¡Llego a la ciudad de México!
So everyone gets a little Spanish lesson, my title means I arrive in Mexico City. I think. Questionable grammar for sure, but you gotta start somewhere
In the end, everything I worried about was silly, which, is a solid-gold metaphor for my life. AirTran did not care that I didn’t have a return ticket to the States and Mexican customs did not care that I didn’t really have a set plan for what I was going to do or for how long in Mexico (as in, they didn’t even look at me, here’s 180 days now keep moving. Recall how horrid getting in into Canada was?). And finally, Mark, my Couchsurfing meet up, met me right where he said he would.
Right off the bat this place is nothing to be afraid of. It’s busy, kind of cramped, and everyone is hawking their wares at every corner of the street, but nobody looks like they’re going to bother me. In the States, you only hear really bad news stories about Mexico, so we sometimes get it pushed in our head that this isn’t a very safe place. I’m aware that one neighborhood can’t really represent a whole country, but I felt quite safe walking around at night by myself. As I frequently read online, nobody really cares about you, they have their own lives to live.
Ready to leave…
I’m going to keep this pretty short, as I only have a few pictures to go up anyway. I got through TSA checkpoint (and for definitely the first time in my life) no one went through my bag though I have everything ever with me. The initial worry of AirTran making me buy a return ticket has passed for the moment, though I asked the front desk guy and he said they could still make me when I depart from San Antonio to Mexico City. I’m not going to ask anymore, for newfound fear of possibly reminding someone that that, oh, yes sir, you DO need a return ticket.
I always like to work backwards with these things, makes the writing easier? The past two months following my internship at the American Horticultural Society (written about here) have been spent very enjoyably at the original home nest in Tampa, FL, with old timers momma Keyne and papa Rupert. It had been about ten years to the month since I left. In fact, sometime around ten years ago this week I moved out of that nest into Gainesville, FL, to start college. I know a lot of my friends’ college semesters start later today.
Miami is for lovers w/money
First real post! I’m less than a month away from my big trip to Mexico City and I finally got this site looking about how I want it to, only took me about three weeks of changing everything around at least 6 times. Things around still aren’t “it” but we’re getting closer. Since I started traveling and blogging, I thought it would be really cool to have everything, portfolio and all in one place.
Things are looking well for the trip too. I met a few people on Couchsurfing who have agreed to let me stay for a bit while I am in the city. Mark, my initial contact has even agreed to come get me at the airport, which is a huge ease off my mind. My biggest single worry about the trip was having to make my way onto the Metro with two backpacks and alone/confused/goofy looking. I also have been getting some Spanish lessons from Violet across the street, who has lived there since well before we moved here (’95) but I haven’t really met her since recently. Nice lady, I’ve learned more in three lessons than I have in months of dumb online programs.
[Read more…]