from ¡ay chihuahua! to southeast asia

pics!

2007-12-21T00:53:00.000-08:00

i have spent a chunk of my afternoon whittling our (excessive) 1400+ photos down to (a still excessive) 400. i then divided those into two separate galleries - one for each country - to hopefully make them a little more digestible.

enjoy!

homeward bound

2007-12-16T23:14:00.000-08:00

it's our last day in khao lak. we are whiling away the day in unbelievable heat, and will head to the airport in phuket tonight at 10pm, for 2:45am (lovely!) flight. six hours to seoul, with a four hour layover, and another 12 onto L.A. all this with sweaty bodies... should be fun.

the similan islands

2007-12-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

Snorkeling in the Similan Islands, in Five Chapters

I. Comfort Pocket
II. The Fish Whisperer
III. Taming of the Iguana
IV. Bodily Harm
V. The Beach

I. Comfort Pocket
The first leg of our three-day/two-night snorkel trip to the Similan Islands, off the western coast of southern Thailand, was to actually make it to the islands themselves, so that said snorkeling could take place. It seemed like a straightforward enough proposition, particularly because I had never been on a speedboat, and thus had little understanding of what 80 minutes on a speedboat is like. And particularly because Brendan and I were two of the fools who jostled for the front of the boat to start our beach holiday off right, soaking up the sun. As soon as we got up to speed, we realized that there would be nothing holiday-esque about the journey to the islands. We bounced all the way to our first snorkeling stop. And bounced doesn't quite capture it. On the way back, we smartly picked our seats towards the back of the boat (where the bouncing, from what we could tell on the ride out, was considerably less), and even in this location there was a middle-aged woman who had to stand for the majority of the ride back, presumably because she had back problems. This translates to a ride in the front of the boat -- where we naively found ourselves as we set off on our adventure -- that could potentially crack vertebrae, if not entirely reduce them to dust over the course of an hour long ride. The only saving grace was that I scored myself a corner seat, so I did not have to contend with my butt also sliding along the seat into any neighbor, made more awkward by the fact that in any given seat at least one of your neighbors was going to be a stranger. And thus my spot came to be known as the comfort pocket. It is noted that this little pocket of mine was not so comfortable to lure me back to that spot for another ride on the return trip. Or ever again, for that matter.

II. The Fish Whisperer
Once we got started snorkeling, our memories of jostled vital organs quickly faded into nothing. The underwater sea life was incredible, and I am pleased to report that we saw very little that was of potential danger. My main concern was this whitish-silver fish that seemed to enjoy human company, and so would swim around (and follow) us every chance they got. I was convinced they would sooner or later take a nibble, but no such thing ever came to pass. We did see one sea snake - at a distance that even for me was (mostly) comfortable - and two fishies that may have been barracuda. I was sure to duck behind Brendan on each of these occasions, and thus keep my panic to a minimum. We did get a little nibbled by supposed plankton in the water... though their bite seemed kind of harsh if they were in fact the plankton whose microscopic proportions I learned about in ninth grade biology. Regardless, the little stingy sensations brought back painful memories of my run-in with a Portuguese man-o'-war many years ago, so I started to think of each venture into the water as another installment of long overdue ocean-based therapy. I could barely get Brendan out of the water, even with the yummy Twinkie-style banana cakes that awaited him on board (they were enough to keep me, on the other hand, mostly out of the water by the last day). A snorkeling trip was apparently the right choice, as he couldn't get enough of all of the beautiful tropical fish that were in abundance around every corner. He will henceforth be known as the fish whisperer.

III. Taming of the Iguana
For our two nights on the islands, we were signed up to stay in a tent. The islands are designated as a national park, so there are no accommodations other than those run by the park, which include tents and bungalows on two of the nine islands. As we settled into our spot for the first night, we were pleasantly surprised by how spacious it was, and they even gave us a sleeping mat to provide some cushion under our loaner sleeping bags and pillows. We settled into bed at an unsurprising time (7pm -- adjusted from our usual night-owl rhythm of 9pm, given the fact that when camping there really is little to be done after dark) and I quickly fell asleep. Brendan was up throughout the night trying to improve air circulation in the tent and dealing with his own inability to fall into a deep slumber.

I woke up at 5am to hit the bathroom, and was quickly freaked by the amount of wildlife I passed on my way to and fro. I saw a couple of little furries that I presumed were mice, and something distinctly more rat-like in the bathroom. I also had the pleasantly constant thought of the pythons that Brendan had informed me inhabit the island. I made my way back to the tent as quickly as possible, but at this point was completely wide-awake given my wild imaginations of possible scenarios involving me and all of the rodents I left in my wake. I read for a bit to try to get tired again, and as I was starting to doze off, I noticed that one of my feet seemed to be propped up higher than the other. I thought for a moment that maybe some clothes were stuck under my sleeping bag. I checked, but no luck. Though there was indeed a large-ish lump underneath my sleeping pad. And the more I contemplate it - without daring to look under the mat itself - the more I notice that there is a subtle rising-and-lowering quality about it. And so I wake Brendan/F.W. up to get his thoughts on a potential living creature inside our tent that has made its temporary home under my sleeping mat. He takes it in and concurs that it looks like there is something there. Then he comes up with the brilliant - BRILLIANT! - idea that perhaps the creature is under the whole tent in that spot, and not co-habitating with us on the inside at all. I immediately love this much more palatable idea.

We decide that we will both exit the tent to determine - to start - where the creature is, exactly. We find ourselves crouching in the pitch black outside the tent, aiming our headlamps in the direction of the offending lump. Somehow I get the duty of pushing the pad out of the way. I work myself up to it, and - holding my breath? - push the pad aside. Sure enough, the lump is under the whole tent. We study its shape for a minute or two, and decide that it must be a close relative of the large iguana-looking lizard we saw traipsing around earlier in the day. We get back in the tent and Brendan (F.W.) throws our bag at it (so much for leaving only our footprint on national park territory) to try and encourage it to move from its spot where it could perfectly cuddle my legs for the remainder of the night. We think it moved slightly, but eventually I moved over (the tent's ample size really did pay off) and considered the iguana the victor. We immediately decided that we would look into paying the extra $10 to get a bungalow for the next night. We managed to sleep for another couple of hours, and in the morning I looked under the tent to see what had become of our third party. He wasn't there anymore, but looked to have left an indented path on the floor of the tent as he made his way to his daylight resting spot... far, far away, or so we hoped.

IV. Bodily Harm
On day two of snorkeling - immediately following the iguana encounter - things did not get off to a good start. I took my malaria pill on an empty stomach for the first time, figuring - stupidly - that my body was probably used to them after taking them for three weeks. As soon as we were getting on the boat for breakfast, I started feeling horribly nauseous and couldn't find it in myself to eat anything (which would have made me feel better, as I soon learned). We talked to our guide, and decided to stay on the island for the day. I soon put it together that it was the pill that was causing my malaise, and ate a bunch of fruit and soon was feeling good as new. Brendan (F.W.!), in the meantime, had secured our (presumably) iguana/wildlife-free bungalow for the second night. When I was feeling better, we gathered up our stuff to move house. We sprayed down our sandy feet before crossing the deck to the door of our bungalow. Wet feet, freakishly slick wood, and I was down on my knees before I knew it. I now have a couple of nice shiners and some scrapes on my knees, just like any seven-year-old you would find on the playground at recess. And as if that weren't enough, I also managed to spear the top of my right foot with a sharp object (stick?) when we were walking to our bungalow later that night. Despite my fears of ocean life, our trip to the Similans was a good lesson in how I would be better off fearing myself... on land.

V. The Beach
Last, but not least, is the insane beauty of the beaches on the Similans. Given its national park status, they are immaculately maintained, and there are strict regulations on how many boats and come in and out (though there were still a surprising number, especially being aware of the regulations). We got a good chunk of beach time throughout the three days, and it was unbelievable. Superlative in seemingly every way -- the whitest, softest sand (we learned that the sand is ground down coral, giving it - in Brendan's words - its likeness to powdered sugar); the bluest, clearest water. And given its relative inaccessibility (see the injury-inducing speedboat narrative, above) it was amazingly private, especially in the morning and evening before and after the many who made the trek for just a day trip had not yet arrived, or had already gone. It was absolutely breathtaking.

giving pasty new meaning in khao lak

2007-12-12T01:56:00.000-08:00

we have arrived at the last stop of our journey. we arrived in khao lak, in southern thailand, last night after a long day of travel from bangkok. we had debated how to get down here, but had both come over with some interest in doing a bit of travel by train (thanks, darjeeling limited). we had as yet avoided it given train travel's mixed-reviews (to put it mildly) in vietnam. we also figured, since we were only going to see bangkok and khao lak, it would be a nice way to see a bit more of the country, even if it was in the form of it passing us by at 100km/hour.

and so we set off by train at 8am yesterday (i wanted to say what day of the week that was, but at this point i have absolutely no idea -- tuesday?) in a 2nd class air-conditioned train. i had high expectations, given rough guide's description of train travel in thailand. it turned out to be just fine, but without any trace of luxury. unless you consider an ample stock of toilet paper in the bathroom a luxury, which on this trip i have started taking it to be. the first curiosity was the size of the train. we had tried to get tickets for the same train on the day prior, but it had sold out. i was kind of surprised, especially because we have not had problems getting lodging or travel reservations elsewhere, so i have taken it to still be the tail-end of the low season. i also thought it was noteworthy that our tickets had us listed as having seats in car 1. it seemed odd that we had bought tickets the day before, yet had ended up with reservations for the first car of the train (i make this out to be some sort of accomplishment)... but when we laid eyes on our train all of it made much more sense. because the train had 2 cars. two cars for an 8.5 hour journey. you would think they would throw a few more cars on that baby on their way to the bank. and they didn't even add cars as we made our way south. so we settled in with the 100 other passengers (if that) and brendan's jerry-rigged tray table that would fall down every time the guy in front of him reclined his chair and prepared to watch thailand roll by.

it was an uneventful trip, and we arrived in surat thani around 5pm. we had little (i.e. no) plans as to how we were then going to make it the distance to khao lak, which is more off the tourist radar than phuket and krabi. b inquired about a bus once we were at the train station, but the last one of the day had left at 3pm. and so we shopped around for a taxi fare, and were surprised to hear that it was a 3 hour drive. the nice thing about thailand is that the fare for a three hour drive is not remarkably more than a fare from the airport to home in seattle. we agreed to pay our older gentle-seeming driver (the kind i have tended to the whole trip -- who cares if their eyesight might be a bit off if they're friendly?) about $60 for the trip. for as long as we had daylight, the drive was beautiful. after rolling into khao lak, we stopped for directions as poseidon bungalows was even more out of the way than we expected. we finally made it around 8pm, and sent our poor driver off with a nice tip to do the whole 3 hour drive back again.

our stay at poseidon is the only part of our trip that has been planned from the beginning. as we made our way to our bungalow in the pitch-black of night, i can't say it was exactly what i was expecting. our bungalow is on the spartan side, particularly after the swanky place we found ourselves at for our four nights in bangkok, and - as we transition from the constant urbanity that is bangkok - the setting is thoroughly nature-entrenched. i lied down on the bed for a quick rest before we headed up to the restaurant for dinner, with brendan in the bathroom giving his feet a quick scrub. no sooner had i taken a deep breath than i hear a loud and forceful squawking noise coming from the bathroom. brendan, channeling his outdoorsy/chrissy field side, casually mentions that some bird appears to have made its home right about our bathroom. and even more casually mentions that there is a large hole in the ceiling right near where the noise is coming from. all of this causes me some alarm, since my interpretation of what he is telling me leads quickly to a vision of a hawk-sized bird prancing into bed with me at any moment. turns out, there is a screen covering the hole (i'm not sure why this fact apparently seemed cosmetic at the outset) which puts me (slightly) more at ease. we go to dinner, with me dodging lizards on the path the whole way. when we're eating, we hear that (now familiar) squawking once again. and as we sit with our curry and tom kha, we have the chance to spy the perpetrator, and it turns out to be a very large lizard. this does not provide much relief, despite brendan's assurance that it must be totally benign. the problem is not any malicious intent of the creature, the problem is that it has made its home in a spot where it can effortlessly scare the bejesus out of my as i take my occaisional leave to the loo.

we settled in to bed with one last squawk from our bungalow-mate and i try make my peace with the nature installment of our trip. if nothing else, it was dead silent (aside from the squawking) compared to our spot in bangkok, so i slept like a log for most of the night. the peace was interrupted only early this morning, as the air was pierced with a sound that seemed not unlike that which would come from a malfunctioning dentist's tool. brendan woke me up to get my thoughts on what it might be. my paranoia kicked in with the idea that it might be the tsunami warning system (khao lak was the worst hit of anywhere in thailand by the tsunami four years ago, and there are signs about evacuation routes everywhere), but then figured we would probably hear more people shuffling about outside if that were the case. he popped in his earplugs and i was tired enough to fall back asleep with the noise ringing in my ears. when we got up this morning, we still heard it and have figured that it is some kind of bird that got the short end of the stick in the evolutionary lottery for bird calls.

waking this morning put our bungalow in perspective. it is literally right above the water, and maybe 100 steps to a beautiful and private beach. suddenly our $20/night is seeming worth every penny and then some. and now i am psychologically prepared for what nighttime trips down the path hold in store, so i'm ready to show those lizards who's boss.

speaking of being psychologically prepared, after a lovely day spent lounging and reading on our beautiful little beach, brendan and i decided to explore the town of khao lak, about 7km up the road. for me, this prospect meant a long but good-for-the-soul walk. for brendan, this idea meant renting a moped and driving into town. i'll let the allusion to potential psychological damage tell you who won. i was clinging to him every inch of the way - the pressure of his helmet was smashing my helmet against my head hard enough to probably leave permanent indentations, i was holding onto him so tightly - while on the mopeds going the other direction, the passenger is nonchalantly/stupidly not holding on at all. but we made it, and i plan to hold on just as tightly on the ride home. we head out tomorrow for a three day snorkel trip to the similan islands, and then will have two more days in khao lak before heading to phuket for our long journey home. the sun is about to set, and we forgot to get the tutorial from the friendly scandinavian lad at poseidon on how to turn on the headlight, so we should be on our way. more soon, with possible tales of encounters with manta rays/barracuda/sharks. but hopefully not. i am hoping to see nothing more than coral and minnows during our three days of snorkeling.

who's afraid of a little thai boxing?

