La Roma, la Condesa, and the Sims 3

Preferably where i would like to live

Sunday is always a good day to walk I think, and last Sunday was no exception. We got our Pumas on, and walked to 2 different colonias. First to La Roma, and then to La Condesa. They are my favourite parts of the city, and also fairly close. It was a a very nice walk, we talked about all sorts of thing, our future, our future dog... and the possibility of buying the Sims 3.

We then went to the dog park, and if you like dogs, you would like this place. Lots of crazed dogs running around and jumping in and out of the water... a sort of man made big pond/ puddle. It makes me sad because it is probably the closest thing they will ever come to going to a beach, which after seeing how much Rocky loves the beach, i wish other dogs could go to. 

That night, we went to the mall and we bought the Sims 3. Jose and I both have a shared past of Sims obsession, and I guess once a sims fanatic, always a sims fanatic. I like to find the cheat password, get loads of money on the game, build really big houses…. And then I don’t really enjoy the living part of the game. Jose prefers to do it all properly, make them start off poor 

and go to work?? So far I haven’t used the password, although I feel that my character (Prima Garcia) would be happier if she didn’t have to work as a vegetable cutter at the restaurant, or clean her own toilet.

aww, poor dog being thrown to the pool!

He didn't like being thrown in :-(

I will have you one day!

I hear this daily from street vendors! It basically means, What can we give you whitey?

Just like Rocky

Estado de Mexico

Although, this is a sign that you see when you enter Mexico City, we actually went to el Estado de Mexico, which mean the state of Mexico, and they are two different places. We actually went to replace Jose’s driving license, and as good ol’ married couple, we made a day out of it. After being told they had reached their license-replacing limit for the day (only in Mexico) we went to the nearby mall instead. It was one of those malls where you feel like you are outside because the ceiling looks like the sky… which sort of seems pointless to me, why not put a roof? Probably a cheaper way of doing it? We also bought Bridget Jones, Frida, and marry Poppins.

We watched Bridget Jones that night, which i love, and my favorite quotes are:

Una…. Gravy doesn’t need siving just stir it!

Oops… mind the yolk spray!

Have bottom the size of Brazil

I would rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein’s arse.

Very small fridge

Here is our very little fridge… and careful placement of all the food in it. It is now my long term goal in life to have a fridge that doesn't require you to get on your knees to take something out. 

Veracruz!!

It has been over a year since I have been to Veracruz, which seems really ridiculous because I have been in Mexico for over 6 months this time. We decided to go for the long weekend, which only really conjures up images of horrible traffic. Some of the students from the school were going to so we decided to meet them there. We left nice and early on Saturday morning, and were making really good time until we met horrible traffic in Puebla. We then stopped in Xalapa to pick up the keys for the apartment, which we had been given a very specific location by Jose’s mum... in the drawer next to the bed in the glasses case. Because of protestors on the highways (seriously why bother?) it took almost an hour just to get out of Xalapa, however we made it down to Veracruz. We got to the apartment only to find the keys didn’t work and the locks were blocked…. It is also not a good idea to go to the beach on a holiday weekend with no hotel reservation. After asking in about 12 hotels… we found a reservation, and well, the room sort of explained why.

The smell: a mixture of coconuts, sea food and sweat, although after a night dancing at La casona, I really appreciate the small, squidgy smelly bed. The next day we went to the beach, walked around the center, had an ice cream… and booked a new hotel for the night. I actually think we got a really good deal for the price, nice big bed, flat screen TV (we watched Jersey Shore), clean walk in shower, and most importantly, air conditioning. We spent the next day by the pool and then sat in traffic for 7 hours on the way home. A really great weekend though, fuelled by lots of limey-salty beer J

David Guetta

David Guetta Concert!

For the second time, very luckily we were able to see David Guetta in concert again. We went with some new German friends that I met at the school: Daniel, Reimo, Udo and Simone. We got to the stadium at 8, as the ticket said… although he didn’t actually start until 12…. He said that there were some ‘technical problems’ with the big screen, although it was sort of obvious he just arrived late, because he could of come out before that and said sorry. Anyways, the concert was good; it went until about 2am, lots of funky electronic dancing which seems sort of cringing to look back on. Quite a funny story though, we went to the stadium in 2 taxis because there was 6 of us (I’m sure in Xalapa this would not have been a problem). Jose and I went with Udo, who is quite European looking.
Anyway we were in the taxi and a big car full of girls went passed us and just as they did, a Mexican girl pointed at Udo and shouted “miren!!!
es David Guetta!!!

