I spent Tuesday walking around the Minerva area in the city with Kristen. She's been here for 3 months and offered to accompany me on my cell phone excursion. Since she's already on her third cell phone (due to one loss and one foam party) she was the perfect person to accompany me. We went to the mall store nearby, but it was oddly closed. So instead we ended up walking around a lot. She showed me her gym, which is pretty nice, but a little pricey. We walked down Lopez Cotilla which is filled with nice looking restaurants and bars. Then we made it to Chipultapec, which is a really big street with lots of shopping, a nice median with trees and statues in the middle, and home of the main TelCel store.
I didn't have any problems getting my phone, it just took a bit of patience. We got a slip from the girl at the front, waited in line about 30 minutes, talked to an agent, looked at a couple phones, picked one, waited for them to copy my documents, went to a different line to pay, paid, went back to the agent to get my phone. Not the world's most efficient system, and by the time we left the line was at least an hour long, but not that bad either. The building was air conditioned, and I think that made all the difference.
Once I was set with my cell, we wandered our way back, stopped for a iced coffee, and then it was already time to head home for dinner. It was a very well spent day though.
Wednesday was Cinco de Mayo, as I think more Americans than Mexicans were aware of. After experiencing the holiday in Mexico for myself, I've decided it is most like Presidents' Day in the US. (It's not Mexico's independence day so please don't even think of the forth of july) Schools and public offices were closed for the day, but that was about the only difference. Everything else was normal. No crazy fiestas. No huge margaritas. No cervezas. The Americans here were all highly disappointed, but I actually had un día fenomenal.
Toni, my great uncle (more specifically my grandfather's cousin), and Maru, my aunt (his daughter), picked me up in the afternoon and we want to Andar es. It is the newest mall here. It was absolutely gorgeous. Lots of nice and designer stores and yummy looking restaurants. We met with all the family and ate at one of the restaurants to celebrate a birthday and my arrival. We spent a long time at the restaurant, and for a moment I forgot I was in Mexico as we ordered an aperitif and french cheese arrived as an appetizer. After the restaurant, we got ice cream and watched my 4 year old cousin run around and play. The day was insanely HOT, but we all survived and were able to start getting to know each other. I'm hoping we'll be able to get together to do something soon.
Thursday was pretty uneventful. I had planned to go to Polyglot, a language conversation club. One of the other students at school offered to go with me to show me how to use the bus and all. Well he sort of disappeared on me, so I was on my own. I decided I wasn't up to taking the bus alone, because I have no idea where any of the routes go!, so I measured how far it would be to walk to the meeting. 1.25 miles didn't sound too horrible. And it probably wouldn't have been, but it started to get really dark out and I was only halfway, so I decided to head back. It was a pretty big bummer because I'd really been looking forward to going, but not enough to risk anything. The experience has made me really adamant about figuring out how the busses work here. So this afternoon I'm going to the tourist office to ask. I asked almost all the students at school, but none of them have tried the bus yet. They take taxis. I like the idea of knowing I can take a taxi, but I refuse to accept them as my main line of transportation. So wish me luck. My first ride will be Saturday, although I don't know where yet. And I'm going to try and drag Kristen along because she's been here three months and still hasn't taken a bus.
Upcoming events:
First meeting with my Spanish "amiga" tonight (program to encourage language practice).
New students arrive at my house Saturday.
Organized tour of the city Sunday.
First Rotary meeting with Club del Sol Monday.
Volunteering at the orphanage Tuesday.
Mi Casa
Mi calle (street), there's a park just to the left
The dog directly across the street that likes to bark, a lot.
Lots of water, the dispenser is on the other side. Grandpa--notice the security camera tv above.
Centro Magno.
I think I end up here almost everyday. It's about a 10 minute walk. In fact, I'm posting this blog from there right now! The internet at my house isn't working anymore. Magno is a great place to meet up with people, but the clothes are not cheap. (In the mall there's an Apple store, chili's, Starbucks, radioshack, Rebok, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and then other little clothing and accessory shops.
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