Wednesday 11 July

Wednesday 11 July

I learned how to make tortillas. I asked if Lolita could show me. It is quite simple. This is my last day here and I am kind of sad. It has been an amazing experience. I have really appreciated being able to get to know Olga and Pepe much better. I have been able to do so much. A very productive summer if you ask me ☺

Tuesday 10 July

Tuesday 10 July

I went with Olga to Sams club and and the store and other errands. We went downtown because Olga needed to ask for something at the hotel they had stayed at when they were looking for an apartment. We came back to the house and then ate. After that we went and walked around Polancito. It was a really nice day. We sat for a while in the huge playground and watched all the little kids playing. It was cute. I got basically everything packed up. I am quite proud of myself for that.

Monday 9 August

Monday 9 August

I went with Olga on her errands. As we were in line, Olga’s friend called and said that she was at the house. Olga had forgotten that she had made a date with her friend. So Olga called Lolita to offer her something, then we just rushed back to the house. He name is Shamama. She is from London, but originally Indian. Her husband is Indian. Her husband also works for Slumberger. There is a group for the spouses of the people who work for the company. She and Olga are a part of it. We got to the house then walked to a small café in Polancito. I love that English accent. Just hearing it makes me want to talk like that. She gave me the names of some schools in London. I really enjoyed talking to her. And I was glad to have a relief to speak in English. Then we gave her a ride home. Olga then wanted to go to visit her mom, but I think she preferred to go alone. So she dropped me off at the house. I goofed off for a bit but my head started to hurt so I laid down and fell asleep. I don’t really know how long I slept. I woke up because Pepe got home. He then told me that I should have gone out. I talked to him for a while. Then Olga got home. Pepe gave me a whole lesson on how American’s are wasteful and how to cut a pineapple to use every part. We had merienda together then I had to say goodbye to Pepe because he was going to Costa Rica until Thursday night.

Sunday 8 August

Sunday 8 August

I was woken up by the bells from a near by church at about 7. It felt like someone was clanging a gong right next to my ear. It just kept going and going and going. Rosalia knocked on the door to see if I had woken up yet around 8. I took probably the quickest shower Tanya will probably ever have in her life. I was ready by 8: 45 and we were going to leave at 9:30. I sat in the kitchen drawing and listening to my iPod (no one else was in the kitchen). Rosalia and Jose built a small building with two apartments right next door. Their son is using the one on the second level and Pepe and Olga stayed in the one on the lower level. It is very small but nice. Then there is a tower that is on the roof so we took a trip up there. It was like a gazebo. Then we went back to downtown. We went to mass at the cathedral. It was a mariachi mass so it was beautiful. The cathedral is a different cathedral than the ones we have seen. It seems older. The inside is a lot simpler. The walls are still painted with the original paintings. We got very good seats, in the fourth row. Something I found interesting is that they sang the creed. I had never seen anyone do that before. Then we went to breakfast at Los Colorines. There were 3 men playing live music. Two were playing different guitars and the other was playing the violin. I really enjoyed the folk songs. I had enchiladas with chicken and it had beans on the side. I think my spicy tolerance is growing. I realize that I do really like spicy food. Olga gave me some soup that was made from a bean like legume. I think it was called haban or something like that. Then we drove to Tepoztlan, a small town near Cuernavaca. We walked on the main street to the market. It was packed with people. It felt like a lot of people come from Cuernavaca for the weekend. Olga and I walked down the main street and the cerro just kept getting bigger and bigger. The colors were beautiful. Then we drove back to Mexico City and got to the house.

Mexico Musings 2

Saturday 7 August

Saturday 7 August

I got up around 7 because Pepe said to be ready by 8:30. We didn’t leave until after 9:30. Traffic was pretty bad coming out of the city. It went by really fast. I didn’t realize that we were going to stay with some of Pepe and Olga’s friends.

To get to cuernavaca you have to go into the mountain. So right above Cuernavaca we were in the clouds. You could not see very far and occasionally where there was a break you could see above the clouds. It was an incredible view. Then all of a sudden, you come down the really steep hill and just keep going down and down. Apparently it goes down hill all the way until Acapulco. So we got lost coming into the city and it took a while and many stops to ask people to find the area where their friends lived.

Pepe and Jose were in the engineering school together at UNAM. Both of them and another guy were inseparable when they were in school. So we went to the house and I was starving. They talked for a while then we went to downtown. We went to the cathedral and a wedding was going on. It was a Zoo. It was full! So we snuck in and watched the newly weds walk down the isle. I think they must have been famous or well to do or something because they had some crazy paparazzi. As they walked down, a mob of people was in front of them just taking pictures. And with the heavy duty good cameras too!

Then we walked through downtown and made our way to a castle where they had a museum. We were in there for at least an hour and a half. My allergies were set off like crazy. The sun was really strong and I was burning. I really liked the museum though. They had a really cool collection of the pictures from the Mexican revolution a century ago.

Then we drove to the restaurant where Rosalia and Jose’s daughter and husband met us. I got a cocacola do drink because I saw they had the glass bottles. They got tostadas with cheese for the appetizer. None for me though. I got enfrijoladas with chicken. They were really plain but I was starving. I finished every last bit. I also tried agua de guayaba. I liked the flavor better than that of the guayabana.

Then we made a quick stop at the house. We made our way for a tour of Cuernavaca. A few months ago, the narcos put a message online saying that there was going to be a fight between the different drug lords and the military in Cuernavaca on a certain day and it was better if everyone stayed inside their houses. The whole city shut down and no one was on the streets. Rosalia and Jose showed us the upscale side of town where two major drug lords lived right behind a senator!

Then we went back to downtown. There was a big market and mariachi festival. Pepe bought me one of those bracelets that has my name on it. I was really grateful for that. Now I have that bracelet on that hand and the esclava on the other. If anyone saw that, they might think I forget my name often!

That was really cool to see all these people in their mariachi outfits. Then there was this little square where there was people dancing a Danzon. It was soo cute because they were mostly old couples. Then there was a group of women dancing folk dances. Right by there, there was a huge stand selling bread. It smelled intoxicating.

Then there was a group of people performing this indigenous ceremony with incense and all. I really enjoyed it. I felt at ease. We stopped by a restaurant next to the danzon outside called Los Arcos. I got a limonada with agua mineral.

The wind was blowing and my allergies were driving me insane, then my face was itching really bad, but I was really trying not to touch my face. So by the end I was really restless. (Probably a long conversation about the various insects residing in Cuernavaca did not help either). We went back to the house and I stayed in an extra room that had a bunch of storage. The first thing I see is an enormous spider on the wall in the corner. I asked Jose to kill it. Then in the bathroom I found 3 spiders. I just did my business quick and got out! I decided not to let it bug me (no pun intended). And I went to sleep. It started to rain and it seemed extremely loud to me.

Friday 6 August

Friday 6 August

I went with Olga to her zumba class again. I got up at 5:40. Then she warms up for thirty minutes before the class in the gym. So we were on the elliptical. I tried not to push myself too much because one time I did and I almost threw up afterwards because I was not in good enough shape. Tim went SOO slowly. I hate that you constantly see the time on the machines. Then you just stare at it the entire time. Then I did one arm machine and then stretched. I was not feeling all that motivated. Then we walked to the Zumba class. It was so fun. I really enjoy it. It wasn’t as exciting at the first time, but it still was. He just used a different set of music that was a bit slower this time. We went back to the machines to now cool down. I stretched for what seemed like forever.

Then we went back to the house. I got ready and I made myself some delicious eggs with turkey. Then we went to the house of Olga’s mom. She had Polio and diabetes and just old so she does not have very much movement left. She can only be in a wheel chair.

So we were going to take her to the Basilica of Guadalupe. We had a hard time getting her into the front seat. Her two servants went with us. One was named Irma, but I don’t remember what the other one’s name was. It took us a while to find the right parking lot. In the end, we still got in the wrong one. The parking attendants were being completely unhelpful. Even though they knew we needed a handicap parking space, they would not let us in. Finally a nice attendant let us in. They let us go to the first level where there was a handicap elevator. Esperanza (Olga’s mom) went with the two ladies and Olga and I had to go all the way down to the fourth level to get the car parked.