2007-12-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

after spending our first day in bangkok, we had decided that at some point we wanted to give a thai boxing match a go, if for nothing else than the spectacle of it. we had gone to a soccer game when we were in mexico city, and it was a memorable experience, mostly because it gave us the rare opportunity to go somewhere with few other tourists and experience an event as fundamentally mexican as we could hope for. we had hopes of the same with thai boxing, which has become hugely popular in thailand as of late, since they apparently had a gold-medal boxer in the sydney olympics.

after our day of air-conditioned consumption at the mall, we did a bit of research to figure out where the matches are and when. it soon became apparent that the timing probably wasn't right to end up there that evening, but brendan got the details down so that we were able to get to a match last night. i did my research too -- i read the two paragraphs the rough guide has to offer on the subject. i was happy to have done so, since they made it sound as though it is a good idea to go into a night of boxing prepared. the book described how those less-than-obsessed spectators might be well-served to show up for the evening on the later side, since there are many matches in a given evening so the fighting can end up feeling endless if you're not totally invested in the sport. they also kindly warn their readership about the violence of it. they indicate that most knock-outs come from a kick to the head. i don't know much about boxing, but i was pretty sure this is not standard operating procedure in the U.S. of A. so i was glad they told me. they also point out that, though violent, it is far more palatable now that boxing gloves are mandated. before the 1960s or so, there was no such requirement. "what would one wear on one's hands in a boxing match, if not boxing gloves?" you might wonder. well! it seems that one would wrap his hands in hemp, which has been laced with shards of glass for added effect. a kick to the head suddenly seemed like nothing, compared to a face bloody and lacerated by bits of broken bottle implanted in the hand-wrapping of one's opponent. an evening of modern-day thai boxing was fixing to be a walk in the park!

so we get a cab to the arena and are quickly sweet-talked by a young man charged with selling the most expensive tickets to unsuspecting tourists. the tickets were obscenely priced -- we assume that thais pay the ticket prices because they get to bet on the fights (foreigners don't) so it is something of an investment -- the nosebleed seats were $25 a pop, and ringside was $50... the latter is roughly equivalent to the cost of two nights' stay at our relatively swanky hotel. our suave salesman was quick to point out that if we got the nosebleed seats (which was our leaning) we would be better off watching the fight on TV, since we wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. brendan decides that he will cough up the difference for an evening spent ringside. so we soon find ourselves in the middle of the front row, surrounded almost exclusively other tourists (so much for that thai cultural experience we were after) who had been similarly duped. and those nosebleed seats? though the building looked deceptively grandiose from the outside, once inside this place was not a stadium. the folks (mostly thai) way up there in the nosebleed section were probably10-20 yards from the ring, tops. saying that they would be better off watching on TV was a stretch to say the least. regardless, we settled in next to our thai neighbor, who was at his first match and was betting with a vengeance. got ourselves our $2 beers (also highway robbery, and i was expecting them to be free after spending $90 on the tickets... i got the "lady" price of $40 instead of the gentleman's fare of $50) and prepared ourselves for the first bout. it looked like we would be there with the most devoted spectators for the whole evening, since we found ourselves seated 30 minutes before the first fight, and would likely stay through the bitter end, since the fights were said to get better and better as the night progressed.

we were looking over the program, and noticed that most of the fighters were in a ridiculously light weight class. there were maybe 7 or 8 matches total, and about half of the fighters were in the 40kg weight class. i wasn't sure what i weighed in kilograms, but i knew that 80kg was quite a bit less than me as i started to wonder what we were in for. then i noticed that the weights were also listed in lbs -- sure enough, half of the fighters were in a 100 lbs. weight class, with a couple of others at 105 lbs. and 113 lbs. and the heavyweights of the evening weighing in at 155 lbs. i started to wonder aloud about grown men who weigh 100 pounds or less. it seemed almost impossible to imagine, even in a country where brendan and i are comparatively statuesque.

and you know what? it *is* impossible. because the boxers were not men at all. they were CHILDREN. how did that little factoid get lost in the shuffle by the folks at rough guide? they are certain to prepare you for the level of violence, but find it insignificant to mention that this brutal violence is between boys for whom puberty is a far off reality. i couldn't believe my eyes as the first fighters came into the ring. i would guess the boy in the corner closest to us was 10 years old, and that's probably me grasping optimistically at straws given my upbringing in a society where child labor is illegal. and so it went. we spent 2.5 hours watching little boys beat on each other. there was one match (the 155 pounders) where there was some evidence of body hair, which was a relief. but otherwise it was tiny, innocent-faced school boys doing their best to punch and kick the shit out of each other. the upside is that when you have less than 100 pounds to put behind your kicks and punches, it can only get so brutal. we only saw one knock-out the whole night and i think it was in the match-up of the hefty 113 pound fellas.

i can now check "watch a thai boxing match" off of my list of things to do in my life and carry on with my new mission of informing any other potential inexperienced spectators that it's 4th-graders that they will be watching should they decide to go. it was certainly an interesting way to spend an evening, but i (obviously) have yet to fully recover.

today is our last day in bangkok. it will be a relaxed one, since we spent a sweltering day yesterday visiting the grand palace, which houses the indescribably revered emerald buddha, and wat pho, which houses the indescribably huge reclining buddha. we'll pick up our tickets for our 10-hour journey south by train to khao lak tomorrow. we are sticking with our original plan and hoping - HOPING - for weather that cooperates. we've struggled to find any sort of reliable weather report for our specific destination, but we're crossing our fingers for a big karmic payoff given all of the buddha visits we have been making.

melting in bangkok

2007-12-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

we have arrived at phase II of the trip, after what feels like a lifetime in vietnam. our last stop was amazing -- it was a three day/two night trip to ha long bay, which is easily the most magical place i have ever experienced. we went with the reputable - but pricey - kangaroo cafe in hanoi, and this proved to be a great decision since we had the added pleasure of being in a tour group of 16 with some of the coolest people around. it was a surprising mix of nationalities -- it was ruled by the english/irish, accounting for 9 of the 16 with 4 americans (including us), 2 israelis, and a dutch lass. it was kind of like being able to watch 48 hours of hilarious BBC comedy taking place right before our eyes, all the time. we spent one night on the boat, which was a first for me. i am pleased to report that i don't get seasick. the second night was spent on cat ba island, with plenty of exploration of caves and beaches and floating among the bay's limestone karsts (i don't really know what that word means, but that's what they are according to our friends at wikipedia) in between.

on day 2, we went to monkey island which - surprise! - is an island inhabited by wild monkeys. as soon as we got there, the two dudes running the show got the monkeys all riled up by throwing bananas all over the place. we stood around, took some pictures of them eating and pooing... what you would expect. brendan then suggested that i take a picture of him with the monkey. brilliant. i snap a couple of shots of him with his monkey friend, one where they are in opposite sides of the frame at a very safe distance, and one where the monkey has come into a little closer range to my better half. it's all well and good until i put my camera away and the monkey starts to approach brendan with an intent look in his beady little eyes. as brendan started to back away, the monkey realized there was only one alpha in this situation and called his little buddy over to get in on the action of terrorizing the unsuspecting american who dared to enter his personal space. there stands brendan, fear in his eyes - with me looking on in panic thinking of our ongoing conversations about what to do in the event of a bite from a rabid animal - while the first monkey lets out a nasty little hiss and his buddy starts lunging (do monkeys lunge?) at him. he has the (bright?) idea that maybe the monkeys just want the gigantic bottle of water he is holding in his hand, so he puts it down on the sand as a peace offering. this seemed to distract them somewhat, and as brendan moved into the the mass of the rest of our group, the monkeys seemed to lose interest. we all got off of monkey island without so much of a scratch. and once brendan had escaped the clutches of death-by-rabies, we even got to kayak around ha long bay for a bit and watch the sunset, which was stunning. i have never been so taken with a spot so overrun with tourists. it was absolutely brilliant, as one of our boatmates (and english version of chris farley) would say.

we are now in bangkok, where the heat is giving us a run for our money. it is unbelievably hot compared to vietnam, and even more unbelievably orderly compared to vietnam. i think we went in the right way with the order of countries visited. this place is a cinch compared to the cities we were in in vietnam. there we were almost taken out by a moped/car/bicyclist every other street and we had to give ourselves little motivational speeches each morning before heading out into the chaos. here there are actually sidewalks. that the pedestrians can use. where they are safe from motorized transit. it is bliss.

at the moment we have escaped the heat - after a 6km hike across town in its clutches - at the largest mall in all of asia. it's kind of a bizarre destination, but we had heard a lot about it from the folks on the boat with us and the idea of being entertained and air-conditioned simultaneously was just too appealing to resist. so we just ate at the classiest food court on earth and now we will hunt around for a new memory card for my camera, since we have officially outdone its 800-photo capacity. we are very happy to be in thailand, where the food holds huge promise - already, the food court kao soy and phad thai were far beyond anything i had in vietnam - and everyone is running around in yellow shirts to honor the king on his 80th birthday. we'll soak up all that is urban and gritty in bangkok and then head to the beach - which beach remains to be seen, since we intend to follow the good weather wherever it may be - before we head home in 10 days. i wonder how many panang curries that will allow.

so long hanoi. the beef was worth it.

2007-12-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

we have wrapped up our one day in hanoi, and have discovered a definite fondness for the place. what else can explain the fact that we are still up at 9:30pm? it may seem like i am exaggerating about th early-to-bed routine, but two nights ago i actually went to sleep - as in fell asleep, for the night - at 7:45. being up and alert at 9:30pm indicates an unprecedented infatuation with our surroundings. so yes, hanoi is lovely. it is chaotic and loud and makes my pulse shoot through the roof, but we have enjoyed it much more than ho chi minh city. we are staying in the heart of the old quarter, and spent the evening having vietnamese coffees and strolling around the neighborhood. tons of people are out and about - meaning careening into one another on mopeds - so we soaked it all up for awhile and eventually started to seek out a spot for dinner.

our hotel had provided some recommendations, including a vegetarian option in the vicinity. we checked out their menu, with all of its mentions of foods that have not been in the realm of possibility for the past 10 days (grilled cheese sandwich!) - and then decided to go in a different direction for our only dinner in hanoi. totally raw red meat. yum. we plopped down at what appeared to be a very popular sidewalk spot, where they give you a cast-iron hot plate heated by a candle flame and bring you a plate of raw cow flesh (i wasn't thinking of it in such terms when ingesting it) and veggies to cook up at your table. i have been tiptoeing around the whole meat-eating thing, but for this meal i was totally on board. it was hands-down the best meal we have had here (i was considering holding out on the praise until we are safely out of getting-violently-ill territory, but here's hoping).

we gobbled up our heaping serving of beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes and pineapple and felt very happy with our bold new eating-as-the-locals-eat move. i had perked up my ears when the one other yank who was nearby was paying to see what the damage was going to be -- as far as i could hear, it cost him 18,000 - just over $1 - for his meal for one. it seemed totally reasonable given that we have been paying under $5 at some restaurants for the two of us. we checked in with one of the servers to see what we owed -- all the while i am convinced we will be talking about the deal we got by pulling up a 10-inch stool among hanoi's discerning populace for months -- and are told that it would be 140,000 dong. nine dollars. our sails immediately deflated. we paid up and learned yet another lesson of the road. ask the price beforehand. it seemed that once we had blistered our tongues licking the cast iron plate, we had limited leverage for haggling.

from hue to hanoi: bodily functions, hacky sackin' and street smarts

2007-12-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

we are spending a couple of nights in hanoi before heading to ha long bay early tomorrow morning for a three day boat trip. i had started to formulate a theory that the smaller the city we were in, the more anarchic the traffic. now that we are back in big-city territory - hanoi has a population of 4 million - i am revising my theory. we have reinstated the (read: my) rule that we have to hold hands when crossing the street, and i do my best to ensure that brendan is between me and the traffic. the hand holding causes some additional anxiety, since his tendency is to forge ahead through oncoming mopeds, while mine is to hold back and let them do their thing. we're working through it. making our relationship stronger and all of that.

one of the interesting things that i have been mentally tallying is the evidence of bodily functions that is EVERYWHERE. it's kind of funny to be dressing conservatively, with lots of skin covered in billowy fabrics, and then see all of these things happening on every street corner that are ingrained in me as being private business (though given my proclivities, sometimes i wish they weren't so private and could be discussed openly, maybe at the dinner table). it started with a pee stop on our bus trip from ho chi minh to da lat, where a couple of older gentlemen hopped off and took a pee basically right outside my window on the bus. the display of public urination has since become part of the landscape. then when we were walking around after booking our ha long bay trip, an older man in front of us blew a snot rocket onto the sidewalk. for me, snot rockets conjure up the walking offense that was puck from the san francisco season of the real world, not middle-aged vietnamese men. the frequency and non-chalance with which people hock lugies (how do you encapsulate that act in a way that does not require high school slang?) has also been striking. my favorite, though, has to be the few occasions where we have seen one person - who has typically been either a friend or mother figure - popping a zit (zits?) on the face of a disinterested teenage girl on the sidewalk as they sell their fruit or baguettes or whatever. now this is a practice i can get behind. we'll see how i fare with importing such sensible cultural idiosyncracies.

we are going to spend the day in hanoi, which is pretty chaotic and in some subtle and unidentifiable way completely different from ho chi minh city in the south. we left hue on a high note to then get off to a rough start in hanoi. it was raining off and on all day yesterday in hue, and during one of the downpours, we found ourselves making calls to hanoi hotels at a post office in hue. brendan checked his email while we were there, and as i waited for him outside under the cover of the post office entrance way. soon enough a boy of about 8 came along with the vietnamese spin on a hacky sack that we have seen everywhere -- basically a plastic base with multi-colored feathers coming out of it -- and started kicking it around on his own. brendan had noticed kids playing with them all over the place, and obviously has had an inner longing to join in. when he came out of the post office to meet me, he met his golden opportunity when the kid accidentally kicked it in his direction and brendan kicked it back. within five minutes, brendan was leading a hackey sack circle with five or six elementary school-aged kids. i got plenty of photo documentation, with brendan getting lots of giggly high-five's as we finally set off on our way.

when we got to hanoi, we were to be picked up by someone sent by our hotel. sure enough, when we came out of baggage claim, there was our sign proclaiming "prendan posworth" (the p/b distinction is apparently a difficult one, as we have noticed on other occasions; one person at a hotel had to say "passport" at least 5 times before i understood what they were saying). the guy holding it said he was waiting on one other passenger who was getting in on an international flight and should be there in 10-15 minutes. fine. we sit down and wait, and sooner or later 30 minutes has passed and brendan has done plenty of research into how we could get to the hotel on our own -- it was 11pm so a good 3 hours passed our usual bed time and we were exhausted. we tell the guy we are going to take a cab on our own. he tries to get us to wait, but we don't go for it. we go out to the long line of taxis where various companies are trying to flag us down, and go with the one with the seemingly reputable name of "airport taxi". we climb into a big, comfy cab that i quickly notice has no meter. the driver - who seemed potentially high and/or drunk, or maybe just sleazy - gets in and as soon as i broach the topic of price, he starts pulling out of the parking spot. we are slowly pulling away as he says it's going to be "very cheap"... "how much?"... "20 dollars"... no way. brendan had seen signs for $12 to the city center. we open the doors and jump out (in retrospect, i pretend that the car was still moving, but *perhaps* it was at a standstill) grab our bags and go see the friendly driver down the way with another cab company, who jauntily puts our bags in his car and has classical music playing all the way to our hotel. it was all very james bond meets the get along gang.

so the adventures continue. we are starting to plot out our trip to thailand. we have to decide if it makes sense to go all the way north to chiang mai when there don't appear to be any convenient travel options to get there. we'll have our summit today and try to plan out the rest of our trip so we can coast until the end with travel and lodging reservations in place. gotta say i am looking forward to the grand finale flop on the beach.

from hoi an to hue, without much to show for it

2007-12-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

we have had our most beautiful day of weather and our worst day of weather (which still ain't too bad) back-to-back in hue. we took a bus 3 hours north of hoi an to arrive in hue, a town that i have been fixated on since reading about it a couple of months ago. when we piled off the tourist bus, we were accosted by hotel touts from every direction, offering us their rooms for $7/night with endless business cards and brochures to boot. it was pretty unnerving, since we had not yet experience of the feeding frenzy brought on by two lost looking souls with heavy bags on their backs. they were persistent, but after dozens of "we're going to look around on our own"s and "we're OK"s and "no thank you"s, they eventually left us to our own devices.

we trudged across town stopping at a few more upscale options along the way, but stuck it out for what sounded from the book to be the most promising, and that's where we ended up. it is conveniently right next to the citadel and imperial city, which we have yet to see but should be pretty cool. yesterday was a much needed do-nothing day. our hotel has a POOL -- i guess its two stars are well-earned -- so we flopped in the morning in the blazing sun and 90-degree temperatures, had some mediocre lunch (we were among the tourists flopping to the sub-par spots mentioned in the lonely planet/let's go guides... we are still trying to figure out how to get away from the guidebook recommendations without risking getting violently ill), and then flopped in the room with our books for the rest of the day. i was feeling a little under the weather and wishing i had brought the red-suit (i.e. my red flannel mrs. claus like garb that i put on the second i feel any sort of bug coming on) with me halfway around the world for comfort. i got a lot of sleep and am feeling a little perkier today. we head to hanoi by plane late tonight, so have the day to see a little more of the sights in hue. it appears to be a beautiful, relaxed (relatively speaking) city thus far, so we are looking forward to a little more time here.

