Mexico!! I'll try to start from the beginning. The plane ride that is. Peta and lack of sleep and food is not a good Peta. Because we had to get up at 3:30am to get to the airport and whatnot, we only got to have about .7 of a breakfast. We'd gotten used to eating about every 1.5-2 hours already. The airline did not appreciate this. Anyway, with this lack of sleep and food I became a little delirious apparently and Jeff had to put up with me giggling and waving my finger at him in the 'no-no' fashion saying over and over again that "fork is not for yogurt" for a good 10 minutes during the inflight breakfast. To be fair though, I must have been pretty darn fun. Customs time: Mexico style. I would describe it as different and entertaining. On the flight they showed a video on what to do to explain the red button. If the light goes red after the button is pressed your bag has to be searched, if it goes green, you're free to go. Seemed logical to us, after being x-rayed the customs official would press the button to red or green to let you know if anything was suss. Not quite. After they x-ray your bag YOU push the button and it's completely random. Jeff got a green light and got to go through no worries, I got the red light. I felt kinda sorry for the guy who had to go through my bag, we were due for a laundry trip and I left all my dirty clothes right on top. He was probably particularly worried after Jeff's quick witted remark to "Do you have any cultures to declare?" in the what are you bringing into the country questions. Of course I said no. Jeff quickly remarked, "well... you didn't have a shower this morning".
We got through no dramas though and realised how bad our Spanish really was when we went to get a cab.
We are very good at standing there for a second and then facing each other with our dumbstruck "what the hell is this?" looks.
I dont know about anyone else but every time I enter a 3rd world country and you're in the cab to your hostel going through ridiculous traffic and worrying the whole time that your car can not possibly fit in that space and praying not to die, you think "what the hell am I doing?". Definitely got that feeling again this time. Until we reached our first set of traffic lights and were entertained by a boy standing on an older boy's shoulders and on top him was a little girl dressed like a dolphin and dancing across the street. Yep, welcome to Mexico.
We went straight out for tacos as soon as we ditched our stuff. My mouth burned for the next hour. There were some markets on the streets outside and wandered around them for a while. We then had a nap before heading out for dinnertime tacos.
You walk down the super crowded streets until you see a turning stick with lots of meat on it, the ones you see in kebab shops, and then you just ask for however many you want (if you order more than 4 each at a time though they look at you a little funny) and if you're like us, you just keep saying yes to everything they offer to put on it and end with mouth burning deliciousness.
On our first full day here we ventured to the Anthropology museum to see the world's oldest tooth restoration. Jeff is doing dentistry proud. It was pretty amazing though, it houses the giant circle that people used to consider the Aztec calendar. Turns out it really isn't a calendar at all, it was their interpretation of life, god and ways of life. Bloody impressive and big.
We went to a restaurant for dinner and decided to order 3 different things so we could figure out what they were. The three dishes arrived and we still dont really know what was what dish but we do know we love those 3 things. My Spanish returned from wherever it had been hiding and multiplied while it was there. I had enough to order and ask for the bill and all those useful things. We can ask how much something is at market stalls but if it costs more than 10 pesos (or sometimes just tricky sounding ones under 10) we lose our pseudo credibility. I do love how some Spanish words seem like they really are just playing with us though. We had to buy a watch with an alarm so we could get up the next morning. Alarm in Spanish is alarm-a. Unfortunately now that we have a watch, it's not constantly "taco time!". Although this watch has a light that I have accidentally set to a disco type theme. So now whenever we want it to be taco time we just press the light button and it seems like the only logical thing to do.
We went to MEXICAN MASKED WRESTLING! Possibly the best Friday night activity around. First we went to a cantina and had some beer and mezcal (like tequila) and I ended up salsa dancing with the Mexican guy who took us. It was pretty amazing, everyone was just sitting down drinking and then a certain song came on and all the people in the place got up and started salsa dancing and then just sat back down when it was over. The wrestling was amazing! There are two teams of 3, the good guys wearing lots of colours and the bad guys wearing black. There are 3 rounds per match and 3 different matches of different teams. I cheered for all of the good guys but also one bad guy, the one who was wearing assless pants and did a sexy dance. He had to take off the assless pants though to fight (lots of them wore capes to enter) and ended up just in a black speedo size costume. I'll admit I did shed a little tear when 3 bad guys kicked my favourite guy's (mr orange and white pants- they did all have real names but this was easier) arse. I yelled at them to stop because they were hurting him but apparently that's not the way wrestling works. My other favourite, gold boots, had to get carried away on a stretcher. And yes, it all looked completely fake and was absolutely amazing. I highly recommend everyone to go. They do the coolest flips and jumps in the cutest outfits! Jeff bought a mask for Nick- I'll put up photos soon. We didn't understand most of the chants so we had a bit of a laugh chanting "No hablas Espanol!" Overall, a fantastic Friday night!
Almost done I swear!
Today we went on a day tour of some ruins near Mexico city. Wow. Pyramids are cool. There was so much history and cool stories I learnt and got to wander around amazing churches. We went to the second most important Catholic church (first being the Vatican, obviously), and quickly learnt to say that yes, we are Catholic because well there have been a few too many people killed for saying no in the recent years. Apart from being on a lean (which we didn't point out because we are good Catholics), it was the most amazing church I've ever been in. There is something about huge, muralled ceilings and stone carvings on big hills that makes you feel pretty small in the world. Jeff had never been in a church before, not to worry though, he didn't burst into flames. There were so many people carrying Virgin Mary statues and pictures, it was pretty cool to observe. We did lots of walking to the top of hills to see the top of the church and get a good view of a smoggy Mexico city before heading to the pyramids just outside of town. And by town I do mean one of the biggest cities in the world. It is seriously massive. And full of history and amazing architecture as well as slum like neighbourhoods.
We climbed the world's third tallest pyramid. Twice. There was an amazing view of the surrounding, smaller pyramids and ruins. Again, really makes you feel pretty small. We climbed the 'sun' and 'moon' pyramids, the two most famous in the region. I use the word climb, Jeff walked. He had no trouble almost running up some of the stairs while I was on my hands and feet trying to pull myself up the giant steps. I considered pushing him and writing "being cocky" or "tall" as the reason of death. He got what was coming to him on the way back on the bus as every bump we went over he hit his stupid, tall head.
It was one of the most amazing experiences in the world. I recommend it incredibly highly. Although if you decide to do it, my pro tip is dont wear tight jeans that dont let you lift your legs.
I promise I wont write too much more!
Right now outside the hostel in the main square of historico centro (yep, the historic centre), there is a giant Christmas celebration happening. And you know how much I love Christmas! There is a giant christ-pepsi-mas tree (it is covered in pepsi logos as Christmas decorations) and there are lights and pictures all over the surrounding buildings. There is an ice-skating rink for goodness' sake! There were ice skating dancers performing and then a game of ice hockey and heaps of people down there dressed as if it's actually cold. There are stalls selling so much deliciousness and cool inflatable toys that children are throwing around. It was magical.
Jeff being so tall and me being blonde means we are receiving quite a bit of extra attention. Mainly from children, they point at us and tell stories to people nearby about us. We've had quite a few kids come up to us and start talking, mainly about where we're from etc. Grown men have tried to touch Jeff as he walks past and I recently learnt that the phrase I have been hearing is a way to ask someone out. Tonight we discovered a new game. Jeff smiled at a girl and she immediately started giggling and showing her friend. Of course I had to try this. I smiled at the next boy who made eye contact and yep, instant blushing.
Ok that's it for now, my watch just lit up so it's taco time!