We then got out of the building, but then we couldn’t find them. Finally we did and we went in to the church. There was a bunch of people. We got there right on time for mass. We sat in the front row on the very side. A man was the cantor who was pretty good. I was impressed. Then after Mass, we walked below the cloth. You know how they have the conveyer belts so nobody stops for too long. Instead, people just stop at the end of the conveyer belts. All of the people from the mass crowded in. People were pushing from behind while there was just a wall of people in front of you just avoiding getting their feet stuck in the end of the belt. We were all freaking out. With the wheel chair it was horrible. There really was no way of stopping it. So we rammed the shins of the wall of people in front of us because we couldn’t even budge the chair. It was really scary. Finally a lady pushed forward yelling “silla de ruedas!” People got out of the way. Finally we got off the belt and went to the corner where it was not as tight. Then we had to wait for at least 10 minutes for the crowd of people to diminish.

We went to the car and had to go through the whole ordeal of getting back to the first level again. While Esperanza and the two ladies were in the elevator, it broke down. The man managed to fix it quickly, but still that is scary. Then we drove back to the house of Esperanza. Getting her out of the car was easier. Olga and I left and walked a few blocks from there to a repair stand. She needed to get a different blade, top, and seal for her blender and a seal for her pressure cook pot. We drove by and picked up Pepe from his work. Then we went back to the house and ate. Then some workers came by to drop off a shelf that they had repaired. I was playing piano, but they asked me to stop. I had thought I would be out of the way in there, but I guess the noise didn’t get out of the way.

Then I thought we were only going to get ice cream. We ended up going to the mall and seeing Inception. Olga really liked it too, but Pepe thought it was Mafufada like On the way there, they told me that we were going to Cuernavaca for the weekend. So that is why I didn’t give you guys a warning because I didn’t get one. Abuelo thought. While we waited for the movie, we got ice cream. I got a paleta de guayabana. It had huge seed stuck in it, so I was walking through the mall, struggling to keep a hold on all the black seeds that I had sucked off the paleta. Then we just sat on a bench in the middle of the mall for quite a while. We didn’t get home until midnight. Then I tried to figure out what I needed for the little adventure.

Thursday 5 August

Thursday 5 August

I got up and Olga had to go the dentist so I went with her. We got there around 10:30 and didn’t leave until about 12:00. Waiting really didn’t bother me. I read some magazines and then I read about half of my last book. I was actually surprised when Olga came out because I thought it would last even longer. Then we stopped at the store. I wanted to check out the mall Palacios De Hierro. So after eating at home, we walked there to check it out. First we walked to a printing store because Olga wanted to print some pictures. We didn’t walk for long because we didn’t have a specific reason to look in all the stores. There was a church across the street so then we went to daily mass and said the rosary after. It was very peaceful considering there were only about 8 people total. It was good though. Then we walked back home. Planco is the upscale end of town so we walked by a whole street with Chanel, Louis Vuitton and all the other huge brands. I really wanted to walk into Chanel because… well you know me ☺ . But we were on the opposite side when we walked by. Pepe was at the house when we got there. He treated us to ice cream later. I just got nieve de limon. They make it much differently and I figured I needed to get it at least once. But I got all tongue tied when I asked for it because I forgot the word for cup. So frustrating! The guy looked at me like I was crazy. Olga then laughed and hugged me. Ah well, happens to the best of us right?

Wednesday 4 August

Wednesday 4 August

Olga had been wanting to find out where to go to be able to walk around the lake in chapultepec. So we walked to the forest of chapultepec and walked around there. We went around 9am so there wasn’t a lot of people around. We didn’t really find the big lake, but we just walked around the parks. The sun started to come out and there was a light breeze, it was so lovely. I really liked how there was different little sections with random sculptures and different trees. It was just so peaceful.

After walking, we came out in a different section, and took a taxi to have breakfast. We ate at Bisquits de Obregon. Oh I really wanted a biquit, but no such luck for me. I had a really savory plate of chilaquiles with red sauce and a sunnyside up egg on top. Then we got to the house and took a shower and stuff. Then we picked up Pepe at his work. We drove for about an hour to get to the south of DF. We went to a mall where Pepe had to go for an eye appointment. Meanwhile Olga and I went to a restaurant to order so that when Pepe got there, the food would be served. We didn’t have much time because Pepe had to be at UNAM for a faculty meeting or something. So we ordered off a menu that was specifically for if you didn’t have much time. You got 2 items before the main meal and then the main meal. The only two things I could eat were soups. One was mushroom and flor de calabaza with lentejas and the other was consume de pollo. It really perplexed the waiter that I wanted two different kinds of soups. Then for the main meal I got chicken fajita. I had forgotten what a fajita was. I though it was like floutas. But it was delicious. On the side there was nice fat potatoes (Mexican French fries essentially). All in all, I was kind of full by the end.

Then we drove to UNAM. Can you believe that there are over a quarter of one million students attending UNAM there in Mexico City? I can’t even fathom. The campus is enormous. They need buses running constantly. They had to build a bus station just for the buses for the University. So we got to the Engineering building where Pepe needed to be. We got lucky because there was a taxi right there in front, so we took it to get the cultural center where the art museum was. The art building was really neat. We went in and it was very similar to the Rufino Tamayo museum. I thought I understood, but I don’t. I didn’t even take pictures. That is how uninspired I felt.

Then we walked around a bit by the buildings and Olga showed me where the big auditorium was. She and Pepe both went to school there. Then we took a bus to get to the main station, then took a bus that was on the right route to take us back to the Engineering building. The first bus got really packed! But we managed. Then we just waited and waited for Pepe to be done. Olga and I had quite a fun time playing with her new phone. We fingured out how to send an email from her phone. Then it started raining so we moved inside a lounge and just sat there for a while. Both of us ended up falling asleep. Finally we left and came home.

Tuesday 3 August

Tuesday 3 August

So I got up at 7. I had eggs with beans on tostadas for breakfast. I said goodbye to Lili and then we were getting in that car. Abuelo kept telling me if I checked everywhere to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I thought I checked, then Lili came back outside with my tennis shoes. Ooops. I thought I checked. Then Chata and Abuelo drove me to the bus station. It was sad. Then I said goodbye to them. Before I got on the bus, I had to pee really bad so I paid my 2 pesos to go to the bathroom. They have those turn stalls to pay, go in, then leave. Well it took me a while to figure out which was the exit one. I remembered that time I was with mom and a poor man had to go to the bathroom so bad that he didn’t notice that he walked into the women’s bathroom. Then I said good bye to los abuelos. I listened to my ipod for the first half of the ride. I was kind of worried that it was going to be a rough ride because there was a mentally ill man with his family sitting in front of me. Before we got going he was talking really loud and moving around a lot. But as soon as we got started, he calmed down and was fine for the rest of the ride. One thing that drove me crazy though was that a man behind me was playing with his phone and he would not turn the sound off so for at least an hour and a half I listened to bleeps and boops that were just killing me!

For the second half of the ride I watched Father of the Bride. It was subtitled and I really like that movie. The ride went by really fast. I left at 8:45 and got in at 12:20. I was really worried though because I had told Olga 1oclock. So I had no idea what to do, so I just stood in the ETN waiting room for over an hour until Olga came. Apparently there was some crazy traffic and she took a taxi, and they were stopped on one street for 30 min. Then we walked outside, hoping that the taxi she had taken, was still there, but no such luck. We had to walk back inside to get a ticket for the taxi.

Remember that one time when we saw that group of nuns just piling into one tiny car, well on all the taxi’s they said there was a person limit now. It must have been a funny sight because Olga walks really fast and then me jogging behind to try and keep up with my luggage and a heavy plastic bag. She wouldn’t really stop for me to catch up so I have some bruises on my leg, because I had to just haul the luggage up and down steps quickly. We got on the taxi and finally made it home. Then we had something to eat. The only meat was milanesa (breaded) so I couldn’t eat it. Instead I had rice with deli turkey and potatoes. We didn’t do anything after that. I went to bed and slept!

