On the weekends, it is very easy for me to stay in the Coyoacan area and enjoy the peace and quiet of my neighborhood. But, I often feel I am living in a city that has so much to offer that I should take advantage of it all. So, yesterday I headed to the center to see a contemporary ballet at the Palacio de Belles Artes. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a beautiful building. Inside are murals from several famous Mexican artists; Davíd Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, José Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Juan O'Gorman, Roberto Montenegro, Jorge González Camarena, and Manuel Rodríguez Lozano. Inside the theater is a Tiffany glass curtain. Pretty spectacular.
As Erin Huck would say, "I am kind of a big deal." Today was the 5th mountain bike race in the Mexico City league. I took 2nd among the experta category. I am winning my category and most people know my name (although I think that has a lot more to do with the fact that I am from the US than with my racing results). I have to laugh at it all though because I ride my bike at best, once a week. Gotta love it!
Everyday I walk under the Rio Churbusco bridge to get to the metro and then to get home again. From a distance, it looks like a typical bridge in a large city, which it is. But under the bridge, is the always packed El ChupaCabras. One of the supposedly best taco stands in Mexico City. I have resisted stopping to get a taco for 8 months now. I guess I was afraid that they would be soooo good that I would end up eating them all the time and gain 20lbs. But on Saturday after going for a mountain bike ride, I was starving and had no food in the house. So, I deliberately walked to ChupasCabras and ordered their specialty, the Chupas taco. It was yummy and all for $0.80. I will probably be stopping by more often but I promise to keep my taco eating under control! Although Chupas is open 24 hrs a day, hmmm.
I tell people I live in Europe because all the streets in my neighborhood have European names (Londres, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Bruselas, etc.). Every night Endo and I are fortunate enough to be able to go on long walks in Europe. There are a few little things that always make me happy on our walks. Passing by the lovely flower plants and under the tree tunnel on Vienna street. The Corner of Berlin and Aldaman. The picture doesn't do it justice but I love this street lamp and the lights on the store behind it.
This past weekend, 6 of my friends and I headed north to the state of Hidalgo. Daniel and Ricardo as we make our way through the Mexico City traffic. The lovely Hidalgo country side.
Are destination in Hidalgo was EL Geiser, a natural hot springs where the steam used to be used to create electricity until the pressure dropped and the best use of El Geiser was a public hot springs. This is El Geiser. You were allowed to stand on rocks just to the left of the fence and essentially take a steam bath. Small drops of HOT water would pelt your back, not in a bad way though. Kind of like getting a little massage.These pools were hotter than the newer pools. They were nice during the night, but during the day it was WAY too hot in these pools with the sun beaming down on you. The kids get to enjoy the new pools, which are not as hot and have all the fun stuff. When I was told we would be camping at the hot springs, I imagined being in the middle of nowhere with tons of stars. Instead, we camped with hundreds of other Mexicans that love to play music late into the night. Mexicans also have no problem sleeping on concrete with just a blanket underneath them. I don't think I could handle that type of discomfort. I instead placed my tent where there was dirt and I brought my thermarest. This Mexican family thought it would be really good idea to enclose themselves in a whole bunch of plastic wrap and sleep on the concrete. Its a good thing they left a few inches open at the top! All the huts and palm trees make it look like we were in the tropics. In reality, it was the desert with a beautiful river running through it in the background of this picture. I wish I would have camped down by the river, that would have been nicer. Overall though, a good weekend. I need to go on more adventures in Mexico.
I never thought that getting paid in dollars would be to my disadvantage while living in Mexico. However, the Mexican peso is gaining strength against the dollar!!! Normally the conversion on my visa bill from pesos to dollars is about 10.5 pesos to 1 dollar. The conversion on my last visa transaction was 9.97 pesos to 1 dollar. What is going on here?! Should I start looking for jobs in Mexico that pay me in pesos? Messed up.
Life in Mexico City continues and here are a couple highlights from the past couple of weeks.
I found a new great album to listen to while running through the streets of Mexico City in the mornings. The album is called Tijuana Sound Machine. The video is pretty darn cool or "chido" as they say here.
