Asi Se Siente Mexico
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I am on a roll! I've managed to accomplish yet another activity on my 2012 Summer Bucket List!
2012 Summer Bucket List Activity: Use My Passport
Me inside the courtyard at La Casa Azul (Frida Khalo's studio).
I went to Mexico for (not quite) a week! My good friend Juan lives in el D.F. and while Skyping about my summer plans I mentioned wanting to go to NYC or Boston. He kindly reminded me that I could probably get a plane ticket to Mexico City for about the same amount as to either of those place and, once in la ciudad things would cost less. A few plane ticket searched later if scored a roundtrip ticket for under $600 and was on mah way. My friend Zoe B. loved the idea so much she cashed in a Delta voucher and came with!
We both got in late in the evening and there was some confusion as far as meeting up. As luck would have it Juan ended up sick in the hospital that day. Then my flight got in at a different terminal than Zoe's. Out re-planned meeting spots got all mixed up. But, I got to use my Spanish and we eventually found each other.
The first full day Juan was sick so he stayed in to rest. Zoe and I headed out to the young artistic hip neighborhood of Coyoacan to to some touristy stuff. After finding a hippie cafe to get coffee American style (with water) we took a tour of Frida Khalo's studio there. It's called the Blue House (for obvious reasons).
La Casa Azul... I know it's cliche but I love the colors used on houses around Mexico.
Me pretending to be an artist.
Calaveras de Frida y Diego. SO creepily cute.
That evening Juan and his Boo took us gringas out to the young professional and chic neighborhood of La Condesa for pulque. Pulque is not quite beer. A fermented beverage made from the agave plant. I saw it once on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" show. It comes in many flavors... I suggest you get a flavor. Jose (Juan's Boo) explained that in many of the indigenous communities women drink it even while preggers. But because of the high protein content the babies don't show signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. Interesting... I wonder if this will be touted as the new ubber traditional and holistic neo-natal practice of super moms in developed nations?
Juan and Jose (true gentleman) peruse the menu to help us order.
All the flavors in a row... it's a taste test!
I ended up choosing the passion fruit flavored pulque. Check out my battered cup.
Of course we ate: taquitos, roasted potatoes, and frijoles mixed with chorizo.
After our pulque taste test we continued on.... Next up mezcal! I'd mentioned wanting to try some while at the pulqueria and Jose jumped on it! Did you know that mezcal comes in different flavors! I didn't. They also make some mixed with cream/milk. We went to a really cute/hip bar in La Roma.
My chupito of serrano flavored mezcal.
A nice snack of chapulines (that's dried and flavored grasshoppers) and oaxaca cheese!
This is me doing my best Andrew Zimmerman impression.Zoe think's it hilarious!
The next day we got up a bit late -a bit to much marcha (hanging out)- and headed to the Museo de Anthropologia. Zoe has a Master's in Anthropology so she was in her eliment. I'd been there before (I went as a H.S. student) so I'd seen all the Aztec/Mayan artifacts. But I did check out some other exhibits I hadn't seen. We also took part in a free tour for English speakers.
I'm lovin' the door knobs at the museum!
I thought this hologram exhibition was cool.
It shows how skull shape/structure affects how your face looks.
That evening we lucked out for dinner. Juan's awesome cousin invited us to a pasole party. Her friends were all getting together for dinner and fun. Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup made with hominy. It's kind of like a Chinese Hot Pot and/or fondue since you start w/ a base and add in the fixings you want. I went all out with mine (except for crema. I HATE crema). Since I was on a no-food-restrictions diet for the week I got mine with meat. It was a pork soup and it had some cuts from the cheek and the ear!
Shredded lettuce, limes, salsa, crema, oregano, radishes, avocado,
chichirrones are all things you could add.
My bowl... I was so ready to dig in but I took a time out to snap this photo.
The dinner was great. I felt very posh and comfortable being a bit of a third wheel. Everyone was super nice and inviting but you know how being a newbie in a group of longtime friends can be... You don't know the "in" jokes yet. And I was working across languages. I can't be as funny as I want in Spanish. I don't know how to make puns!!!!
The following morning Juan had to go to work. So Zoe and I got up early and took the metro and the tren lijera out to Xochimilco. It's the old area outside of town where the Aztec canals still stand. You can rent a trajinera (boat) and take a tour of the canals. It was the most expensive thing we did the entire time and I had a panic attack about it for like 40 min. But the area was so beautiful and the water so calm I had to get over it.
A view of other trajineras from our trajinera!
We took the extra long 4 hour tour specifically so we could visit La Isla de Las Munecas (the Island of the Dolls). It was totally creepy. We spent the entire time pointing and says, "Creepy!" The back story is that a man living on the island saw a girl drowning in the canal one day. He tried to save her but was unsuccessful. So he started collecting and hanging dolls all over the island/his house to protect the young girls spirit. They say he died some 30 years later of a heart attack in the SAME SPOT the girl drowned. I guess she was not happy with the doll collection.
Shout out to Game of Thrones fans!
Creepy doll house!
Zoe was brave enough to go inside!
Dolls here, dolls there, dolls.... EVERYFUGGINGWHERE!
Butt... butt... it's still just creepy. Can you see the bug inside there?
The final day of our exploring we too the metro downtown and walked around. We didn't realize that all the museums are CLOSED on Mondays. We're D.C. people (Zoe still lives there and I used to). Museums are always open and they're always free right? Right? Nope! But we still got to see the Zocalo and some other cool stuff.
Street art! I think this is an okay picture of myself actually.
We stopped for lunch at the famous Cafe Tacuba. It's really touristy and stuff but it was beautiful inside.
The stained glass window inside Cafe Tacuba.
A beer chilada style!
Tortilla soup! Mmmmm....
My house specialty torta.... Chicken, frijoles, avocado, chipotle peppers.
Zoe's gigantic boobs tamale.... so good.
I think a GREAT week was had by all. There were a few snags with Juan being sick but we still got a lot done. Memories were made. Food was eaten. Tequila was drunk. And some secrets shall be kept forever... right guys?
We three friends had good times!
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