une note électronique.: may as well mexico! (1 of 2)

the subway here looks like legos. one thing that i missed was the grooved sidewalk that bianca was telling me about - apparently it's there for blind people. and there are so many blind people here! this was taken when i first got in and was on my way to the hotel. friends that we met later on the beach were kind of aghast that i had taken public transportation that early in the game. 'weren't you worried??' no. i was actually way more freaked out at the idea of getting into a cab with a stranger that didn't speak english. i don't know how that's much different than here...but still there was something about the subway...it eased my mind to know that no one was going to try to help me or talk to me or ask me where i was going. cause i had no idea. i just want to sit on the train with my map and figure it out. only way to learn anything!

so good! they have tiny pictures that correspond to the station. mine was the little ship. i was trying to figure out what each picture represented. some were pretty clear but others...what does a bell have to do with insurgents??

so lovely view from my balcony.

the atrium!!

where else do i go but the supermarket?

ew.

not ew.

how come our soda doesn't come in attractive/comic packaging?

it was actually powdered milki. yuck.

giant poinsetta!!

bean sprouts, chili, lime: holler. at. your. girl.

my first meal. not very mexican. at all. but delicious nonetheless.

talk about delicious! there are tiny, tiny coatracks for your purse next to the table!

after lunch i went to chapultapec park. in retrospect it wasn't the best idea, but it was an experience.

i used it. it was so awkward. but when in rome.

it wasn't really this attractive.

obsessed! dried beets are BEYOND.

and my teeth were pink. i looked like i had gingivitis all day. so necessary.

there's all these stands with all these adorable things to eat. the lollipops were my favorite. so translucent and flat and giant!

kids on leashes..

i can't even tell you how much i hate this.

this squirell outside of the museum of anthropology was just about the boldest squirell ever. you cant tell from this photo but this fruit cup most definitely belongs to someone who has set it down simply to wipe their hands. this beast was on top of that cup lickitysplit. i think he even hung out on top of it for a few seconds before dislodging a slice and taking a couple steps back.

no one here but us dead people.

i love scale models!

dead.

dying.

death.

model!

black people barely exist in mexico.

i have a friend that is the gothiest, morissey bastard on the block. this may be his brother from another mother.

runes!

lonesome dove.

what the hell is going on here?

nada.

wee-est trash cans in the uni.

back to the hotel, tired feet, happy face, but i forced myself to shower and get up and out and at least take myself to dinner. on my walk to the restuarant i noticed they have their streetlights in the sidewalk. they're not extremely illuminating, but i like the idea much more than overhead giant poles that are in the way of everything.

they give you an equal portion of clamato when you order tequila. it was delicious.

i chose this place because in the guidebook it said that poncho villa shot a hole in the ceiling. i was fully ready to walk around and take a picture, but once i got there i realized that was just not going to happen. but look how beautiful!

i went for it. over and over again.

ha.

in th middle of the night i got up and switched beds.

sanboooooooooorn's: it's where the old people go.

i think this is just about the most gorgeous fruit i've ever seen.

the roof is so excellent. it's like the rising sun!

this building was incredibly impressive to me.

diego rivera was a big fan of cool hand luke.

i cried.

and then i died.

librobusssss

i bought some earrings. so lovely.

right?

so french!

i dont know why i didn't buy anything.

if you can see them, there are the most amazing things in the universe around her ankles. they're some sort of hollowed out nuts with a metal bead inside, sewn on to ankle straps that make the most amazing tinkling sound when you walk (or tribal dance). they were everywhere and absolutely not for sale.

the zocolo! they do christmas so big there.

this cathedral took nearly 300 years to finish. not impressive.

stop being so cute everywhere.

stop being so frightening everywhere.

guess what else i tried to buy...

whoa. could you stop living so ferociously??

stop showing off your ankle straps. no one's impressed.