we'll spend just a night in hanoi and then head to ha long bay, which we have both been eagerly anticipating. we are also looking forward to heading onto thailand with a little more time to spend than we originally planned. since we are thinking we will just be in chiang mai and then khao lak for our beach time at the end, we may travel between the two entirely by train to see a little more of the country that way. the convenience of flying in vietnam has been great, but i wouldn't mind kicking back and watching the country go by, particularly if the kicking back takes place in a mode of transport securely attached to rails with no trucks/mopeds/bicycles/oxen to contend with...

from nha trang to hoi an, with the baby blue cords to prove it

2007-11-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

we have spent the past three days in the town of hoi an, which is about halfway up the country, near the coast. we flew from nha trang to da nang, just north of here and then shared a cab to hoi an with the chattiest canadian on earth and the most silent brit on earth, who just happen to also be a (seemigly odd) couple. we got to town with a mission to find a hotel with a decent bathroom. after a night at dong phunog 2 hotel in nha trang, we had set our standards a bit higher. the let's go for some unexplainable reason gave our friend dong phuong it's coveted thumbs up icon... we're not sure if it was the scuzzy old blanket we had to share (without even a top sheet - which are hard to come by here - as a buffer) or the carpet art that adorned the breakfast room wall that set it apart from the competition, but either way we couldn't get away from the phuong fast enough.

when we got to hoi an, we looked at one hotel that was also given a hearty thumbs up by the folks at let's go - we hadn't quite given up hope on them yet - but it proved to be musty and not that appealing. so i left brendan at a coffee shop and set off to find something that would do. eventually i got us a big room with a river view that didn't quite meet the clean bathroom requirement, but i was tired and hot and the lady who ran the place was nice. the only downside was that it was only available for one night, so we would have to go through the whole charade again the next day. we enjoyed our one night there, and set off the next morning to find something else in the general vicinity of the river, which is a little more relaxed than being right in the middle of the tourist zone. enter vietnam village resort. the strangest - STRANGEST - place i will likely ever stay.

we paid $25 for a room that had it's own balcony surrounded by palm fronds, a bathroom cleaner and more modern than anything we have seen since leaving the U.S. of A. (and even there, we would be hard pressed to find a hotel with a loo this nice) and beautiful bamboo furniture. considering we had paid the same price the night before for some mildew and a lot of traffic noise, it didn't really add up, but we went for it and signed on for 2 nights of blissfully scalding water and a sparkling tub. over the course of our 48 hours there, we never saw another guest - and are pretty sure that we were in fact the main event. there also seemed to be a strict energy conservation policy in place, since every time we walked into the vast lobby/restaurant building, all of the lights were off with the staff of 6-10 young ladies sitting the dark awaiting our return so they would finally have something to do. i almost wished i could keep them busy with something other than handing us our room key, which took approximately 1.5 seconds. on day #2 we got back to the lobby to find a delightful exception to the fierce conservation of electricity -- we were greeted by none other than a life-sized, motion-activated, singing and dancing santa. the folks at vietnam village might be stingy, but they know how to splurge with their energy budget. we enjoyed our stay there, though i will forever wonder a) how on earth they stay in business and b) whether there was a multiple homicide the day before we got there and we were the only people not to know about it.

in other hoi an news, this is THE PLACE to have clothes and shoes made. i came armed with a photo of a dress from an anthropologie catalog - another helpful suggestion from my friend who had been to vietnam before - and set off to find someone to make it for me at 1/10 the cost with my choice of fabric. there are tailors everywhere... about 80% of the storefronts are either tailors or shoemakers, some of them approaching you with the unassuming "quick look at my store please" and others with the more cut-to-the-chase line of "buy something"... so it was hard to decide where to go. ultimately, i was picky about the fabric options so we ended up with a very touchy-feely young lass at the cloth market who agreed to make me two dresses for $36. they came out pretty well, but the fun part was going to pick them up and seeing brendan get sucked into the allure of having things custom made. he (with my urging) picked out some lovely baby blue curdoroy for circa-1980 style pants that we would come back to pick up in two hours. between the pants and the additional alterations to my dresses, i'm not sure how she managed it, but she did. and we are now big fans of anh at cloth market stall #52. sure part of one of my dresses is a bit uneven, but isn't that the experience of hand made goods? i'm telling myself it is.

we also did a super-tourist excursion to my son yesterday, which is the site of ancient ruins about 40km from hoi an. we went out by bus, traipsed around with hordes of other tourists and took a boat most of the way back to hoi an. the ruins are a UNESCO world heritage site, dating from the 4th century. they were pretty amazing, particularly given the lush mountainous setting surrounding them, but i would probably have been more amazed minus the hundreds of other tourists running around at the same time.

we learned partway into our stay in hoi an that the town is not in its typically UNESCO-maintained (the town itself also had the designation) condition from some tourists from florida - who were, by they way, a RIOT - who had been here before. we had learned when we first arrived that there was some flooding here, but then proceeded to walk around town oblivious to the major road and sidewalk repairs going on all around us and making what most would say an obvious connection between facts A and B. not always the most astute of travelers. compared to da lat, hoi an seems to be teeming with tourists, but the floridian seniors tell us that it's empty compared to the last time they were here, since tourists were encouraged not to come given the flood damage. there is an old japanese covered bridge in town where there is one line marking the level of the flood waters from a flood in 1999, and a second - higher - line marking the water level from the flood two weeks ago. despite our initial and prolonged oblivion, we now get it that this was a serious-ass flood. part of the tourist privilege, i suppose, to take in the beauty of a place but be unaffected by the ravages of such events.

there is more to report, but my hands are getting tired from typing away on a less-than-responsive keyboard. we continue to work on our haggling skills, and brendan has done his best to bring the "buy one, get one" concept to this part of the world, but apparently it doesn't translate. they don't seem to buy into the idea of our agreeing to their price for the first item, and then suggesting that they give us a large discount on the second item, but i suspect he will keep on trying.

this afternoon we head 3 hours north on a bus to hue, the culinary capital of vietnam. it will be interesting to try some new options from that region. thus far, my only true love is vietnamese coffee, and i have vowed to start buying condensed milk by the case to make it myself at home. there is something so right about concentrated milk and sugar. we tried cao lau, a regional specialty from hoi an, a couple of times. not my favorite, particularly the vegetarian version i had our first night here. the menu described the elements of the dish, with the base of the broth being water from the - and i quote - "local bale well". i don't know what a bale well is, and from the taste of the broth i don't think i want to. so here's hoping for some delectable hue goodies once we get through another round of the hair-raising experience that is motorized transport in vietnam.

70km on a bike, with the sore legs to prove it

2007-11-27T03:12:00.000-08:00

we rode our bikes from the central highlands to the coast today. this sounds more dramatic than it actually was (or would if you were looking at a map of vietnam), since the comfort van that followed us for the entire ride drove us 45 minutes out of da lat to the starting point, and then drove us another 30 minutes to the coast at the end. okay, so we rode from the the central highlands to the general vicinity of the coast today. it ended up being just the two of us on the trip, and our guide vien who does outdoor excursions up to seven days a week to make his living. this should give some indication of how in-shape vien was in comparison to us. we do not do outdoor excursions for a living. but we hung in there -- i whooped up on brendan on all of the uphill climbs, and he zoomed by me on all of the downhills, leaving me to follow clinging with a death grip on my brakes. they didn't get much of a rest on the 30km descent through vietnam's newest national park.

it was an awesome ride, passing through incredibly diverse terrain as we went from a 1500 meter elevation down to sea level. we also passed through a number of rural villages, which was a great treat since we have thus far seen much less remote parts of the country. by the end i was a little tired of responding to all of the hello's from the countless kids we saw a long the way, but brendan was in it for the long haul. i heard him singing out cheerful "sin chao"s (we added word #2 to our vocabulary today!) to all of the onlookers we passed until the bitter end. it did seem to be the event of the week to have the crazy bikers coming through... vien said that 99% of the tourists they get on their adventure tours are foreign, and when he tells vietnamese people what he does for a living it takes a lot of explaining. we were certainly a novelty act today.

we are spending the evening in the beach town of nha trang, and will head north tomorrow to hoi an. nha trang is not quite our cup of tea, so we don't feel much need to extend our stay. hoi an, on the other hand, has been at the top of our list, so we expect to settle in there for a bit longer. it's also where you can get any sort of clothes you could ever want custom made. so look for brendan in a three piece silk suit come january...

HCMC to Da Lat, with the sunburn to prove it

2007-11-26T02:25:00.000-08:00

we have had a very eventful first few days in vietnam. we arrived in ho chi minh city after a long haul from seattle to seoul, and then a shorter - but no less painful - haul from seoul to ho chi minh city. we arrived at the riverside hotel to discover a room that bore little resemblance to what i had reserved online. there was peeling paint, a dirty bathroom, and construction in the lobby. but the fact that our beds -- we each had one that was a little bigger than a twin, but smaller than a full -- were adorned with tiger print bedspreads allowed me to see past its flaws. and it proved to be dead silent in a bustling city of 7 million, so it provided the space for the good night's sleep we so desperately needed.

we spent just one full day in ho chi minh, but managed to see quite a bit. we traipsed all around district one - which was where we stayed, and was also home to the backpacker district, a lovely park, as well as the pho spot that was graced with a visit by bill clinton a few years ago, and our motto is, "if it's OK with bill, it's OK with us" so of course we had to try it - until our legs were ready to fall off. we then pushed it a little further with a walk to the war remnants museum, which was as uplifting as it sounds. i had decided that i couldn't feel OK about visiting vietnam without some attention to the war, so this was at least a decent start. after our visit, we decided to bite the bullet and hop on a tourist-trap cyclo. this is essentially a three-wheeled bicycle that has a big seat for the passenger - or passengers, since in our case we squished into one together - and rides around in scooter/truck/car traffic as though it is a motorized vehicle itself. it was a novel experience, though a little more hair-raising than is my general preference.

it was also a good warm-up for the 7 hour bus ride into the central highlands which we did yesterday. GOOD LORD. i thought mexico city would have prepared me for this. it didn't. we were driving on two-lane roads for probably 3/4 of the entire drive. and let me tell you, a two lane road does not mean there are two lanes of traffic. brendan and i avoided looking out the front window of the bus, but we did catch the occaisional glimpse of three scooters on the right side of the road, another one or two on the left side of the opposite lane, a distantly oncoming bus, and a truck that our driver DECIDES TO PASS. all in two lanes. perhaps it is my american appreciation for order, but something just wasn't right with that picture. we somehow made it to da lat in one piece, with nothing more than a slightly bruised psyche. we were then dropped at our first choice hotel to find that it was full for the night, but were directed by the madame to her brother's hotel down the street to have a look at the room he had available. before i know it, brendan and i are being whisked away on the back of two mopeds, sans helmets. it was a 600 meter ride, and i never knew 600 meters could feel so long. i got the sense that my driver knew zero english, but i gave a clearly enunciated "SLOOOOOOOOW" into his left ear just the same. i then clung to his slim waist for the entirity of the 2 minute ride, which probably made him blush but i was doing a whole lot more than blushing so i couldn't have cared less.

we saw the room, and snatched it up for a bargain $15... much nicer than our dear riverside which ran us $50/night. we are just warming up to the haggling and haven't quite gotten our communication down yet. brendan was going to try to get it for $10 (he's no softie anymore!) but i volunteered a higher price. we settled in a bit and then went out to the town square to have dinner and a drink. we got ourselves a spot at a nice outdoor cafe overlooking da lat's own eiffel tower. it's known in vietnam as the "petit paris" but i am sorry to report that its eiffel tower is nothing more than an electrical tower with some christmas lights on it. it's the thought that counts, i suppose. anyway, we continued to play it safe with our diet, and i ordered the sauteed noodles with vegetables and brendan ordered the pork and cabbage soup. no sooner had brendan remarked on how you have to wonder about restaurants that have such a comprehensive menu than he was being served a dish identical to mine with some beef added on for good measure. maybe you don't actually have to wonder about those kinds of restaurants. they list the possibilities, which may or may not be the realities.

we ended our dinner with a nice chat with a local family out for ice cream sundaes at the table next to us. the dad was clearly a bit of a ham, and wanted his older daughter to practice her english with us. she was sufficiently embarrassed, and then it became clear that it was perhaps pops who wanted to show off his english chops. there was limited potential, but we swapped where we were from, etc. and then headed out on our way. we are certainly more of a novelty here than we were expecting...

today we set out to take a short train to our first pagoda. we were up at 6 (still figuring out the jet lag thing) so we made it to the train station for a 9am train that didn't actually exist, or was full -- we're still not sure. we bought tickets for the 2pm train, and found ourselves with 5 hours to kill since we had probably walked close to 4 miles to get to the train station. we strolled a bit more, and stumbled upon a bunch of school kids out at recess. we got the usual celebrity treatment, with one outgoing girl practically running us over with an enthusiastic "hey, good morning, hello!" we chatted with her for a minute with the entire playground (euphemism -- actually an open field) watching in admiration. with the end of the exchange, they all burst into cheers. pretty cute.

we finally made it out to the pagoda, which was incredible. i am considering converting to taoism just because i liked it so much. it had a certain willy wonka and the chocolate factory appeal. brendan and i scaled this huge tower to tempt my mild vertigo in the name of an incredible view of the rolling hills around da lat. we unfortunately didn't have much time because we had to catch the train back, but i took tons of photos to try to burn the whole scene in my memory. taoist nathalie. i think it has a certain cache.

back in da lat, we stopped for a coffee break -- this is the coffee growing region -- in a little spot recommended by our guidebook. as we sipped the milky and delicious concoction, we were amazed to see another of our countrymen -- not clinton this time -- gracing the wall. on one wall was some sort of religious shrine, and on the otherwise blank wall adjacent, a single headshot of bill gates. i tried to take a photo to share with the foundation folks, but in the process of getting out my camera the lens cap fell into a deep crevice next to where we were sitting, and the other customers immediately came to help us move the booth out from the wall to retrieve it, at which point i was too embarrassed to snap my photo of bill gates in the central highlands of vietnam. our last stop before coming back to the hotel was to book our little adventure that we have had in mind since leaving seattle thanks to a recommendation from my friend mary. we are biking tomorrow from the highlands down to the coast. it'll be about 70km, so i hope my bum cheeks are ready. we'll then be at the beach for an evening before heading further north.

a lovely trip so far, and we are looking forward to more. we've learned the painful lesson that you really can get sunburned when it's overcast, as da lat's cloudy skies and cool temperatures taught us today. and we are hanging in there with the communication, though it's taken us 3 days to learn how to say "thank you". we should have vietnamese fluency checked off of our list by the end of the trip, easy. actually, if i can get "hello" and "good-bye" down by next week, i will consider myself a linguistic prodigy. i had never really stopped to think about what a language with six different tonal inflections for each vowel means in reality. we can be as earnest as we'd like, but it sure ain't pretty.

on the road

2007-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

i have arrived in davis, CA after two days of driving. i left seattle on thursday morning to get down to portland to hang out with anne and her SO chris. on friday, i embarked on the butt-numbing portion of my trip from portland to davis, which clocked in at just under 11 hours with a pee break, two refueling stops, and a little tour of the ice cream options of ashland, OR.

perhaps the most noteworthy part of my trip is the nature of the two street signs in encountered when i crossed the border from oregon to california. as soon as you cross the border there is a sign that is probably about 4 sentences and ten lines long that greets you. i should mention that this is along the "non-scenic" highway route on I-5. though this route actually proved to be stunning, the point is that traffic moves at a swift pace of 70-75 mph. how much can the human eye register of a 4 sentence long sign at that speed? not so much. i know that there is something having to do with agricultural goods and registering or paying (or something like that) that is supposed to happen when you enter california. i was traveling with a tofurkey sandwich with lettuce on it and a bunch of strawberries, so i was probably breaking the law. my thought was that they should post multiple signs, with one sentence per, to give the folks cruising by a chance to understand what it supposed to happen if they've got coolers full of fruits and veggies with them. with my new degree in public policy, i no longer can just complain. i have to come up with workable solutions that will never make it to the ears of decision makers.

the second sign was more terse, and far more disturbing. most of the drive here was very mountainous, with lots of huge elevation gains and descents. just before my first descent in california, i saw signs instructing "brakeless trucks" to use the left lane or some such insanity. i was less concerned with what these trucks were supposed to do, and more concerned with the fact that there were trucks that are casually referred to as "brakeless" potentially barreling down these mountains all around me. it makes my heart race just thinking about it.

the incredible scenery of mt. shasta, lake shasta, various national forests, and the endless farmland north of davis soon distracted me from such concerns. but it does seem that arnie could use an evans MPA or two on the DOT's road sign committee.

