Friday night was an experiencia! My new Mexican gal pals took me to an antro: an antro will play music including hip hop, electronic, rap, etc. whereas a discoteca is known to only play electronica. Who knew? The security is top notch, can’t bring gum or allergy medicine and you get a nice patdown on your way in. You only have to be 18 to drink/club in MX, sooooo I felt like an oldie at this place, but still had a blast dancing and talking to people, etc. There were lots of chants and cheers a bailar, “ESTO ES, MOOOOOLLEEEYYY,” “ESTO ESSSS.” Lots of laughs… and tequila.
Maria y yo a Presley
las chicas al antro, felt like a big sister
Alllllllll the girls take their picture here
Also scoped out the Museum of Modern Art with a friend from CDMX that I met in LA. We saw some Frida and other Mexican greats, along with a Balenciaga exhibit that was interesting… although I wish I was more enthralled with fashion… Rafael and Fran took me to a great tacos de pastor spot, and then for some ice cream at a 50’s style diner called Roxy’s. It’s a fun treat to be taken around by locals. The pressure is lifted and you can just go with the flow!
back at my fav Condesa spot, Lardo, where they kindly gifted me what I ate the last time ;)
never tire de las frutas, and fruit loops, too!
al Museo de Arte Moderno
chiquillos lindos
Frida y Frida, las famosas
an awesome foto of helado de cafe at Roxy's + Francisco
The next day I caught up with my friends from the hostel and we walked through Condesa, ate elote - YUM - (actually first had this at the Hispanic Festival in Grand Rapids if you could believe it). It's fresh corn on the cob drenched in mayonnaise, queso fresco, and chili pepper + lots of lime! Sofia wanted us to try the chapulines (crickets) but we slowly crept past that booth as no one was dying to try them. We waived to some pre-teens in a Hummer limo standing out of the roof window, probably on their way to a Quinceñeara or something-- they were basically babies in suits that are way too young to drink :)
My hostel homies--- Sofîa from México, Albert from Barcelona, and Ariel from Argentina (3 awesome personalities, and 3 diverse accents). I urged them to converse in Spanish and I’d try and keep up. It’s really the only way to learn— to immerse and put all of your freaking cranial muscle and energy into listening, dissecting, reading body language, and interpreting in general. It’s exhausting, and can be a bit isolating being the only non-fluent hispanohablante. But when something clicks, or you hear a word you learned 8 years ago, it feels awesome! And it does get easier.
Hostel life
The whole experience of traveling in a foreign country alone (or not alone) is humbling, muy humillante. I’m vulnerable to the country's extremities and complete personality, which many times is unpredictable. Some people are easy to understand, while others have an unrecognizable accent and I’d be better off speaking Italian. Some people adore and flatter me, whie others look me up and down wondering what the hell I'm doing in their country, possibly thinking, "Is she a Donald trump supporter?" It’s also much more difficult to understand a group of people talking, than having a one-on-one conversation with someone. I’m grateful for all the people I’ve encountered that oblige me with patience, who repeat their comments when I ask them to, and will tango in Spanglish conmigo. A limited vocabulary + functional mode of translation forces you to filter your thoughts and remarks presented aloud. Fewer words, more simple sentences, and say it with confidence or you’ll lose their interest :) It’s amazing how many more people and stories and cultures you can understand and be show, solely by way of another language. It’s also LOCA! the amount one can understand from body language and expressions. I’m thankful for my acting class for aiding me in that respect.
The four of us ended up back at the hostel after consuming mezcal drinks at a charming terrace bar in Condesa, Moxie, where we watched the clouds and thunderstorm roll in. Mischa, who works at the hostel, proceeded to shove tequila, rum, and cerveza in our faces for hours until we headed up to the 4th floor discoteca, which I was annoyed with two nights prior. Twas a great night that made checking out of the hostel and lugging all my crapola into a new apartment the next morning a real HAUL. But three cheers for agua de coco ~ I hope they do not come out with a study saying how bad it is for you because I’ve become addicted to it. Cada dîa. We drank from a fresh coco a few days later in Puerto Escondido - from the tree to my mouth after it was hacked open by the Aussie with a machete! Venga!
to eat crickets or not to eat crickets...
corn n frenz! Sofia, Albert, y Ariel
a una barra se llama Moxie, finally I got to teach them an English word! ! !
white tee club
midnight snack! but cuidado...Montezuma's revenge se viva
Hostal mates at the rooftop fiesta
Albert, Sofia and I walked to the top of the Castillo de Chapultepec (favorite word so far) that’s now a history museum. We wandered around and discussed how all the history classes we took were slowly seeping into the forefront of our brains after a few years of suppressing it, like all good students. We read lots sobre los Aztecas - who thought the Spanish Cortés arrived at their shores as a god incarnate, only to be conquered by their navy thereafter. I’m thankful for the latinoamerica history classes I took in college - it made all the exhibits more fascinating and realized. We listened to a guide dissect an enormous mural for a while...until my brain fully melted and we moved on. It’s insane what Mexico has been through, and how vast and diverse of a country it is. Sofia was joking with Albert and I, about our representation of her country's main colonizers and enemies - Spain and the north Americans….but how cool that we’re all friends a few hundred, bloody years later!
vista de la ciudad from the Castillo Chapultepec, the bosque is below
no idea
she cute
the Spanish brought Cristo a America to crucify los indios, AY CARUMBA
Later that night mis amigos all left in the drizzling rain, and I went back to my eerie apartment feeling a little lonely, and very dramatic. Oh! the ups and downs. The next day I sat in a café and explored the new neighborhood - Roma norte. Helped myself to plenty of fresh mango, a cappuccino and hungrily nabbed some Sabritas (Lays potato chips) from the street vendor. Guilty pleasure for shore.
Plants 4 Sale - PLANTS PLANTS PLANTS everywhere
reading!
plaza de Rio de Janeiro in Roma Norte
Buno 42, in Roma Norte
Bathroom Series --- My grandma and I would always make our final judgments of a place dependent on their bathroom - lots of good ones here.
getting the local sabor y recomendaciones
I went for a run that night around the Parqué México (mase in hand, mamá!)…around, and around again, not wanting to go back to the apartment! It had some dark spirit vibes…and I’ve never felt a heaviness como eso, and it’s hard to explain. I was telling a friend sobre mis sentamientos and she urged me to get outta there! Who cares about money! I quickly found a bus departure time, packed up, slept 2 hours, and called an uber at 5 am. I was definitely mistaken about the location of the bus terminal, and was sure über Arturo was taking me countryside… to SELL me, Taken style… I contemplated how all the people that worried about my safety were right, I should’ve never come alone to México, I was being driven to my worst nightmare; but, alas! he led me to the right spot, and if not for Arturo I would’ve missed the bus :)
goodbye lil creepy room
Oaxaca tales to be continued… nos vemos!