Not sure why David would be in a taxi, driving to his own concert in a rush… then again it might explain his lateness.

The Kings Speech, Indian Food, Biking... and the Frida School of Spanish..

 Hello, so I have a few things to talk about..

First of all.. The king’s Speech, I really do think this is my favorite movie.  We went to see it on Friday night, me for the second time, and I loved it even more than the first time. Apart from the fact that Collin Firth is what all women wish to have when they turn 40, he is such an excellent actor and his stutter was so believable, strangely adorable… Jose did quite a good impression, so good that even though I was in a really bad mood when he did, I had to laugh.

I want to quickly mention one of my favorite restaurants here in Mexico city, well it’s Indian food so I must have found it haha but it’s called Tandoor… really nice place and great food… and even though right now I’m not eating meat its surprising how much you can find on a menu that’s not meat… unless it’s Mexican.

On Sunday, instead of being lazy, we rented bikes and joined the rest of the Mexico City-ites and biked around Reforma. We actually biked from the Angel to the Zocalo and It was great, and I’m not much of a ‘bike’ person. It was sunny and warm, and even though we both burnt our arms we had a really nice day!

Something new.. I have joined the Frida School of Spanish, mainly because of the name… but also because I think I need more conversation practice / something to do. I went today, and I felt nervous like on your first day of high school. I couldn’t find the front door, and then when I did I couldn’t find the doorbell until a security guard came out and rescued me from my confusion. I had t do a test with some other people, two German boys couldn’t stop talking the whole through, which was miiiidly irritating but i managed to silence them out. I got placed in advanced class…. I think it has been the biggest achievement in my life… quite sad really but I felt all excited inside and swooned across the room as they announced it.  I have signed up for 4 weeks for 4 hours a day so I hope I can really improve my Spanish. I went to my class and there are 5 of us. A guy from Brazil (if you speak Portuguese do you really need to take Spanish classes? he seemed to master the whole language in the space in 4 hours, a girl from Germany who is half Greek and so beautiful, and she had really nice makeup on so I kept staring… I’m sure she won’t want to hang out with me, a girl from Ottawa… and believe it or not, a girl from North Vancouver, who graduated form Hansworth… I hate to say it… but it really is a small world. 

Also, as i blogged last week, i have given up meat for Lent.. and then depending I will decide how i feel about eating meat after that. Today in class... i told my first meat lie.... the teacher asked if anyone was vegetarian and I was like... me... me, I'm vegetarian... and i was the only one... and i knew it wasn't completey true... but i really couldn't find the Spanish to say... i'm a temporary/undecided vegetarian... didn't really seem worth the effort!

Lent....

Just a quick blog... and I feel that if i blog about it... I am compelled to do it! For Lent, I am going to give up meat.... and by meat I don't mean fish... just cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, and ducks..... how bad does this make you feel about eating meat? Little innocent  cows...
I actually hope that I never eat meat again...

Back again

I am back in Mexico City… and for a change I thought I would go to Starbucks to do some blogging...

So far we have been to an Argentinean restaurant called Puerto Madero where I forgot how to speak Spanish. The next day we went to P.F Chang’s Chinese restaurant, which is lovely food but always very filling. After eating we went to see 127 hours at the cinema…. God such a tense movie! I really liked it but I could barely look at the screen at times, everyone was gasping and hiding behind their boyfriends to not look at someone cutting off their own arm. Yesterday I unpacked everything, which was mildly irritating because I have packed and unpacked all my stuff so many times in the last few years…. I just want to live and to not unpack… is that so much to ask?

Today I am getting back into the swing of things…. I feel like I have somewhat lost my Mexico City ‘groove’ – I feel very conspicuous (mum… do you think of Shirley Valentine when I say that?), the traffic is very overwhelming, I was shocked that I had line up with 20 other people for Starbucks, and I was really off put by the lack of personal space on the bus this morning. I am going to head home soon to eat… mostly left over Argentinean and Chinese food, plus the chicken burgers I made last night. I am then going to do an exercise DVD…. It is called Skinny bitches… a positive image DVD I think? Nanette and I used to take turns doing this workout in our very small living room, it was quite funny because Nanette couldn’t swing her arms fully up in the air without smashing them on the ceiling. Ok that’s it from me…. 

