Mexico City 101

Hola amigos,

My first post wasn’t much of anything, so I guess I should talk a little about where I’m actually living for the next 4 months.

Fact: Mexico City is the third largest city in the world with a population of about 20 million.
Fact: Mexico City’s elevation is about 7,400 feet.
Fact: Mexico City is not Chicago

Coming to Mexico City, I prepared myself for the changes, but living in Chicago is not like living here. Its hotter, drier, more crowded, less air, sometimes smellier, and you get hollered at daily. BUT, it costs 2 pesos to take the bus from school (like 20 cents), you can get a nice tan/burn in less than an hour on the roof, you can see visit almost any museum for free with a student ID, you can buy delicious pastries for 50 cents or an Enrique’s complete greatest hits.

I have my ‘I miss Chicago and my family and boyfriend, waaahhh!’ moments, but I keep reminding myself its all part of the process. New country, new language, new friends; its a lot to take in all at once. Plus you go to bed exhausted from hearing and speaking Spanish all day. My roomie keeps reminding me were like toddlers and need our 8-10 hours a night to absorb all the knowledge haha.

La Ibero is basically Loyola in Mexico, except the Mexicans here don’t look like the Mexicans in Chicago. It threw me at first. There are a lot of tall  blondes with blue or green eyes…weird. But like any city, there are the good and bad areas. Where I live, Chapultepec, is one of the nicest areas in the city. Santa Fe, where La Ibero is, is definitely a nice area. Consequently, a lot of Europeans live in these areas or I guess what you could call ‘criollos’ (European parents but the kids were born here). Just a lot of European/Spanish blood going on. Being a Jesuit, private university, there’s a lot of fabulous-ness and almost everyone drives to school since public transit isn’t always reliable. It’s a very very nice school, though. A lot of extra curriculars, a nice gym and free fitness classes (I’m taking some kickboxing, so watch out), and since its warm here like all the time, the whole school is open so only the classrooms have doors (yeah, that’s weird since I’m cold half of the year). The teachers are hilarious and sassy older Mexican ladies that love to call us gringos and invite us over to their house for breakfast. I’m feeling good about it.

The nightlife in Mexico is pretty decent. Condesa is the ‘cool’ spot to go where its a lot of cool bars and clubs and not crazy expensive like where I live. It’s a younger scene too, since Chapultepec/Polanco is more ‘old money’ so its fancy and expensive. But you can definitely have a good night for 200 pesos (about $20) because there usually isn’t a cover, or its free for ladies. Or you can just play up the ‘I’m foreign so buy me drinks’ thing 🙂

Downtown Mexico City is definitely worth checking out. A lot of museums, the Palacio Nacional, Cathedral which was built on top of Aztec ruins (like most of the city). Can’t really describe it, you just have to see it.

I’ll write down specifically some cool places to visit in another post, and as I get to see more.

Nos vemos!

Liz