food adventures continue in mexico city... cont'd

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I was lying in bed this morning thinking about how odd it is that my goal for this vacay is to gain 10 pounds... and how that is usually expected of vacations... but not often is it a goal that is sought after.

And then I started to kind of hyperventilate a little at the thought of being in Mamita's dirt floor kitchen with a plate of beans... maybe with rice, maybe with queso...

And then I remembered that, GRACIAS ADIOS, it's only Tuesday. And I don't need to worry about returning to the limited food of Nicaragua for like another 6 days.

I am so incredibly thankful that Arielle has lived in this glorious city for a year and a half and I am getting to see all the best parts. I get to hang out in the gayborhood and Reforma and eat the food and partake in the bars and restaurants that she has discovered through a year's worth of trial and error. And I get the benefits of it all for one fantastic week in April!

Yesterday we managed to get dresssed and get out of the house. We tried to go change my US Dollars to Mexican Pesos. We went to HSBC. Like one of the biggest international banks. Where Arielle teaches international bankers English. And where she has her bank account. And, despite the board with the exchange rates on the wall, buying dollars for 13.38.... APPARENTLY HSBC no longer buys dollars. WTF? So Arielle was like, that's okay, give me the dollars and I'll deposit them and then take out pesos for you. Great. Except not only do they not exchange dollars, she cannot deposit dollars into her account.

Now, as a large international bank in Mexico, our neighbor to the south where A LOT of international businesses are located... you would THINK it would be in a bank's best interest to BUY DOLLARS.

But I guess that would be my capitalist arrogance.... Can you see me rolling my eyes?

I digress. After being traumatized by the banking system in Mexico, we went to the awesomest taco stand in all of DF. It's next to the American Embassy and we had the glory of flautas, or deep fried tacos covered in green and red chili and cream and cheese. And it was street food at its best.

Okay.... this shall be continued in a while... Look forward to exploring the dinner of dreams, provided by one of Arielle's charming students.... mmm filet mignon that was still bleeding... oh, it was glorious.

To be continued....

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Mmmm dinner was lovely. Good company and good conversation and good wine and filet mignon that was perfectly medium rare with heavenly mustard sauce and a salad with walnuts and figs and almonds and more wine and dessert and coffee and ..... it was so nice.

So yesterday, Tuesday, we got up Arielle went to buy fresh bread and fruit and coffee for us. We had a lovely breakfast ... and then set out to Chapultepec park.... where we ate street food and got in a paddle boat in the lake for an hour and went to the zoo and enjoyed the reptile house fully and ate some more food in the park .... and then we went to Joey and Enrique's so I could meet Kim, the cracked Korean, and then Abeyta and I came back here to watch a movie and wait for the tamale guy.

So in Mexico city there are tamale bicycle carts. And they have loudspeakers that sound like chanting that is basically saying, "the awesomest street food is passing by your block right now and you should run down your 4 flights of stairs and catch me before i move on..." Which is exactly what happens. They come by this neighborhood at about 9:30 pm.... at 8:30 we were like WHERE IS HE??!!! But at just a little past 9:30 sure enough!

Mmmm steaming corn and chicken and green chili and then we smother them with cream and they are soooo spicy and good. We tried mole ones last night. Those were sweet tasting. I prefer the green chili hottness. So we watched Shrek 2 and Underworld and more of season 4 Friends... and it was lovely.

I do miss the boy... but since I can only text him and he can't communicate with me at all... it's a one sided conversation and that sucks. I want to know how his vacation is going and if the other volunteer and her boy are back in the community now... I just want a hint of what is going on at the homefront!

I think we are going to Frida Kahlo's house today!

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Comments

[mom]

DF?
Um...what's DF? (caution:" SLOW Mom" Crossing, I guess. Sorry.) Glad you're enjoying Street Food w/Arielle. I always thought that it was your favorite food in China, too. Not sure about the 10 lb. thang though,..."I" would give almost ANYTHING to lose just that 10!....let alone 65!! Good job, Dear! :) OK, continue enjoying and thanks for the updates! psst: HI, Arielle!

[mbaade]

DF federal district. like our washington DC