Monday 2 August

Monday 2 August

My last day ☹ so SAD. So it was cleaning day again. This time we finished really fast, but Lili didn’t let me do much. I dusted and swept one of the patios. I really wanted to mop and she didn’t believe me. Then I wrote los Maron´s a note, and I walked to their house. No one was there, so I left wedged in the door. Then we called Chucho and invited them for merienda. Then Pati called me and invited me over for merienda. I said no obviously but thanked them for everything. Over rice and beans, they analyzed how all three of us sisters are different. Conclusion = I am the happy medium. Hahaha. After eating, then Abuelo went to bed and Chata and I watched a movie that had Johnny Depp and Leo DiCaprio when they were super young. Then we went to the store to buy tostadas for merienda. Chucho got there and we played Memory. I got my butt whooped. My pride hurt a bit because playing with Lili and Chata I did quite well. Oh well.

Then we ate tostadas with frijoles. Chata felt really bad because she had started to make chicken for me instead of cheese, but to add flavor she added cream. I just put lettuce and tomatoes on mine. After Chucho left, none of us wanted to mention that I was leaving on Tuesday. I felt really sad. So we were just talking about such and such. Then Chata and Abuelo gave me a present. They gave me an esclava with my name on it, and I was so touched that I cried like a little kid. I felt really loved by them because I will always have something that will remind me of them. Lili said that looking at pictures, reminded them that they are my godparents.

Sunday 1 August

Sunday 1 August

So I got to sleep in because I couldn’t sleep all night. I wanted to go to the 10:00 mass with the nuns. But we got up too late. Oh well. Then I after breakfast we were looking at pictures. I got to see the pictures from los abuelos wedding. Chata looked so beautiful. I really enjoyed that. And I just asked them questions about that. We lost track of time and got in to Mass at the Gloria. When we got out, we thought abuelo was going to pick us up. So we waited and waited. Meanwhile I asked Chata about her parents. She said she was really spoiled. If she wanted to go to the movies, they would take her, etc. etc. So she thinks that is why she was so strict with her kids. She told me that when she was in the 6th grade, she didn’t want to go to school anymore, and her Dad was fine with that, but her mom made her. Then she didn’t want to work, but her mom wanted her to. If she hadn’t worked then she would not have met el abuelo. Her dad worked on commission selling canned foods to the grocery stores. Finally, we got tired of waiting and walked home. We found abuelo asleep on the couch. He didn’t realize we thought he was going to pick us up. Then we ate. With fresh tortillas (so YUM). Then I raided La Michoacana again, paleta de coco again. The lady there definitely recognized me. ☺ Then Lili did my nails for me. She had those stickers with shapes on them and you paint over. I have little white moons on my nails, then she did them French style. ¡La araña, la araña! Haha. Then we had merienda with mom and dad. That was lovely.

Saturday 31 July

Saturday 31 July

We went to the store. Then we saw Inception. I really really liked it. I want to see it again. The plot was so tight. I bought the goodies again. I got chata caramel popcorn, then I got a medium caramel with chile popcorn mixed for Lili and I and we both got some Cocacola. We got there a bit late so we got in the second row. ( The theaters are not like there, The second row would be like the first row in the second section there). I was very happy with it but no one else liked that. Chata and Abuelo felt too crowded there (considering they always go to the very back). None of them really liked it, but I did. We got back and they were not too happy, but I was. I tried to go to bed early but it backfired and I couldn’t sleep at all.

Mexico Musings 2

Friday 30 July

Friday 30 July

I got up around 9. I forgot to take my allergy medicine and I woke up sneezing and rubbing my eyes. Pati called me to invite me over for la comida. Then Lili and I went to Soriana and a store where they sell candy so I could pick up something for the Maron family. Then we went to several other errands. She treated me to a paleta de grosella. It smelled like rose and was really sweet. I really liked it. My tongue and lips ended up red! Then I walked to the Maron’s house. Only Pati and Ramon were there. I went with Pati really quick to the school because she had to talk to the gardener or something. Then we went back to the house. We had chicken salad with avocado, rice and beans. Then after we ate I played piano for them and we were just talking. My head started to hurt.We were going to play fronton, which I was not prepared for at all. Nancy and I rode the bikes to the house so I could get tennis shoes. I didn’t want to say that I didn’t want to play but Nancy could tell. Plus my head was really hurting by then. We decided that they would call me later. Then I took a really long nap because I was getting a migraine. In the end they didn’t call me and I felt really bad to opt out. I am not good with that stuff. Sorry Mo and Yo.

Thursday 29 July

Thursday 29 July

So I really didn’t do anything new. I got up, got ready. I wrote down another crazy dream. This one is too complicated. But basically we were being hunted down by orc and we had to hide. It was a mix of all the post apocalyptic stuff I have been reading/ watching lately. It was pretty scary. Anyways. Abuelo left for the dentist and Lili went to her store so Chata and I were here just sitting. So I asked her if she wanted to take a walk. So we walked to La Michoacana and I got a paleta de Camote. It was realy really good. I was surprised. Of course it wasn’t a paleta de coco. I wanted to visit the Maron but I didn’t want to leave Chata by herself. Instead Jennifer drove by when we were walking. Sorry the posts are just getting shorter and shorter, but there really is not much to say.

Test with random picture

 
Trying out picassa blogger thing.

Wednesday 28 July

Wednesday 28 July

First we went to the bank. Then we went to cinepolis to see what movies were showing. We were going to buy tickets but then abuelo didn’t have his rewards card and he wanted to get points. Then we went to sears to ask about a vacuum because the hose broke. They could not do anything about it because we didn’t have the model number. So then we went to the comercial. We were in the check out line when someone came up behind me and covered my eyes. It was Patti and Jennifer. I was really glad to see them. We shall see when we get together. We really only needed fruit though. So finally we left that and came home. Then abuelo picked up his card and then he and I went back to the movie theater to buy the tickets. We wanted to buy the tickets then because there would be a huge line later on. Then we finally came home and ate. Then I got to talk to Yo, Mo, and Mom, and Luz ☺. So we went to the movies. I treated to the goodies. Abuelo didn’t want but Chata did. She got caramel popcorn. I got caramel popcorn mixed with chile popcorn as suggested by Lili. It was delicious. I will miss that when I go home. They don’t have chile popcorn! So we watched Knight and Day. It was called Encuentro Explosivo. I wasn’t thrilled about what I had seen in the previews. I thought it would be painfully cheesy. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. It was cute. Plus I got to the movies so I was happy. The parking tickets would not work when we tried to pay. You know how you have to pay at the machine before you go to your car. Anyways it wouldn’t work for neither Lili nor abouelo. So we had a fun time trying to figure out what to do. Lili finally found the security office and paid for it directly there. We got home and went to bed.

Tuesday 27 July

Tuesday 27 July

So I have been in Morelia for a week now. It does not feel like it at all. So Yesterday I plucked my eyebrows. After taking benadryl for my allergies I was knocked out. So I had some crazy dreams. Especially after the intense dejavu moment I had at Chucho’s house. I dreamt a lot about eyes and eyebrows. Then I dreamed that I was in Mexico City with all of you. I have already read two books concerning the religion of Islam. So in my dream Monica and I were in sandborns or something and we were all covered in the burka and we knew we shouldn’t be out by ourselves without a male. And all we were doing was buying like a magazine or something. But to buy it we had to fill out our information. And I didn’t was to say where we lived so I made up an excuse that we had just moved and I didn’t remember what number but it was on Moliere. After we filled out everything the clerk gave me the papers back and said to be sure to burn them. He didn’t even give us the magazine. Then we found Mom, Dad, and Yo somewhere else. Mo and I gave Dad the papers really sneakily. Then I had to gloat that I knew enough about Mexico to come up with a place to live that fast. Haha. I was retelling to Dad everything that we did. But all the while I was really scared that there was microphones everywhere (influence from 1984). Strange huh?

