Cuando en México: Arrival and Introduction to Mexico City

Hello, friends. If you're reading this, then I made it to my destination! I will be staying about 20 minutes south of el centro of Mexico City. While I'll be traveling outside of the city, this is where I'll be stationed. Mexico City is comprised of about 350 colonias, or neighborhoods. My apartment is in colonia Moderna. The neighborhood is mostly comprised of families, so it's relatively quiet and safe. I say relatively because, well, the city isn't known for being the safest...The view from the apartment is amazing, though, and I've made it my background on this blog.

Another view from the apartment.

My arrival was actually really pleasant. Customs was easy to get through because they have an interesting method of deciding whether or not they're going to check your bags/give you a hard time about entering: You press a button and if the bulb lights up green, then you're good to go. However, if it lights up red then you're in trouble. It's completely random, and I really don't see its purpose but that's okay because it took me about 15 minutes to get from my seat on the plane to a taxi out of the airport.

I'm staying with my dad's fiancee, Veronica, who is probably the best person I could be staying with. She's lived in this city her entire life, lives alone, and also works in education which means she also has this time off. I'm really grateful I get a place to stay and a personal tour guide :) I couldn't have asked for a better situation in which to explore the country.

A couple blocks from the apartment is this park that has a stage (not pictured) where people give dance lessons, fitness classes, and various demonstrations. These lessons cost around 15 pesos, which if you're not familiar with the current rate is about 1 dollar. Yes, you can learn how to salsa for a dollar! And once the dancing ends and you're hungry, why don't you walk across the street to refuel with some coffee and pan dulce for a mere 75 cents! Another thing I noticed-there are panaderias and cafes at every corner. And, yes, I have already visited two in the past 24 hours :)

I was pretty tired last night from traveling and walking around to get various personal items. Unfortunately, I also noticed that I was getting these headaches all night and all day today and I finally realized it was due to the high elevation. Since there is less oxygen in the air (not to mention all the pollution), I think it's taking quite a bit out of me to be constantly walking and climbing around. I didn't let that stop me from learning how to navigate el metro (the subway system in Mexico City) and getting lost in the city center for about 4 hours today.

First, the subway system:

First thought: omg, this is going to take me all summer to learn how to use.

After the first ride: omg, subway systems should be this easy all over the world.

For real, this is the easiest method of traveling around the city AND just as importantly, it is the cheapest (one way ticket to anywhere in the city: 3 pesos or 22 cents). I can't believe it costs 4 dollars to use BART...it'll be hard going back. Another interesting thing about the metro is that the first 3 cars of the train are reserved for women. When Veronica first told me this I didn't quite understand, but then after the first ride it became clear. People are really really really packed in. This makes it really easy to not only get pick pocketed, but it also makes it easy to get man-handled. So the government has instituted this rule where only women and children are allowed in certain carts. I actually really like this idea since I have had my fair share of unwanted attention.

Today, I took the day to explore the city center. I, of course, got very lost but ended up finding my way (by myself!) in the end. I had lunch in a very cute cafe. The server was a elderly man who asked me to teach him a little English and was more than happy to give me some info on what to visit in the city.

Typical lunch: watermelon (eaten), chilaquiles with chicken and egg, and orange juice.

I spent the rest of the day walking around and getting lost. Which is okay because there is so so much even just within a half mile radius of the city plaza that I only got to about half of it today. My real destination was a museum called el Templo Mayor but I didn't actually make it...Instead, I found el Aniguo Colegio de San Ildefonso. It's a cathedral/museum that houses Diego Rivera's first mural and is also showing an exhibit by Ernesto Neto, a brazilian contemporary artist. The exhibit was really great. From wikipedia:

His installations are large, soft, biomorphic sculptures that fill an exhibition space that viewers can touch, poke, and even sometimes walk on or through. These are made of white, stretchy, stockinglike material -- amorphous forms stuffed with Styrofoam pellets or, on occasion, aromatic spices.

There were definitely scents of cinnamon and clove from what I could tell. Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea:

The meaning of this piece was described as "whatever you'd like". Basically, though, the artist was trying to capture the idea that people/nature/politics/_____/etc. are always divided or separated (thus the different colors.

The spice piece. There is flour in the middle and cinnamon/clove/nutmeg around. It certainly smelled great.

A lot of the pieces were interactive. These "pillows" are made of the same material as those in the above pictures, but they are big enough to sit in. They're kind of like bean bag chairs.

After leaving the museum (and while I was getting myself really lost) I ran across this church (below). It started raining pretty heavily so I went inside and was amazed at the extravagance I found. Mexicans are very Catholic and they take their beliefs in saints very seriously. For a while I couldn't even find a statue of Jesus as the saints took up all the wall space. See if you can spot him.

Well, I made it back to the apartment a little wet and a little tired but very happy that I made the decision to spend the summer here. I will try to update as much as possible and will get better at taking more pictures. I just get so distracted with everything that I forget I have a camera! Please feel free to leave comments, recommendations, suggestions or just your thoughts :)

Extras: