FOTOS

Enjoy these photos while I work on catching up on the last couple weeks.

Mexico Album 2

Mexico Album 3

Hey Good Looking! What You Got Cooking?

I am proud to announce we have made it past our 100th post.

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Beyond spending a ton of time doing research for my paper on gated communities in Mexico City and Los Angeles not a whole ton has been happening. The gals went to the market and I’ve been reading and writing. I swear Mr. Kerouac has a lit a fire in my soul and I do love his writing style. I cooked up a pile a food that would last for days. I made us a nice creamy pasta, marinaded some fish, cooked enough Spanish rice to feed a battallion, and made some lime chamoy pomegranates.

We spent a tremendous amount of time in the apartment and when we went out on Sunday well we found that even the beggars take a day off. We went of to Gnomos again for the glorious Super Gnomo which is a bacon cheeseburger with a salad, fries, and zucchini empanadas. Good Lord what a delight.

I skipped Monday and that was nice. Spanish got canceled for the week and Gender got canceled for Thursday. Effectively, I have a 2 day school week before we head out to on our academic trip. School was fairly uneventful and we only have a few projects left. This is going to be nice if I get it all done early.

So after presenting out interviews on Wednesday, we headed back to the apartment. We ordered Pizza Hut. Sometimes you need pizza that tastes  like home. We got some QuePapas, Orange Soda, and a Cheesypops Veggie Lovers, and a Chicago Suprema. Mmmm so good. Kerk and Danielle made strawberry mint rum monstrosities.

Been checking out some shows this week. This is the first time I’ve watched True Blood or Dexter. Initially I am unsure but thus far each time I see an episode it gets more interesting. I’ve watched a lot more True Blood and I would say it is the stronger show. Jill and I are most of the way through the first season and I really want to finish it.

Anyways it’s off to pack. I will be back on the blog after the 2nd!

Now, that is one malty democracy.

Chili and Lime

Jill, Kerk, and myself were invited over for Gorditas and Tacos with Gina, Andres, and Danielle at their place. We had a couple bottles of wine and talked. (2 Buck Chilean Chuck is where it is at.) I shared some wisdom about beards with Andres. Overall it was a humorous time. Then we decided to watch the Exorcist. After that re-watching I realized it isn’t scary but mostly disturbing. I feel there is a lot of subliminal things and references that needed to be put more in context. Rob Ager and Seamus Conlon offer interpretations that are interesting.

WARNING! Media Rant Approaching. Reduce Speed.

To me it seems that most of these movies with exorcism as a central theme masquerade as horror films but in actuality offer something completely different. Take The Exorcism of Emily Rose for example, it pretended to be a horror film but really it was a courtroom drama. The movie really didn’t offer any horror and spent the majority of the time in the courtroom. It felt like an episode of Law and Order.

I’ve watched more of the Vampire Diaries and I really feel like the craptacular Twilight series has brought this angsty teen vampire thing as a lovely new fad. (The comment at the bottom of the IMDB page proves a point if not a little bit angry at society.) The characters all seem to be 2 dimensional and have all of these dark and emotional pasts. Some of the characters do not even seem like they could exist in real life. For example the douchebag teacher who says ‘fuck the fact that your parents died and I am going to treat all of you like shit’. He even goes so far as to claim the guardian of the main character is doing a shit job at raising her sisters kids at a parent teacher conference. Does this guy have ultimate tenure?

This show has a anti-drug pro-sobriety message that is bizarre. It also has an abstinence message. All of this chicks friends demand sex while the main character is kind of wishy washy. Some of the vampires have heart and they are fighting the uncontrollable evil inside. The vampire that doesn’t kill and tries to contain his uncontrollable lust for flesh is kind of the exact opposite of what a vampire should be. I dislike the trend in vampires that hunt squirrels. The whole fucking point is that they need to feed off of humans. The blood bank stealing vampires of Buffy made sense. I also have a problem with vampires that can go out in the sunlight. At least in Blade it made sense. This magical ring crap in the show doesn’t make any sense while sparkling in Twilight makes me want to vomit. Seriously guys we need to return to real vampires, can someone come out with something more along the lines of The Lost Boys or Interview With A Vampire?

End Media Rant.

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Approaching Foodgasm.

Food is fantastic. I just had a pomegranate covered in lime, salt, and chamoy. Chamoy is one of those things that I loved the minute I tasted. I’ve been making salsa and other magnificent foods. I’m really going to miss the food here. I had a conversation with a Mexican compatriot about the food that we simply do not have in the US. We do not have gorditas, huaraches, tacos al pastor, and most of the regional cheeses easily accessible. I doubt we even have chamoy. The candies are great too. The corn in the cup with cheese and mayo why don’t we have any of this!

I feel like living here has made me want to douse everything in chili and lime. When that isn’t enough I toss on some salt and hot sauce. It just starts to feel like the food needs it. I don’t mean to disrespect the assortment of flavors but wow. Everything just tastes better with chili and lime. Sigh food.

End Foodgasm.

Academic Crack Down

We finally got around to going to Watsy’s Tacos across from our apt. Man that place was delicious. They have a solid comida corrida and delightful tacos al pastor.

Sunday was slow and Monday was too long to allow anything to happen. I was able to build another rent money castle for the landlord. I’ve been keeping up on Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons, and Dollhouse while abroad. I wish I could find Dethklok but no gold yet.

I finished My Invented Country by Isabel Allende and started On the Road by Jack Kerouac. My Invented Country took a bit for me to get into. I found her exaggeration and nostalgia entertaining. It was a nice pick up and read when you have a moment type book. On the other hand although I have just started On the Road, I am finding his prose much more enjoyable. I like the ridiculous rambling style.

Our Gender prof gave us a cool place to check, Plaza Copilco which is the site of the oldest round pyramid in Mesoamerica and also used to be where a textile factory was. The subsidized housing was then converted into a mall. My old anthro professor from Saddleback also sent me a restaurant to check out which I am looking forward to doing.

We’ve got about 2 months left in Mexico and I’m not sure I want to leave. Although I am a tad homesick. Being out of the country for 6 months was pretty extreme. My main bummer right now is all the academics getting in the way of traveling.

We ate a nice Italian dinner cooked by Belinda. She made us spaghetti and homemade meatballs that were to die for. We added the Mexican garnish of chipotle and that was surprisingly fantastic. I polished off another bottle of Cuban rum and then we exchanged slang for sexual activities. It was hilarious.

I cooked a feast of artichokes, asparagas, and fish for Jill because I was feeling lovey. We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine. It was a Shiraz Cabernet by Black Swan.

In the computer lab one of the staff came in and demanded to hear everyone’s Tarzan yell. So we went around the room doing that. She then had everyone do a different animal while I beat my chest and yelled out. Ridiculous.

I’ve been fixing computers for people for tips. One of my professors took note and now I am tentatively invited for lunch and labor.

I watched the pilot for Vampire Diaries. My initial opinion of it wass that it is angsty and teenie bopper. The anti-drug messages and the sad puppy love crap was not doing it for me. Artistically though, I thought the cinematography and music placement was well done. I really liked the soundtrack and how it slips in so well. The action and vampire schtick is interesting. I want to see the characters develop so I’m willing to give it a few more episodes before I pass a final judgment.

Music examples:

An Ode to Street Vendors

Jill covered this event in her post, Mutual Charity. I thought it fantastic. A mandarin is a great response to keep the change. I love street vending but maybe that has to do with my lack of exposure to it. I have found these people on the streets selling things to both be a bargain and more convenient than the stores. I like being able to grab 5 tacos for 15 pesos or 3 pomegranates for 8 pesos. The people I meet on the street seem genuinely nice. Aside from the random Jehovah’s Witness that wanted me to come and be a convert. Personally, I am for the street vendors even though the Mexican government is against them. I appreciate these people making a living where they can.

I watched GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra and Surrogates. With GI Joe, I liked seeing these characters I watched as a child reimagined. Although the plot was crap, it was nice to see the creative imagining. Surrogates was good overall. There were several plot holes but I forgive it. Based on the trailer I think it was chopped to shit before it hit the screens. I liked the aesthetic contrast between humans and robots. I also liked the rigidity and extreme posture even though it wasn’t the most realistic considering the technology represented.

We went on an adventure to an irregular settlement. It was different than I expect. I expected to be wondering through ridiculous instances of poverty. Luckily since it had been regularized a good 30 years ago it was completely different. The inhabitants had been building their houses up and had land titles. They still have a few problems but it isn’t too bad. We saw the leader’s house which was pretty nice and the community center they are renovating. The history of 2 de Octubre was pretty violent. The name of the community stems from the day their settlement was lit on fire with the people and all their belongings inside. Classy. There was conflict between the rich who wanted to develop the land for

Our Spanish professor told us how to say Marijuana is delicious and tastey. That was after she told us it was bad for us. So it’s not like she was advocating illegal substances for those of you that are Pro-Drug War.

On Wednesday we hung out at our place and had some drinks. Thursday was Danielle’s 21st so we all had a time! We went to the tattoo parlor where Danielle got a new tattoo and Jill got her belly pierced. Both of them look pretty good. For dinner we went to El Gnomo. We had the Super Gnomo which is a bacon cheeseburger served with a salad, fries, and zuccini empanadas. So amazing. After that we went to the bar across the street called Las Yardas. As you can imagine their specialty is serving drinks in half yard glasses. We hung out there for a few hours and then called it a night.

