My dad and Shishoni breaking trail.
The dogs definitely enjoyed themselves despite having snow frozen faces, snow clumps in their paws, and Endo getting a small cut on his leg by the edge of a ski (a regular occurrence when backcountry skiing with the dogs).
After eating a yummy breakfast and opening presents my mom, dad, and I headed out for a cross country ski. It was beautiful.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas too!
My mom and I decorated the Christmas tree tonight.
Endo was spotted trying out for the role of Max, the dog in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, on Broadway. The only problem is that after 10 seconds, Endo prefers to tear the antlers to pieces rather than wear them. Needless to say, he won't be appearing in any Broadway shows in his life time.
Most of us are familiar with a "yard" of beer from our spring break days as teenagers in Cancun. These guys decided to use the "yard" to celebrate the end of the year. In the picture are Edgar (a graduate student of Michel's who will defend his PhD on January 9th), Wolfgang (Michel's postdoc), and Michel.
This is my new dining room table. I purchased it at the Tlalpan furniture market where I also bought my bed frames. These handmade pieces are going to have find their way back to Colorado after my two years here because they are very beautiful and well made.
Here is a view of the living/dining room. The large door to the right is the main entrance. There are a few final touches that need to be done, like artwork on the walls, but all the major furniture pieces have been bought. I love having my own home and of course visitors are always welcome!
The mayor of Mexico City put an ice skating rink in the Zocalo for the first time ever for the holiday season. It is free to go skating but you have to arrive very early in the day to receive a time slot in which you are allowed to be on the ice. We found this out the hard way and were not able to skate. I guess this is expected in a city of 22 million.
But just walking around the Zocalo was enjoyable. The roads downtown were closed and the streets were packed with people just enjoying the season. The Zocalo is definitely in the Christmas spirit!
Here is a picture of the outside of my apartment. The first floor has a carport, a laundry room, and the room with the window is a maid's room. I don't have a full time maid so this room is referred to as my bicis room. The second floor has an open living room/dining room, a large kitchen, and a full bath. The third floor has two bedrooms and another full bath. The roof has an amazing roof garden which will require lost of plants, outdoor furniture, a grill, etc. It will be my after Christmas vacation project.
Today my platform bed frames arrived. They are beautiful handmade beds. This is a picture of my bedroom.
This is the staircase. It is very beautiful but it is not so friendly on bare feet and Endo doesn't like it either. I think it hurts his feet as well and he can see all the way to the bottom of the stairs, which I think freaks him out. He is getting used to them though and I am remembering to always either have slippers or shoes on when attempting the stairs.
On Sunday I turned the big 30 and Federico's birthday was on the 3rd. We decided to celebrate with a nice dinner at the Hacienda de Cortes in Coyoacan. Here is Anna, Federico, Tony, and Celine.
On Sunday I headed to the far north side of Mexico City. It was a rather clear day and in the background of the city you can see Paso de Cortes along with Ixta and Popo. Although this view is pretty amazing, I much prefer the view of Popo up close.
Speaking of visitors, Luke and Nichole stayed with me in route to Oaxaca, Mexico. It was great to see some familiar faces and show them my neighborhood. Here they are in Plaza Santa Catarina.
Here is Carolina, Wolfgang, and Ivan eating some grub before we attempted our mountain bike ride.
Here is a picture of Popo later in the day after it spewed ash. You can still see the smoke though.