So I accidentally slept in. But I got a chance to talk to Yo and Mo which was so awesome! While I was talking to Mo, Chucho came. Apparently they had walked to the cerro. So they walked to the house. Right when we were going to eat. So there was not enough food. El Abuelo went to Doña Cata’s to get some tacos. He got beef, chicharon, and chicharon prensado. He didn’t buy the tortillas though because he had bought some on Sunday, but he didn’t realize that we had eaten them all. So he had to go back. It was really nice spending time as a big family. I had two tacos of chicharon prensado and beans. So then they left and I helped Chata wash the dishes. Then I walked to the Maron’s house. It was beautiful. The sky was blue with only w few clouds and the sun was shining. The cerro looked all different shades of green. Ramon ended up being the only one home. He answered the door, stared at me for a while because he didn’t recognize me, then “MONICA”! No, sorry. Oh TANYA! Haha. We talked for a while and he asked about everybody. I didn’t stay long because it seemed like he was busy, but he promised to tell them I was here. I walked back and then the usual happened.

We ended up watching this old black and white Mexican film about a woman who really admires her grandmother who died years ago. The woman’s husband was having an affair so the woman begs for her grandmother’s help who comes as a fairy godmother kind of. So the grandmother takes the woman’s place to fix everything and to take care of unfinished business. It was actually really good. I enjoyed it. I rained though a lot around 7. Then abuelo woke up and we watched a show called Osos habrientes or something like that. It was about these bear researchers trying to analyze bear attacks. The would have food and hide in a clear box only feet away. It didn’t really make sense because if they wanted to the bears would have ripped through the box to get to the real meat. Anyways. Then during Merienda I was asking los abuelos about their life. It was really interesting. As I am writing this it is raining really really hard and the thunder and lightening is going. Love you all.

Monday 26 July

Monday 26 July

Cleaning day! So I helped dust some, and mop some. It went by really fast with the four of us. Lili needed help picking up some packages so she called Chucho. I decided to go with her to just get out of the house. We got to the warehouse and met Chucho there. He then came back to the house with us to drop off the packages. Chucho then offered for me to go to his house with him. I always love the drive to his house because the view from the mountain is spectacular. We got to the house and found Mickey, Ana, and Luis Fer watching Have you heard about the morgans? With Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. It was alright, not my first choice. Then Chucho had to go somewhere for work. They were watching it dubbed so it wasn’t awesome. Then we played sequencia. It was really weird. I had a really strong dejavu moment. I remember distinctly thinking (in my memory) why I was alone in Mexico and that Chucho was not there at the house. Then that really happened. I just remember so vividly that I had a dream like that or something of all of us playing Sequencia. I really like that game. I was on a team with Luis Fer. We won 5 out of 3! He was really happy.

Then they invited Lili who was going to pick me up and I to stay for merienda. He was going to buy bread and I had to tell him that I couldn’t eat. They thought I was crazy when I said I wanted eggs instead. Chucho did not believe me at all about the allergies. He thought it was a hoax. Then he didn’t believe me on Tuesday that I am allergic to trees, pollen, and grass. He thought I just made it up and a Doctor did not tell me that I was allergic. So I still ended up having eggs and they had bread. When we got back I was pretty tired. But my allergies were really bugging me so I took benadryl.

Sunday 25 July

Sunday 25 July

Chata and I were going to go to the church with the nuns because there are less people there. But none of us got up in time. We ended up going to the big church at 1. They had a new choir that was pretty good. But at this moment I cannot tell you what the readings nor the homily was about. El abuelo bought fresh tortillas so for breakfast I made eggs sunnyside up with the yoke still liquidy and then I let the yoke soak into the tortillas. Yum. Then for lunch Chata made tacos. Yum. So that is why I had a lot of tortillas.

Saturday 24 July

Saturday 24 July

Lili and I went to the servicentro (tianguis?). We got some hair things. I got a headband for 4 pesos. I can tell now that it is worth the 4 pesos or maybe its just because I have too much hair because it does not stay on my head very long. I was overall disappointed with the tianguis. They did not have very good stuff and it was not really cheaper like you would think. In fact, Lili found the same thing for cheaper at the mall where you would think it would be more expensive.

Friday 23 July

Friday 23 July

I got ready and Lili and I went to the mercados. I bought a few bracelets and such. I also bought myself a purple moral like the ones Mo and Yo have. I really like the color. Lili bought more of that peanut with honey and Ate that looks like fruit rollups. We ate half of the Ate by the time we got to the car ☺ We walked around downtown a little. It was a very lovely morning. We got home in time for lunch. El abuelo keeps reminding me about going to the club but I still think it is better if I don’t get a credencial. I took a lovely nap after lunch. I could sleep for days here. We have been playing memory this week. But today we played canasta. It was really intense. One round, the pile had not been taken until there were only a few extra cards left. It was very nerve wrecking! Finally el abuelo got it after I put down a queen. Gosh dang it. We didn’t want to even count the points. He had a canasta of 7s and wilds. And in all he got a canasta of canastas. It was fun though.

Thursday 22 July

Thursday 22 July

I managed to get up at 9. Chata and I walked to Galeria del Zapato and I got a pedicure. It is so nice to have pretty feet again! Volleyball really messed up my feet. Then we walked back. I have just been reading and drawing. The tv is driving me CRAZY though! Gahhh. It wouldn’t bother me as much if I could actually watch what I want to watch. Then they just flick through the channels. You see something you want to watch then they change the channel. They don’t even watch normal shows like 24 or CSI or anything like that because they don’t like getting hooked to a series. And then if they are watching something and the commercials come on, the flicking commences again and then by the time you get back to the thing you were watching the commercials just come on again. Gahhhhhhh!!!! Anyways. We didn’t really do much.

Mexico Musings

Wednesday 21 July

Wednesday 21 July

I accidentally slept in until 15 to 11:00. I didn’t mean to, I thought I would wake up before but oh well. So I got up and Chata had already made me Oatmeal. I haven’t had oatmeal for months now. So I got ready and then we went to the comercial and such. That laser place at Julio’s where Mom and I went 2 years ago is still open. I was surprised. We came home and ate. Chucho picked me up at 5:30. Anna, Chucho, Luis Fer, Santiago, and I went to the movies to see Karate Kid. I was very surprised at how good it was. I thought it was going to be super cheesy like the first one but it was not at all. I mean of course some parts were cheesy but not painfully so. It flowed quite well. When we were leaving the house to go to the movies Santiago fell face first. He had this huge huge welt smack in the center of his forehead. He said he didn’t cry because he was embarrassed since I was there. He doesn’t remember me at all. So then after the movie, we walked around the new mall, then went home.

Tuesday 20 July

Tuesday 20 July

I got up at 7:50 and packed my last few bits. I decided not to take more clothes because I figured I would not need them. So I got on the bus at 9:30 and made really good time. I got to Morelia around 1:15. We ate exactly at 2:00. Chicken, rice, and beans ☺. Afterwards we went for a walk. We got halfway to the Maron’s house then it started raining. We took cover under the garage of the house next to where Betty’s house used to be and that is always empty. Right now they remodeled it and it is for sale. The rain finally lightened up a bit and we tried to get to the house as quick as possible. Then we changed and dried off. It was very relaxed and we just did the usual. We watched a national geographic program about Teotihuacan. It was very interesting. Then off to bed.

Monday 19 July

Monday 19 July

So after talking on Skype on Sunday night I got ready for bed and then I tried to sleep but I could not sleep at all because my stomach hurt so bad. Then in the morning I felt like I had a fever so I did not go out with Olga. I was really disappointed but it was better. I had the runs all day so it was better not to risk it. I did not have the energy to do anything so I just watched tv, read, and listened to music and such. I drank some cocacola because Olga said it would help and I only ate a very little bit of rice.

By the way Harry Potter comes out on 19 November. We have to got tickets soon ☺.

