Coyoacan & San Angel

Alright - time for a little more tourism.

This is Viveros de Coyoacan. I'd heard that it was popular with joggers, and boy was that right. It's packed with joggers and vegetation. They weren't exactly hard-core professional joggers, but I felt out of place walking and taking pictures.


I walked all around Coyoacan under the blazing hot sun. Churches, plazas, markets, people, cobblestone streets.




I got a bit lost. There are two streets with the same name (which isn't mentioned on my map) and I went down a long private alley before finding the right one. The alley had nice houses and nice electric fences.





Tortilla madness:


Chicharon madness:


Museo Frida Khalo :) How enjoyable.


This picture really makes Diego Rivera look like a perv.


My guide book said that a trip to Coyoacan wouldn't be complete without a cappuccino and doughnut at El Jarocho (the name for people from Veracruz). A 'cappuccino' costs about a dollar, and let's just say that I know why they're so cheap. If you heap a lot of sugar into it, it gets a lot better.



Next I traced my way back through Coyoacan, walked past Viveros, past the metro, and onward to San Angel. It brought me to the Templo Y Museo de el Carmen. I mostly went to check out the mummies. I never expected to find mummies in a church. The dozen mummies in the crypt are "thought to be the bodies of 17th-century benefactors of the order."




By the late afternoon I left to meet some friends and family. I was completely dying from the heat, but it looks like I need to go back to San Angel for one more stop.

More internet & other issues

I was thinking "It looks like it's going to rain." And then it did. Not so good for sandals, & mascara on the bus ride home. I also came home to wet clothes on the clothesline. I had them drying inside at first because there was no room on the clothes line, then outside for an hour, and now they're back inside where they probably won't dry too well :/

Internet problems continue. (No more of that thanks!) So, I went to an internet cafe. Two minutes in and we had a power failure. Back at the house we also had a power failure a few hours later.

Let's focus on better things though. Look at all these fresh veggies!



Even Mexican dogs love candy. She actually crunched and munched a lollipop.



The mom also loves garbage and tears garbage bags apart weekly.

A little neglect

I haven't been posting much lately, and my camera hasn't gotten much use as of late. Most days I'm out the whole day. I'd post more often if there was an iPod blogger application. I can't post at all from the thing!

Onto other things - I need to remember to choose my language with care since people model their English after yours. Especially the beginners. I was a bit surprised to see someone and I said "Oh! Hi!" He repeated the exact same thing to me, but his face wasn't showing surprise. Heh. Guess you had to be there.

Security blip

Not too much new stuff to report on. The other day I was handing out flyers in an office building though, and it must have looked a little suspicious. The security guard stopped me and asked what floor I was looking for. I told him I was finished and left. Next time I'll know to take the stairs ;)

La Marquesa

a morning class + afternoon canceled = time to visit a popular park in the state of Mexico.

You can ride ATVS or horses, go on a zip line, eat and drink, and a number of other ranch-type things. It reminded me a lot of Taiwan's tourist ranches.


Apparently the mushroom soup in the country is the best. Spicy yummy, and the little extras like lime, avocado, and cheese make the dish.

Mexican Chinatown

A kind invite from the family to the Chinatown in Mexico City. I think it's a whole block long and I didn't see a single Chinese person.


Some fried flour things awaited us. They're the peanuts of bars, I guess.


It was a mish-mash of lots of things. The Chinese food came with a dish of limes, so there was no doubt that we were in fact in Mexico.


Everybody hated the tea. There's no sugar! "It tastes like puke to me."

I drank the whole pot by myself :)

Hmm.... Where's the fortune?


We stopped for ice cream after. It's kept in these metal containers. It always amazes me how the ice cream stays cool in the heat here.


Strawberries & cream it is!

Golden Nugget & 3 pairs of broken shoes

Yesterday I noticed one less pup and immediately wondered if it had been killed or gotten outside. I later found out that my fav little pup had been given away :( She was the sweetest, most playful one. Le sigh.

Just for myself, I've named the Golden Retriever of Friendliness 'Golden,' and the tan pup 'Nugget.' They're a family of shades of brown.

In other news, the last pair of my 3 pairs of shoes broke yesterday. My boots were a little torn up, but I thought I could rely on my Naturalizer old lady comforts, but the backing on one shoe came apart two days ago. So, for work yesterday I wore teal flip flops slightly hidden by my black pants. Can you believe that they too decided to break?

Luckily the bf had helped me take my other 2 pairs to a shoe repair. I picked them up today, and they look great. Now, shoe repairs are like small miracles in my eyes.

There was a little problem when I went to pick my shoes up though. They were brought in at different times, and the boots were listed as under the name 'Enrique.' A little explaining, and a phone call to the staff member later and both shoes were in my arms again.

Día de la Constitución

February 5th is Constitution Day, which means that most people got today (Monday) off work. Hooray for long weekends! I usually had to work long weekends, and weekends in general, so I really love my weekends.

All that being said, I didn't do too much over Sunday and Monday. Mostly visiting people, drinking in the streets, eating salty food, and being driven around by a quick 19-year old.

Templo Mayor

"The temple is thought to be on the exact spot where the Aztecs saw their symbolic eagle, perching on a cactus with a snake in its beak - the symbol of Mexico today. In Aztec belief this was, literally, the center of the universe."


Great weather for an outdoor museum.




The temple was enlarged 7 times, and with each rebuilding rituals were performed and captured warriors sacrificed.


The ruins are next to the Zocalo and the Catedral Metropolitana.






At the end of the walkway there was an indoor museum with lots of statues, jewelry, offerings, and other articles excavated from the site.

Little snippets

A crowded metro walk up the stairs.

It amazes me how many blind people take the metro. The stations aren't even announced aloud, the transfers are long, and it's really crowded during rush hour. That would scare the shit out of me.



I found some of Hydra Fresh, but they're a bit smaller and for a mixed skin type. It was about half the cost of those in Vancouver.


The last couple of days have been busy with lots of errands. I've got two new private classes as of yesterday :) It means I'll probably be waking up at 5am though :(

This afternoon I had a meeting and I may get another class from this company, but it won't be starting right away.

Día de la Candelaria

Today is the follow-up day to the Dia de los Reyes where people eat tamales and candles are brought to churches to be blessed.

It was also the day I met a new friend. I was looking for places to hand out English lesson flyers and business cards when I met a guy who used to live in Texas for four years. Now he's a bodyguard at some dude's house.

Also...
Gung hay fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year!

That was a little too friendly

I was riding a jam-absolutely-packed metro tonight on the way home when someone decided to slowly put their hand up my skirt. I could barely move, but I shuffled around enough, and the hand returned to its owner. It was pretty obvious to those around me about what had happened. A man in a pin-striped suit pulled me aside to a different part of the train for the remaining two stops. When I got off, another man asked if I was OK.

I guess for every public perv, there are two nice guys (or one perv posing as a nice guy).

I'd already had to watch a few trains pass me by before I could get onto that one. Extra traffic also meant it took me an hour and a half to get home.