Nathalie Jones, MPA

2007-06-10T22:11:00.002-07:00

I graduated on Friday. The two years in my graduate program were simultaneously stressful, exhausting, fulfilling, and so much fun.

At our post-graduation party, my friend Lynda put it well when she said that the incredible people we got to meet were an unexpected bonus of going back to graduate school.

For the first year of school, I assumed a serious, studious role. But I was plotting. I was strategizing and figuring out who my people were... and I found them. Above: Nubia, Subarna, Lynda, me, Andrea and Leslie, on the steps of our beloved Parrington Hall. These ladies were a huge part of what made it all worth it... they're smart, inspiring, and hilarious. So along with my shiny new degree, I got some wonderful friends. I am eager to see what the future holds in store for each of us. Hopefully plenty more games of catchphrase and parties around the karaoke machine.

6 more weeks

2007-04-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

well, it could just be the caffeine going to my head, but at 5:06pm on april 21 i am very excited about my degree project (sort of like a thesis for the professional degree types). i think i am finally out of what our instructor keeps calling the "groan zone" and it is all starting to make sense.

it's probably the caffeine.

the anti-climax

2007-04-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

i am avoiding my reading on various statistical concepts that sound less than thrilling, among them the before-after estimator and the matching method. i admit that.

what i am not doing is thinking of something clever to kick off the countdown to graduation. i - with many others - am seven class weeks away from finishing my master's degree. and i have a sneaking suspicion that graduation is going to feel absolutely anti-climactic, so a countdown is an (possible misguided, procrastination-driven) attempt to make the whole anticipation of it a little more exciting. so, i ask you, my fellow near- graduate school graduates, what are things appropriate to a countdown? favorite moments of the past year and a half or so is fun but predictable. and, given my short memory, would have to be the chair L-hold competition and the drunken intensity and fervor for which it was responsible. other ideas? anyone with any bright ideas is welcome to share them in the comments section. because we will all have an insatiable need for procrastination material over the next seven weeks. let's face it.

on another note, brendan just brought some fungal growth floating in brown water over to show me. apparently he is embarking on a liquid experiment of sorts that, when ingested, will make us "the healthiest people in the world". we'll see. life as the girlfriend of a SNAG can be trying.

25 becomes 27

2006-10-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

the bus from my new house has proved to be a very easy adjustment. mostly because i take the same bus i used to take, just pick it up a dozen blocks or so further south. and the walk to the bus stop is even better than my old one, since i no longer have to plunge down into a valley and then up the steep other side to get to my waiting place.

my bright idea to try another line, however, caused some unexpected difficulty.

after having a drink at the end of the day on thursday with some school friends, i found myself waiting at the bus stop in the u-district, catching up with a classmate i ran into there who had spent her summer on the other population leadership program internship in pakistan. we swapped summer stories and finally realized we were both waiting for the same bus -- my usual bus, the trusty 48. she mentioned that she had just seen it go by, so it would probably be awhile. well, soon enough the 25 pulled up. i knew about the 25 - i used to take the 27 from my old house to work, and once the 27 goes through downtown and starts heading towards the u-district, it becomes the 25. since my old house is pretty durn close to my new house, i was struck with the brilliant idea that maybe i could take this here bus number 25. to be sure, i asked the driver if the 25 becomes the 27 and if he goes down MLK. he seemed slightly confused but responded that he goes yesler to MLK. great, that was the answer i was hoping for. so i hopped on and settled in for a little through-downtown adventure.

things got interesting (you have to trust me on this) when we actually got to MLK. because the bus did not go down MLK, as anticipated, but rather crossed MLK. i just sat tight, thinking he must do some loopty loos through leschi before popping out on the south end of MLK to head back north, conveniently dropping me right by my house. we did plenty of loopty loos, and i was still waiting expectantly when i looked around to see i was the only person on the bus, and the driver pulled up to a stop and stopped. the end of the line! yay! he asked me if i was lost. i bitterly responded that i had been under the impression that this bus goes DOWN - not ACROSS - MLK. he said, oh no. i crossed MLK awhile back when we were on yesler. yes, i realize that, i said, but i thought maybe you would loop around back to MLK because i needed MLK but much further south. oh, i'm sorry, but no i don't go down MLK at all.

what's more is that the driver found it incomprehensible that i might walk from where we were. so i'm essentially being held hostage on a parked bus on the residential streets of leschi. i was sitting there, thinking the situation through when the driver offered me some of his chicken dinner. i thought that was nice. but i politely declined. it then occurred to me that in all likelihood, he would probably be going back using the exact route we just came on, which, as i have indicated, would not get me where i wanted to go. so i asked about this, and sure enough he would be exactly retracing his steps, but told me that i could get off at MLK and then take another line that goes down MLK. at this point - i forgot to mention that the pint of beer was making itself known and so a certain urgency was also in play - i didn't have the patience for such a complicated plan, so i assured the driver i could walk from where we were, that i was familiar with the neighborhood, blah blah blah. so i took a little walking tour of the area around I-90, walked through the I-90 tunnel, which is so much longer than it has ever seemed on a bike, and made it in the door just as my bladder was about to explode.

moral of the story: sudden brilliant ideas involving public transportation that seem too good to be true are indeed too good to be true. always.

the minus five, tim seely and a very shy woman i met in france.

2006-09-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

tonight i was reintroduced to the seattle music scene. my very dear friend anne, who is visiting seattle from her new home in portland, and i went to see a local fave, tim seely, play at the crocodile cafe. she also knew another of the bands that was playing, and the third band, the she bee gees, would be new to both of us.

we got there on the early side, so we had a couple of drinks at the bar. while we were sipping and chatting, i noticed a woman who was unmistakably from our study abroad program in france. the interesting thing about having studied abroad through the university of minnesota in montpellier, france seven years ago is that there was a program through the university of washington also in montpellier. that means that on occasion i will see folks around seattle who i don't necessarily know, but i do recognize from my year in the south of france. tonight was one such occasion. ellen was in all of my grammar classes that year. she always seemed very mysterious and cool to me. but she also seemed very shy and quite demure, so i never got to know her at all. so to see her out on the town whooping it up - in a miniskirt no less - was a bit of a surprise. i pointed her out to anne (we studied abroad on the same program) and we moved on with our conversation.

when we went into the room where the bands played, another surprise was in store. who was in the she bee gees - an all female bee gees cover band - but shy, demure ellen herself? i have to say that, despite my surprise at seeing her up on stage playing bass and singing back-up, her on stage persona was not unlike the one she displayed in grammar class all those years ago. a little self-conscious, a little unsure, and certainly a bit out of place rocking out to bee gees covers.

the next installment of the evening was the minus five. i didn't know much about them before tonight besides the fact that one of the rotating members is peter buck, of my very very favorite band from my middle and high school years, R.E.M. we're talking a situation where i would buy any 30 dollar import i could get my hands on, even if all of the songs on it were ones i already had, just because it was recorded at a different venue. it was a sick and very costly obsession. the object of my R.E.M. affection has always been michael stipe who i stand by as the sexiest man alive, but as of tonight i have seen peter buck in a new light. i can't disassociate him from his airplane rage history, but it was pretty fun to see a bunch of middle aged plus dudes rocking out for a crowd that was just as middle aged.

when tim seely came on, a new definition of middle age emerged. anne and i bopped a long to a few songs, then went to find a seat because our legs were tired and it was approaching 1am. as we sat and looked around us, we were baffled by the frat boy and sorority girls who had taken the place over. as our aching legs throbbed we glanced down at our sneakers glowing under the black light and decided it was time to go.

so it was a night of old acquaintances and a lesson that age really is in the eye of the beholder. i am going to take my old bones to bed... i've got a 9am move with a 17 foot uhaul ahead of me tomorrow.

home again

2006-09-14T12:22:00.001-07:00

i rolled back into the spruce street abode yesterday afternoon, after a long day of travelling that was not helped by grumpy united airlines employees and jerky security people. i had to give away a bottle of duty-free tequila en route (the duty free shop lady in mexico city managed to convince me that duty free liquids were A-OK) which made me a very bitter traveler, but it was a relief to be home nonetheless.

it feels a bit like i have been gone forever, and a lot like i was gone for about two weeks. a strange sensation, but still a relatively easy transition.

the water here smells strongly of chlorine, traffic is far more orderly than it seemed before, and three months free from the wrath of telemarketers was so much sweeter than i ever took the time to notice. other than that, it's life as usual.

hasta luego, GIRE

2006-09-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

i am about to leave the office and head to lunch with jennifer. i am sorry to say that my last day was increasingly painful, as it was spent at an all day seminar on sexuality and citizenship. a very interesting topic with incredible potential, indeed. in actuality, though, the seminar was transformed before our eyes into a room full of people who like to talk a lot, about the exact same ideas over and over again, without stopping. so it was an excrutiating four hours or so, and jennifer and i opted to not stick around for the after-lunch session. wise move, ladies.

i am happy to say that my second to last day is a brighter picture. they had a little party with tamales and homemade atole, which is a hot drink that i had only had once before and had reminded me a bit of snot, but this time around - with elba's chocolate version - i was pleasantly surprised. so we feasted and jennifer and menny, the executive director, said some kind words about my efforts and efficiency and i got to say my final good-byes to everyone. menny attempted to get me to say a few words, but in a room of 15+ spanish-speaking people i froze, and put my thoughts in a pressure-free email to the whole office instead. i had finished all of my work before brendan came to visit, so the afternoon was spent working away on a job application and piddling around on the internet. it has been nice to wrap things up at such a relaxed pace. it seems that in the past i have always left jobs in a whirl of panicked chaos.

so i am off now with jennifer to eat my last round of quesadillas at the coyoacán market, and then start thinking about how to spend my last few hours. i have to get up at 4am tomorrow, so it is not even worth it to try and get a decent night's sleep... i'll probably stay up late packing since 3 of my 5 roommates will be working away on research papers anyway, and they are not exactly the quietest people i have ever met. the weather is decent, so i'll probably just stroll around coyoacán, take some last photos, and try and fix it in my memory. it has been an incredible ride over the past three months, but i am ready to go back to my comfortable little life in seattle.

it will be interesting to see how my impressions of things at home have changed, if at all. not much time has passed, but it seems like there is so much that will be different in seattle from how it was when i left in june.

and after three months of wetting my pants while riding in mexico city taxis, i mostly can't stop thinking about what a calm car passenger i am set to become.

winding down

2006-09-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

it's my last weekend day in mexico city. i have two more days of work, and then it's off to the airport at 4am on wednesday morning. ouch. brendan left yesterday afternoon, and dang did we have fun. aside from a torrential downpour our second night in guanajuato, the weather cooperated, and i got to show him some of my old favorites and experience a bunch of new things together.

the last night in mexico city was probably the highlight. we got back from guanajuato in the early evening. the 5 hour bus ride was a piece of cake, mostly because the buses in mexico blow anything greyhound could ever hope for out of the water, in terms of both general comfort and amenities. we got served a drink and a lunchibon croissant sandwich, which quickly took its place at the top of our favorite mexican junk foods list, and were treated to two more movies. as you'll recall, the movies en route to guanajuato left something to be desired, so we were sure we had nowhere to go but up. WRONG! the first movie was something hideous with steven seagal and a lot of shooting and blood. when i went to puebla with my parents, we were treated to hotel rwanda. i don't know who makes the movie decisions for these busline companies, but they might want to try something a little lighter and more family friendly. i will say, though, that we were pleasantly suprised - shocked, actually - at the second movie selection on our return trip. a movie that we had never heard of called heights, that stars meryl streep and a lot of good looking twenty-something hipsters. highly recommended, though we don't know how it turns out. they don't time the movie viewing to the length of the journey, so when we rolled into mexico city's north bus terminal, we probably had another 20 minutes to go. i can't decide if seeing a movie - even a good one - in such circumstances is worth anything at all.

so, frustrated by not knowing how it all of the drama turns out and back in mexico city, we cleaned ourselves off back at the hotel milan in the roma, the same place we had stayed before going to guanajuato. we had decided to have a date night, with a fancy restaurant followed by either mariachis at plaza garibaldi, or a dance club in our neighborhood where we could watch people shake their latin booties without having to necessarily participate. we ate at a wine/tapas bar sort of restaurant... shared a bottle of red and did a main course, a dessert and a cappucino to help us power through our night. we decided to forego garibaldi, since i had been there a couple of times and we were both kind of into the idea of staying near the hotel and watching the dancing population of mexico city do their thing.

we headed to gran leon, which couldn't have been a better choice. the guidebook described it as a less hip option than mama rumba across the street. hip it was not, but that's why we liked it. we each had a cup of tequila, brendan sipping his, me choking mine down. i don't think i will ever be able to drink the stuff as though it were a little glass of coca cola. and i'm okay with that. we were treated to two different live bands... one with older poofy haired men and one woman, and one that was a bunch of good-looking young guys wearing matching hawaiian shirts. we much preferred the second group, and i think you can understand why... their lead man was a trip and we were captivated by the guy who had apparently been hired just to show off his dance moves (who also - for the st. mary's crew - in my opinion bears a striking resemblance to matt of matt and dan). the music was great, and the dancing was mostly unbelievable. we sat in awe, vowing to start on those salsa lessons we have talked about for so long.

guanajuato had given us a much needed reprieve from all that is mexico city. we were taken by its small size, its sun and its familiar feel... its colonial architecture and layout felt thoroughly european. we spent two days walking its handful of streets many times over, and got to know its nooks and crannies pretty well. we made the requisite visit to the mummy museum, which fulfilled any disturbing expectations we had. the deal with the mummies of guanajuato is this: there is a public cemetary, where there is limited space for bodies. so, if you wish to maintain your loved one's burial spot, you have to pay occaisional fees. if you don't pay, the body of your loved one is exhumed and cremated. the crazy thing, though, is that the soil in guanajuato is apparently freakishly rich in the minerals required to preserve dead bodies. so those that were disinterred and looking especially intact have been put on display at the mummy museum. we saw over a hundred corpses, which mostly looked like they were made out of paper maché, but that paper maché was actually dead but preserved skin. some of them still had hair in the usual places, and at least one had eyes that were open and there. we even saw what looked like it must have a been a premature baby that had died, and bore the proudly displayed distinction of being the smallest mummy in the world. and all of this just before lunch! it was interesting, but i don't think i will ever again feel the need to see mummies if the opportunity presents itself. it struck me as a once is enough sort of proposition.

brendan has great (mummy-free) pics of our trip on his fancy google photo site. the photos include a couple of shots of the TV from the state of the union address debacle that had me so transfixed. the first photo is of the unfortunate soul who was left to bring the whole thing to order, with no success. the second shows members of the PRD who took over the whole stage, so as to prevent fox from taking the podium to give his address.

not much has changed since calderón was declared the president-elect last week. the tent cities haven't moved, and probably won't anytime soon. any changes will probably come after independence day, on september 15th, since the lefties are planning a september 16th convention of sorts to figure out what they are going to do in terms of the continued civil disobedience. i have to say that i am relieved i will be gone before then. last time i talked to my dad on the phone, the first thing he said was "has there been a revolution yet?" the interesting part is that he was less than half kidding.

as my days here come to a close, i have mixed feelings. i am looking forward to going back to seattle and seeing my friends and making the major transition of moving in with brendan at the end of september. i am crossing my fingers for some nice weather before the seattle grey sets in. i was hoping that my spanish would be a little further along than it actually is after three months, so in some ways i wish i had more time. i also didn't get to travel outside of the city as much as i had hoped, but there's not a whole lot i can do about widespread civil unrest in oaxaca, is there? im trying to see all of that reasons to return. it has been a whirlwind of an experience, and better than i could have ever hoped for. there is so much in this city to be appreciated and savored. i'll be back.