Mexico Musings

Sunday 19 July

Sunday 19 July

Today I was supposed to get up at 7:50 so I could be ready to leave at 9:00. My alarm did not go off. Olga woke me up around 8:55. I frantically got ready in 10 minutes, forgoing a shower (you know how I feel about that). Then Olga told me that Pepe had just gotten in the shower. So no worries. We drove to Coyoacan. We originally checked if there was mass at a Sta. Caterina Church. I was very excited to go there, but there was no mass at 10. We ended up going to that Cathedral in the centro. It was a very pretty church and we got to sit in the second row. When the priest told us to sit down for the readings, he introduced us to the lector, who was about an 8 year old boy. You could only see the top of his head at the ambo. The priest said as much, so encouraging. But what I thought was really good was that there was a man begging for money in the church and at the end of the mass the priest said that if we had seen the man, we should help him out of Christian charity but only outside the church with all the other beggars. I was just glad the priest said something.

Then we went and had breakfast at Sandborns. I had some tacos of carne de puerco. Then we walked around the town. It was really cool because they just set up a tent in the plaza and had live Mexican folk music. People were dancing so it was really happy. Then we walked around the Mercado. I saw the usual stuff. But I didn’t have much change so I didn’t buy anything. We then drove back home. When we walked in the house it smelled a LOT like gas. There was a lot in the house. Someone had left the oven on so it was spreading gas through the house all day. We turned it off and opened all the windows.

Then took a little nap because I was really tired. Then I began writing. As I was writing all of the above it started to rain really hard. I didn’t really notice that the wind was blowing because I was sitting right next to the open window in my room and no rain was coming in so I figured it was coming straight down. It then got really hard and I could hear hail coming closer to the house. Of course we still had all the windows open from earlier. So I went and inspected. It was bad. The wind was blowing all the rain and hail into my face as I was trying to close all the windows. When I opened the door to the service room, the wind actually pushed me back. It was coming down really heavy. Almost as if there was a hurricane in the middle of a landlocked city. So Olga and I went and had to clean up the puddles that were in the apartment. Then I made some couscous and atole while Pepe and Olga talked to Alejandra, Annabelle, and Caroline on skype. I said hi to them too. Then I cleaned the kitchen because Lolita does not come during the weekend. Then I talked to you all. Rosalia and Sergio came right before you called and it turns out that they left the gas on. They left the apartment in the morning, even though Rosalia said she smelled the gas but didn’t know why. So Olga told them that if they wanted water heated up they could use the microwave.

Love you all!!

Saturday 17 July

Saturday 17 July

I got up at 10 which felt lovely. I made myself some eggs with beans and made a sort of quesadilla with it. It was delicious. Olga and Pepe were going to visit some apartments. I decided not to go since Pepe had been in Costa Rica all week I figured they would want some time together. I got to talk to Mom and Dad for 2 hours!! Yay. That was great. I miss you! So I just goofed off for the day. I read, practiced piano, drew and etc. The fun didn’t happen until after nine. Apparently some friends were in town South America. There were two couples, one from Venezuela, and one from Brazil. The husbands are both Petroleum people too. I helped Olga get the appetizers and such out, then I helped serve them. Pepe seems to enjoy showing off my piano skills and 4.0 gpa status to everybody, so I played piano for them. My face was really red. They couldn’t believe that I just played because I enjoy it, not because I want a career in it. It was very flattering. Then we walked around the restaurants in Polanco (probably around 9:30 pm) Jose luis joined us. We ended up going to another Italian restaurant so again I had a salad. This one had a lot of lettuce, with apple pieces and pistachios. It had a raspberry vinigrette. It was very very yummy. I ate all of it. The couple from Brazil had very heavy Portuguese accents so I had to try extra hard to understand. Then they would speak Portañol as Pepe called it. I always understood the gist because all the words are similar to Spanish as well as English. We walked back and got to the apartment around 12:30 am. So then I went to bed.

Friday 16 July

Friday 16 July

So I got up at 5:45 to go to the club with Olga to exercise. The drive was amazing as no one was on the streets at that time at all! We got there before they opened at 6:30. The Club was called Club Mundet. Apparently it is SUPER expensive (try 1,200 DOLLARS every 3 MONTHS!!) They have a very nice campus (you would hope). So Olga likes to warm up before her Zumba class at 7. So we went to the gym and were on the machines for 30 minutes. Then we went to the class which was a LOT of fun. I really enjoyed it (although my legs were already numb from the machines) All it was, was dancing. So I just decided to go for it and that just made it fun. The teacher was Mexican (obviously) so he knew how to pick good music. We just did different kinds of dancing but it was just jumping for about an hour. I really really enjoyed it.

To cool down Olga likes to go back to the machines, so we went back to the gym. I was very tired. We had an appointment to see an apartment at 9:30 and we had to take a shower etc still. Olga decided to stop at the super market for that days comida. That was exercise in its self because Olga walks really fast. I almost had to run to keep up. We finally made it to the house and got ready for the appointment. Polanco has a large Jewish population and the realtor that we met up with was Jewish. I learned that they do not shake hands. He said it was because of religious purposes. You learn something new every day. After we saw the apartments, Olga dropped me off at the apartment because she had to run errands.

Then Rosalia, Sergio, Jose Luis, and I went to the museum of modern art and the museum of Rufino Tamayo. I really liked the museum of modern art. There was one exhibit that was all about environment conservation and it seemed very similar to what Yolanda has been up to lately like with the campito. The we saw a whole exhibit of Helen Escobedo. Some of her work was very similar to that of both Yolanda and Jon Geiger’s work. A lot of geometric shapes and working with the light and shadow. There was one piece that Yolanda had even mentioned to me before. A whole wall was covered with the Styrofoam pieces from electronics. It looked really cool because then all the electronics were on the floor. The other exhibit was famous latin American painters. So I saw Frida Khalo’s Los dos Fridas, some of Diego Rivera, Siquieros, Varo, and such’s work. So that was really cool. I had previously asked Sergio to take a picture of me with my camera when we went to the Castillo and he was very impressed on how good it was, so at the museum he kept wanting to use my camera to take pictures of me (I think he just liked using my camera haha). But some didn’t come out very clear ;).

So then we went to the Tamayo museum. I guess they were redoing different exhibits so only one was open which was kind of like a sampler of all the closed exhibits. I was not impressed. I like art and such but this was just pointless. Maybe with the big name museum, you expect more from it. But they had one Tamayo piece that was a small picture of just a canvas painted with different reds. It looked nice but I didn’t see the purpose. But I guess it was his expression and this is mine.

We made it back to the house and Olga had invited her other sister and their friend to eat with all of us. So we had pechuga with rice. Olga had two different kinds of tostadas: normal and baked fat free. So I ended up sitting next to Sergio when we ate. I asked him to pass me the tostadas and I grabbed one of each kind. He told me to grab more of the fat free ones. I told him no thank you so he put some on my plate. (Previously Rosalia told me that I had lost weight since I have been here then she told me that I needed to buy one of the shape up shoes so that I would lose weight.) I had not mentioned my weight to them at all, ever. So are they trying to tell me something.

I helped Olga serve and then clean everything up, but after when everything was picked up and we were just sitting at the table talking, I half fell asleep. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open because I was really tired after getting up early, exercising, and walking around the museum. Olga noticed my trouble and let me go take a nap. I took a nap and then got ready because I was going out for dinner with Marisa, Alvaro, and Luis. They were late picking me up because traffic was horrible. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant just down the street from the apartment. It was hard for me because pasta sounded so good. I settled for a Mediterranean salad that had green beans, red and green lettuce and hardboiled egg and tuna. It was really good actually.

Marisa says she doesn’t like Quatsawhere-ever-it-is. I guess it is a very very small town. Only people related to petroleum go there. She doesn’t like going to the beach and there is no blockbuster or anything there. So she ends up working everyday of the week to make time go faster. Luis didn’t really say much. They were giving me a hard time about not drinking alcohol and not having a boyfriend. I don’t need alcohol nor a boyfriend to know who I am. They just laughed. Olga and Pepe went out so I had a key to the apartment. I watched a movie (while kind of falling asleep) then went to bed.

