La Ciudad de Mexico
Woke up at 3:30 am on Friday to leave for my trip. Made it with no problem to the airport, thru security, to Houston. My flight to Houston was slightly delayed and my lay-over was only 50 minutes, so I bascially had to run from gate to gate to get boarded on time. The flight from Houston to Mexico city was 25% full and I was probably one of the only gringos. We flew into Terminal 2, so it was good that I had printed out my wikitravel of mexico because I knew that in order to catch the subway you have to go to Terminal 1. So I took a bus to terminal 1, took the metro (subway) to Panhillan, then took a different line of the metro to Pino Suarez, then transferred to the Line towards Tasqueña, and then I took the light rail until Registro Federal, and then I walked the remainder. It was a pretty intense journey from home to Mexico city and i think i hit every kind of transportation (car, plane, bus, subway, light rail, and walking). I guess I didnt take any boats... Anyway, Paulinas family has a nice house in a guarded neighborhood in the southern part of the city. Mexico City (or D.F. for Districto Federal like Washington D.C.), is absolutely HUGE. Wikitravel says 20 million people. The city sits on the old city where the Aztecas were which is where a lake used to be. The city sits between mountains on all sides and is at elevation. When I first got off the plane I noticed that I was a little shorter on breathe than usual (not a lot, but I noticed).
Yesterday we went to the downtown on a Saturday and it was unbelievably crowded. Everyone is out and about on a Saturday with their friends. I am told that Saturday is for friends and Sunday is for family. We started at the Zolaco which is the biggest plaza in the Americas. Paulina led me around, and since she is a anthropology major, she knew everything about Mexico's history. The people of Mexico are definitely a darker skin tone than Argentinians. I noticed very few gringo tourists in the downtown. I still cant quite put a feel to the downtown of Mexico City because I need to spend a little more time here. After the Zolaco we went to a huge park downtown that is like a mini-Central Park if you added a bunch of Mexican street vendors and a Castle. Paulina and I had lunch here which came out to the grand total of about $7 or so with drinks included. Mexico seems to be at about the same price range as Argentina to me. The exchange rate is $13 pesos to the dollar which makes it more difficult to convert large numbers in your head.
The castle was pretty luxurious. It sat atop the highest point in the city. They must have artificially created this hill. The cost to get in was $51 pesos, but since Paulina and I had our student id's we got in for FREE. After the castle Paulina and I were both exhausted so we returned home at which point I took an hour long siesta.
That night we went to the store and got supplies for empanadas, which we made for the whole family. They seemed to like them but they put this green salsa on it that was the hottest fucking salsa I have ever tried. I like hot foods but DAMN. Now its Sunday and Paulinas dad said he wanted to take us to a football match at Azteca Stadium, which is the largest stadium in the world. It will be las Americas (Mexico city's pride and joy) against the Aztecs. Hopefully that happens because that would be pretty fucking awesome. Tomorrow Paulina has to go back to her University for classes on Monday and Tuesday, but she'll be back on Tuesday night in time for the festivities for el Dia de Independencia de Mexico el 16 de septiembre. Tomorrow I am planning on going to some Aztec ruins that are apparently pretty amazing. I dont remember the name but it starts with a T. Alright, Ill keep you guys updated and come someone plese let me know what happened in the UW game yesterday.
Yesterday we went to the downtown on a Saturday and it was unbelievably crowded. Everyone is out and about on a Saturday with their friends. I am told that Saturday is for friends and Sunday is for family. We started at the Zolaco which is the biggest plaza in the Americas. Paulina led me around, and since she is a anthropology major, she knew everything about Mexico's history. The people of Mexico are definitely a darker skin tone than Argentinians. I noticed very few gringo tourists in the downtown. I still cant quite put a feel to the downtown of Mexico City because I need to spend a little more time here. After the Zolaco we went to a huge park downtown that is like a mini-Central Park if you added a bunch of Mexican street vendors and a Castle. Paulina and I had lunch here which came out to the grand total of about $7 or so with drinks included. Mexico seems to be at about the same price range as Argentina to me. The exchange rate is $13 pesos to the dollar which makes it more difficult to convert large numbers in your head.
The castle was pretty luxurious. It sat atop the highest point in the city. They must have artificially created this hill. The cost to get in was $51 pesos, but since Paulina and I had our student id's we got in for FREE. After the castle Paulina and I were both exhausted so we returned home at which point I took an hour long siesta.
That night we went to the store and got supplies for empanadas, which we made for the whole family. They seemed to like them but they put this green salsa on it that was the hottest fucking salsa I have ever tried. I like hot foods but DAMN. Now its Sunday and Paulinas dad said he wanted to take us to a football match at Azteca Stadium, which is the largest stadium in the world. It will be las Americas (Mexico city's pride and joy) against the Aztecs. Hopefully that happens because that would be pretty fucking awesome. Tomorrow Paulina has to go back to her University for classes on Monday and Tuesday, but she'll be back on Tuesday night in time for the festivities for el Dia de Independencia de Mexico el 16 de septiembre. Tomorrow I am planning on going to some Aztec ruins that are apparently pretty amazing. I dont remember the name but it starts with a T. Alright, Ill keep you guys updated and come someone plese let me know what happened in the UW game yesterday.
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