Adventures in Mexico

I have been in Mexico City for about two months. While I love the food, am amazed by the friendliness of the people, my apartment leaves a little to be desired. It smells like burnt cooking gas, the bathroom sink leaks an equally sinister smelling water and my toilet, well, it suffers from depression and has no "ganas" to flush.

I have had several appointments with plumbers where I struggle with my limited vocabulary and shaky handle on verb conjugation. Mostly I resort to miming verbs like leak, plunge, flush and flood. In my most recent interaction, my plumber asked if I wanted a formal receipt or a less formal bill, a so-called note of "remission." I heard "permission" and drafted him a note giving him my blessings to fix my faucet.

Aside from the mundane details of my plumbing, I find my life and work here exhilirating challenge. My days are long. At 6:30 a.m., I pack myself into a bus called "The Xola" which is stuffed to the gills with tired teenagers heading to school and wearing way too much eyeliner. The bus driver, who was meant to drive Formula One cars not a honking bus in Mexico City, darts in and out of traffic, stops quickly and cuts off any cars in sight, which usually, at least one time, lurches me forward, into the arms of a sullen teen. From my noisy, personal space invading commute, I pass through the gates of my school and spent 10-12 hours teaching, meeting, taking Spanish classes and, if I have any energy left, exercising.

Weekends offer some respite from the grind. I have gotten to go to the Acapulco area and the old mining town of Taxco. Here's a pic. from the Taxco food market.