The Climb to the Top

The weekend started with a Toluca vs Chivas soccer game Thursday night. Gabby (my mentor and temporary mother) roots for Chivas and Mariano (my father) and I cheer for Toluca. It’s a big game for the teams and we had great seats, thanks to Mariano. I was able to rep my team with my new jersey thanks to one of the soccer players who bought it for me. AND I got to have churipan again which is a delicious sausage sandwich from Argentina. Thankfully Toluca won so Mariano and I have bragging rights!

Our Fulbright friends Stephanie and Clara came to visit us for the weekend. When they arrived Friday afternoon we came home and made some tacos before going to a despedida (going away party) for our Mexican friend Jesus who is moving to the US for work. The party was in a restaurant in Metepec. It was such a fun place: lots of people, great food, and mariachi music. We had the mariachis serenade Jesus while he wore a sombrero. We were there until about 2AM when we decided it would be a good idea to go home because we had to get up at 8. While we waited for the car my roommate Jess started climbing the outside wall of the restaurant. She’s my little monkey.

Saturday morning we went to the pyramids of Teotihuacán. There are about 2 hours northeast of Toluca. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot out or we would have roasted. We watched men tether themselves to a rope and spin around a pole as the ropes lowered them to the ground in the parking lot. Once inside, we walked down the Avenue of the Dead and climbed the Pyramid of the Sun (one of the largest in Mesoamerica) and the Pyramid of the Moon. Talk about leg workout. It started to rain but no too hard so we were able to stay. After a long day of climbing we indulged in some enchiladas de mole. ¡Que rico!

At night we went to a salsa club called MamboCafe. It was a blast! They played mostly salsa and cumbia music. Around 12 there was a live salsa band made up of about 9 people. When they took a break there was EDM music and I met someone from Las Vegas who is going to EDC there (as am I) in June. They dancing didn’t stop until 3AM. It was great to see so many good salsa dancers. I hope I’m that good one day! The night ended in tacos as every good night here in Mexico does.

On Sunday we showed the girls downtown Toluca. It’s only about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. We toured some churches, los portales, and the zócalo (open plaza) of Toluca. For brunch we went to a little market where they sell fruit, flowers, freshly squeezed juice, tacos, tamales, gorditas, birria (soup) and more! Their strawberry tamales are my favorite. It’s nice because you can walk around and get whatever and as much of it as you want. Then we stopped for ice cream and had a delicious berry and cream flavor. Sounds weird but it was great, like most things in Mexico.