A Trip to the Capital

I had a huge weekend in the capital! My roommate Jess and I took a bus to Mexico City on Friday morning. We live about 4 blocks from the bus station which is really convenient. The bus ride took about an hour and 20 minutes. Then I took two trains and walked 25 blocks to get to immigration. But thankfully all went well there and I was able to get my student visa! I feel bad for whoever has to look at my mug shot on the card when I flash that puppy. After immigration, I met up with Jess in Bosque de Chapultepec where we walked around for a while. It’s this huge public park with a handful of museums and monuments. Then we walked to a restuarant with comida corrida. This is a phrase for a full meal. I got fruit water, soup, rice, sopes, and flan for the grand price of $35 pesos ($2.50USD).

I headed over to Condesa (what Lincoln Park is to Chicago) to stay at an apartment of some fellow Fulbrighters (Julie and Anna) for the weekend. The neighborhood is adorable: restaurants, salons, bars, yoga studios. It’s very quaint. We decided to cook dinner so we went to the grocery store (a mere 3 blocks away) and got ingredients for chiles en nogada. It was my first time making the recipe from scratch and it turned out great! We had pan dulce and the most delicious chocolate ice cream for dessert while we chatted about the Fulbright program and future plans. It was very motivating!

Julie and I started our Saturday with a yoga class. We did moves that I didn’t even know were associated with yoga. After we had some delicious omelets, we headed over to Bosque de Chapultepec to check out the Museum of Modern Art. On our way there we stumbled upon a little fair. It had samples of juice, chocolate, tequila, salsa, honey, and more! We satisfied our craving for sweets with gluten free chocolate cookies. At the museum, we got in for free with our student visa cards! They had exhibits about architecture, influential paintings, art critiques and many more. My favorite was the old propaganda that had on display about the Olympics. After the museum we walked around Bosque de Chapultepec and got tatted. We went out to dinner at a cute restaurant down the block from the apartment. We ended the day with a movie in Spanish on good ‘ol Netflix. At night we met up with more Fulbrighters at a pulquería. Pulque is an alcoholic drink made from the maguey plant. It had 4 levels with 2 dance floors and a terrace on top, which we enjoyed. The night ended with tacos, a sign of a successful night out here in México.

On Sunday I was able to find a beautiful church for mass about 10 minutes walking from the apartment. In the afternoon, Julie, Anna, and I took the bus to the mall. The mall not only had stores, but an ice rink, movie theater, and grocery store. Needless to say, the place was massive. We spent a good chunk of the day there. I got a later start home than I should have. It was already dark out when I was walking to the train station. I had some troubles figuring out where I needed to be but two kind souls helped me out. On the train, a man asked me the time, which I knew was a trick from living in Chicago. People who ask that just want to see/steal your watch or phone so I told him I didn’t have the time. When I got off the train I stuck with the people who helped me get to the right train. They walked me to the counter of the bus company I was taking back to Toluca. Then the lady behind the counter said I couldn’t use my American credit card for my ticket and that I couldn’t exchange my US dollars. I had run out of pesos (because we have yet to get paid). The couple paid for my ticket and wouldn’t accept my American money as reimbursement. So we became Facebook friends and I’m hoping to see them when I go to their home state next month!