Current location: Mexico City, MX
Arrival Date: June 27, 2010
Departure Date: Unknown
Next location: Unknown
I am loving it here in Mexico City. It is possibly better than what I had looked forward to. My job is great. I am given substantive projects that allow me to learn about various areas of law, practice my analytical skills and read Spanish. My coworkers are wonderful and are treating me very well. Almost like family. The business culture here is very different than in the United States and I am enjoying being immersed in it. On Tuesday we went out to lunch to watch the fútball game. After the game ended, it started to downpour, so my boss ordered a game of Dominoes and we played until the rain stopped. It was idyllic.
The weather is also wonderful. A lot of rain, but it keeps the temperatures cool and the air clean. I have been lucky so far. The rain generally doesn't start until the late afternoon. It has yet to rain during my mile-and-a-half long walk to work. Today the downpour subsided just in time for me to leave the house.
Last week I got to experience a 6.2 Richter earthquake. It lasted a few solid minutes as our top-floor penthouse apartment swayed back and forth like a leaf in the wind. It was a calm and enjoyable sway unlike other small earthquakes that rattle the walls and cause trinkets to fall off of shelves.
My apartment is in the best possible location, on the same street as my gym and close enough to work to walk. We have huge windows which we use instead of air-conditioning. My roommate has a little cat, Sasha, who I am starting to endear myself to. The secret is rubs behind the ears. My roommate also, is wonderful. He is an artist and lives a romantic and creative lifestyle just like in the movies. There is always music playing in French, Arabic, Spanish or English. There are parties and art exhibits and concerts to attend, wine to drink, and people to meet. Sometimes friends come over to exchange ideas about literature and to edit eachother´s writing. It is a very inspired and intelligent environment.
The only thing that does not live up to expectations is the mass transit system here. While there is a large metro system, it leaves significant areas of town unserviced. The metro station closest to my apartment doesn't seem to go anywhere useful and there are no stations within a mile of where I work. I have yet to come up with an excuse to go anywhere by bus or metro. Furthermore, despite being the third largest city in the world, it seems that most people own and use cars to get around. Most apartments and businesses have parking garages attached. This may reflect a negative feedback loop between the insufficiency of the mass transit system and the status symbol mentality that is prevalent here, as in most big cities.
Cabs are reasonably priced but I have been warned that they are dangerous. A system of secure cabs has been established but it requires going to a designated "sitio" and often waiting in a long line. I am not a big fan of taxis as it is, so I take my chances walking. The neighborhood I live in is supposed to be very safe, while the neighborhood I work in is said to be less so. It doesn´t appear dangerous to me, but my luck in having never yet been robbed (with the exception of one unsuccessful purse slash in Bolivia) is running out. I am taking precautions to minimize my loss if/when this happens.
The only other difficulty here is figuring out what to do about my ITP. My test in Berkeley showed a jump in my platelet levels from 16 to 30 but the most recent test shows my levels back at 19. As traditional therapies have not been working, I must become more creative and try to implement lifestyle changes in addition to alternative therapies like acupuncture and biomagnetism. The most significant of these will be trying to adopt a macrobiotic diet. I am more than happy to eat macrobiotic food, however, I have no interest in its preparation which can apparently take multiple hours per day. Most of what I prepare for food is canned, frozen or dried. If it is going to take more then 15 minutes to make, I generally choose to eat out. This is all in violation of macrobiotic principles which demand that everything be prepared fresh. I have yet to wrap my head around how I am going to pull this off short of hiring a personal chef.
Last weekend I went to Salon Tenampa to sample tequila and watch the mariachis of Garibaldi Plaza play. I also checked out el centro (downtown) and took a daytrip to the Aztec pyramids at Teotihuacán. I will post photos soon.
Love,
Melissa
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