ok these guys: organ grinders. terrifying name for a SUUUUUUUUUper bland job. basically there are twams of 2 that go out and panhandle. professionally. one grinds this hand organ and the other asks for change. weird right? but it makes it so there's music all the time.

i also bought this at the brocery store. it also was not so delicious. basically it was a snickers bar having a seizure.

oh haaaaaaaaaay faaaaaaaaaaaaaaam

cafe tacuba. definitely the spot. on our second trip here i almost ordered brains. but then remembered that i was to be sharing with denise and she just wouldn't have that.

ok i don't know what they did to this coffee or this milk but it was UNREAL. my head is starting to hurt just thinking about it.

wee little follow mees.

im not alone!

this temple was unknown for thousands of years, until an earthquake uncovered it in the 70s. i wonder why that happened. this here is where young men were put through a self-sacrifice ritual. damn mexico...intense much?

these cacti were waiting to grow for thousands of years. isn't that something?

more self-sacrificing sites.

i imagine would this place really fall to pieces if i was allowed to run around? probably not. who cares about your crumbling history, what about my crumbling heart?

dear mr mammoth and mr giant turtle: how is it EVEN possible that you are cuddly as fossils?

dear mr. prehistoric face: you are so uncuddly.

gothic, angsty, mexican teenagers? check.

went back to the cathedral with la familia. this was the most interesting thing: a pendulum that marks the building's slow, corrective progression back to upright after people who are paid to figure such things, figured such a thing. i love that the building is moving. constantly crawling its way out of the earth, back to the right place.

smallest gift shop in mexico.

that was incidentally run by christopher lloyd.

this is what the dancers were dancing around.

that small leaf on the right hand side of the bill - that's clear. why can't american money have windows in it? it's just such a whimsical touch.

the zocolo at night. booming!

hi denise. also i got drunk at this meal. i don't know how as i only had 2 beers. i must've been very excited.

sort of depressing eatery.

back at sanborns!

so we took a day trip to the villa de guadelupe and then on to the pyramids, and lastly to frida kahlo's home. this is the villa - the home of a miraculous. i'd never seen one in person so i was excited. to be honest though i think we could've skipped the entire thing...just too many people!

pretty though.

the best part was definitely the fact that the floor moved to keep things moving.

this is just on a regular day. wtf!?

weird dolls everywhere, posing as jesus.

i want this wallpaper.

then we took the stairs up to a shrine dedicated to the site of another miracle: the shepherd, later in life, found flowers growing in the snow on this hill. he built a chapel here and lived there for the rest of his life. i think that's really touching.

looks like l.a. to me.

this chapel was very small but so much more beautiful.

on the road again...

hiyme was sleeping

it was worth it just to be able to see this kind of stuff.

this woman knew everything there was to know about the agave plant. here she tore off the tip of the leaf and pulled:

out came a needle and thread, together!

denise? are you sad?

look at those two. and that weird guy who just walked off the set of the office...

i wish i could say we climbed it...but really the line was about 2 hours long. and so we moved to the smalled pyramid (the temple of the moon) and climbed that. and i have to be honest: i'm in GREAT shape. like...great shape. and that tiny pyramid kicked my ass. i'm glad we didn't embarrass ourselves with this one.

how colorful.

monstrous. also this is where my camera died for the day. fabulous. olivia, hiyme, denise: send me jumping pics and frieda pics. gracias.

zocolo at night!! again!!

i couldn't stay away from the coffee...and this is our last dinner together in mexico city! next morning we rose VERY early and tried to catch a bus to the coast. needless to say, it wasn't that easy. but eventually we did get one.

what an interesting collection of patterns.

cuuuuute. also she's reading dreams of my father. STOP IT. it's too much.

here is my seat. it sums up my life.

olivia advised me to wear socks on the bus cause my may get cold. i always want to wear flip flops when i travel. this is my attempt to reconcile these two opposing philosophy. it was all i could do to not throw up.