I spent a good amount of time the past week or so staining and varnishing some pieces of furniture Vander made me. Its a lot of work and I spent most of my evenings high off the fumes. But I think the pieces turned out pretty well. Rustic was the goal and I think I achieved it. I have 3 of these bedside tables and the lamps that Vander made go very well with the tables. The TV stand. I might need to sand it down a bit to make a little bit lighter and it needs a couple door knobs.
I also bought some nice new plants for my house. An orchid for the upstairs bathroom, a large bushy plant for downstairs, and a lot of geraniums for my deck.
A few blocks from my house is CinetecaNacional where artsy movies are shown and cafes are filled with intellectual types. A movie ticket costs $4 or $2.50 with my UNAM ID. Beats paying $10 for a movie in the US. I saw the most recent Woody Allen film, Cassandra's Dream.
My friends Maggie and Antonio got a new pug puppy called Lola. I am hoping that Endo and Lola become good friends and Maggie and I can swap dog duties every now and again.
Kimberly Baldwin is coming to visit me in September. We are going to catch a couple stages of the Vuelta a Mexico. It should be a fun adventure and I am looking forward to watching some bike racing again. I am so excited to have a visitor coming!!!!
Well, I am sure many more things happened in the past couple of weeks but this report should do it for now. For those of you back in Colorado enduring the heat wave, the weather here in Mexico City is lovely, low 70's with afternoon rain showers. Feel free to come escape the heat and visit me!
Lookin' fancy for an interview in D.C. March 11th, 2009
Dreams Do Come True
12 years ago I decided I wanted to do environmental work in Latin America, 11 years ago I decided I wanted to be an atmospheric chemist . . . Today I am an atmospheric chemist working in Mexico City!!!
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a beautiful building. Inside are murals from several famous Mexican artists; Davíd Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, José Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Juan O'Gorman, Roberto Montenegro, Jorge González Camarena, and Manuel Rodríguez Lozano.
Inside the theater is a Tiffany glass curtain. Pretty spectacular.
From a distance, it looks like a typical bridge in a large city, which it is.
But under the bridge, is the always packed El Chupa Cabras. One of the supposedly best taco stands in Mexico City. I have resisted stopping to get a taco for 8 months now. I guess I was afraid that they would be soooo good that I would end up eating them all the time and gain 20lbs.
But on Saturday after going for a mountain bike ride, I was starving and had no food in the house. So, I deliberately walked to Chupas Cabras and ordered their specialty, the Chupas taco. It was yummy and all for $0.80. I will probably be stopping by more often but I promise to keep my taco eating under control! Although Chupas is open 24 hrs a day, hmmm.
Passing by the lovely flower plants and under the tree tunnel on Vienna street.
The Corner of Berlin and Aldaman. The picture doesn't do it justice but I love this street lamp and the lights on the store behind it.
Daniel and Ricardo as we make our way through the Mexico City traffic.
The lovely Hidalgo country side.
This is El Geiser. You were allowed to stand on rocks just to the left of the fence and essentially take a steam bath. Small drops of HOT water would pelt your back, not in a bad way though. Kind of like getting a little massage.
These pools were hotter than the newer pools. They were nice during the night, but during the day it was WAY too hot in these pools with the sun beaming down on you.
The kids get to enjoy the new pools, which are not as hot and have all the fun stuff.
When I was told we would be camping at the hot springs, I imagined being in the middle of nowhere with tons of stars. Instead, we camped with hundreds of other Mexicans that love to play music late into the night.
Mexicans also have no problem sleeping on concrete with just a blanket underneath them. I don't think I could handle that type of discomfort. I instead placed my tent where there was dirt and I brought my thermarest.
This Mexican family thought it would be really good idea to enclose themselves in a whole bunch of plastic wrap and sleep on the concrete. Its a good thing they left a few inches open at the top!
All the huts and palm trees make it look like we were in the tropics. In reality, it was the desert with a beautiful river running through it in the background of this picture. I wish I would have camped down by the river, that would have been nicer. Overall though, a good weekend. I need to go on more adventures in Mexico.
I have 3 of these bedside tables and the lamps that Vander made go very well with the tables.
The TV stand. I might need to sand it down a bit to make a little bit lighter and it needs a couple door knobs.
a lot of geraniums for my deck.
