Mexico City- the first 24 hours

Well, I´ve officially started my Latin American Adventure! I am in Mexico City, landed last night.

The few days before I left were a blur of loose ends to tie up such that I didn´t really have time to feel nervous. When I drove to the airport with my mama, however, it began to sink in. I tried not to throw up. For those of you who claim I´m brave, I wasn´t feeling too brave just then.

The first flight was to Hueston and was very bumpy, and I was glad when we landed and I could stop feeling like a pair of dice. The second flight was on a much larger plane and was much smoother. While everyone was getting settled in their seats, I´m staring out the window, trying not to panic. ¨HOLLY LARSON?¨says a loud voice in the aisle. I startle and turn around, wondering what I did wrong and the flight attendent says that he has a vegetarian meal for me. Whew. Close call.

As the plane got closer to the city and went below the clouds, I almost gasped at how HUGE the city really is. I know that this is one of the largest cities in the world, but it is hard to truly comprehend how big that is. Mexico City is surrounded by mountains and the size of mountains help to grasp just how huge the city is. For as tall as they are, the city is soooo much wider. Being a strong contendor for the worst navigator on the planet, I am wondering what I´ve gotten myself into.

In customs, the guy didn´t speak English (didn´t I get in the foreign visitor line?) and asked me a few questions I didn´t understand. Then he came around the counter and looked at my shoes, and seemed satisfied with what he saw. Beats me. I got my first stamp in my passport (which shouldn´t have been, but the tricky tricksters in Eurpoe felt no need to stamp it a few years ago) and I was off. When I got my bags, I moved towards the door and was stopped by a customs person who motioned that I needed to push a red button. I did, a light went on and she nodded me to move on. Again, beats me. I found Silvia, the sweet lady who is my host for these 6 weeks and we went in search of a taxi. We needed some ticket to get a taxi that we didn´t have, and it took some time, and some pesos, to acquire what we needed. We loaded my luggage into the trunk and motored off.

The driver needed to more than an inch margin to merge from one lane into another. The trip to her house wasn´t long and before I knew it, I was pulling the huge duffle back out of the trunk. The entrance to the house is two huge gold doors. We walk into a space the size of a one car garage that is tiled with powdery pink tiles. I get a quick tour of the place, find my room and unpack a bit. The house has the homey, comfortable and worn feel of some grandmothers houses. It also feels like a rabbit warren a bit because the apartment was added onto at some point so it isn´t a square. We walked to the corner bakery and bought sweet breads for me to try. I had one called a concha, because the sugar pattern on top looks like a conch shell. We hung out in the TV room and ate our treats while watching spanish soap operas and commenting on the handsome men (muy guapo!). I am not understanding plenty of her spanish, but I am getting more than I thought I would. I tried to wait for her son to get home from work, but I was almost falling asleep at the table so I went to bed.

This morning, I helped myself to the yogurt smoothie I bought last night and talked with Silvia for a while. I asked to go on a walk so I could find a phone card and some fruit and she made sure that I meant a short walk. I think she had no intention of tromping all over the city just yet :) I got to call my sister to tell her that the I was alive and well and then hung up fast because my pesos were being used up quickly. Be bought some fruits from a shop that sold chicken (pollo) and fruit...interesting combination. As I picked out a huge papaya and some mini bananas, someone is pounding chicken as flat as a tortilla right behind me. We did walk around a bit, passing store that are very different from the US; most of the time, you walk up to a window of sorts and ask the store keeper to give you whatever you need. There are bars across most of the windows and many of the buildings are very colorful. It is a little run down, but I feel safe.

That is about it. I am happy to have figured out the computer and internet so that I can send a few emails and delete my spam...just like home :)