blogging machine

2006-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

another day, another blog post. this is evidence of what happens when i am traipsing around mexico with my internet-loving boyfriend.

this installment comes from guanajuato, home of vicente fox and the birthplace of diego rivera. it is an unbelievably picturesque town about 5 hours north of mexico city. we hopped on a bus today at 10:30 and got in a couple of hours ago. we dumped our stuff in a huge but dingy hotel room and have since been exploring the nooks and crannies of this beautiful little spot in the mountains of central mexico. it didn't take long for that exploring to lead us to an 8 peso per hour internet spot. the best part of this whole excursion is that my dreams of hot, sunny weather are coming true right before my eyes. when we arrived, it must have been in the low 80s. my body has rarely experienced such warmth in the past 3 months, and good god, it's doing the trick. the high altitude means it's cooling down quickly as we head into the evening hours, but we're hoping to enjoy a glass of wine or a cup of tequila (brendan was happily initiated to mexico's national liquor, drunken straight, when we were out with jennifer and miguel last night) on a sunny patio somewhere.

the trip up was really pretty, though the blaring sounds of a dubbed boxing movie (cinderella man) followed by a subtitled movie about nascar (something horrible with a name not worth remembering, starring sylvester stallone) took away from the scenery a bit. as did the group of teenage boys sitting behind us, who mainly amused themselves by talking loudly and burping just as loudly. i was prepared for it to devolve into farting contests, but fortunately we never got there. so we got to see a bit of the rural parts of the country, with lots of corn fields and plenty of calderón signs. a reminder of the news from yesterday that calderón was declared the official victor in the presidential election. we all saw it coming, though what remains to be seen is what lopez obrador does about the tent cities all over mexico city, which continue to snag traffic, and obviously - at this point - won't result in the vote by vote recount he and his supporters were demanding. if nothing else, it has been an interesting summer. as i said to jennifer last night, when i was preparing myself for my mexican adventure in early june i was excited to see what being here for a presidential election would hold in store. little did i know that it may well be the beginnings of the 21st century's mexican revolution.

brendan is done at this computer, and has wandered off to take photos of this picture-perfect town, so i suppose i should follow suit.

i'm now officially into my last week here... more on that and much else later.

the anti-state of the union

2006-09-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

the visit with brendan moves merrily along... though i just have a few minutes to write. we found an internet spot near our hotel with internet for 35 cents per half hour. we certainly cannot argue with that, but are off to relax with our multilingual cable TV options, after a long day of sight seeing, and before we meet jennifer and miguel for dinner later this evening.

the state of the union drama didn't quite live up to the talk as far as the airport run was concerned. in fact, there was less traffic than there was the friday afternoon when my girlfriends got into town a few weeks ago. i guess all of the hoopla and warnings of chaos kept people holed up at home. we got to our hotel easily, thanks to our very grumpy PRD-supporting cab driver. the only evidence we even saw of the protests was a string of riot gear outfitted cops standing on an overpass that we drove under... our driver emphatically showed them his middle digit. brendan thinks he was snarky with us since we were gabbing in the back seat while he was trying to listen to an empassioned AMLO speech on the radio. probably so.

we did catch a glimpse of the whole event on tv later that night... i saw a PRI congresswoman make her address, and was followed by a PRD senator. during his talk, all of the PRD folks - from the senate and house, as far as i could tell - rushed the podium and took their places, refusing to budge in a show of adamant solidarity with lopez obrador, their man of the moment. it was really pretty incredible. a number of these men (and women, presumably, though i don't recall seeing any among the PRD crew) stood up there - at the front of what is equivalent to our capitol building - with large signs that displayed a picture of vicente fox, with TRAITOR in big bold letters underneath. i couldn't stop thinking about our own divisive politics, and how this would never, ever go down. it somehow seems to me to demonstrate how all of our precious american freedoms were intended... though never realized to this degree, or at least in such a context.

when fox eventually arrived, he submitted a statement in writing, pointing out that in accordance with the constitution such circumstances were not appropriate for giving a state of the union address, so he would not give the address. and so the state of the union address evening came and went, with no appearance from the president of the country. and i had misunderstood jennifer's explanation leading up to friday evening... the idea was not to protect fox from threats of physical harm - that was how i had understood it - but rather the intent from the beginning was to physically prevent fox from taking the podium. here, i think we can say, mission accomplished.

my minutes are ticking away, so i will get to the more tourist details of the past few days later. we just filled our tummies with pricey food at a gentlemen's club style cantina. lots of button-down shirts and ties, with older men playing rounds of dominoes. my arrival made the number of women in the room four. an experience indeed, and just one of many. the others will come later. tomorrow we are off to guanajuato, where we will breath clean air and soak up the sun. i cannot go back to a september in seattle feeling like i never really got a dose of summer. guanajuato should fix that.

keeping things interesting

2006-09-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

the president gives his annual state of the union every september 1st. today is september 1st. brendan is flying into mexico city this afternoon. the airport is in the vicinity of the legislative building where vicente fox will give his address at 7pm. a lot of people are really miffed with vicente fox right now. this is not good.

there has been ample talk about how the protests surrounding tonight's state of the union address are going to be the biggest of fox's six years in office. a notice went out to GIRE staff earlier this week, saying that anyone who lives in that part of the city (the northeast) could plan to not come in at all today, or leave early, if they were worried about not being able to get home. a bunch of metro stops are closed and as far as i can gather most of the major streets in the general vicinity of where the address will be given are blocked off.

how, then, will we manage to get from the aiport to our hotel? that, my friends, i cannot tell you. we will have to wait and see.

my theory is that there have to be still be taxis running from the aiport. there have to be. brendan cannot be the only person flying into the second biggest city in the world on this fateful day. and the up-side of airport taxis is that you pay before you get in. so worst case scenario, we sit in a taxi for 5 or more hours in an attempt to travel about 10 miles. but at least we still only pay 120 pesos or so. we could attempt to take the metro, but your not allowed to bring luggage on the metro, and will every thoroughfare closed, i am guessing it will be overrun and there probably wouldn't even be room for his luggage. i am taking the metro to the aiport to meet him, and i am bracing myself even for that.

it will be interesting to see what unfolds tonight... in terms of the country's political context as well as my own personal transportation dilemma. jennifer has heard that fox won't even take the podium to make his address since there are serious concerns about his physical well-being. yikes. i have always kind of wondered what the 2000 inauguration protests would have been like... this is probably the closest i'll ever come.

the drama with lopez obrador continues. i have to say that he is starting to sound a little batty. politically, he still has my support, but his recent proclamation that if calderon is declared the president-elect on the september 6th deadline, there will be two president, with himself as the president of civil disobedience...

we just got word of the increasing chaos so i am off to the airport on short notice. will finish my thoughts later.

our weekend, calorically speaking

2006-08-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

recap: mexico city, august 18-21.

in thinking back on my weekend with celene, anne and abbe, the food and drink in which we liberally partook seem to define most of our time spent together. we consistently relied on a just-in-case plan B for food options since the places i most wanted to take them for good mexican eats keep strange hours. well, not strange, but mexican. and i still haven't totally adjusted to the fact that it can be quite a challenge to find something tasty to eat anytime after 5pm, since mexicans apparently subsist only on hot chocolate, corn on the cob, and churros (glorified - but justifiably so - donut sticks) in the evening hours.

the run down of what we ate and drank serves as a pretty good starting point to paint a pretty thorough picture of all that we did with three days in the mexican capital.

i went to meet the girls at the mexico city airport on friday afternoon. my plan to find celene, in from chicago, at the freedom restaurant worked perfectly, though she was left to read her book for awhile since i was an hour late... my morning meeting ran late and taking the metro to the airport (three different trains!) was an even slower prospect that i had anticipated. but we settled in at the restaurant to await anne and abbe, who would arrive a couple of hours later from seattle.

we shared a few victoria beers and ate really, really junky and totally un-mexican nachos that were really gooey and good. anne and abbe found us there and joined us with for aztec soup and desperately needed bottled water. we then found a really expensive - but safe - cab to coyoacan, and after suffering through some friday evening traffic, arrived at my house to unload bags and relax for a few minutes. we were just lounging around - conchita had engineered a complicated furniture removal/cot-corner situation in my room to fit all of us, nice and cozy - when the golden girl herself came in to inquire about our weekend plans and suggest that i take them out to show them around... since when she is on vacation, the last thing she likes to do is stay cooped up, not seeing anything. now that's an idea...

so we headed out, and before long found ourselves seeking out - surprise! - somewhere to eat. we stuck with a taco restaurant i had been to with my sister - since neither of us got violently ill, i figured they had earned my repeat business - and sipped mango agua fresca alongside various types of tacos - abbe and anne both tried two mexico city specialities, huitlacoche (for better or worse, corn mold) and squash flower - and celene orded up a yummy looking huarache. i still haven't fully understood what those are, but the name means "sandal" which appeals to me for some reason. while we were at dinner, it started doing the usual evening downpour thing, so we stayed put and got caught up on everything that has been going on this summer... anne's upcoming move to portland, celene's newlywed-dom and abbe's dating escapades.

when the rain started to let up we stopped at cafe jarocho... my usual coffee spot and a coyoacan institution... for a night cap of cinnamony hot chocolate. we hit the sack soon after, since the ladies had been up since 3am and 5am, and, well, i am always ready for bed. we had planned an excursion for the next day for teotihuacan, which meant a relatively early morning and we all wanted to be well rested for climbing those pyramids.

the next day, we got ourselvess some mochas and hot tea from another of coyoacan's jarocho spots. ate a breakfast of cereal, yogurt and fruit, and then ordered up some sandwiches to take on the road - my parents, sister and i had learned a painful lesson in the quality and prices of food available at teotihuacan - and waited for our cab driver to come get us... there was some confusion about my address, since it was going to be a driver that i hadn't had before coming to get us (i had used this company a lot when my family was here), but i called to clarify and soon enough an unmarked car came peeling down my one-way street the wrong way. i suspected that it was our cab, and indeed it was. that sure bodes well!

and it was indeed a taste of things to come, as we almost lost our lives a number of times as we made our way through mexico city, from south to north before getting on the highway to teotihuacan. we somehow arrived there in one piece - though anne pointed out that after riding in mexico city cabs she now understands why she saw an inordinate number of people in neck braces here - and got a presentation (briefer than the one i got with my parents, who presumably had more money to spend on the over-priced souvenirs at the conclusion of the presentations than our mid-20s crew) on the wonders of the agave plant, the carving of obsidian and how blankets are woven on a loom... we finished it off with the requisite taste of pulque and tequila and went on our way to climb the pyramids. we were there on the early side, and did our best to beat the crowds to the pyramid of the sun -- we made it to the top (with some difficulty) and then scrambled up the smaller pyramid of the moon, no problem.

we strapped ourselves in for another heart-racing ride back to mexico city. our driver had a serious weight problem, and did a lot of heavy breathing, and it turns out that we were all convinced he might drop dead at the wheel from a heart attack and/or TB complication at any moment. after fighting lots of city traffic, we were very happy to be back on solid ground when he dropped us at san angel. we browsed around the saturday market, grabbed anne's first mango of the weekend, and then started on the scenic walk back to coyoacan.

we headed to the market, with visions of quesadillas dancing in our heads, but no such luck... they were shutting down for the day so we gorged ourselves on ceviche, tuna, chicken and crab leg tostadas, pinapple and guava agua fresca and fresh-squeezed orange juice, as fuel for our one and only big night out. we got ready to head to plaza garibaldi, the square just north of the historic center famed for being the birthplace of mariachi music, and grabbed a cab to whisk us there. we hit up a (lemon-lime soda) squirt-infused margarita booth first thing, and made better beverage decisions as the night wore on. we had our share of tequila and beer - served ingenously from a cup with the rim rubbed with lime - with quesadillas and corn on the cob mixed in for good blood alcohol level measure. we called a cab around 2:30 and were out cold by about 4am... though celene was sure to get in a little early dawn crossword-ing first.

we were up and out by about noon the next day... too late for my tamale man, but in plenty of time for another round of 9 peso jarocho mochas and lattes, and waiting for an hour or more to be served at the quesadilla place at the market that we had tried the day before. the wait was long and arduous, but dang did the squash flower, hot pepper, sausage and potato, quesadillas taste good. with our mouths suitably on fire from the innocuous-looking peppers, we set off for chapultepec park and its castle. we took the metro and then settled into a long climb to the castle up on the hill, where we learned a little something about mexico's history and took in some nice views over mexico city... it was an unusually clear day which i have learned to take full advantage of, since they are few and far between.

we hydrated ourselves with water, apple soda and coke afterwards and then hopped back on the metro to check out the historic center. it was a sunday, and there are still AMLO supporter tents set up everywhere, and the place was dead. it felt like a ghost town... but we popped into zara - a vice i first discovered in france with celene and anne - for a little shopping and then walked through the alameda park to get back on the metro and head home.

back at my house, it started to - ! - rain, so we snacked on some chips and guacamole while we waited it out. eventually it let up, so we strolled around coyoacan's weekend market so the ladies could stock up on some goodies to take back. we ended the night with more aztec soup, praise-worthy margaritas (sans squirt) and cajeta-filled churros and some dessert that i think is called ponche that i had always assumed to be pork rinds in a different form (which, in general, is a pretty safe assumption here) but celene informed me otherwise. high on sugar and strong margaritas, we had an extensive cot-based photo shoot back at my house and then turned in.

celene was up and out by 5am, with anne, abbe and i finally getting some coveted tamales from coyoacan's best tamale man before heading into the city for a last souvenir stop at a big craft market called la ciudadela. we topped off our shopping trip with mango and papaya and then went back to coyoacan. they got there things together, and were off before i knew it.

a very full weekend, with very full bellies. it seems appropriate that when i told me coworker mariana about our weekend in our language exchange last week, at the end of it her response was something along the lines of "if nothing else, it certainly sounds like you ate and drank well." i guess she's right.

blackout

2006-08-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

have you ever been sitting in an internet cafe, in an urban area, at night, when the power went out? i have. and i was in the middle of my lengthy recap of my weekend spent with my lady friends. with no draft saved. so now i am annoyed and convinced the computer gods are against me, so will save it for later.

the electricity situation here has become unpredictable at best... the power goes out so regularly that, well, at this point it's almost predictable in that way. this evening, following a typically nasty storm, the lights at my house were flickering on and off before going off entirely. rather than sit at home in the dark, i headed to coyoacán's plaza, convinced that the weekend market and all of the businesses in the center part of town would be putting their generators to the test. and indeed they were... you would never even have known the power was out. maybe the generators stole all the juice, thus the dramatic blackout. everything shut down for a few dramatic moments. i looked out the front of my internet spot and couldn't see a thing aside from a car's headlights. it was pretty surreal and i was transported back to the scariest ghost story moments of the sleepovers of my youth. for second, i thought it was pretty neat... until i realized that my lovingly crafted post was lost to cyberspace forever. so i will start again tomorrow.

until then, buenas noches.

a little of everything

2006-08-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

this evening, mother nature has decided to stick with her tried and true ritual and pour rain on my head and scream thunder in my ear. so i find myself cozied up at my usual internet cafe to upload my photos on flickr. i am sorry to say, but despite alfredo's best intentions, the fancy file sharing/internet loading plan just ain't panning out. i'm okay with it, and it has even left me to experiment with the upper limitations of my dingy little computer spot. i have multiple flickr pages open and uploading, so an explosion could spice things up at any moment.

i have had an interesting week and a half or so. it was very mellow and meditative/occaisionally lonely, with my crazy new roommates to keep me entertained intermittently, for awhile before three of my closest girlfriends paid me a visit south of the border over the past weekend. anne, celene, abbe and i painted the town red and then some... my feeble blogging efforts of late leave me with a momentous task, but we'll take it a little at a time.

