Walking Around Minding Our Own Business - Mar 20
First things first, breakfast! Abi, Citlali (Abi’s sister), and Chicken (the nickname of Citlatli’s boyfriend, Zachary) and I went to a restaurant called OaxacAqui. I can’t remember what the dish was called but it was good. I want to say Enfrijoladas but I can’t be sure. Go there, try them. They came with cafe de olla which is a sort of super sweet coffee with cinnamon which wasn’t half bad. Would recommend.
Afterwards, Abi and I walked around and ended up at Biblioteca Vasconcelos. I like this place a lot and could see myself reading and/or studying there no problem. Everything in the place feels like its floating and, on the day, there were a ton of people outside near the building rehearsing for what I can only assume to be some sort of dance group/boy band competition. I wish I had taken a video for proof but oh well. We grabbed some ice cream and chilled in the plaza near Abi’s house for a little while too.
We also walked around the mall near the library for a second to try and find me some washable insoles but failed. I then did my laundry at Chicken’s apartment and we headed back to Abi’s apartment when it was done to hang my clothes up to dry. I little bit of chill time, enough to introduce them to Allen Stone and Vulfpeck, my go to music of choice for people who ask me to put on music, and Abi and I headed to this Euro Jazz festival. The music that was one was pretty catchy and I want to say the group was from Germany but we didn’t stay long enough to figure out who they were. We then went to Coyoacan and got some food at La Cerveceria De Barrio. for dinner. Tasty.
We then made the long journey back to Abi’s place and spent the night relaxing, listening to music, and chatting. We got on to a few topics that I didn’t think I would get to talk about in Spanish. Stuff like Canada’s electoral system and how it might change as well as how to play Stack Cup. Good practice is good.
Floating Around - Mar 21
I’m not in the mood to write much a blog post today. However, here’s what I did.
- We had breakfast at OaxacAqui again, it was just as good as the last time
- We figured out and executed our plan to meet with Abi’s friends
- We headed out to Xochimilco to go for a float with Abi’s friend’s family from Costa Rica
- I drank quite a bit of booze on the three hour trip
- Abi and I went for pizza
- We ended up in a bar with a live show of classic Mexican tunes and roping
Here are some photos and videos.
Valentino and Nicole.
Abi.
The view.
A quick video of the whole experience.
A quick video of some rope tricks.
A Puebla Named Pueblo, Or Is It The Other Way Around? - Mar 22
After getting some food at the super market with Abi, I introduced her to my oats meal. She liked it but thought it was a bit too heavy for her. Fair enough, it is more for going on long runs and skipping lunches than for a regular light breakfast. For the most part we just hung out trading off new music and doing nothing on our laptops. I was looking up some things that eventually were cast aside because I wouldn’t use them.
After I made my arrangements (none) I had my stuff fully packed, lacking my sunglasses, hugged Abi, and left. Travelling around seems easier now that I’ve acquired my “Mexican Confidence” as I and some other people I’ve met have put it. I tend to not be nearly as worried about asking for things as I was when I arrived in Mexico because I don’t mind making mistakes in my speech as much and I am also becoming proficient at asking the same questions over and over. I got on the subway and headed to the TAPO bus station. Simple. Got my ticket. Simple. Took a bus. Simple. Managed to sleep. Hell yes. Got off bus onto another bus. Nicely done. Got off bus after realizing I had missed my stop by a few blocks. Damn, you were looking so good.
After settling into the hostel I decided to head to the Zocalo which is when Beth’s friend Antonio started messaging me and said he would pick me up. Speaking about confidence, I haven’t tried to speak Spanish over the phone since I failed hard in La Paz, maybe I should give it a shot again soon. Antonio took me to Cholula which is about 30 minutes away by car to see the town at night. We had some dinner at a nice place called Cus Cus and headed to Container City. This is exactly what you think it is. There are a bunch of shipping containers that have been converted into bars and restaurants. After impressing Antonio and three or four people he knew at the bar with my ability to down a couple shots of mezcal without wincing we walked for a time. We realized everything was closed so we went back to my hostel. Antonio is a cool dude, very smooth, very nice (paid for my food and mezcals), and funny. He said we’d see each other again for for some drinks on Thursday night in Cholula. Party!
Walking Around The Pueblita - Mar 23
This morning I spent my time creating a map of the suggestions that Antonio gave me yesterday and chatting with a Spanish girl that left after breakfast. After that I made moves. Here’s a list of places I visited during the day:
- Capilla de Rosario
- Terraza Barroca
- Plazuela de los Sapos
- Mercado el Parian
- Museo casa del Alfenique
- Paseo de San Francisco
- Museo de Arte Religioso Ex Convento Santa Monica
- El Mirador
- Fuerte Loreto
- Teleferico Puebla (Though I didn’t ride it, lines were too long)
Some notes: some of these places I didn’t actually go into and also this is probably the most classically touristy day I’ve had so far.
Here are some photos:
Some kids playing with bubbles.
A cool blue building I found.
A church peeking out of some trees.
A particularly good looking street.
I’m not sure why I have this picture.
Did I do that right?
Looking out over the town.
And that about sums it up. After walking around the hill and mirador for a while I sat down and read HP for a bit, didn’t get far though, and started back to town. I grabbed some delicious tacos al pastor at Don Pastor and spent the rest of my night in the hostel just relaxing. I started learning Volverte A Ver by Juanes and that’s going well. Cholula is next and I’m supposed to have quite the night with Antonio as well. Let’s hope I can get through it and be able to travel to Oaxaca or wherever I’m going next tomorrow.