Monkeys and Tacos...

Mexico City

On the day of March 20th I started off my day excited about traveling to Mexico City. Then I got a phone call from my cousin saying that I shouldn't go because Mexico City was "Shaking". I quickly called my friend Gleynda and she assured me that everything was fine. She saw the street's electrical wires move and she felt the quake. A 7.6 earthquake had hit 200 miles south of Mexico City.

Twelve hours. That's how long it took me to go from Nayarit to Mexico City. I took the night bus so I could sleep through the trip. I didn't get much sleeping done. I was too amused by how bright the stars where. I even saw a shooting star!! The Next morning I arrived in Mexico City! -first thing I did was fall asleep.

I did feel a lot of the aftershocks but I'm used to feeling those small quakes. It was quite familiar to me. It dawned on me that the houses in Mexico are not built like they are in California though. I heard the house creak and squeak and became concerned. Bricks hurt, dry wall does not.

I was happy to see Gleynda again and meet her precious baby Kyrah. Her family was very welcoming and nice. Her mom shared a story with me about how she had to come to mexico by herself and how lonely it felt leaving her family behind in the U.S. I miss my family so much it tears me inside. It's never the same staying with an aunt or uncle as it is to be with your own parents.

My mom and me

Anywho, Back to the story.

Gleynda and I took a trip to the famous "Sonora Market". It was like being in a giant flea market. There was pretty much anything that you could think of. They are quite popular for their "witchcraft" items. I saw a lot of candles and statues of all sizes of the "holy death" (a Grim reaper saint). A lady asked me if I wanted something to "chain my boyfriend down" I smiled and showed her my wedding band and said "I already did it myself". She gave me a weird look.

We reached the Animal area and it was a horrendous sight. There was thousands of animals. Many of them where stuffed in a single cage. The smell was horrible. There was a lot of breeds of puppies and kittens too. A guy asked me if I was looking for something in particular, I said "Yeah! a Monkey!", A different guy came out from behind the isle and said "I got one, but you have to come back here to get it, we aren't allowed to sell them". I turned to my friend as the smiles wiped from our faces as we saw how serious the conversation had turned. I told him "I was just joking" and quickly left the area.

It was definitely a weird experience....

March 25th rolled up and my friend got us tickets for "Vive Latino". It's a huge rock concert. One of my favorite bands was playing; Gogol Bordello. I didn't really know any of the other bands but I had fun. We got to see fatboy slim before leaving. Oh, and I also got invited to a Gogol bordello after-party. I didn't go.

My friend took me to a small festival at a park. It featured food from Oaxaca mexico. I got to try out some traditional oaxacan food. There was these HUGE tostada looking things. They where yummy! I also got to eat some really really good Tacos. I don't know what kind of meat was in there and I dont care cause... holy shit, They where great.

My deadline for my paperwork was fast approching. I decided to stay in for the rest of my trip in Mexico City and work on the new letter. Maybe next time I'll get to go see the pyramids. I was looking forward to that but, first things first.

"Graceful"

So, everyone kept telling me that it was dangerous in Mexico City and that I should hide my money in my bra. Well, I had never done that before. I stuffed two rolled up bills in my bra. Not on the easily to reach area near my shoulder either. Not me! No one told me to put my money there. I went ahead and stuffed it right by my under-wire! There I am shopping at walmart and I'm in line thinking "how am I supposed to 'inconspicuously' reach and remove the money?"

...Well as my husband has said "your as graceful as a gazelle.... with two broken legs". I tried to pull the bill out with just two fingers. However, I didn't feel the bill, by this point the bill had shifted to the middle of my breast. I had to stuff my right hand and pull the bill out (It was the 500 bill not the 200 I wanted) At this point my friend noticed my hand on my breast and me saying "Oops, wrong one" and started cracking up. Then I started cracking up.

I reached my right breast with just my fingers again but of course the bill shifted as well. So, there goes my left hand looking for the bill. Finally I pull out the right bill and hand it to the cashier. We left the store in tears of laughter.

....Not my proudest moment... but one of the funniest!


My time in Mexico city was up and I was off to Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacan! Stay tuned!


-Roby

What I've learned:

... I want to buy and train a monkey to wash my clothes.