It's been a while...

I haven't blogged in a long time, I don't really feel like discussing why, but I have been in Vancouver for a month, which has been so nice; however, I am returning to Mexico City this Saturday for just a little while longer.

I just want to talk about my love for Vancouver for a while. Apart from the fact that It has been freezing... well I think it has been freezing, i absolutely love Vancouver and really cannot wait to stay here... forever.

It is easy to forget just how beautiful this city is, and there is just something very special about it. Drinking coffee with good friends in Kitsalano, shopping at Sephora downtown and spending cozy nights at home watching the Inbetweeners have been some of my favourite things.

I am really excited to see Jose again as it has been a month, and there are many things about going back to Mexico that I am looking forward to.

It is also so hard to say goodbye to my family again, but I really feel that good things are going happen in the next few months :-)

Lots of snow

Healthy kick!

End of 2010 beginning of 2011

Hola! So It's the second week of 2011... I'm not convinced though, It still feels like 2010 to me. New Year's was fun, just Jose and I. We went to a few bars, had a few drinks and then called mum at 4 in the morning so nothing changes. I particularly enjoyed wearing my leopard dress.

Then after new Years, Jose went back to work..my students continued to stay on vacations until... well still to be decided! I went to El Palacio Nacional one day to see the murals of Diego Rivera.. very beautiful!

Then on Saturday we went to the National University of Mexico (UNAM), this is one of the main building, very socialist and 60's according to Jose, lots of people come here to walk there dogs, we had a little picnic which I left Jose in charge of... 2 bottles of water and three bags of chips... a variety of flavours though haha. 

After this we walked to a part of the city called San Angel, its hidden, behind the big avenue Insurgentes. Its consierably older, more colonial, artsy and tourists but nice cultural ones. We had some tea and cake, went to a beautiful market that has lots of hand made expensive things (we didn't buy anything) and a restaurant, we took lots of pictures of some of the really amazing houses, then we went home. 

Feliz Navidad!

I can't believe Christmas is here! The last few months have passed so quickly! It's going to be a quiet Christmas this year, just Jose and I! I did buy some Christmas lights for the house but when i got home, only every other bulb works and the only setting is on off on off on off on off, so when you yurn the lights off in the living room it feels like a rave. I also bought a poinsettia *Noche Buena in mexico, they are actually native to Mexico and Central America. Today I am going to make meatballs... not very traditional but maybe a new one for us. Jose has to work today until one so i am happily going to be doing Christmas makeup and hair... I've actually been excited all week haha. I hope everybody has a really great Christmas, I send all my love to my family... next year I promise!


So now it's the 27th... part 2! here are some pictures from our weekend.
x


My poinsettia 

Christmas eve :-) con tequila

Goat cheese with honey and patatas bravas... very good!

Love you my man in pink

Going to an italian restaurant all dressed up

It's been 3 weeks...

So I haven't written a blog in over 3 weeks... mostly because I haven't had anything too exciting to blog about and after my mum and dad left i did like 6 blogs in 2 hours.. and I just felt a bit blogged out. Anyway, life has been pretty normal for the last few weeks. Very busy with work but things are starting to slow down now Christmas is coming, most of the students take 2-3 week vacations, which is great for them but bad for me because I will be making no money for a few weeks!
So i am trying to think of things that are interesting that have happened... We went to see Harry Potter, I actually liked it, usually i feel quite bla toward those films but I really loved the story of the 3 brothers, I think that's why I like the movie haha. We found a really great Indian restaurant finally! I have been craving Indian food for months now so we checked the internet, we went, we ate and we loved it! We had pupadums which is probably spelt wrong and Farhaz told me that is the incorrect word anyways, we had chicken pakora, butter chicken, a coconut chicken thing and then strange milk dough lumps for dessert that were also very yummy. I bought a new long white coat that I am very excited about-although I'm too scared to wear it incase it gets dirty, but i LOVE it. I switched from a cappuccino to a mint tea at starbucks, but for tea they don't ask for your name so i haven't been Ana for a while, quite sad. I saw a car crash last week, well actually i was about 2 metre from it and the car hit the other car from the back and then the car spun around in a circle... except very strange, the lady who was hit, spun in her car, stopped cried, then shout to the other driver something along the lines of F*** you, you something or other and then sped away although her car was completely crushed at the back. Then the guy who hit her went chasing after her although the front of his car was smashed up.... it was very odd and I think i just stood watching in amazement.
I have actually been going to the gym again, only a few times a week but its been about a month now and i am feeling much better, I really hate going in the evening so i go during the day and the it's empty at that time which is even better.
Ok well I think we might be going to a concert this weekend and I really want to go on a picnic.. I will be sure to blog about it though!
bye

