Hightlights: Hamburgers, Break Up Letters, and Pyramids

Another weekend, another trip! I spent this weekend in Mexico City. It was a long weekend for me because I didn’t have to teach Monday due to orientation being this week. I got to Mexico City Saturday night just in time to go out for burgers: real, delicious hamburgers. It was at a place called Butchers & Sons. I also indulged in a spiked mint chocolate milkshake, which was a first for me. Heaven on earth. Paulina was a doll and let Britney, Preston, Jemina, and I crash at her place. Some of us ran a 12K in the morning. I was sleeping. When Jemina and I woke up we attempted to find a Catholic church for mass. We walked around for an hour but didn’t find one with a mass starting when we arrived. We decided to eat instead. We went to brunch with everyone and went to mass after brunch.

After mass, we met up with Preston, Britney and her roommate in Bosque de Chapultepec. They went to the castle while Jemina and I munched on some fresh fruit with granola and icing and went to Tamayo. It’s a modern art museum. It was one of the coolest museums I had ever been to. My favorite exhibit was about a break up letter. The artist received an email from her lover saying that they couldn’t see each other anymore. She translated the letter and gave it to more than 100 women to read from different professions and cultures to interpret. Some wrote songs, others danced and acted, while others wrote a written response. It was so interesting to see how these women described the man who wrote the letter. Most were negative comments but interesting, none the less. We met up with Preston and Britney after to get some food. Then we collected our things and headed to the next apartment. We played musical apartments for sleeping arrangements. Somehow, we were hungry again so we went out for tacos across the street. When we got to Juan’s place, we started to watch The Great Gatsby but we fell asleep.

Monday was Teotihuacan day! Round 2 to Teotihuacan for me. We got up bright and early and found a deliciously affordable breakfast spot a few blocks from the apartment, bought some snacks and were on our way to the pyramids. We took the metro and a bus to get there. It was a perfect day to be outside but I underestimated the sun. So did Jordan, poor thing. I had been to the pyramids before but this time we made friends with the vendors. I asked how much a necklace was and the man told me $700 pesos. I politely declined and he lowered the price to $100 pesos. What is that?! Another man taught us how to use the whistles that sound like animal calls. When we finally got to the top of the pyramid of the sun, we wanted to touch the center part to get some energy from the universe but there were people meditating around it. We patiently waited our turn.

Once we hiked all the important pyramids, we got back on the bus to head back to the city. Lots of traffic. I separated from the group to go to a game night so that Mexico City residents can practice their English. It was a lot of fun! We played Apples to Apples for a couple hours. They all spoke really well! It was enjoyable teaching them phrases and events. There were about 18 adults in my group. After game night I met up with everyone in the hotel that we were staying at for orientation. Some of us for P.F. Changs for dinner. It’s so good no matter what country you’re in. Catie, Jordan, Preston and I watched some Arrested Development then hit the hay to rest up for orientation that started on Tuesday.

Szymczak Family Adventure

Paul, Anne, and Chris moseyed on down to Mexico for a week to visit me! Unfortunately they returned before Christmas. The adventure started on Saturday in Mexico City where I met them at the airport. We got a rental car for the week so we could drive to other states in Mexico. After stuffing the car, we went to the first of 5 hotels on the trip. Next, we did a driving tour of Mexico City: Angel of Independence, Bellas Artes, zócalo, etc. We had a nice chat with the police because we parked next to the angel with the 4 other cars, which is a no-no. Thankfully, we didn’t get a ticket. We dined at an Argentinean restaurant for dinner then went back to the hotel.

We also spent Sunday in Mexico City. We make a trek out to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There’s a new basilica and an old one. We went to mass in the new one, which is a lot bigger. We toured the older basilica which has slanted floors due to its age. Here’s a little info, thanks for Wikipedia, about Our Lady of Guadalupe in case you didn’t know:

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) is a Roman Catholic church, minor basilica and National Shrine of Mexico in the north of Mexico City. The shrine was built near the hill of Tepeyac where Our Lady of Guadalupe is believed to have appeared to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. This site is also known as La Villa de Guadalupe or, in a more popular sense, simply La Villa, as it has several churches and related buildings.

The new Basilica houses the original tilma (or cloak) of Juan Diego, which holds the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. One of the most important pilgrimage sites of Catholicism, the basilica is visited by several million people every year, especially around 12 December, Our Lady of Guadalupe's Feast day.