Thursday 15 July

Thursday 15 July

Honestly at this moment, I really don’t remember what I did on Thursday. I put all of the numbers of the apartment into a spread sheet with different columns for different questions we needed to ask. Maintenance, total price, m2 , and such. Then we fussed with trying to print it from my computer. Even with the printer hooked up directly to my computer, I still couldn’t print. After I sent it in an email to Olga, I did a software update and it turns out I just had to install something. After that, we went to 3 different apartments. I liked one that was new. It was on a less chaotic side street, in front of an embassy (I don’t remember which, I think Germany). Oh yeah then Olga and I went to a movie at the art theater. It was called the last station and was about Leo Tolsoy and his wife Sofia, the author of War and Peace. It was just how he inspired this whole movement and so then people were trying to control his life, one guy wanted him to give the rights of his books to the people because that is what the whole point of his ideas were, and then his wife didn’t want to give that up because it would be on what her children would live. It was in English with subtitles. I thought it was really good, of course though it had to have the ubiquitous sex scene that was altogether nasty and unnecessary. But I love going to the movies so I was happy.

Wednesday 14 July

Wednesday 14 July

I got up and was just reading, practicing piano, etc. Then Olga and I went driving all around Polanco, writing down the apartments that are on sale. Since they just bought the house in Puebla they want to buy (not rent) a smaller apartment. They want it as a stopping point in Mexico City and for during the week when Pepe is working. Olga wants one a 3rd of the size of this apartment. I am kind of sad because this apartment is beautiful and if I were her I would not want to move at all but circumstances call for that so what can you do. So we were in the car going through every little street for 3 hours! I tried to be a good secretary but it was hard to write down the numbers legibly when the car is bumping up and down and waving from side to side on the side streets with humongous pot holes. In the end we got 52 apartments written down! That is a lot for such a small area. These are the apartments only for sale, not for rent. Incredible!

After that Olga and I went home with a bit of a crick in our necks for trying to see the numbers. We just sat, drinking agua de Jamaica and talking. It was very enjoyable. We ate, then I read. Jose Luis and his parents returned from the Zoo so they wanted me to play piano for them. We talked for a while, then Rosalia and Sergio left because it started to rain. Jose Luis, Olga and I had merienda. I drank some atole for merienda. I am really starting to love atole. It is so so yummy. I think I will take some packets home with me. Then I went to bed. I think it is better if I don’t sleep in because then I can sleep right away when I go to bed. I try and get up by 9. Love you all.

Oh and I already talked to los abuelos and I am going to go to Morelia the 20-27.

Tuesday 13 July

Tuesday 13 July

So yesterday tried to get up at 6:30 so I could be ready for whatever Olga was going to do, but I accidentally slept in. I got up at 8. I ate eggs for breakfast which was really good. The eggs here just taste different and they are a different color. So I just got ready and got to talk to Monica which was awesome! I miss you all.

Jose Luis (Olga’s nephew) and Rosalia and Sergio (Olga’s sister and her husband) and in Mexico. Jose Luis is also staying in the apartment. So they invited me to go to the Castillo de Chapultepec where Charlota and Maximiliano lived. It was SO luxurious. I found my dream house. There was an exhibit called Zapata en Morelos. That had different paintings and stuff related to Zapata (who I understood was an artist). Then we saw a huge mural by Siquieros (sp?). In the main hall, there was another huge mural called “El niño caido” but I don’t remember who it was by.

My favorite part was looking at the dresses they had on display and looking at the carriages. The very elegant one they used for special occasions was incredible. It’s hard to imagine that someone really did live like that. When you got to go through and see all the rooms in the house you had to be on this patio with black and white checkered marble. I really liked that too.

After Rosalia and Sergio were too tired to do anything else, we tried to make our way back to the way we came. But we got lost and took a short detour. We took a taxi back to the apartment. Then we ate salad (cucumbers and carrots) and Chicken with mushrooms (it was quite good actually) and rice/beans.

Then after cleaning up the kitchen, we went to the Mall in Polanco. It was good. Rosalia and Sergio went immediately to Sandbourns for a coffee while Jose Luis and I walked around for a while. Then after one walk around the mall, we went to sandbourns too. I had a limonada con agua mineral (my favorite drink in Mexico). On our way out, we visited the pet shop and looked at those poor dogs for a while. The cutest were the beagle and bulldog. They looked so small and fuzzy! We went back to the apartment and I read for a little bit and went to bed.

Monday 12 July

Monday 12 July

I got to sleep in!!! It felt glorious. So I got up and showered and got ready then Lolita got me a tamal to eat for breakfast. I spent the rest of the day reading and writing the blog. The computer was being VERY frustrating! I had to load each picture individually. I would click and have to wait like 3-5 minutes for each picture to load. So you all better look at them a lot! ☺ I finished two books: A Thousand Splendid Suns, and one called Godmother (Olga wanted me to read it so I could give my opinion). In the end neither Olga nor I liked the Godmother book. It was very shallow (equitable to Twilight). Not much to report for this day. It felt wonderful to have time for myself. I ended up watching this movie (I didn’t really watch it, I just put it on to have noise). It was cute but I don’t know what it was called. So enjoy what I wrote.

Sunday 11 July

I forgot to put that Olga and I were the only ones at the party rooting for Holland. That made it fun! I felt avidly against Spain. Probably from a recent Spanish incident. Yet Spain won. But what can you do.

Sunday 11 July

Sunday 11 July

So after sleeping on the air mattress I got ready to go to Mass. We went to church in Cholula. It was a very small church painted Orange and Red on the outside and there were the paper streamers on the outside. We went to Mass at 9am so there were not as many people and that was good. The pews and kneelers were a bit uncomfortable however. The kneelers could not be put up and they were placed where you would normally have your feet. So you had to either sit with your legs tucked beneath you or stretched out and then to stand, you had to awkwardly bend your knees so you could fit in the space. And the seat was slanted so if you weren’t paying attention then you would start sliding off the seat but it was good because it made me be attentive.

Then Olga and Pepe bought some bread from the vendor out side the church. It looked and smelled so good. (This may as well be a blog of food). We then went on a hunt for breakfast. We ended up eating outside at a little restaurant under a tent. “A la via” that what it was called. It was SO good. I had a gordita (it seemed more like a guarache because it was kind of spread out like a tortilla “gorda.” But they were fresh fresh fresh. It had beans with onions and a salsa that was spicy but good. You could watch them make the tortilla, put it on the pan, cook it, and serve it. Oh it was gooood. After breakfast we walked to the car and on the way we bought some fruit. We got strawberries, green grapes, and the coolest looking fruit with little spikes ( Olga and I don’t remember what it is called Monica says it is called liche?). It is very good. You take off the spiky skin and inside the meat has a grape-like consistency but it doesn’t taste like grape, it is sweeter. Then you eat the meat, but leave the seed that has a wood texture, kind of like coconut.

Then we went back to the house and Olga and I mopped the entire house, just so that the dust does not accumulate. That took a while but we got it done.

At the party the night before Pepe met a classmate from high school. Pepe and Tonio had not seen each other since their graduation! Tonio apparently is a mutual friend of Luis Efren ( who is the one the party was for) and he went to the university with Earnestina. Anyways, Tonio invited us for lunch on Sunday. So after cleaning, we made our way to their house which was in another part of the state Puebla. We got lost by two- three kilometers but we finally found it. We ate while watching the world cup. Tonio his wife and another couple were there. For botanita (appetizers) there was chicharones (sp?), papitas, and Patita de puerco (it looked like potatoes but was really chewy). For the main meal we had cemitas. The were sandwhiches with ham, cheese, avocado, salsa picante, and whatever else you wanted. There was a bowl full of queso fresco and Oaxaca just sitting there tempting me. But I was strong. I ended up eating just ham with avocado, olive oil, and salsa. It was still very good. For desert they had gelatin made with the fruit from the really cool plant that you can see in the photo album. It was a pinkish orange color that looked very summery. I ended up having a banana with honey. We ate outside so there was SO many bugs. I kind of suffered ☺ but oh well. I survived.