first, under the influence of my young and wild roommates and their innocent-seeming accomplices, i drank one of these. that's all it took to remind me that i am elderly in comparison to these squirts, and that amount (called a "yarda"... and it isn't too far off from what you would imagine a cubic yard to be) of any sort of alcoholic beverage - even unrefrigerated apple cider - should never be made to enter my system. it made for a fun saturday night and a completely useless sunday. they have been friendly in inviting me along when they go out and i was happy to be included... they have a pretty tight-knit crew in their study abroad program - all from UC campuses - and it was fun to get to know some more of them. unfortunately the evening also included an overzealous pursuit from a mexican suitor who first bought me my second (!) yarda, and showed us around san ángel for the rest of the evening. i felt comfortable since he clearly understood my unavailability... but he then persisted to the point of showing up at my front door a few evenings later (we had shared a cab at the end of the night on saturday, which none of us - admittedly - thought twice about)... eventually i made my point understood and thus have had another lesson in just how aggressive mexican men can be. it will be nice to go out with brendan at my side, since out of sight out my mind seems to be the philosophy that rules the courtship day in these parts.

the following week was pretty low key. i had recently discovered the cineplex within walking distance of my house that plays lots of indie and foreign movies and was starting to gobble up anything in the english language that i could get my hands on. so i checked out thank you for smoking (pretty good, overall) and tarnation (horrible, which i knew it would be but it has had a sort of irresistable masochistic appeal for me since i first heard of it). so i passed the time waiting for my girls to come visit with thoughts of the tobacco industry and families troubled by endless histories of severe mental illness. the worst part of suffering through tarnation was that as the credits rolled, i was reminded that the homecoming queen (and cousin of my best friend growing up) of my very own alma mater had a bit part in it. i had read about it somewhere, but had forgotten about it until i saw her name rolled up the black screen as pleasant indie rock played. too late though... i won't go through it again, even for the chance to confirm a by-association brush with fame.

a small boy just came up and tried to sell me gum. that happens all of the time in this cafe, but it is usually a different boy, younger and - harsh, i know - cuter. the boy tonight stayed and stared at my screen for what seemed like an eternity. i almost wanted to start reading it to him as a bedtime story, he was so transfixed. but then he was excorted out. that never happens to his younger/cuter counterpart. i found it to be kind of harsh since he wasn't bothering me. but i also wasn't going to buy gum, so maybe he was forced to move onto a more lucrative locale. speaking of gum, i went to two meetings of the pro-choice alliance after work today... at one, one of the E.D.'s who was there started passing around gum that she had brought back from a meeting in new york... there was quite a to-do over a jumbo pack of juicy fruit. and it finally registered that all kinds of gum here are called chiclets. as in "chiclets", as far as i can tell, is the word for gum. so these were juicy fruit chiclets. i can't quite wrap my mind around it.

i would like to do the weekend visit justice, and i really have to pee, so i will save those details for a later date. i got a little camera happy at times, so flickr gives the gist in pictures.

i leave three weeks from tomorrow which has my head in a bit of a spin. i cannot wait for brendan's visit at the end of next week, but the thought of all that awaits in seattle upon my return is a little overwhelming. a probable move ending in cohabitation with b, finding a job, start of classes, leaving mexico city's rainy season just in time for seattle's rainy season (if 8 months counts as a season). at the very least, seattle's endless thai food options and meals without a tortilla anywhere in sight promise to help me readjust in comfort.

richter scale

2006-08-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

i have been in the on-again, off-again habit of stopping at the little coffee stand by my house on my way to work to caffeinate with a hot, cinnamon-y mocha. my pathetically weak tolerance for caffeine has not changed even with this habit, so it reliably has me flying high by 10am. sometimes i have trouble falling asleep at night when i have one, so recently i have laid off a bit, but treated myself this morning... it's friday, afterall. and my to do list at work has diminished substantially so i thought a little caffeine buzz might keep my mind and nerves occupied.

i got in this morning and was sipping and surfing, checking in on friday's news on the washington post, the seattle times, and la jornada. just as i was catching up on the intricacies of the latest airplane ban on shampoo/toothpaste/bottled water, and the semi-encouraging results of the presidential vote recount thus far, i started to feel a little funny, and was worried that the mocha was having even more of an effect than i bargained for.

on a freaky occaision a few months ago in seattle, i woke up in the middle of the night, went to the bathroom, and promptly passed out. corinne, my dear roommate, came to my rescue just after i came to, when i promptly konked out again. at some point bleary-eyed brendan joined in the fun, got me some juice and a cold washcloth, and i slowly started to feel better. i went to the clinic at school the following week, and after a medical exam that seemed to only skim the surface of possible causes, the doctor assured me that there were no signs of anything serious. ever since then i have been a little nervous that it could happen again. (i guess i will mention that the fainting spell followed a night of several drinks, and very little dinner, but doesn't that take away from the intrigue of it all?)

so when i started to feel a little light-headed this morning, and then started to sense that i was swaying back and forth, the doctor's advice from several months ago came flooding back. i put my head between my knees and hoped for the best. when i sat back up, i felt okay... mostly i was not lying disoriented on the floor, which was the outcome i was hoping most to avoid. i shook it off and vowed to drink a lot of water to try to dilute some of the stimulant that threw me for a loop and would continue to course through my veins for the better part of the rest of the day.

jennifer got into the office soon after, and when she came back upstairs from making her daily cup of tea, she cast some light on the whole situation... the punchline...

it was an earthquake!

the woman who cleans the office, señora mica, asked jennifer if she had felt it - that it had happened about half an hour ago or so - and though jennifer didn't notice it, it certainly helped to explain my extraterrestrial caffeine trip. if i was going to be in mexico city for an earthquake, i'm sure glad it was the type that makes everything in my line of vision sway side-to-side for a few moments, and not of the variety that would make the hefty binders above my desk fall on my head.

and i guess i can keep drinking my beloved mochas. i get a kick out the jitters, and when you factor in shifting tectonic plates, the illusion of low-level hallucinations adds some excitement to my day too.

changes are afoot.

2006-08-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

so, i have started to feel a bit like i have been left to my own devices in this scary place called cyber-space. my optimistic and ever-supportive S.O. has suggested, however, that my strict policy for those who can comment on my blog may be contributing to the recent dearth in feedback and my resulting abandonment complex. i have decided to put his theory, and my own cynicism, to the test.

comments are open once again. i reserve the right to censor anything vaguely to blantantly offensive posted by people i don't know.

so, please, comment away.

oh, and i finally caved and upgraded my flickr account, so check out all that is new and far too organized over that way.

tent city, mexican style

2006-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

those from seattle are very familiar with the heated, ongoing debate that seems to follow the tent city program wherever it goes in our lush, drippy region. residents from any community where the temporary encampment for homeless people has plans to set up shop are consistently up in arms about what a tent city in their community will mean for its image, its crime rates, the safety of its children, among a myriad of other - generally unfounded - concerns. these reactions often get a lot of media play time in and around in seattle, and each time plans for tent city moving to a new area are announced, it begins to seem that we are watching the news on replay.

when politically-motivated tent cities are constructed around the mexican capital, in an effort to cripple the city and the national economy, such media attention - at least internationally - is not as readily available. we are heading into Day 5 of the efforts of lopez obrador and his most committed supporters to get the federal electoral institute to grant the vote-by-vote recount they are demanding. they have set up huge tent cities along one of mexico city's major east-west arteries, and have also taken over most of the historic center, which is the heart of the tourist industry in this bustling metropolis. what surprises me more than the lack of media attention to this dramatically large-scale display of civil disobedience is the fact that no one with the power to stop it appears to be prepared to do so. vicente fox has said they he will only step in to do something about it if requested by the mexico city government. the mayor of mexico city - who took over when lopez obrador had to step down to run for president - is of the same party as lopez obrador - the PRD - and is thus supportive of the effort, and recognizes that his ally's supporters aren't doing anything illegal. it is starting to seem like a distinct possibility that the demonstrations might actually continue until the IFE's september 6th deadline to make their decision - either to grant the vote-by-vote recount, or to declare calderón the president-elect. it's amazing to me really. a country where peaceful demonstrations, that cause no physical harm but do take a toll on the economy and tourist industry of the country, are left to go on their merry way, with no intervention from the federal government. such a foreign - and refreshing - idea.

i got a bird's eye view of the whole ordeal since my parents' hotel was in the historic center. i would emerge from the metro station closest to their hotel to find myself among the demonstrators and their temporary homes on the city's main square, the zócalo. finding my way through to where i could exit to the get myself in the general direction of the hotel was disorienting and overwhelming. i have never seen anything like it, and i probably never will again. and what a week for my family to visit - on top of the constant hyper-stimulation of simply experiencing the city, they got a little taste of political history in the making to boot.

our visit was jam-packed, mostly thanks to the fact that my sister had an ambitious agenda for her stay here, and that when she is on vacation, any need she might normally have for rest and/or recuperation apparently vanishes. in semi-chonicological order, the visit with my family included: a trip to the top of the torre latinoamericana in downtown mexico city - we were lucky enough to get a clear, smog- and rain-free evening and the view of the city and its immensity was unbelievable; lunch and the frida kahlo museum (for them, work for me) in coyoacán; a visit with the cousin of my mom's friend in coyoacán; a day trip on one of mexico's cushy first-class buslines to puebla; a visit to the world-reknowned museum of anthropology in chapultapec park; a night out on the town for my sister and myself that included beers and a little dancing at the mariachi-packed plaza garibaldi and booty shaking at mama rumba in san ángel; a day trip to the basilica of guadalupe, which is a huge deal if you're latino/a and catholic, and then onto the ancient city of teotihuacan; a sunday evening performance of the ballet folklorico in the fine arts palace; some time apart followed by a birthday dinner for my sister's 31st on the patio of a fancy restaurant near my parents' hotel; breakfast at the original sanborn's in the casa azuelejos and then a visit to diego's murals at the secretary of education building. we then saw my sister off, and my parents and i had a late evening dinner at the hotel magestic, overlooking the zócalo and its endless sea of white tents.

as we wrapped up our week of non-stop activity, we took in the scene far below us. and we couldn't help thinking about how such a demonstration would go - or more likely, not go, given the powers that be - in our own country. we were left to soak up the emphatic display of political fervor - along with our last round of tacos and beer, and even chocolate cake, as our little family unit in mexico city - and realize that we would likely never see anything like it again.

mom and dad are gonna be maaaaaaaaaaaad.

2006-07-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

my sister arrived in mexico city on monday afternoon. we have had a great time exploring the city, with me showing her some of my favorite spots and the two of us discovering things that are as new to me as they are to her.

one such place is not too far from my school. and it's a dangerous prospect.

it's a casino.

as is fairly well-known by those in my circle of friends and immediate family members, i have a slightly sordid past with gambling. it dates back to what should have been a more innocent period of my life, pre-pubescence. in reality, i was spending an unhealthy amount of time and money at the claw machines where you waste a lot of quarters trying to maneuver a mechanical claw around any type of cheaply assembled stuffed animal. as i moved into the late elementary and early middle school years, my habits brought me into a new realm of my developing addiction to games of chance. i started hitting the kiddie slot machines at side show pizza and would explode with excitement every time i got an invitation to a birthday party at said locale. by age twelve i was a regular at the our lady of grace church fair, where i would show up to all three days of the annual festival, and sidle up to the craps table with all of my classmates' dads and an assortment of retirees. my allowance sustained my habit in the beginning, and once i was actually employed as a gymnastics teacher at the age of fourteen, the stakes were growing exponentially. i would sometimes win big, as i bounced back and forth between craps and the money wheel, and i still remember the time i took a chance putting my crisp dollar bill on the long-shot 20 dollar bet. the money wheel spun and spun and finally landed on... indeed, the only $20 bill on the entire wheel. sweet winnings. i panicked the year i showed up on a friday evening for the fair's opening day and there were signs everywhere that said you had to be 18 to gamble. fortunately for me, enforcement of this rule was lax at best.

you might see why the casino discovery in mexico city's own condesa district could be problematic. well, it quickly did become problematic when my sister had to go to the bathroom, and the street vendor she asked suggested we go into the casino to use their facilities. it didn't take much convincing to get me to agree to play a little something. they only had slot machines, so my yearning for a craps table and the days of yore was futile. we settled in at machines that creatively combined the games of bingo and lotto. i only played 10 pesos, spaced out over many games, but it didn't take long before i got a double-line on one of my four bingo cards and won 100 pesos. luck was clearly still on my side, so many years later. i claimed to want to play it all away, since i had only put in a dollar to start with and i was having fun. secretly, yet obviously, i was hoping to win another 100. it didn't happen, and i cut myself off when my winnings were gone. my sister had gone to wait for me outside, as her lucky streak was not up to the task that night, and for some reason it wasn't fun for her to watch me - with that crazed look in my eye - as i kept on playing.

it was a thrill and a treat, and i am scared for the days when i go to school just blocks from that shiny, gold-trimmed hall of bright, beeping money machines. when i find myself with time on my hands and no one to stop me.

and i finally understand why, of all of the TV shows that could have been off limits in the jones household growing up, it was the price is right that i absolutely was not allowed to watch.

crepes and waffles

2006-07-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

i am having a lazy sunday after a saturday full of new friends, rich food and hyper-stimulating visuals. yesterday i had the chance to get together with good friends of mike bosworth... eduardo and layla live nearby in san ángel, another beautiful part of mexico city, that is often paired as the counter-part to coyoacán in terms of location and feel, though i thought it was noticably more upscale, with many more tree-lined streets and fancy stores and residents. they picked me up yesterday morning, and i was introduced to layla's sister and 12 year-old niece who were visiting from colombia.

we started the day with a hearty breakfast at sanborn's. sanborn's is a mexican chain of stores/restaurants that seem to be a bit of a catch-all... cd's, jewelry, chocolates and candies, bakery, and lucky for us, saturday brunch. (sanborn's stores are also, incidentally, owned by the man who owns telmex, among dozens of other companies, and is the third richest person in the world, following our own mr. gates and mr. buffett. but don't quote me -- that comes from my spanish classmate who i don't entirely trust, or like for that matter.) i took layla's suggestion of the huevos divorcados, which i had had once before when brendan and i were in mazatlan. i have learned that you can't go too far wrong with eggs, tortillas and *two types of salsa*, and the side of chilaquiles and refried beans didn't hurt either. i took the easy way out and we spoke english all day. their english was quite a bit better than my spanish, and well, i'm kind of lazy... so we got to know each other over breakfast and i was amazed by pamela's (layla's niece) english. they were all marvelling at it as well, and were relieved by the the fact that her private school's hefty price tag seemed to be proving its worth. she is possibly the sweetest 12 year-old i have ever met. very thoughtful and earnest and free (for now) from any of that adolescent garbage that i know wreaked havoc in the jones household as elsewhere. when we were driving around mexico city after breakfast, she gave me a beaded bracelet, since she had two. i want to take her home with me, but i wouldn't be able to afford her tuition.

i got mabye a little glimpse of how any latina woman feels when she is told that she looks so much like salma hyek, or penelope cruz (or insert other famous latin woman of your choice here) when pamela pulled a *cinderella barbie doll* off of the sanborn's shelf and told me "you are like this." i will mark that down as most probably the only time in my life i will be compared to a barbie doll of any sort, much less of the fairy tale variety.

after eduardo drove us all around mexico city - which gave me an even better sense of its size than i had before, since we would seem to leave the city's main central area behind and then emerge alongside a neverending slew of brand new office buildings - we headed to xochimilco. xochimilco is a strange place... one that i had read about and was hoping to make it to... dubbed the "venice of mexico." as was asserted by eduardo when we were preparing to embark on our "gondola" xochimilco, in reality, has absolutely nothing to do with venice. it was still really neat though -- we floated along the waterways for a bit, passing other boats where men and women were selling beer, and potato ships and the ubiquitous pork rinds - at this point, i would swear that the atkins diet staple got its start in mexico city. i took a bunch of photos, which will eventually make their internet debut. kind alfredo at GIRE is still trying to work his magic to get me set up with some sort of reliable system for posting photos.

from xochimilco, we went to a big mall in the south of mexico city to have some lunch and then go to see the new pirates of the caribbean movie. my favorite fact of the day: the restaurant where we ate lunch - crepes and waffles - is a colombian (the name baffles me too) chain of restaurants with just this one spot in all of mexico, and in colombia their policy is to only hire single mothers. there were quite a few men working at the one where we ate, so apparently this policy didn't accompany the restaurant's expansion into mexico. maybe i am being naïve, but this idea seems so simple, but so brilliant, particularly in countries where - thanks to strong religious institutions - family planning policies might be less than progressive. i will step down from my GIRE soapbox now. to me, the idea here gives jobs to those among the people who need them most, and it would seem to create a great support network for women who are in what is bound to be a trying situation. i started envisioning all of these scenarios where it is so much easier to get your coworkers to cover for you and vice versa, and you can come to work and talk about how hard things have been with your teething baby and everyone understands. my little crepes and waffles fantasy land. the food was great too. i have to give a short presentation in my spanish class on tuesday, and the topic will be crepes and waffles. so simple, but so enlightened. i love it.

the movie was just fine too. i am generally not one for action-adventure movies, but i am generally one for orlando bloom, so it all worked out okay. i don't think i have seen johnny depp in a movie since benny and joon (i am conveniently excluding my painful viewing of edward scissorhands, dubbed in spanish, a few weeks ago) so that was a bit of a blast from the past. the bad guys were really bad, and i wondered if pamela was as worried about the potential for nightmares as i was. have you ever seen a man with a face morphed into an octopus? with lots of tentacles, but no nose? you don't want to.

i am getting very excited for the arrival of the jones contingent. my sister gets here tomorrow, and ma and pa follow on wednesday. i stocked my kitchen with delectable fruits and mexican beer in honor of the occaision. i also got some chicken soup just in case montezuma should have the gall to show his face again.

i'm good.