Day cinco

The next morning we spent some time by the Angel, it was Sunday so Reforma was closed and everybody was riding bikes and skating. We then took them to an Antiques market, where i knew they would both be in "old smelly furniture heaven." Dad found some very graphic ancient artifacts which he took photos off and giggled like a 5 year old and then said "lots of bottoms and bosoms in here!"

We had lunch at a great french restaurant called cluny's in a place called San Angel. The streets still have original cobble stones and it feels much older than the rest of the city. I think by this point we were all a bit "food-ed out" as we put it. The food is really really good and the sweet German wine that I chose was even better. I left feeling like a little fat piggy.

We then went down town again and took some amazing pictures of the church. Because of the lakes that used to be under mexico City, the ground is quite unstable and when you walk into the church you can see that it is wonky and all to one side because it is actually sinking. It is an incredible church but quite busy and touristy. Because this week is 100 years since revolution, they have put on the most incredible light show in the square. The church was lit up with all different colours and it looked amazing. On the way home I got a nice cuddle from a horse and then we went back to their hotel and order room service, which was horrible, apart from dad's mushroom soup, which of course was the best mushroom soup ever.
It was really horrible saying goodbye at the airport, I get anxious their anyway because i have had to say goodbye to Jose many times there. I think they had a really good time and they were completely surprised by Mexico City. It was so nice to have them here, I love spending time with them. They are very generous and kind and i am luck to have them. love you both lots x
p.s my favourite quote of the trip - "Leanne, I want you to explain that i am growing a beard for Movember (prostate cancer month) not because I want to look like a wally"

Day cuatro

We decided to take them to a place called Xochimilco, which is a district south of the city, which is famous for its canals. Of there were loads of traffic on the way, but when we arrived Jose and I couldn't quite remember our way to the part where you take the boat canals from. There were men all around the car trying to get us to come to their boats... basically a very typical Mexican situation, it is chaotic and a little bit intimidating of you are not used to it. At some point we were following a man around on a bike that claimed to be from the tourism department... who knows. We got to one canal area that seemed suspiciously small and .. well we were the only ones there. We clambered onto the boat which seemed to be in a state of decay. After the gave us a price of 1400 pesos for an hour and a half we said on ya bike mate and then we all clambered back out. I could see that my parents we a little dubious of the situation and at this point I just wanted to drive away, or better said, make Jose drive away. Eventually we got to a nice launching area, we agreed on a good price and away we went on the rickety boat down the canal. It turned out to be fantastic time. Lots of boats full of families, attached to their boats that had mariaichi bands. There was food and music everywhere, the weather was great and we took some very colourful pictures.

After the boat ride we went home, but on the way home we were driving along Reform when a bus pulled out without signalling or looking so we had to brake and then a few seconds later.... bump. My first thought was "I can't believe this, the one time we drive with my parents we have a crash." Nobody was hurt because it wasn't very bad but i got out and it was one of the construction trucks that has about 20 men hanging off the back. He was trying to change lanes and so wasn't looking ahead and so he went into the back of us. Somehow there wasn't a scratch, which was lucky because we were in a hire car. First bumper crash in Mexico City! We then went and had a sleep, Jose and i watched a Mexican version of Ricky Lake, episode: "you adopted me and then you treated me badly" very entertaining.
We then went to the zocaolo to have a look at the church and what not but the crowds were rather big and i think my mum was ever so slightly terrified of crossing the road Mexico City style "find a space and then run for your life".

