Puerto egg and level fiesta

So last night I thought I'd try a get a few photos of the moon rising and practise some night photography on the beach.  Here are some of the results.

On the way down to the beach I ran into Dr Kennedy who was going to meet a few people for dinner and invited me along. Fausto, a mexican guy who works at the school, took us to a little local place where we had tacos and this soup thing.  It was so good.  The soup was like a simple broth which you could get with chicken or beef or with both.  So I got both.  The beef I'm pretty sure was pork, but it was pretty tasty anyway.

Then in the way of the Mexicans you add a heap of things to the soup, ie. peppers, onion, lime and lettuce.  Yep, warm lettuce in your soup.  I was like I might pass on that one.  But then I added too many peppers and needed something to cancel out the heat a bit, so ended up piling in the lettuce.  And the whole thing was so damn tasty!

After that we went to Sativa, a bar with a rooftop deck that overlooks the ocean.  It's a great little bar, although unsurprisingly a little quiet on a Monday night.  The people who run the place are good value though, so it's fast becoming one of my fave places for a quiet beer.

Matt showing us how his level egg can stand up by itself.

Hey gringos!

Here is where I am studying Spanish.

So today my Spanish teacher told where the term 'gringos' comes from.  I thought it was a semi-derogatory term for white person or white tourist.  Apparently it applies to white Americans, whether a tourist or not is irrelevant.

The term was coined back in the day from Mexicans who needed to cross the border into the US for work.  To do this the Mexicans needed a visa which was known as a green card; funnily enough because it was green.  The people manning the border where white Americans who would check the Mexicans green cards as they went through.  As they went through they would spot the card and wave them through saying 'Green. Go'. 

When the Mexicans were talking about going into the US they would say you have to go through the man at the border - the 'Green. Go.'  Now white Americans are known as gringos and when I get called a gringo I can say 'No gringo, yo soy de Australia'.   

Learning Spanish in paradise.

I've been in Puerto for almost a week now and it really is a fantastic spot.  Hot all day every day and the beaches are just lovely.  I've completed my advanced dive course and started taking Spanish lessons.  So I'll be here until the 1st of April and then start heading towards Costa Rica via Guatemala and Nicaragua.

I'm staying at a homestay organised by the language school.  It is staying with a lady called Reina and her family.  Her granddaughter is about 3 and the cutest little thing, she looks like Dora the Explorer.  I don't speak much Spanish yet, but that's ok.  I know how to say yes and no when Reina asks if I'm hungry and can tell her that I'm going to the beach or going to classes, but that's about it.  But I've had Dr Kennedy here to help me.  Yes, he's a doctor and his name is Kennedy.  He's a nice guy with a bad mo and has been showing me the ropes. Literally.  As in the rope through the window with the key on the end for when we come home late at night.

The other night I went out with Dr Kennedy and a few people from the language school.  It was good fun, we had a few cervezas and were ripping it up on the dance floor.  Then a new singer came on and the music went from bluesy stuff to the chilli peppers, then the guy announced he was doing a little song he wrote back in 2004 called 'my funkititus'.  Pure gold I tell you.  The chorus went something along the lines of 'you can't deny this, my funkititus'.  Sounds like a venereal disease if you ask me.

So Feliz cumpleaños! Krichelle, if I can find this song anywhere on the internet this will be your birthday present.

Embarcaderos

So last post i forgot to write about the Embarcaderos in Xochimilco.  I had no idea what it was, but Sophia said she was going out to this floating garden thing with canoes and mariachi.  I think she was thinking the same thing.  But when we got there we found out it was more like venice-style pole-driven boats, not little canoes and there were hundreds of them going up and down this canal system which was apparently a series of old moats built by the Aztecs.

So Sophia and I got a boat, by ourselves, these things are made to fit 20, and headed off down the river.  It was really nice and relaxing cruising down the river, but we realised we came under-prepared when we started passing the other boats.  Each one was like it's own little party on the river.  They all had food and music and drinks.  Some had portable cd players playing everything from local mexican music to western pop to metallica and some boats even had their own mariachi bands!  There were also small boats of people selling stuff and small Mariachi bands pulling up beside the other boats if needed.

It was all pretty cool, however half the adventure was getting there and back.  Sophia had the instructions, catch a train to the end of the line, then there should be signs showing the way and a short walk.

So it began.  A train ride to the end of the line, then a tram to the end of the line.  Then we walk out and see the signs 'Embarcaderos' and an arrow.  We follow the signs until we come to a T intersection and there are no signs, and very few people.  And this part of town is looking a little more like what you expect from Mexico, dusty roads, squat square buildings, cracked pavements, random dogs running about and bad street lighting.

Sophia, however speaks a little Spanish, so asked a guy for directions.  He told us it was about a 40 min walk!  I was more than a little reluctant to be walking 40 min in downtown Mexico in any direction. Then the guy said that the bus could take us there.  So this little old bus pulls up and we get on. 

This bus was would take off like a bat out of hell, then slam on the brakes at a stop, however it didn't quite stop and people were just jumping on and off as it rolled past.  But we got there in one piece.  The trip home on the bus was similar,  except this time the bus didn't take the little back roads, but the main highway. Remember the night bus in Harry Potter?  Besides the screeching halts and  take offs similar to Nicole in the Micra, there was the swerving from lane to lane, overtaking and squeezing between cars, running red lights and everyone in the crowded bus just swinging from the rails.  So a little adventure in the real world Mexico.