2006-07-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

i was trolling around (my friend and fellow evans student) subarna's blog when i stumbled across some mysterious computer-speak gobbledygook that looked like it had some potential for taking my own blogging efforts to the next level.

look left and feast your eyes on the fruits of my new tech chops.

enjoy... and be warned... the meanderings of scooter and lulu rank among the best procrastination material i have found to date.

do you want me to tell you how many kids you're going to have?

2006-07-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

another week begins anew in mexico city. i am into my fifth week at work, which i somehow find very hard to believe. it's the same confusion i often felt when i was in france in college, where i couldn't figure out if the time was crawling or flying by. regardless, for the amount i want to accomplish in my internship by the end of the summer, i've got my work cut out for me. i have gotten organized and have a plan for how i am going to attempt to do it all. this plan is now five hours old, so we'll see how it holds up.

this weekend was a great one. i had my spanish class after work on friday... in fact, i have it after work everyday. it's just three weeks long, which i figured i could manage, but it's tough to give up the better part of my evening after getting used to just lounging around and doing whatever i wanted. we're an interesting crew in the class... there is another person here from the states (though originally from taiwan) - he's a grad student in the international studies program at johns hopkins and is here working for the taiwanese consulate. so our situations are pretty similar. i don't know as much about the third - we are only three in the class, so it's almost like a private tutorial - besides that she is polish and probably quite a bit younger than me, and, well, not so swift on the spanish. the biggest problem is that you can't hear a difference when she says words ending in -a vs. -e. we are reviewing the subjunctive, where -ar verbs change from an -a ending to an -e ending and -er verbs change from an -e to an -a ending. i think you see where i am going with this. most of friday was spent with her conjugating a verb in the subjunctive, the professor correcting her, then her repeating the verb exactly as she had said it the first time, and so on until the teacher had to trust that she was saying what she was supposed to be saying and not what it sounded like she was saying. and so it went.

later friday evening i headed into the plaza, which is the center of everything, in coyoacán. i had an ice cream and strolled around, then took a seat to people-watch. it wasn't long before the man sitting near me approached. he wasted no time informing me that he is a palm/tarot card reader. i am not one for new-age amusements in general, and certainly not one for anything that claims to predict the future. i didn't convey this to him, so he continued with "do you want me to tell you how many kids you're going to have?" i politely declined, telling him that i - perhaps oddly - prefer not to know things about the future but rather to live them. he seemed to respect that but continued to chat me up. he was really friendly and i got a generally harmless feeling from him, so i took the opportunity to practice my spanish a bit. he then suggested we see a movie or have coffee sometime, which i declined, but told him that i could stop by and visit him at the plaza, since he is there every evening. the most bizarre part is that i wasn't just saying that. it was nice to have a little social interaction that was unrelated to where i work or live.

a few minutes later a young man, who felt noticably less harmless - his facial hair was far too thought-through and manicured - approached and chatted me up in english for a bit. he apparently had a bet with his friends that related to the existence of gondolas set up in the middle of supermarkets to sell things. i still don't understand it, but he went away after awhile. as he was leaving he asked for my number, almost as an afterthought, and seemed annoyed when i told him i don't have a phone... it was the best i could up with on the spot. i waited for awhile for an outdoor table to open up at a nearby cafe, but relented when it started to rain since no one appeared to be moving anytime soon anyway. home i went to do my laundry in the sink... and just as i was rolling in the new california girls were headed out to go dancing. so the feeling old thing didn't take long to set in. they went off to shake their booties while i spent my friday night at home washing my undies.

saturday i got up relatively early and planned my day. first i went to a vegetarian cafe near my house for chilaquiles. there may have been some gringo sabotage going on, because they were the spiciest thing i have ever willingly ingested... i am convinced that not even a mexican could eat them without a problem. i tried to enjoy them nonetheless, and had some fresh squeezed o.j. and coffee to help counter the spiciness. there was a nice guy sitting next to me reading the paper and we chatted for a bit... he was a professor of economics and political science at the national university (UNAM -- student body of 200,000. and that's not a typo.) so i asked him for his take on the elections. my mistake delving into somewhat complex territory, but i got the gist of the four outcomes he could see happening. just don't ask me to restate them.

after breakfast i went into town to this incredible artisans' market. taxco unleashed the arts and crafts buying monster in me and now i can't stop. so i spent a long time strolling and browsing and buying. it was a great spot, and i will definitely be returning. after that i walked in the general direction of the historic center. i stopped at the museum at the alameda that houses one of the many diego rivera murals around town. it's called a dream of a sunday afternon at alameda park and it was really striking... it traces many decades of mexican history, all set in the alameda. i didn't think i would like his stuff... mostly because i didn't want to like it since he seemed like such a jerk in frida... but i have come around to it just the same. i paid my 5 pesos to be able to take pictures, and will hopefully get to post them online once i have the brendan-engineered photo posting scheme underway.

i spent some more time strolling around town and taking in the start of AMLO demonstrations that would culminate with the march and rally yesterday (unbelievable photos here). i went home feeling pretty beat, stopped at the grocery store and made some food. later i headed to a party for a friend of jennifer's... it was a lot of fun and i realized what a month of not consuming any alcohol means for my tolerance which added an element of surprise to the evening. i chatted a good bit with gillian, who is a good friend of jennifer's and works for a sister organization, catholics for the right to decide, and i tried to chat a bit with miguel, jennifer's partner. i still get intimidated, because any time he says anything where there aren't context clues i cannot understand a word. fastest talker ever. i was especially pleased when the music was turned up and the dancing started. i was only a spectator, but these mexicans can dance. it was amazing. when i got home at 3am i immediately called brendan to tell him that we *will* make good on our long discussed but yet unrealized dancing lesson date, and salsa comes first.

sunday was kind of wash since i was so tired from saturday. i have gotten very used to a 10:30 bedtime so 3am did not sit so well with me. i hung around coyoacán (sunday market... bought more stuff!) and read quite a bit of On Beauty (zadie smith)... it's wonderful. i should know to expect nothing less.

i am bracing myself for this evening's spanish class... we'll see what the professor has worked out in terms of strategy for our little mismatched trio. i can only hope that the protracted subjunctive review is behind us.

the bulls of taxco

2006-07-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

my weekend away was a nice break from the smoggy, crowded, noisy world that had started to go unnoticed in my daily life in these parts.

i left on saturday morning for taxco on a very fancy-pants bus where they even gave you your choice of soda and a barf bag as you boarded. i had had the foresight to go to the bus station on friday evening to get my ticket, mostly because there didn't appear to be another feasible way to get a reliable bus schedule. i got to choose my seat from a computer screen, but i was confused by which side of the diagram was the front and which was the back... but i chose a seat that was definitely a window seat, regardless of what side of the bus it was on, and would allow me to do some serious daydreaming and window gazing on the 2 1/2 hour bus ride.

when i boarded saturday morning, i was surprised to see two women sitting in my seat and the one next to it. i showed them my ticket, and they realized that they had been confused and moved to the seats on the opposite side of the aisle. it got complicated when the third in their party - a gentleman who must have been approaching 80 - then had to switch to my side. i was just about to settle into my seat when he pointed out that seat 20 (my seat) was in fact on the aisle. i was confused, but i have gotten used to generally being confused - and often wrong - here, so i acquiesced. he also was old and all of that, so i didn't particularly want to put up a fight when i was feeling unsure of myself. i gave it an embarrassing amount of thought on the ride to taxco, and realized there was no way seat 20 was on the aisle, since that would mean that the seats in my row going across were numbered 17-18-20-19. not likely. then he closed the curtains on the window so i couldn't even see out from my distant aisle seat, and went to sleep and - of course - started to snore. by the time we got to taxco i was feeling pretty bitter and determined to get a window seat on the way home. i booked the same seat - 20 - for the ride home simply because i had a point to prove.

with my sunday return to mexico city assured, i went off to find a taxi into town. i was dropped off at the square in the taxco's lively little center and then set off to find a hotel. i checked into a place from my guidebook - the price had doubled since the book was published five years ago - but i was hot and hungry so it was good enough for me. i had a bite to eat and then ventured into the NEVER ENDING silver market. i probably browsed and shopped for close to three hours and i still didn't see close to everything. it was completely insane. my book said that the silver trade employs virtually all of taxco's 10,000 inhabitants. i don't doubt it, and the saturday market must bring in as many folks from outside of taxco to sell their wares because it really did go on and on and on. it was unbelievable. the nice part was that the sellers seemed as overwhelmed and exhausted by it all as the buyers, so they didn't waste their energy pressuring you unless you were seriously interested. so you could browse and browse and never be bothered.

after the endless silver maze, and then resting and recovering at the hotel for a bit, i went out for dinner and then hung around the town square people-watching and enjoying the bright hot sun that we don't get much in mexico city. i chatted with a friendly couple from bombay... the man also works for an NGO so we swapped causes and he told me about their plans to head to acapulco the next morning. i sang the praises of zihuatanejo (where we went for my mom's birthday a few years ago) and they changed their plans, just like that.

i got back to the hotel just before a downpour hit, so that helped to solve any issues i was having in deciding what to do for the evening. i stayed in and read and went to bed early.

sunday morning, i took a cab up to a hotel on a very high cliff that golden girl #1 had recommended for its view more than anything. i had brunch there, but i wasn't feeling bold enough to try most of the hot foods (i almost scooped something resembling chilaquiles onto my plate, but thought better of it and first asked what it was exactly -- pork rinds in green salsa... no gracias. i'm not ready to go there just yet) so i gulped down a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice and had granola and some sweet breads and a bunch of fruit. i took some pics from the restaurant balcony and then headed back down to town on the funicular. i haven't been on a roller coaster in a very long time (well, besides the one at seattle center that pretty much gave me a mild concussion a few years ago) so the funicular was feeling pretty wild and crazy. but i made it down in one piece, and will eventually post the pics from the my little psuedo-swiss alps joy ride.

as i trudged back into town from the funicular station, i came upon some sort of parade. i'm still not exactly sure what it was, but a bunch of different mexican states had contingencies who made their way through taxco's little winding streets in traditional dress, looked pretty, and didn't do much else. well, except for the group from guererro, which had a bunch of men dressed in bull costumes bringing up the rear. their masks were kind of scary, and to make it worse they had long whips that they would slam onto the ground and - just for fun - sometimes whip in the general direction of the crowd. i huddled in the back with the toddlers. when i was at a safe distance, i took some pictures and then made my way up to the town square, following behind the guererro group.

before i knew it, one of the scary bull men had grabbed my hand and pulled me into the procession. it was fun for a minute but then i remembered the whips and got scared and scooted away. when everyone from the parade was gathered on the plaza (with signs about a festival of mexican dance but i never saw a single person dance, so it just confused me more) the bull found me again and this time pulled me over to the guererro group's photo op! so there are all of these beautifully made up women wearing long flowing skirts with their hair in perfect braids and decorated with flowers, and men in elaborate bull masks and furry capes, and a sunburned gringo tourist in sneakers and a t-shirt lumped in there with them... i wonder what all of the tourists who were taking pics and videos will think when they go back and look at the group. the least challenging where's waldo game ever. after the photos i chatted with the bull briefly and he attempted to invite himself to come watch the world cup game with me. well, he did invite himself, but i declined. i didn't get to watch the game anyway, cause the bar i knew of was full. so i spent the afternoon on the square, taking it all in while keeping a low profile to avoid bull and his buddies.

getting on the bus to come back to mexico city, i seized up for a moment when i saw a young boy sitting in my seat. or i should say one of the window seats in my row, which at this point i was sure was seat 20, and i wasn't about to cave to a five year-old. so i politely told him that that was my seat, and his parents had him move. i savored every moment of the scenery on the ride home... traffic was bad so it took an hour longer than it should have, and i was amazed by all of the vendors who wove their way among the slow moving highway traffic, selling everything from slushees to wooden serving bowls. what continues to amaze me both about the informal economy here is that people actually buy the stuff. i have seen businessmen buy pirated CDs on the subway, and mothers buy their kids coloring books. it tempts me to find something to hawk.

the work week is moving right along, and i am looking forward to my family's visit in a couple of weeks. i start my spanish classes tomorrow and have plans to get together with friends of mike bosworth. it is rumored that there will be some college students from california arriving at my house in the next few days, so i am preparing myself to feel old and out of touch. it might be a nice change from feeling woefully anglophonic and out of touch.

felipe, frida y yo

2006-07-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

so, last night felipe calderón was declared the victor in the presidential election. i was out at dinner with four frenchies, two mexicans, and another american (jennifer) when it was announced on the news. those who don't live here were mostly inquisitive (three of the frenchies and myself), and those who do live here (one frenchie, two mexicans and jennifer) were thoroughly forlorn. miguel talked emphatically about moving to another country... sound familiar? i wonder if the hits on the canadian embassy website will spike like they did in early november 2004. though there doesn't seem to be a viable escape from conservative commanders-in-chief in north america at the moment. at the very least, calderón does not appear to be strutting around making statements about all of the "political capital" he has to spend given his win by .57%. and power in congress is thoroughly split, which gives some assurance against truly reactionary policies. the good news on the congressional front is that the far-left presidential candidate (who is a woman, a feminist *and* on the Board of GIRE!) got enough votes for her party to become officially recognized. so there will be representation and recognition of truly progessive ideas in the legislative branch... to get anywhere, they will have to cozy up to the more mainstream parties, but it is still a step in the right (or left! oh! were you ready for it?) direction.

the evening out was a trilingual bonanza. we had the frenchies practicing a bit of spanish, the mexicans practicing their english, the americans translating from spanish and french to english, and everything in between. it made my head spin at times, but it was a relief to be able to formulate something above the level of toddler in a foreign language for a change. i'm still not sure what happened exactly, but it took a good couple of hours before the french crew put together that the year i spent in southern france in college, and the six weeks i spent in paris last year indeed meant that i speak french. it was a great little group, but i probably will only get to see two of them again - the couple that are friends of miguel and jennifer, who put the evening together. though they're off to travel around mexico and france for their nine weeks off (they are both french teachers here), we may see more of them in september.