We finished our day at our favourite Chinese restaurant "P.F Changs". The food is excellent and the waitress spoke English for my parents which resulted in a 15% tip. We shared all of our food which included Dan Dan noodles, duck, chicken and shrimp... we decided to take it easy on the meat.

day tres

Unfortunately Jose had to work on the friday but I took mum and dad on the open top Tourist bus, which may sound cheesy, but the price is great and it's the best way to see lots of different places without having to worry about parking or public transport... which are always my biggest issues in this city.
First they came to see my apartment, and then we took a taxi to the Auditorio where the buses leave from. The taxi driver spent 20 minutes talking about the corruption and drug trafficking problems in Mexico... luckily it was in Spanish!
We saw all of Reforma, Condesa, Roma, Downtown, Polanco and other parts that I didn't know. It was very hot, although we were the only whites smothering ourselves in SPF 30.
We had lunch in a mall called Antara at a restaurant in 50 friends, not the most traditional but it was good to see a salad! Dad then got told off by the security guard because he was taken too many photos of the fountain outside.
That evening, we first went to an irish pub called celtics in Polanco for a light drink... Jose ordered a litre of dark beer.

 We had dinner in a fantastic restaurant called Puerto Madero. We had too wait a while but we got talking to a nice couple who guessed we were not Mexican because my parents were commenting on how warm it was, she guessed Canada first, which which although is not completely true, we have been there over 6 years now so it was a very good guess. Dad absolutely loved the food and expressed his joy at every moment possible. He had fish which he said was the best fish he has ever tried in his life. Me and mum shared some white wine and the boys had red. The service was great, although embarrassing when the waiter came up to me with a serviette because i had creme burl all over the back of my hand, I sort of give up trying to be classy! I think we were all very full and maybe a bit tipsy and giggled all the way home. Excellent day :-)

day dos

I have just realized that all my posts about my parent's trip will be in reverse order... but I guess it doesn't really matter!
The first day we went to a district in the city called Coyocan. It is one of the oldest establishments in the city and really has a small town fell. We got a bit lost on the way but we finally made it and started the day with a really excellent breakfast of eggs, beans, bread, coffee... lots of coffee.
We walked around the town which is so pretty and the highlight is definitely the church. It really is one of the most beautiful that I have seen, the details and painting inside are incredible. We had nieces, which are typical fruit sorbets from Coyocan, although i had an ice cream that was choco choco chips, what can I say, I have a sugar problem.
We then went to the Friday Kahlo museum which I wasn't sure if they would like it because they had never heard of her. They absolutely loved it and my dad is convinced Frida was a hermaphrodite.

I then had to go to my afternoon classes which I managed to get out of, although my parents were able to see the school and meet some of the people that I work with. I love hearing my dad say "Buenoz diazzz" to everyone.
That night we went a spontaneously chosen restaurant in La Condesa called Jolie.. I think. It is was advertising New Latin Food and looked very cozy. The chef is from Argentina (of course) where he travelled from Buenos Aired to Mexico City and learned lots of recipes from all over Latin America. The food was absolutely excellent, My mum had an amazing lamb dish, dad had tuna, Jose had chicken and I   had fish. Me and mum had two Tom Collins and then we got some watermelon shots on the house. The interior is very cool, lots of old furniture and paintings and watching all the waiters trying to say the specials in English was really rather very entertaining.

Parents in the City

I can't believe that my parents have already come and gone.... time goes so quickly :-(
Apart from time going to quickly, the trip with my mum and dad was really good and I am so glad that were able to come to come to Mexico City and see mine and Jose's life.

They arrived on Wednesday night, mum told me they would land about 7.45 so i assumed that they would be through at about 8.30. Of course I had a public transport nightmare. I left my class 15 minutes early just to give me a head start at about 6.30. I decided to take the metro instead of the metro bus because I thought it would be quicker.... very wrong. I waited in a very crowded station for about 15 minutes before a train came but when it did, I was almost taken down my 1000 very determined pushy Mexican ladies, needless to say I couldn't get on. I then waited another 15 minutes and the exact same situation happened again. I went barging through the station so mad and frustrated I'm sure people thought that I was about to committ murder. I got outside in the middle of rush hour, nothing but traffic and full taxis. Finally i managed to get a taxi... it's condition was a little conspicuous but 45 minutes later he had me to the airport, 10 minutes before my mum and dad came walking through.

Our building

Our street

That night we took them to an Argentinian restaurant called Quebracho, where we had excellent meat and two bottles of delicious red wine.... I accidentally didn't make it to me morning class at 7am, oh well.