Then we made our way back to Mexico City. It was a very bumpy ride. For a while we went bumper to bumper (I don’t quite know for how long because I just tried to close my eyes). Then we went through some hills so it was very curvy. When it straightened out just a little, the race was on. I was sitting behind Pepe and saw that we were going at 160 kph (approx 100 kph). Ahh! But we finally made it home, maybe with a little queasy stomach and clenched hands haha. Then I just tried to get caught up with the blog. (It takes a lot of time!!) But I will manage.

Saturday 10 July

Saturday 10 July

Earnestina woke me up at around 6am because a day was going to come and do her hair and she treated me to getting my hair done. How could I resist. The lady curled my hair with a straightener. The curls were really big on the ends but at my root my hair was straight. It was really nice of her to let me get my hair done. I forgot to take a picture of myself though (sorry!). Then I went with Efren to the Red Cross. On the way we stopped by Oxxo to get some coffee. I had my cup ready for a vanilla cappuccino for which my mouth was already watering. But then I realized and had to settle for a cup of black coffee.

We got to the Red Cross and Efren showed me around and introduced me to several people. He has set up a school for parents to prevent the suicide of adolescents. I guess Puebla has the highest suicide rate so it really is great that the Red Cross wants to change that. Then we went to the patio where the party would be at 12. They were just working on setting up the tables. I had to just try and stay out of the way. Efren took me to one of the classes for parents. We sat in for a while. It was very interesting. The teacher was a doctor. The class was on what and how pain works in our life.

Then Efren’s assistant picked me up and we went downtown to buy some decorations for the party. She also bought me some candy. She gave me some peanuts like the one I had when we visited the church. We then made it back to the Red Cross.

When we got back, the room was beautiful. They set up tables and chairs for a Mass before the meal. Also they were celebrating Paramedics day, 100 year anniversary, opening of a room dedicated to veterans, and the donation of brand new computers for the nursing school. So we watched them cut the ribbon to the room with computers. Then there was mass. It was beautiful. After going to daily mass I kind of missed it J Jesus is beautiful. I was however very hungry. I had only ate an apple at 8am and I didn’t really eat until 4pm. Olga reminded me to take an apple but I forgot hehe. I had the peanuts but there was not a convenient time to eat a few. But I figured if I fainted it wouldn’t matter because I was surrounded by paramedics. So after the Mass we all went into the auditorium to honor the years everyone gave to help the Red Cross. The ceremony was very touching. I definitely got tears in my eyes. Efren was honored for working for the Red Cross for 41 years!

Then we went back to the patio where an orchestra was playing really exciting classical music. I really liked that part. I took a video so I will see if I can upload it. Then we finally got to EAT. Oh yum. I had beans, rice, and tinga (which I thought was chicken but Olga told me it was probably beef). After the meal, they had a raffle for the paramedics. They had so many gifts, enough that some paramedics got 2-3 gifts. Then they cut the ribbon to a room in honor of the veterans. So then I just had to wait for Efren to go to a party where we were going to meet Olga and Earnestina.

Finally we got to the party and now I can say I have experienced a “Bauzada” Bauza is the family of Pepe’s mom. So these are apparently infamous get togethers. When I got there, everyone was very curious because they were trying to figure out who I was since I was not family. There is was vastly similar to the part with the doñas , just add like 10 men with twice the volume (and a bit tipsy haha). We didn’t end up leaving until after 12. But we got home and I slept in one of the empty rooms on an air mattress. It was kind of strange sleeping in an empty house and an empty room but I was tired so I fell asleep pretty fast.

Mexico Musings

Friday 9 July

July 9

Olga and I got up and got ready. Then Yamel (Earnestina’s daughter and Regina’s mother) picked us up with Regina and we went to breakfast. Again I had huevos a la Mexicana because I knew what they had. The service was kind of slow but we survived. I realize a lot of my habits are going to have to change. Like eating the bread at the table, normally I would so it was hard not to. But we survived. Then Yamel stopped at Oxxo to pick up some candy for Regina.

Then we went to the Bodegas del Molino. We wanted to check the room for the wedding. It was really beautiful. It is a very old building but the main room was very bright with gold and big chandeliers. And I really liked that along the wall there was paintings depicting the apparition of our lady of Guadalupe. I was really enchanted by those. The whole space was very pretty. It is kind of isolated and it is surrounded by green and one side has a river running through it. The cocktail room opens up to a balcony over tons of plants and pretty flowers. The bar is off to the side of the main room and that was cool because it had a lot of mirrors. They showed us the chapel they had there at the bodegas but it was really small and not very pretty. But you had to walk up nice stairs and there was a very pretty statue of the Virgen de Guadalupe at the top in front of the chapel.

We then took a tour of the hotel behind the bodegas. The hotel was nice and very Mexican. But the room they had for the party was not as nice and it was very humid because they had hung fabric from the ceiling. The actual hotel seemed very nice. Olga and I took a tour of the hotel while Yamel and Regina stayed in the lobby, but somehow I ended up carrying Regina’s doll. So I was walking in front of everyone with this pink doll. I got some strange looks. After talking to the manager or whoever it was, we all went to Superama. These allergies make getting pan de dulce no fun. But oh well.

We then went to a different church where Yamel knew the priest. This church was called “El buen Camino” or something like that. I don’t quite remember. It turns out that the priest is Pepe’s cousin. He seemed like a very patient and kind person. We went to ask him if he would be able to say Mass at the old chapel because he is bilingual. But he told us that the parish would not allow him to say Mass anywhere else. And then he went on to say that the Santo Domingo was in bad area, there was no parking, too many people, and thieves. Then he went on to say that the vibes at Bodegas del Molino are very negative. Apparently there was an assassination there like 60 years ago or something and he said that there was bad ghosts there. That was weird because as a Catholic there is no such thing as a ghost right? But I think he just wanted to choose his parish because then he wanted us to see what rooms were around his parish.

We saw the chapel at his church and it was very modern. The styles of the two churched that we saw were just so vastly different. This chapel was dedicated to the Virgen de Guadalupe so there was a very pretty statue of her and Juan Diego. I thought that was a coincidence because the bodegas had the paintings of the apparition.

After that we went to Yamel’s house and ate. I had a really yummy chicken soup with tacos with chile and beans in them. Earnestina ate with us and she had brought crepes of tinga and they looked really delicious but they were made with flour and with cream.

Olga, Earnestina, and I went to Idea a store kind of like Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was very interesting because you would just follow a path through the store to look at the model rooms then it would come to another part where they had the actual products where you could grab them. And it was like that for every room in a house. Olga found some things she was looking for but not all. Then we went to another level to the super Walmart. There she found most of what she was looking for. When we left it was raining really heavy so there was a lot of men with umbrellas looking for tips. I got a bit wet still.

Then we went to Earnestina’s house and I met Efren her husband. He works for the Red Cross and there was going to be a party for the paramedics and 100 year anniversary for the Red Cross in Mexico so he invited me to go with him just to meet new people and a new experience. So we all drove to Olga’s house to pick up our things and we stayed the night at Earnestina’s house. Olga and I shared the guest bedroom. I slept pretty well.

Mexico Musings

Puebla

What a weekend!

July 8

We got up at 5 am to catch a 7 am bus to Puebla. On the way there I started to freak out that I didn’t have my passport but then Olga reminded me that since it was national I didn’t need it. I just didn’t want to lose it or anything. When we got on the bus Olga and I were irritated that the TV was on loudspeaker really loud with commercial. But eventually it turned off . The bus ride was good. I read and just slept. I decided not to bring my iPod just so I wouldn’t have to worry about it or have it to distract me.

It has been really rainy here. I guess more this year than ever. More north in Mexico it has caused some major damages. So the streets are always flooded.