i also went to the frida kahlo museum yesterday. it was my second attempt. i had gone on tuesday after work, showed my student ID, and handed over a 50 peso bill to pay the 20 peso student admission. the young lady at the ticket booth asked me if i had change. i showed her that i didn't, and she told me that she didn't have change, in a very matter-of-fact, "and there's nothing i can, or will, do about it" kind of way. i'm not sure who is behind the profit-making operations at the frida kahlo museum, but not being able to make 30 pesos in change is probably not their best approach. at any rate, i took exact change yesterday and was successfully allowed in. i was more taken with the house itself (where she and diego rivera lived) than the art on display, and i was left baffled by the movie they were showing, which more that anything involved a lot of interpretive dance and brought to mind the phantom of the opera movie i had to watch in my middle school music class. but it did teach me some things about frida's life that i didn't remember from the salma hyek version. my impression by the end of my visit was that i preferred the paintings by diego rivera to those by frida, and that i'm not sure i would even want to be a fly on the wall of frida's psyche. too unsettling.

this weekend will hold something new in store. i am planning to take the bus to taxco, which is a little silver mining town in the mountains of guerrero. from the photos i've seen, it looks picturesque and hilly. i'll pack my walking shoes. i'm debating spending a night there, or just going for saturday. i'm going to the bus station to investigate tickets this afternoon, and i'm guessing the bus schedules will help me make up my mind... a good dose of clean mountain air and a silver shopping extravaganza at their saturday market should be a nice change to my weekend routine. and watching the world cup finals on sunday in a sleepy little town is probably more my cup of tea... though they might be expecting me at vips.

nail biter

2006-07-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

the outcome of sunday's presidential election hangs in the balance... this morning's news brought some hope... AMLO trails by 400,000 or so votes, and as it turns out the lovely, very competent folks who are counting the votes hadn't mentioned that 3 million votes - from the far flung regions of the country and who knows where else - are still at large. it's unclear to me if there is any firm idea of when exactly we might know - at least unofficially - who won. the mood at work is still pretty down and out, but jennifer is keeping up with the reports of double-counted votes and such, so she is trying to keep the hope alive.

this week is off to a good start. my stomach is back to normal, though i have not yet tested it with anything that doesn't revolve around bread, rice or potatoes. not entirely true, actually... i was forgetting the gigantic piece of blackberry cheesecake i started my morning with today (it was the E.D.'s birthday yesterday, so we had a belated celebration) and that seems to be sitting O.K.

like my digestive system, all pieces of my life here seem to be settling down very nicely. it felt like it clicked just yesterday. i got into more of the meat of things at work, and then went into downtown for the evening (the metro at rush hour is NUTSO). i am feeling more motivated to get out and explore new things and generally not be such a wimp. as many many people told me before i left seattle, mexico city is not the scary place that people make it out to be. i may eat my words later, but for now i am beginning to feel right at home. and the truly brilliant part of it all is that the language business really does get easier.

montezuma - 1, NGJ - 0

2006-07-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

my absence for the past little while can be attributed to those little microbial beasties that like to get into your digestive tract and make your life miserable. on wednesday i started feeling a little off at the very end of the day, so i headed home a few minutes early, and sure enough, within hours i was at the mercy of montezuma. conchita/golden girl #1 was wonderful. she forced chicken soup and chamomile tea on me, and just when i had finished sounding miserable to brendan on the phone, complaining about how all i wanted in the world was some sprite or gatorade and there was no one to go to the store to get some, she appeared at my door offering me some sort of apple soda that is the sick drink of choice in mexico, and was close enough to sprite to make me stop acting so pathetic.

overall, wednesday night was one of my worst experiences in recent memory. i was up constantly and when i tried to sleep i couldn't because my body was so sore. thursday i stayed home and jennifer did bring me all of those things i was whining for the night before. so i got hydrated and started in on what would be a 72 hour diet of saltines, chicken soup and gatorade. i went to work on friday armed with anything i might need and just hoped that i could get through the day without any embarassing incidents. and so it went, though there was an office birthday party at the end of the day for all of the may and june babies, and i could barely look at the incredible spread of food.

saturday morning i woke up feeling quite a bit better, and by that point i was pretty used to the gurgling in my stomach, so i was feeling pretty unphased. i headed into mexico city for the second time since i've been here. again, the metro was a piece of cake. it's laid out just like the one in paris and D.C. so it even feels deceptively familiar. i went to chapultapec park, which is a massive greenspace in the heart of mexico city. signs at the park claim that it's the largest urban park in latin america. there are tons of museums there, but i was content to just people watch and get the lay of the land. i stumbled on a couple of interesting street performaces of sorts (pics are on flickr) and then i decided to do a bus tour on the double decker buses i had seen cruising around last weekend. since i was going on a banana and six saltines in my stomach, i thought keeping walking to a minimum was probably a good idea.

the double decker bus tour brings me to two interesting observations on engineering and/or liability, depending on your perspective. before i got on the bus, i went to one of the restrooms around chapultapec... you pay your 4 pesos, and then you go through one of those revolving contraptions like they have when you come out of the subway. coming out of the bathroom, you go through another revolving contraption... what i failed to notice when i went into the bathroom was that when you are feeding your pesos into the coin slot, you are standing in the way of the "exit" revolving contraption... i discovered this when i almost crushed the scull of a small boy who was excitedly paying his way to go pee as i was exiting... when i hit resistance, i looked down and noticed why i couldn't go any further. i sheepishly excused myself to his dad, who was less than amused by the ways of the clumsy gringo.

and my kharma didn't wait long to come around... when i was on the bus tour, i picked a seat that was up top, and on the sidewalk side of our route. i was happily taking in the sights of a few upscale neighborhoods that i hadn't been to on foot, and may never get back to, when it occurred to me that we were driving down a narrow, tree-lined street, where the branches were at or below the level of the bus's top deck. this occurred to me because what felt like a sizable branch whipped me across the face. the bus had just started from a stop, but our speed was great enough to inflict quite a bit of immediate pain and residual tenderness.

both of these things brought to mind liability in the U.S.... particularly because i had just finished a bill bryson book (i'm a stranger here myself) where this is one of the topics he covers. i think lawsuits would have long ago taken care of any public restroom set-up where you could - relatively easily - inflict bodily harm on a small child or where a tourist service threatened to leave any of its less attentive patrons' faces maimed.

after i got feeling back in my cheek, the tour was great, and i will suggest it to anyone who comes to visit. mostly, it shows you that this city is unbelievably massive, and we only say the spots hight on the tourist list.

last night i went to a barbeque with jennifer and miguel. it was with some friends of miguel's from high school... they're in their late 30s now, and don't get together much, so they have little morethan their memories from high school to talk about. and they were thorough. we were there until almost 2am... the upside is that i had something other than chicken soup! carne asada for the first time ever, in fact, and it was pretty tasty.

today was a beautiful day, so of course i went shopping. there are sales everywhere in july so i couldn't resist. it's also election day, but i just checked for any news on TV and there was nothing yet. hopefully they will have at least a tentative ruling tonight... i am really hoping to live vicariously if AMLO (the leftist) wins, since i am still lamenting the 2004 outcome. if he loses, i'll have to look up how to say "i feel your pain" before i go to work tomorrow.

cultural goodies

2006-06-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

i am taking a moment to upload some more photos on my pathetically sparse flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattiejones/), so you can glean a little more of my coyoacán life there. i hope to add more, but flaunting expensive electronics and taking pictures when i am all alone makes me a bit self-conscious.

a few cultural tidbits to share that have made their way to me from direct observation or jennifer's guidance...

traffic lights are suggestions rather than mandates. i thought this was possibly my imagination until i was in the car with jennifer, who is a very responsible person, and she opted to proceed through a red light, and casually mentioned that sometimes "they're optional". as one might imagine, that contributes an added thrill to my walk to and from work each day.

payday is typically twice per month in mexico city (maybe even throughout the country)... apparently, on the weekends after payday, muggings go way up, traffic is even more insane than usual and - on the brighter side - restaurants are packed and movies are sold out.

there were some others, but i had two negra modelos with lunch, so i can't remember them at the moment.

in other news, the uncle of the golden girls had to have emergency surgery for cancer in his mouth on friday. so he and - as far as i can gather - his wife are bunking with me for the next couple of weeks. i didn't follow the whole story, but it was an unbeatable review of my spanish lesson on family member vocabulary... but my uncertainty of whether the woman is his wife (could be daughter) shows how much that lesson has served my purposes.

work has been all translation for the website... a manageable but exhausting task. i am looking into spanish classes which i will probably take in july. i am learning to physically blend in a little more, so it would be nice to not have my broken spanish immediately give me away.

viveros

2006-06-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

yesterday evening i went to the park - or, really more like a botanical garden - near my house... it's called viveros de coyoacán and it's about a 10 minute walk from home. i have been thinking that i should get back into the habit of running since, frankly, i have quite a bit of time on my hands. i had been there once before to go for a walk, and had taken in that there were a number of runners, both men and women. so late yesterday afternoon i suited up in my running shorts and sleeveless shirt and set out to wrap up my weekend with a little sweat.

it could have been my imagination, but i seemed to get an inordinate number of stares. i started to pay attention to what other women joggers were wearing... some were wearing tank tops with pants, others were wearing shorts with long-sleeved shirts. i did appear to be the only woman showing so much skin. so maybe it's an either-or sort of situation... arms or legs but never both! i also took note of the fact that not many of the "runners" were sweating... they were all going so slow that there didn't appear to be too much physical exertion going on. so i have decided that it was more likely my very red (thanks to the gehard genes) sweaty face that was attracting all the attention.

and i have to point out that there was a tall, lanky man running in JEANS and a STRAW HAT who seemed to be getting less notice than me.

settling in

2006-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

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/.

¡viernes!

2006-06-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

i have just finished up the first week of work... no big plans for my friday night, since i am still committed to getting a better sense of coyoacan before i brave the big city. mostly i have a date with queso fresco, black beans, some tortillas and the biggest avocado you have ever seen.

work has been moving right along. i spent most of the week reading up on GIRE and getting a better idea of what they do and what their positions are. i hadn't realize that they aim to decriminalize - rather than legalize -abortion. apparently, legal abortion is too radical an idea, so the best they can realistically do is to have it no longer considered a criminal act (which it currently is, in all states except for mexico city/distrito federal). so after lots of reading in spanish and english, today i started on translating parts of their website. that will be my task for next week as well, and then i will get into longer term projects.

i have continued to get major doses of spanish to tire my brain... on wednesday there was a 2.5 hour staff meeting where everyone presented their plans for the upcoming fiscal year, and then yesterday i went to a talk on democracy and inequality at a sister organization. think about how much of that i probably understood with two quarters of spanish under my belt. you're right! i am becoming less frustrated though, because i have started to notice that when my brain is ready and i am feeling alert, i understand quite a bit. it's just that my brain poops out after about 15 minutes, and the rest is lost on me.

i am having some technical difficulties with my computer at work, so still no pictures. i have put in a call to alfredo, the tech guy who is also my new best friend since i have had at least one computer problem every day that i have been here, so we'll see if he can work some magic next week.

for the weekend, i am hoping to get into the real downtown on saturday or sunday. i am trying to decide if it will be less scary to take the metro or a taxi. jennifer gave me the number for a radio taxi company (those are the ones that are safe, since they won't abduct you, or beat you up until you hand over your credit cards) but i am intimidated by having to say where i am and what i am wearing and when i need the taxi. maybe i'll write myself a little taxi script.

the library at work just got a copy of vera drake on DVD and there was a mad dash to get dibs on it... jennifer got to it first, so she invited me over to watch it at her apartment tomorrow night. so that's a little something on my limited social calendar.

my phone is in working order afterall, so that has been helping a ton with homesickness. and the golden girls keep me pretty entertained. the other night, the queen bee (conchita) came into my room and cozied up on my chair for bedtime chats. she gave me her FULL take on the upcoming presidential election, and also informed me that the woman who helps her clean the floors finds brendan - from the photos in my room - quite handsome, and she agrees... that was something i would have never expected to hear from her... but there we were, on Day 2, no less.

the weather has been iffy. it's cloudy today and rained quite a bit last night. i am hoping to have some sunshine over the weekend so i can get out into the park near my house and see more of coyoacan. if it's more rain, the frida kahlo museum it shall be. the food has been great, and i am becoming a regular carnivore. chicken ain't so bad, as it turns out. so far, no gristle.

so far, so good

2006-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Mexico City late yesterday after a painful day of travelling... up at 3am, at SeaTac by 4am, into LAX at 8:30am and onto Mexico City at 1pm, for a 6:30pm arrival. And of course there would be two exits from customs for North American flights. How else could my supervisor and I end up at two different seemingly agreed upon meeting spots? Eventually (an hour later) we found each other... she is exactly as I was expecting. Young, friendly, very encouraging, and a Midwesterner to boot! She took me for a quick grocery store stop, and then onto the place where I will be staying.

Ah, the place where I will be staying. Imagine two older sisters who could easily star in the Mexican version of Golden Girls. But not Blanche... more Sophia and Rose. Probably not tough or imposing enough to be Dorothy. It is actually a great set up, but I am still not convinced that the fact that we don't lock the door to the house that I am staying in (a guest house, separate from where the sisters live) is such a great idea. The sister who runs the show (I have, embarassingly, forgotten her name for the second time in less than 24 hours) has assured me many times over that it's fine, and the front gate to the whole shebang is always locked. As far as I can gather they are both always home, so I suppose it will be OK.

The first day at work was really interesting. Perhaps the highlight of the whole situation is that they forego the traditional 2 hour lunch, and instead work from 9-3 without a lunch break. As probably won't surprise most of you, when I heard this I told Jennifer (my supervisor) that I didn't understand how people could possibly go *6 HOURS* without eating. She claimed she just "got used to it" but I had my doubts. Alas, my tummy and I made it through Day 1 on the new schedule. A three course meal consumed promptly at 3pm helped. Besides food, work today was a lot of confusing introductions (GIRE has a staff of about 20, most of whom have names and job titles that are far too similar) and a seminar for all of the women employees... an interesting approach, but the 4 dudes on staff didn't seem too phased by being excluded. It was led by the President of the Board, Marta Lamas, who has been described to me as the Mexican equivalent to Gloria Steinham. So, even though I understood about 40-50% of what she covered in 3.5 hours, it was still an honor just to be in her presence for that length of time.

I am holding my own with the Spanish, though I am facing the fact that I will have to just bite the bullet and realize that I am going to make a lot of mistakes for a long, long time. And everyone at the office is really friendly and very patient at my limited attempts to spit something comprehensible out at them. I am also (thus far) holding my own with the chicken quesadillas I had for lunch. I am bracing myself for the turista, but Jennifer has given me plenty of tips on how to fend it off as best I can... including iodine drops that I will add to water and then soak any fruits and veggies (that you don't peel) for 10 minutes before injesting them into my delicate gringo system.

I have spent the last couple of hours strolling around Coyoacan, and it is beautiful. There are still a lot of people to remind me that, though far from the center of town, it still is part of the mega-metropolis of Mexico City, and on a random Tuesday night in June, things are feeling pretty festive. I haven't noticed the smog yet, and the weather is gorgeous.

So I'm settling in quite nicely. I hope to figure out my Verizon issues soon (all of my forethought in getting that fancy North America plan isn't exactly panning out) so I can be in touch by phone too. Until then, blogspot it is.

a microscopic fish in the world's biggest Spanish-speaking pond

2006-06-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

Here I am... in cyberspace, feeling a little queasy. As you likely are aware, I am not one to embrace the latest and greatest technologies. It's a slippery slope, though, and after buying a cell phone last week I discovered my inner technophile and decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon. A post-2000 computer and/or a digital camera might not be too far behind.

I just got back to Seattle from a wonderful, sunny wedding in the Caribbean, where I added a 4-foot veil to my list of fashion "must-haves", and discovered that drinks with a lot of rum do wonders for my dance moves. Next up is my summer in Mexico City... as of Monday, June 19, I - armed with one year of graduate study in Public Administration and severely limited Spanish skills - will be doing my best as an intern with a reproductive choice advocacy organization in the Mexican capital.

This blog is where I will chronicle the three month adventure, and hope you will join me. 20 million people and really bad air pollution is a lot to take on all alone.