The real tilma is hanging behind the alter in the new church. You can’t get close to it but it’s cool to think that I was in the same room with it. There were traditional Mexican performances outside the church so we stopped to watch some of them. Then we had lunch by the basilica and headed back to downtown Mexico City. When we returned we went to Chapultepec Park. It’s a massive park with museums, vendors, a lake, a castle, a zoo, and more! We went to the castle on the hill of Chapultepec. The site of the hill was a sacred place for Aztecs, and the buildings atop it have served several purposes during its history, including that of Military Academy, Imperial residence, Presidential home, observatory, and presently, the Museo Nacional de Historia. After we left the park, we went to the Bellas Artes (performance theater) to see if there were tickets left for the Folkloric Ballet for the evening. We were in luck! Mom, Chris, and I might have napped for a few minutes during the performance but everyone still enjoyed it.

Monday morning we departed for the city of Puebla, but not before another interaction with the police. We were apparently in a MegaBus lane. Unfortunately, we had to pay. Once we finally reached Puebla, we went to one of the restaurants recommended to us in a guide book, Fonda de Santa Clara. Puebla is known for their mole, thick brown salsa, so we ordered that. It was delicious! Then we walked around the downtown area. We visited the church in the zócalo, which was actually supposed to be built in the zócalo in Mexico City but the designs were switched. Puebla is also known for their ceramics so we went to a talavera market to buy some. Next we headed to a nearby town called Cholula that is known for its hundreds of churches and has the third largest pyramid in the world. Chris and I toured the tunnels of the pyramid. It doesn’t look like a pyramid from the outside though, because it’s covered in grass. On top, there’s a church, which is where we reunited with Paul and Anne. When we got back to Puebla, we ate on a terrace of a restaurant that overlooks the zócalo, which was decorated for Christmas with gingerbread houses, an ice skating rink and a Christmas tree. We had the best seats in the house!

On Tuesday we departed for the city of Oaxaca. We arrived in the afternoon and ate at a fancy restaurant known for their Oaxacan food called Casa Oaxaca. I had rabbit with a yellow mole. (Oaxaca also has good mole.) After linner, we walked around downtown Oaxaca. Oaxaca is famous for their artisanal crafts. They have pottery made from black clay (from locking in the smoke when the clay is in the oven) and delicately painted figures. We found some museums, shops, and the Church of Santo Domingo on our walk back to the hotel. We also went to a market where Anne purchased Mexican Christmas decorations to bring back to the states.

We spent most of Wednesday driving to the beach. I asked Paul if he wanted to take the more direct route through the mountains or the longer route on flat land. He chose mountains but I think he regretted it about 3 hours later. There are an unbelievable amount of speed bumps in Mexico because people don’t tend to pay attention to the speed signs. However, most of the speed bumps aren’t marked or sometimes there are signs but no bumps. All the Mexican food we had been eating didn’t help the weight/height of the car. When we were pulling into Puerto Escondido there was a sign for a hotel that looked was rated the best one in Puerto Escondido and I was relieved to tell my family it was the one I booked! When we got to the hotel, we didn’t leave it until the next day. It had 2 pools, a restaurant and air conditioning. We were in heaven. And it was across the street from the beach.

 

All day Thursday was beach day! We went to bed right after dinner on Wednesday so we started our day early on Thursday. We walked along the beach by the hotel then took a taxi to the best swimming beach in Puerto Escondido called Carrizalillo. We laid in beach loungers under umbrellas while being served fruity drinks. It was the life. Then we took a ride on a boat to look for sea turtles. The guys driving the boat said we were good luck because we found the turtle right away. Not only did we see it. The guy jumped in on top of it and caught it so we could take pictures with it. #onlyinmexico. We went back to the hotel and Dad and I went to the beach near our hotel. The waves were so big that they ate my sunglasses and his goggles. We were happy to return to the hotel where we had dinner at the hotel and watched the sun set.

We drove back to Mexico City on Friday. It was quite the trek. We survived with snacks from the Oxxo (common convenience station in Mexico). But we couldn’t end the trip without another police encounter! This time they were nice and helped us find our hotel. The GPS was a little misleading. The hotel was right by downtown Mexico City and we learned that the city never sleeps! We had to get up early on Saturday to go to the airport and when we got up people were still partying from the night before. It was hard to say goodbye but I’ll be home for good in 5 months! I think it’s safe to say that the fam enjoyed Mexico!

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!