first impressions

well i am here, in DF - Districto Federal - Mexico City - aka the third largest city in the world and you know what? it's not so scary... it is mostly just a bunch of little neighborhoods spread out in this valley and each one is different and as long as you don't go to the bad ones, you're good!

i haven't taken any pictures yet, but will tomorrow. the past 2 days have been so PACKED with action that i haven't really had time to breathe. even right now, lauren went to clean her horse's stall, and invited me to come, but today and yesterday were pretty much nonstop all day and i need a break.

i'm doing fine on the spanish side of things... i understand almost everything, sometimes there are idioms or certain words i don't understand, but i usually have lauren there to save me or i can just ask them to repeat it... and sometimes i can't think of the word i want to say, but i get by just fine. i think i'm going to take some classes at a language school in another neighborhood just to get my brain more accustomed to speaking and listening... probably only a week or 2 of classes. i also would like to meet some people here, so i think school would be good. i also went to another school whose classes weren't right for me, but the director mentioned to me that they always need english teachers, so i might explore that option as well.

i could write for hours describing everything i have seen and done, but i think i'll pick one topic per blog... today i choose to tell you about the apartment we are living in now, because we might not be here for much longer.

the neighborhood is very cool, very "tranquila." it's called Santa Isabel Tola and is very close to the "Basilica" which is the site where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego. if you don't know what that is, googlealo. it's mostly residential with the necessary shops here and there to get by. i love that about mexico that the mom and pop shop is not dead. there is a "MEGA" in the neighborhood, which is kind of like wal-mart, but everything you need can be bought at a little specialty store. like today, i got copies of keys made from a store where all they did was make keys. they also sold keychains. that's it. all day long, making keys.

so we are currently living in lauren's studio apartment, which is basically a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. i'm sleeping on an air mattress and we're really squeezed in here like sardines. the apartment is above a hair salon and next door to a location for parties... like a banquet hall kind of... receptions for weddings and quinceaneras and lo que sea. that means loud music. there are a few other apartments in the building, and the whole thing is part of one family's property. they live in their part of the house, run the salon, and rent the apartments out. i think they also have some sort of welding business because there's a lot of... metal... around... there are also 2 dogs who live in the downstairs patio area and as far as i can tell are named "blanco" and "negro" guess why! because one is white... and one is black. other than that there isn't much spectacular to share about the apartment...

i will say that i feel like a spectacle walking around the city, especially when i'm with lauren and we're speaking english. the only other white people i've seen are when i went to visit the 2 language schools and at starbucks. grand total, probably about 10. and in this neighborhood, i have seen none. i catch people staring at me in the metro... it's awkward.

that'll be my next topic to discuss i believe: the metro. it's a complex creature... i'll tell you all about it soon!