Fabiola la exploradora

French Concession I've been a little busy this past month, so this time I'm just going to share a short poem I wrote about Shanghai, and also show some pictures of my neighborhood, the French concession. In my next entries I will talk more about Shanghai, and my trip to Beijing. Oh Shanghai! Beautiful packing city bicycles rule, men spit on your shoes, kids begging for money outside the night clubs. Oh Shanghai! Recycle oil in your food, colorful buildings and a French voice Rude people, fried dumplings, and the barbecue boy. Oh Shanghai! Expensive coffee with terrible English the fastest train in the world, the fake market Chinese medicine, red Ferraris, and Kung Fu. Oh Shanghai! The peasant, the rich, the poor The lies they hide, the face they are afraid of, Sunday morning, century ... read more

So let's take a short break from China and let me tell you a short story about how I got lost in Times Square back in 2010. Enjoy! Help! A lost Mexican “I’m telling you, it’s this way!” I told Jesus annoyed. “Fabiola wait! You’re gonna get lost!” he angrily replied while trying to follow the rhythm of my feet. “If you don’t move faster, we’ll never reach the hotel.” I yelled looking at a red dot that pointed out the bus terminal on my cellphone’s screen. I had walked for more than thirty minutes in the packed and busy streets of Times Square trying to find our way back to the hotel. Our adventurous trip to go to the Chinese wedding of my friend Lily was transforming into an awful nightmare. It was the beginning ... read more

Direct Flight from Tijuana to Shanghai Our flight was more than fourteen hours. I couldn’t sleep on the plane since the Mexican dude sitting next to me snored way too loud--his snoring was more annoying than the damn turbulences. Most flight attendants spoke Spanish or Chinese. And it seemed that most of the Chinese who were on the plane spoke Spanish. Just imagine a Chinese saying "No Mames wey!” my first culture shock right there in the plane. For breakfast we had enchiladas and fish rolls, along with forks and chopsticks. Around nine o'clock on Sunday morning we landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport. After we got off the plane, I filled up an immigration form indicating my address in china and a phone number in case of emergencies. I took the form to immigration where I ... read more

Tijuana Part II We were afraid. After listening to CNN, Fox news, and all the American brainwashing, we thought that traveling to Mexico was an insane idea. But the drug trafficking, kidnappings, and dead bodies didn’t stop us, we decided to take the risk and figure out what Tijuana is all about. We didn’t take a break when we arrived at my cousins’ place, I met several cousins I didn’t even know I had--we Mexicans have a big familia. My cousins were very kind. They took care of us all the time. We talked and talked until my eyes couldn’t stay open anymore, so I went directly to bed hoping to see more about Tijuana the next morning. Tijuana is cold in the night time. It's freezing in the night because my cousins don’t have AC, ... read more

Fabiola, la exploradora: A Mexican in Chino Land Dear friends, family, and curious readers, Hola! I’m a Mexican girl experiencing the life in China--a land of Kung fug, uncomfortable toilets, cheap noodles, and a place where most chinitas used pads instead of tampons. I apologize for the confusing Spanglish, or bad English. My life as writer or amateur writer is a mess! I was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, but I moved to the United States when I turned fourteen. I lived my American Dream (or Mexican nightmare) for seven years in a redneck town called Columbus, Indiana. And well, I married a lovely chino gentleman who I followed to Shanghai, China. Before I talk about myself, like I usually do, let me be clear about this blog. This blog is made with the main ... read more