Well, I made it Mexico City and have to say that so far, I am in love. It's sort of a mashup of Venice boardwalk and downtown LA with colonial architecture thrown in for good measure. It's a beautiful, crowded, jumbled city and I love it.
The flight to Mexico was utterly uneventful and I was exhausted from my final week in LA so I slept the whole way here and even had trouble waking up for the landing. I got an "approved" taxi at the airport and we were off to the hostel. The taxi driver was a nice, older man who made small talk in Spanish with me while we made our way through the traffic to the hostel. At one point, disgusted with the traffic, he suggested that maybe I would like to stay at another hostel, maybe one that wasn't so far, but I persisted and we arrived a few minutes later.
The hostel is nice and clean. My room mates have been fine so far. There is a young German woman who was very inquisitive and when she found out what I'm doing and how old I am told me that I am very brave for ignoring societal norms and not become an adult. I wanted to tell her that she was very brave to say that to my face, but I bit my tongue and just said thank you. It really doesn't matter what some German girl thinks, I'm on the right path, I can feel it.
I slept for a few hours and when I woke up, I made a deal with myself that I would just have a beer at the bar and then go back to bed and attack the city this morning. However, as the saying goes, my best intentions and plans were... well...
I was at the bar when I started talking to the bartender who is from Austin, Texas and a fellow guest who is from Belfast and they were going to a party and invited me along. I figured that it couldn't hurt to go out and see a little of the city and so the night began! We met up with Rob and James, two PhD students visiting Mexico for their research and a man from Spain. We walked to a bar called Opera Cafe that was a beautiful old restaurant built at the turn of the century. We joined a bigger group of people who were celebrating a birthday and enjoyed a beer or two while offering birthday wishes. The man sitting next to me explained that in the corner of the room, there were bullet holes in the ceiling from when Pancho Villa had shot the ceiling. To be honest, I couldn't tell from the story if he shot the ceiling as a celebration or intimidation.
After the Opera bar, we walked to the sister hostel to our own and saw a great reggae band perform. We danced to the great music and then Jose, a member of the group decided that it was time to do shots of tequila. I don't usually drink tequila so I felt the shot almost immediately. Still, the night was young and we were having fun so it was time to go to the next party. I started talking to a woman from Spain named Ana and invited her to join us. We wandered out of the hostel and into the streets of Mexico City which is when we discovered that it is illegal to carry an open beer in the streets.
The police came up to us and took the beer away before they began asking questions and talking about arresting us. The police and our group of five took turns saying semi-apologetic, semi-hostile things to one another and looking at our feet. It was finally determined that 200 pesos (about $20) could help the officers forget about the beer and we walked away a little shaken and about 200 pesos lighter. I know it's awful, but there's something about watching people bribe the police that made me feel like I'm truly in Mexico City.
We walked to a museum where there was a party and a bar on the second floor. I think the museum was about the history or telephones, but my comprehension was rather compromised by then, so it could have been an art museum. I ordered a Coca-Cola in an effort to move away from booze. It was a good choice and we danced for a while to some great music.
Finally, it was time to get a little bit of late night food and then crash. We walked to a cafe near the hostel called "Cafe Popular" where I had chorizo and black beans that was so delicious I worried that I had died and gone to heaven. Cafe Popular is an all-night diner manned by round older women who could be your abuela (grandma) instead of your waitress. Finally, full of delicious food and happy to be wandering to the hostel, I climbed into my bed and slept deeply. I'm sure I snored loud enough to make my room mates wonder if they should look for another room.
My first nigh in Mexico City was a beautiful success.
Day 2: Frida Kahlo, Leon Trotsky, and The Cardinal
