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Published: February 6th 2010
All the stuff I decided not to take
except i put the tennis shoes back in at the last minuteAhhhh my trip begins with a visit to my very close friend Clara in L.A. There I went to yoga, walked the beach, and ate SO much delicious food...french food I might add. Well, Clara's family is french which means we ate the ever-so-delicious french food of crepes. Yes, that's right - put those 12 eggs in with lemon zest, a few cups of flour and milk, a pinch of salt into that bowl and voilá: a suave pancake to be filled with oh such delicious things like brie, grilled onions and spinach, tapenade...or for a dessert style you´ve got nutella, raspberry jam, butter, salt, lebneh (strained yogurt)...delicioso! Lucian (Clara´s bro), expert in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) also taught me some self-defense moves for my travels to accompany my pepper spray...all set!
Well, somehow on the night before my flight I was not thinking clearly (too many crepes) and set my alarm for an hour later than I should have and this resulted in rushing out the door and making it 5 minutes too late to the counter to have my bags checked (ay international flights!!). But to my good fortune, everyone was really nice and expedited my bag and
sent me running to the gate to make it just in time for boarding = close call! The flight went smoothly and as we descended into D.F. (Mexico City) I could see the damage the torrential rains had done: flooded neighborhoods and stranded cars - yikes! Customs took forever but I was just grateful that my bag made it on the flight and everything was there...and least I think everything is there (they searched my bag and everything was disheveled inside).
I tried using my Mexican phone for the first time but to no avail. My U.S. phone didn´t work either even though it just got an international feature put on - this was a setback becuase I needed to call my friends to make plans to meet up. Well, there was no use standing at the airport so I proceeded to the Metro to go downtown to the Zócalo and put some money on my Mexican phone. Well, I did that and it still didn´t work. Thus I found a nice youth hostel and stayed myself there for the night in a dorm room with 5 other women, mostly older from all different places like Argentina, France, and
Maine. I wasn´t interested in spending much time in D.F. (I had explored it a bit the last time I was here a year and a half ago) so I gathered my things and took the subway to the bus station where I promptly took a bus to Morelia. The day was beautiful! I could still see the effects of the flooding over the land and the taxi driver that took me into downtown Morelia said it rained for 3 straight days and nights before I came.
My phones still weren´t working so I headed to an old internet cafe I used to frequent. It really humbles you to think of the days when there weren´t cell phones at all and you only had mail to communicate times and places to meet up (I mean, even email is advanced). I found out that I wasn´t going to meet my friend until 8pm (it was only 3pm at the time) so I walked down the street to my favorite place in Morelia, the paletería!! Everyday after school I would go to this shop and get a fruit popsicle (made with REAL fruit) and sometimes would have it covered in chocolate
and nuts - ay qué rico!! I thoroughly enjoyed that popsicle (and will go back everyday that I´m here in town) and spent some time basking in the park under the trees and gentle breeze.
When it came close to 8pm, I headed to the meeting place and waited. After 20 minutes of waiting I was approached by a young woman with her 5 year old son. She told me that Dario (my friend) would be late coming into town (he was away for the day on business) and that he asked her to take me to her house to wait for him. So we went to her house on the outskirts of the city where she lives with her sister, sister´s husband, mom, and her son. It was a humble place, and they fed me and chatted with me. Well, one hour turned into 2 turned into 3 and when we called Dario he said he would be later than expected, so I stayed the night with them and woke up to the smell of cooking chilaquiles (my favorite mexican breakfast dish). The mom is originally from Oaxaca and so had many Oaxacan ingredients like chocolate, cheese, and
spices. Ahhhhh it felt so good to be in a Mexican home smelling, eating and talking about food (I mean, if you know me, that´s almost all I ever talk about). I can´t believe my good fortune of these people whom I had never met, opening up their home to me and giving me a bed for the night, truly good souls. Dario came this morning and ate with us and we chatted for an hour more with the family and then Dario took me to his house where I now sit and write this.
I found out that if you don´t use your mexican phone for more than like 6 months, then it becomes dead and you have to get a new chip for it. Ay! I´m going to try to get a refund, but if that doesn´t work then I´ll just go cell-less, shwatever. Yup, but I´ll be here til wednesday hanging out, dancing, swimming, doing handstands in the park - and then I´m off to a nearby small town where I´ll hike into this eco-village and learn about natural building for 2 weeks so I´ll keep posted about that (I´m not sure if I´ll have access
Crepe toppings
My fav. dinner combo: brie, grilled onions with spinach, and veggie/olive tapenade.
My fav. dessert combo: lebneh (strained yogurt), raspberry jam, and nutella!! to the internet there?). Anyhoo, it´s beautiful here and I´m going outside. Hasta pronto!
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Rosa
non-member comment
Love you!
Mon bon, I'm so excited for youuu!! Craziness about almost missing your flight! The food looks absolutely delicious, mmmm I'm hungry now reading and looking at the pictures. Loves you, misses you and be safe! You're going to have so much fun! Also!! Do you want to send me a postcard? I'm trying to collect 101 in the next 2 years :)