappuccino. And of course, more rain. But I'm loving every bit of it!

Teotihuacan y El Turibus del Infierno

The pyramids at Teotihuacan were unlike anything I've seen before. I can't imagine how the Aztecs built these massive monuments with the tools that they had available, but they certainly made their pyramids to last.

I learned a lot about what was significant to the Aztecs. Animals, especially the jaguar, were important, but the thing that was most precious to the Aztecs was water. Many ceremonies and much prayer were devoted to gods of rain and fertility. Water, ultimately, meant food, so of course it was an important thing to pray for.

The two biggest pyramids, the pyramid of the moon and the pyramid of the sun, were impressive and certainly photo-worthy. This is a picture of the pyramid of the moon from the top of the pyramid of the sun. Climbing the pyramid of the sun was exhausting. The incline of the side of the pyramid, the number of steps, and the fear of falling made the climb a bit challenging, but it was pretty quick and well worth it. We got to take some really amazing photos and bond over our victory!

Today was quite a bit more strenuous for all of us. We took a turibus to Centro Historico and saw the cathedral at the Zocalo. There were a lot of beautiful and moving depictions of Jesus inside the cathdral, including the "sangrante Jesus" (o algo asi - no me recuerdo exactamente). Also, there was a mass celebrating mothers' day taking place.

When I left the cathedral, I talked to one of the men who worked as sort of a guide at the cathedral. He told me a lot of interesting things about how the first cathedral was built on a lake by the Aztecs and, after it was destroyed, the current cathedral was built. He also told me that an engineer came to determine how far under the ground the lake is. It's only 135 meters underneath the cathedral! That is why the buildings at the Zocalo all lean a little bit.

The wait for the turibus was long - almost an hour, I think. And the ride back was MUCH longer - about 2.5 or 3 hours! We saw a lot of the city, but many of the students in my group suffered heat exhaustion. I narrowly escaped a similar fate but still ended up with a nasty headache. But I'm really glad that I was able to see so much of the city today and take so many pictures.

El primer dia

First day in Ciudad Mexico! I was so nervous to meet my host family, but they are so nice and made me feel really at ease. Of course, I'm still nervous about speaking Spanish all of the time and making people go out of their ways because of my food allergies, but I think my nerves will calm down over time.

The house I'm staying in is beautiful. It's painted blue on the outside, and it is HUGE, and my room is very comfortable. Eduardo, Chucho, Ricardo, and Tere are incredibly accommodating. I'm so lucky to have such a kind and welcoming family to stay with in Mexico City.

Tomorrow we go to Teotihuacan, and climb the pyramids! I'm excited to explore Mexico, learn about the history, and get some exercise. I'm a bit concerned about getting dehydrated (which seems to happen to me quite often), but I'll have my water bottle with me and my adventure face on! Basicamente, manana va a estar muy bien!

The day after tomorrow, I'll be in Mexico City! My finals ended yesterday afternoon, and now I'm stressing about reading that needs to be done and assignments due next week.

Everything's just happening so so fast. I'm still SUPER excited about going to Mexico. I'm looking forward to the food, the people, the culture, and everything I'm going to see and experience and learn about. I can't wait to meet my host family, see where I'm going to be living and studying, find the nearest market and scope out my gluten-free options, and blog/sketch about my experiences.

But, admittedly, I'm starting to feel a little bit afraid. I'm going to be in a completely different country for six weeks. I can't speak the language particularly well. My hair color and skin color scream, "hello, I'm an ignorant gringo." I'm really bad with directions, and I have to navigate my way around a foreign country.

I think when I arrive at Benito Juarez airport, I'll feel better. I'm SO excited to be living in a new environment and getting to know the other students on the trip. It's a really great group, and I can tell already that they're going to make the trip really great.

So now I just have to get all of my prep-work and packing done, kiss my parents goodbye, and get on the plane! Adiós Estados Unidos y hola Ciudad México!