Salsa, Audiorama & Museo de Historia

Squirrel in the park

Tomorrow I am leaving Mexico City for Puerto Escondido (a 12 hour bus ride away) where I will spend a few weeks taking Spanish lessons, cooking lessons and doing some diving.  Can't wait, Puerto Escondido is a small town on the coast and looks lovely.

So over the last couple of days I've been seeing the sights of Mexico City.  I went to a Salsa bar, visited the big park Bosque de Chapultepec, had a canal boat ride at the Embarcaderos, visited a few museums  and chilled out in the Audiorama.

I went to the Salsa bar with a few people from the hostel, Nathaniel, Sophia from Canada, Chris from Germany and Antonio along with a couple of his local Mexican friends.  It was good fun, the band was great and we all danced, but gee I suck.  I think I whacked Antonio in the face at least three times when he was trying to swing me around.  His friend Alessandro was nice though, took it easy on me and acted very impressed when I didn't screw up the simplest moves.  Anyway it was a good night, but I don't think I'll be getting right into the salsa thing any time soon.

Yesterday and today I went to the Bosque de Chapultepec, it is a big park walking distance from the hostel.  In the park are lots of markets, museums, statues, couples who really should just get a room and squirrels.  Today I went there for the museums and lucky me, Sunday is free day at all the museums, so I went to 3 and saved myself a whole $15.  The Museo de Nacional Historia was the best. The Galleria de Historia was too much reading and I can't read Spanish yet, and the Museo de Arte Moderno was just a bit crap, a lot of the old WTF? art.

The Museo de Nacional Historia is in an old castle/fortress.  It's a fantastic building and a lot of the displays are rooms refurbished to look as they would have back in the day, along with all the original furniture and stuff.  There were also some great city views (except for the pollution limiting the visibility) and really spectacular gardens.

However, the museum everyone is talking up is the Museo de Antropologia, so I will go there tomorrow before I leave.

So the one other great thing I found in the park is the Audiorama, I found it yesterday and went back today.  It's kind of hidden away behind this big statue thing, but you go in and it's a little closed off garden.  There are speakers playing cruisy music and all the park benches are reclining.  And there is a table of books, so people come in and just chill out or read a book.  I think it must be the only place in Mexico City where you can't constantly hear the traffic.



Me in the park

Audiorama

Museo de Historia



Teotihuacan pyramids

Yesterday Nathaniel & I went out to the Teotihuacan pyramids.  Being the tight-arse backpackers that we are, we did this via public transport.  So 3 train changes and and hour long bus-ride later, we were there.

There are 3 main pyramids and a multitude of other small ruins all along one street known as 'Calle de los Muerdos' or Avenue of the Dead. 

And it was damn hot too.  But being pasty and freckly like I am, I kept covered up and managed to only burn one forearm.  We climbed to the top of the largest pyramid, which is called Pyramid of the Sun, the second one is called Pyramid of the Moon, but you can only go half way.

Photos will be coming soon via facebook...

Beggars, buskers and hawkers

It's not a big surprise, but Mexico city is chock a block full of people try to sell you something at every turn.  Whether it's in the streets, at the metro stations, on the trains and on the buses.

They wander up and down the trains shouting about what they've got to sell, and it could be anything from bottled water, to batteries, to some random kids toy.  And all for a tenth of what these thing would cost you in Australia.  Yesterday there was a man who was selling cd's.  He had a portable cd player which was blaring snippets of bad 90's pop throughout the carriage.

Nathaniel & I went out to the Teotihuacan pyramids yesterday.  On the bus they had a man get on to sell drinks, at the next stop a lady got on to sell some kind of sweet cake thing.  At the third stop a guy got on with a guitar and played a few songs before asking for donations.  And he was damn good!  I was hoping he would play again if he got enough.  He was singing in Spanish, but it was songs I recognised.  It made for enjoyable trip out of the city.

Mexico city

So I have arrived in Mexico City.  The first few days have been relatively uneventful with me spending a lot of time sleeping off the jetlag and generally struggling to get in and out of my top bunk.

The first day I went for a wander around near the hostel and ended up stopping at a sushi bar for something to eat.  Bad bad idea.  Warm sushi with cream cheese in it, ugghh!

Yesterday I did some wandering around the Zocalo with Nathaniel, from Malta, who I met in the hostel.  He was telling me that the area we're staying in is a good area, 'see look at all the police', I said I wasn't so sure that police everywhere is such a good sign! 

The Zocalo is a big city square, with lots of old Spanish-style architecture and lots of market-style shops.  And everything is so cheap!

Last night we went out with Antonio, a Mexican who now lives in Germany.  He took us to a Mariachi bar.  It was good fun.  We had guacamole with chips, tacos and were drinking beer and tequila all night and it cost us the equivalent of $50 each.  Beers are like $2 here and you go out and get a quesadilla off the street for less than a dollar.

So Antonio got the Mariachi to come and sing for us.  The band has about 10 people with various instruments, guitars, violins, trumpets, etc and they surround your table and play and sing.  And they're really good.  So they also got me up for a bit of a dance, then sat me down in a chair and a couple of them started wiggling their bums in my face!  Then another one grabs my hand and puts it on his bum!  I was all, 'agghh I don't want to touch Mariachi's bum'.  But it was pretty funny and he had a pretty hard arse for an old fella ;)