settling in

this weekend has allowed me to settle into things a little more. friday evening, we had the most intense thunderstorm i have probably ever heard. the part of roof of the house closest to my bedroom is made of some sort of sturdy plastic (!) and i was convinced it was just a matter of time until it succumbed to the pressure of the pouring rain. alas, it never happended, but the power did go out for a few hours, so friday evening was a lot of reading by candle/flashlight and early to bed.

yesterday i decided to go for it and brave both the metro and the big city. the metro was nowhere near as scary as people have made it out to be, and its 2 peso ($.20) price tag appeals to the miser in me. before hopping on the metro, i looked around coyoacán's mall a little, and discovered that there are two of my favorite clothing stores from my france days there (for those who know, zara and mango)... a very dangerous situation, since the a mall is about a 15 minute walk from my house.

i took the metro into the center of downtown mexico city (i used an effective strategy of following other women alone, so we would be in the same car -- solidarity!). i didn't necessarily know that that was what i was doing by taking the metro to the hidalgo stop, and it probably wasn't the best idea. when i came up from the subway station, it kind of felt like i was going to new york for the first time, was alone, and was getting a first glimpse of the city in the center of times square. so i was a bit overwhelmed, and mostly had no idea how i was going to figure out what direction to walk to get to the zócalo, my main desination. i made an educated guess, and it turned out to be right. so i strolled along a big urban park (the alameda) and before long i was in the narrow, packed streets of the historic center. it was chaotic but beautiful. tons of people were out, making the rounds before the big mexico-argentina world cup game.

i got the lay of the land and then decided to walk over to another main touristy area (zona rosa), which turned out to be quite a hike... and when i finally made it there, there wasn't a whole lot to see (it apparently is most happening during the week and at night) and i had trouble finding a lunch spot where i would feel comfortable as a woman alone. i settled on vips, which seemed to be mexico's answer to denny's. i hadn't realized that the soccer game would be on EVERYWHERE, but sure enough, it was packed with mexicans cheering on their team. as i opened my menu, mexico scored their only goal of the game, and the place went crazy. people jumping out of their seats, screaming, clapping and blowing bullhorns. all this in a chain diner... i can't imagine what bars were like. i stayed until halftime (if that's what it's called in soccer) and then headed for the metro. once back in coyoacán, i noticed that literally everyone was watching the game. all the sidewalk vendors had tv's set up, with people eating their tacos gathered around on the sidewalk. i stopped by the grocery store, and not only was it empty, but all of the employees were gathered around the two tv's that were tuned into the game. it felt like a ghosttown on my way home, and when i got to the house, i caught the last few minutes to see mexico - sadly - lose in overtime.

last night i went over to jennifer's apartment to watch vera drake and meet her super-fast talking mexican fiancé. the movie was great and the spanish conversation had me beat when i got home at midnight.

i had a lazy morning today... i found a great coffee shop in central coyoacán where i got my seattle-level buzz and read for awhile. i was amused at the disconnect between the organic chiapas coffee that they serve and the music they play... toni braxton, the verve, cher and something else that is unidentifiable but brought back very stong middle school dance memories.

i then strolled around the weekend craft market for a long time. i decided to save any purchasing for another weekend and today just checked out everything that's available. i am feeling much more comfortable, and i am starting to tap into how i might keep male attention to a minimum. looking assertive and making eye contact seems to help. generally, it's just a lot of harmless "hola"s and whistles, but the occaisional hissing does make my skin crawl.

today's weather is glorious, so i will spend the rest of the day outside, i think. there is a park near my house with a nice running path, so i might try to incoporate some regular excercise into my routine. i am going to need to have something to offset the tostadas, chilaquiles, and the latest discovery (thanks to jennifer) of japanese-style peanuts, which are essentially peanuts that are fried in a soy sauce shell. so strange but so good.

i have spent far too much time attempting to post pictures, but blogspot is not cooperating... check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattiejones/.