We got to Puebla and Earnestina (wife of Pepe’s brother Efren) picked us up. We drove to downtown to visit a church that Olga Elena is considering for the wedding. It is called Iglesia de Santo Domingo in the Capia del Rosario (or something like that). It is beautiful! I was utterly speechless when I saw it. It is covered with a gold design. We were there really early so there was barely any people around, then in the plaza of the church an old man was playing the church songs we know with the trumpet. The moment was just beautiful. I couldn’t get a picture of him but it was very peaceful. We walked around downtown and ate breakfast at Vips. I had huevos a la Mexicana with beans and tortillas. It was glorious after not having eaten anything since 5:30. After breakfast we went to the office of the archdiocese in Puebla to get the marriage class approved. The office was in a very pretty patio painted Orange. Then we walked back to the first church’s office to check if they can reserve the chapel. When we left, Olga had an antojito for buñuelos that an old lady was selling. They looked good. Earnestina got peanuts and I did try those. They had honey on them so it was sweet and salty.

Then we went to 3 different furniture stores looking for a bedroom set for Olga’s new house. Finally we found one at the last store. It was a great deal where she got the set and the mattress brought to the house the same day. My feet hurt so so bad after walking all day. We then went to Earnestina’s house and ate. She is taking care of her granddaughter Regina’s dog. It is a 3 month old yellow lab. So so cute but so so annoying! Her name is Kitty. Haha. She just gets underfoot and does not let you walk! Then she bites your ankles and heels (playfully) but she trips you. When we got to the house we found the remnants of the mail in SHREDS and this puppy looking all innocent. Regina is the only granddaughter so she is a bit spoiled ;) Her grandparents built a little room for her in the backyard that has its mini kitchen living room and table. It’s a mini house! You can go on the roof of it where you can slide down two different slides or play in a ball pit. Imagine!

The house is definitely my style, with nooks and crannies. I ate beans and rice with lettuce and chicken. Then we went and picked up Regina who is very cute but very demanding. But she is smart. She is only 3 years old but she acts like a 6 or 7 year old. It was incredible. We then went to the new house and it is so beautiful. We cleaned the bedrooms to get the master bedroom ready for the new furniture. Then we played with Regina. Olga got a glimpse of what her neighbors are like since the twin boys kicked a soccer ball over the fence and broke a tile on the roof. The soccer ball fell and almost wacked Regina in the head. Earnestina and Regina left when it started looking like it was going to rain.

Earnestina told Regina that they needed to leave because it was going to rain and Earnestina does not see well at night and in the rain. Regina responded ‘Estas abuelas viejas que ya no ven de noche. Yo te guillo.’ Haha Earnestina thought that was hilarious and therefore told everybody and anybody so I heard the story several times. Regina is just very smart and muy traviesa.

So Olga and I were just waiting for the people with the furniture to drop the stuff off. The house is completely empty so we just sat on a wide divider reading. The movers were supposed to get there at 5 and they ended up getting there around 8 because of the rain. They moved the bedroom set into the room and then Olga and I looked for something to eat. We couldn’t go because first we didn’t have a car and second because it was raining really heavy. So Olga found a can of Oysters, crackers and totopos. So I had oysters and totopos standing over the sink. It was perfectly fine and the oysters were actually really good.

Olga and I shared the new bed that night. I accidentally woke her up because I could not stop sneezing. I didn’t even notice until she got up to turn off the fan because she thought that was spreading dust. But when in the morning I felt fine. I got to actually sleep in to 9 that day which was wonderful because I really hadn’t had a chance to sleep much.

continued

for 30 min because there was an indicator light going off in the plane or something. So I got on the plane next to a grandma sue type american lady who said she really liked my black and white jacket. She said she had something similar to it in the 70s. She was wearing really big gold rings with diamonds on her fingers and she had wiskers on her chin (s). She was nice though :)

So we finally made our descent but then spent like 20 minutes just circling the airport. It felt like a really long time. I got off with the immigration papers that I hoped I filled out right. I got off and as soon as I walked to the baggage claim mine came. I went through immigration which was really really fast (they changed a lot of things. its not in that big white concrete room anymore) so that was lucky and I got out and Olga was there waiting. Apparently there had been really bad rainstorms in the previous hour which was probably why we circled for so long. And then the adventure of trying to get out in the car.

You are not really in Mexico City until you feel for your life in the car. We got lost and it took us about an hour plus some to get to the house. Then we only had a few minutes to eat soup de lentejas (which was really really good) then leave again to check out an apartment. Pepe met us there. The apartment was not very nice. It had crazy dirty carpet in the bedrooms where you could see where the beds were because it was 100 shades lighter. So then we got back and had something more to eat and I went to bed.

The son of a friend of Olga from Venezuela is also staying with them. Apparently he has an internship for something financial. I think his name is Carlos. I really havent talked to him. But he seems nice. He's in his 2nd or 3rd year at school in pennsylvania or something.

Today I got up at 7:00 to be ready for Pepe's brother Miguel to pick us up at 8:00 to go to Toluca. But he ended up not picking us up. Olga and I took a quick walk, that was really nice, to go to get a bracelet. Pepe ended up sending us a Chauffeur (so foreign I had no idea how to spell it) to take us to Toluca. It was the smoothest car ride I probably will ever have in Mexico City, which is funny because Olga said he was going really slow. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get there whereas when Pepe drove on the return trip it took 30 min. Anyways I fell asleep most the way. Miguel's wife is Maru and she decided to go to school and get her degree and masters after she already had her daughter (Elena who gets her degree next year [we met her at Alejandra's wedding]. So we went to the defense of her thesis (which is open to the public) which took 2 1/2 hours. It was on the topic of alcohol abuse by secondary students. It was interesting but it was hard to stay focused to understanding everything and all the technical language. The room was hot and my eyes were drooping a bit. But it was fascinating to see because the president and 4 other people were on the board. After they asked her questions about her presentation they went into deliberation. They took 20 minutes and apparently it normally does not take that long. She achieved what she had wanted and ended up getting 'mencion de honor' (that was a surprise). Olga and I got a ride with Elena and her boyfriend who is tocallo to pepe but they call him Pollo for some reason. (It made me think at first when I heard them call him that.) It was really great to see that this lady really persevered to achieve what she wanted.

Then we went to the restaurant and sat in the "no smoking" area since smoke bothers pepe. I was SO hungry. I had fruit and atole (I think) at 8 in the morning. We didnt end up eating until 4! but I lived. For the soup it was fideo (gluten) or cream of broccoli (milk) so they managed to give me a bowl of rice but for the main meal it was Three cheese chicken or carne con papas. I got the carne con papas. (more on this later. But I think pepe's family thinks I understand barely anything of Spanish because there was a misunderstanding of which one I ordered. [pride hurt]) Anyways the carne was probably beef but I didnt really realize until half way through ( I was hungry!) and I didnt really want to make another issue. Probably the cause of my headache or it could be that I was right by the speaker in which a musician was blasting his music in. They must not have any hearing. oh well.

Tomorrow to Sunday Olga and I are going to Puebla so I wont be able to talk until probably monday. We are going to visit a church for the wedding, do somethings for the house, then go to someone's birthday party which apparently will run from saturday afternoon to sunday morning. We shall see how this goes.

I talked to los abuelos when I got back tonight. Hope you all are doing well. I love you and I will let you know from sunday night to monday.

Arrival

July 6

Ok lets start off at the beginning. I go through security all the while mom and monica seem to be very agitated which made me freak out a little. As it turns out it was perfectly and completely fine. Except that after I sprinted to the bathroom and I unbuttoned my pants, my button fell off. Lucky for me there are two buttons on the pants or else oooopppsies.

The plane ride was fine. I got by the window in row 10 which was great. I sat next to a man who looked like a Bob. I was almost positive that was his name. He shocked me because he was carrying around his laptop, on and half open with out any case, and a USB stick stuck in the side just waving about. Anyways he didnt seem like the talking type so I just put my headphones in my ears (which were awesome they are like earplugs and headphones I didnt hear anything from outside) and took a nap (as much as you can sleep on a plane).

I got to Houston fine. It worked out perfectly because I landed on concourse E and departed from concourse E. I only had to walk down one strip. I ate what monica prepared me which was glorious. I tried to sign on to the internet but it wouldnt even let me on the free wifi. so I just waited, reading. The flight was then delayed