Ohh, Mexico

Oh, Moctezuma. What did I ever do to you?

Crikey. I have definitely been to hell and back this week, all the while riding on a toilet. And if hearing about this kind of stuff isn't exactly what you signed up for, then you shouldn't be reading my blog about living in MEXICO. Basically, on Tuesday I was not feeling up to par, and I ended up having to skip out on teaching my second afternoon class. Good ol' Moctezuma has haunted me several times since I've been in Mexico, but this was definitely the worst. Let's just say that I was extremely relieved to discover that the internet café I happened to be in Tuesday afternoon did have some restroom facilities.. thank God. After all was said and done, I was left feeling pretty weak and dehydrated, and I know that I wasn't looking too good, either. Desi was quick to point out that I had some pretty dark circles around my eyes, and all in all, I was just feeling pretty crappy. Usually when this kind of stuff happens, I'm quick to call Mom, but in this case it was comforting to see that Mariela was concerned and fixed me some rice and toast (anti-diarrhea essentials). Carlos gets a pretty good kick out of the new phrase I've taught him, "Moctezuma's Revenge," and doesn't understand why gringos have these sorts of problems in Mexico. Hmmm... I have no idea. Could it have to do with pig brains?

That said, I'm feeling a lot better now and have had a pretty good week, altogether. Tomorrow I'm going to meet these two other foreigners who just got here today, a guy and a girl both from France, that Anne Sophie knows. We're all supposed to do something tomorrow night, and I'm pretty excited to actually have Friday plans. (God, how I miss college. *tear*) I don't know much about them yet, but apparently they're going to be living here in San Juan and are also looking for an apartment. I don't know if I would necessarily want to work out sharing an apartment with them, which I think Anne Sophie might have in mind. All I can say is that I really hope that they speak Spanish since I don't know a single word of French. But, it'll be nice to meet some new people and who knows--they're extranjeros (foreigners) too and maybe they'd be interested in doing some traveling on the weekends to get to know other parts of Mexico, which I am just dying to do.

One last thing before I head out to do some exploring around the city.. I have to comment on Mexico's bus system--I love it! This might sound crazy because the bus drivers are generally crazy and drive way too fast, and they tend to open the doors while the bus is still moving at top speed. I've also learned that it's not a big deal when they "bump" into another bus. This I know because it happened the other week when the bus I was riding hit the back of another bus in front of it, causing all the passengers to fling foward a little bit. The bus driver then pulled up to the one that he had just hit, and the other driver just sort of laughed about it, like "whoops, you just bumped into me, amigo." But this is what I like about it. All the bus drivers seem to be friends with the others, and you never know what the bus you're going to be riding will be like. Some are really nice and others look like they're about to fall apart at any minute.

What I think is interesting is that the drivers seem to get to decorate them however they want, oftentimes with black lights or tons of religious decorations, like a giant crucifix in the center of the front windshield. And then there's the music. Each driver usually has some type of stereo set up where they play all of the CDs that they want to listen to, and in turn the passengers have to listen to too, whether they like it or not. Usually it's some type of salsa with a strong beat, so you can imagine me the "guera" sitting among all these Mexicans on a bus, bumpin' along down the road. I think this is great because if these drivers have to be driving around these buses all day long, they might as well be listening to what they want to hear. One more thing, a bus ride only costs 4 pesos, which is less than 40 cents. Can't beat that!

Enough time in the café for today. It's a beautiful day outside. Keep posting your responses, people! Nos vemos..

posted by Rachel @ 9:42 AM