Mexico City Take Two

Ohhhhh so many stories! Where do I even begin?!

So, I got invited to go on a road trip this weekend which, not gonna lie, I was pretty stoked about. Cuz A) It means I have friends to invite me to go on a trip with them and B) its a trip to Mexico City, who wouldn’t want to go!? So, I talked to my boss, got some time off work and the adventures began!

Oh wait. So, on Thursday night, before I went to DF, a huge group of people all went to a have a little party in a grave yard. At around 11:00 at night when it was pitch dark, we all met up at this grave yard to have a nice, friendly, completely freaky tour of the graveyard. Seriously, it was ridiculous. When we first got there, I was like, pshhhhh this isn’t scary. Grow up and quit screaming... and jumping... Babies. And then we reached the middle of the graveyard and this dude jumped out which kinda scared me but not really and then from the basement of this grave, tower thing they had someone bang on this metal door and ohhhhhhh I was totally done for. Not a chance of calming down after that.  My heart was racing for the rest of the tour. All in all, it was a really cool experience though. Granted, my Spanish wasn’t functioning and I didn’t catch most of what was said but what I did catch was super interesting. For instance, there is this lady down here who practises black magic and has predicted her own death. So, she prepped her grave with the date of June something-ish 2011 on the headstone. Also, all graves have these little window things on the side so that the dead people can breathe. Seriously. It was pretty cool.

So, yes. Graveyard tour on Thursday night. After that, we got up super early (7:00---haha) to head out to DF. Well, in true laid back, awesome Mexican fashion, we didn’t actually end up leaving the city until around 10:30. Hahaha! Awesome, oh so awesome. Friday was mostly spent in the car. Traffic was terrible and the roads were blocked for construction in some places but hey, we had a good time rocking out to some good old Mexican music. Sometimes I just don’t get Mexican music. I was sitting shotgun almost all weekend so I was in charge of the music, which ps... I failed at. Sometimes a song would come on and I would be like, wow, this sounds like something my great grandpa would enjoy but meanwhile, EVERYONE is singing every word and loving it. And then at other times I hear a song that I am like, hmmm this is pretty good, but nope, I was wrong and it actually sucks. Haha!

When we finally got into Mexico City we met up with Alan. This was really the whole reason we were heading down. Nidia, a girl from Guadalajara, is engaged to Alan, so we were going to see him. This guy was hilarious! Seriously, him and his twin brother. They were IDENTICAL in their looks and their actions and the way they talked. It was soooo much fun. So, we met up with Alan and his friends and cousins and sisters and everything and we went out dancing. We had two options. 1) Go to a church dance somewhere in DF which was a ways away and no one really knew exactly where it was or 2) Go to this club... no, sorry, what did they call it?... restaurant where they drink alcohol and dance as if it is a club. I voted church dance. I didn’t win. Hahaha! It was an interesting night. I don’t like clubs. I don’t like how they feel. I don’t like the lighting or the atmosphere or anything about them really. But, we made the best of it that we could. In the middle they had this group come out and perform some salsa and banda. It was RIDICULOUS!!!! Seriously sooooo cool. I love dancing. And I love salsa. Yuppp...

Saturday was super awesome. We slept in, ate, and then went out to play. We were going to head out to the Teotihuacán pyramids but traffic was RIDICULOUS!!! Seriously, you have not experienced traffic until you have driven in Mexico City. This place has something like 20 – 23 million people living in it (depending on who you talk to) and it is nuts. Mexican drivers are nuts, the way the roads are set up is nuts and that many cars on the road is nuts. So, we changed our plans and headed down to Capillo de Chapultapec – it’s a castle, a big awesome castle. I love, love, love the Victorian era style of decorating. I love the patterns and the elegance and everything about it so this was a real treat. We got there a little late so we didn’t get to go on the roof to see the gardens but hey, it was still an awesome afternoon.

After that, we went down to Zócalo to see the light show they were putting on in front of the government buildings. We parked the car and started walking into the center of the city. When we were about 10 or so blocks away Gabriel was like, “Did anyone look to see where we parked?” Of course, no one had. So, logically, we shrugged it off and continued on. Haha! Ohhhhh I love this country. We went out for dinner and walked around the market and watched the light show and had many a good times. Finally, it was time to head back to the car. Do you think we could find it?? Of course not. Hahaha!!! Ohhhh man. It was hilarious. We sat there and discussed and debated over where it could possibly be but didn’t really actually look for it. Then we met this local guy and we sat and discussed with him. By this time it was really, really, really dark and late instead of just a little bit dark and late at which point the local says, yah, I would take a cab to drive you around because it is pretty sketchy and dangerous in this area. But hey, walk this way with me and we will look for your car! Hahahahahah!! Ohhhh man. So, we walked for awhile and didn’t find it. Finally, we jumped in a cab and by some miracle we pieced together where the car was. Such a gong show. And then we got SUPER lost getting back to the house. We didn’t have a map. We didn’t know the city. We didn’t know anything really. So, at every red light we would lean over the next car and say, “Hey, how do you get to this area of town?” At which point we would get a contradicting location or direction from the last person we asked. Finally, I gave up and slept until we got home. But, by the end of it Alex was super stressed out. I felt bad for the guy.

The next morning was Sunday. SUCH a good day. Seriously. We went to this country wide conference that was being broadcast. We were able to hear from Elder Bednar and from President Eyring. It was EXACTLY what I needed that morning. I miss church in English sometimes and the words that were spoken were so poignant and I loved it soooooooo much. After this, we jumped into the car and drove out to Cruz Azul to visit Laura’s parents. I am sooooo grateful for this family. They treated me so, so, so well. They bought us lunch and then took us out to Tula to see an archaeological site with some big tall statue dudes and pyramids. Haha. I suck at history in English. It is worse in Spanish. After we hung out there for awhile we got in the car and drove up to Pachuca. This was a ridiculous coincidence. Seriously! This is the city that Yamili lives in!! Yami is a girl who lived in Canada for a year and a half or so and who I love to death. I had planned to visit her earlier but never got the chance to until this randomly popped up!! It was crazy! We spent a couple hours wandering the city and seeing the light show at the giant clock and some traditional dancing and eating Pastes. It was such a good evening. Super relaxing and laid back but still packed with fun stuff. At the end of it all we drove back to Cruz Azul to spend the night at a hotel there.

Spending the night was completely unexpected which meant that no one was prepared for it. So, the next day when we went to see the Pyramids of Teotihuacán I was still in a skirt and heels. It is quite possible that I am the only person who has ever climbed those pyramids in heels and a skirt... for good reason. It was the most ridiculous thing ever!! Hahaha! But so hilarious and awesome. Seriously, anyone who comes to Mexico HAS to come and see this site. It is GORGEOUS and the view is ridiculous from up top. Totally worth the painful walk. That night we went and hung out and acted like goofs and made the security guards job more interesting (haha!) and ate food and just had a good time. It was a really good end to the trip. Well, I guess the next morning’s adventure was the really, really awesome end. But, I am going to start another post because the next story deserves a post of its own and this is pretty long and awesome story.