We went to the Coyoacan plaza and walked around. They have a pretty sweet fountain with 2 coyotes. We went to a market that sets up every Friday and Saturday. We met a rastaman there to buy tickets to the reggae festival on Saturday. After that we walked around and down to Tres Coyotes where Gina and Andres munched on some lengua tacos. Jill and I were full from her beans, tortillas, and eggs. We went back and hung around the plaza for awhile. We had a churro that was filled with cajeta. Cajeta is a caramel that is made from milk. It was mindblowing. After this we did a quick shopping run for our boat adventure tonight. I made some salsa mexicana (pico de gallo for those of you in the US) in the blender and we were off.

It took quite a bit to get to Xochimilco but once there it was amazing. Jill and I had brought tortillas, limes, salsa, and rotisserie chicken for dinner. Some people brought booze or nothing. We spent a couple hours on the bought lazing through the canals. A lot of people got too drunk for themselves to handle. Some of them then decided to be annoying for the rest of the night. Gina made a really amazing cake that we all got to partake in. After a couple hours lazing through nature it started raining heavy. Half the group was able to flag down a cab and cram in while the other half (which I was in) took way too long to find another cab. It seemed the cab drivers were not in the mood to stop in the rain. We took a cab to Luis’ casa where we partied until late. Most everyone was white rum and cokes. I even got to go for a nice walk to grab more. I did a bunch of dancing with Jill while everyone drank. I’m pretty sure Jill and I were the only sober partyers. I met a ton of new people and it was pretty amazing. Luis and his friends took to calling me Axl Rose. People filtered in and out throughout the night. I got to help direct Diego to the party even though I had no idea where I was. When it was only 7 of us left we sat down and had some light conversation. Luis and I had a crazy conversation about migration, the Mexican-American war, narcotrafficking, and documentary film. Jill and I didn’t get out of there until 400am. Thanks to Diego’s car we didn’t need a taxi. That kid is hilarious. Also, he told us after 1100pm red lights are optional and you have to follow the traffic laws of where you are at.

Saturday was the all day reggae festival which ended up being cancelled. We were super-bummed. It was quite a long trek but oh well we made the best of it by going to the Coyoacan Saturday Street Market. Jill and I scored 10 pomegranates for 40 pesos aka $3. After that we headed back to our apt to watch Vaselina aka Grease. Freaking amazing. It was the first time I saw it and it was pretty classy. John Travolta is clearly the best thing to happen to American cinema. After the film Kerstin went upstairs to grab some laundry and there was bloody smears everywhere. Based on her description I’m called it a murder-rape. Well it turns out someone just sucked at removing graffiti.

mutual charity

I like to visit the small fruit stand located just outside our apartment complex. It’s run by a couple who always have a smile for you. The first few times I saw it, I didn’t buy anything because we usually get fruit when we stock up on all of our other food at WalMart. One day, however, I saw a bunch of pomegranates tucked in a box near the back of the stand. There are never pomegranates at WalMart. I bought three.

Guess how much it cost me. No, no, it wasn’t that much. I paid nine pesos for three pomegranates. I was amazed. Aaron and I ate them all in an afternoon, and since then I’ve been keeping my eye out for more pomegranates at the fruit stand. They haven’t had any decent looking ones since that day, though every time I pass the stand I either look carefully for my hidden treasures or ask, “Tienen grenadas?” They probably think of me as the grenada girl by now.

Today Aaron and I dropped by the stand to pick up some fruit (all the crap from WalMart was bruised, and some of the peaches were moldy. Yeah, no thanks!) We got four bananas, two apples, and three avocados for 29 pesos. !!! That’s barely more than two dollars. Anyway, this is when the transaction became humorous.

I handed over three 10 peso coins and thanked him, and then started to walk away. He called out to me: “Wait, I’m going to give you a peso!” Not really caring about an extra peso, I smiled and told him it was fine. I was just on the verge of saying, “Really, don’t worry about it,” but I never did because at that moment a mandarin appeared flying through the air toward the man. (I’m pretty sure it was thrown by his wife, but to me it looked like it appeared out of thin air.) I blinked in shock as he caught it and deftly sliced it in half with a huge knife. “Try a mandarin!” he said cheerfully, thrusting the fruit into my hand. The sweet smelling juice immediately began to dribble onto my fingers. I thanked him brightly.

Aaron and I laughed about it the entire way back to the apartment, thinking that the best response yet to the gifting of extra money. I hope I can get all my fruit from them from now on.

And I will let him give me change next time.

Highlights

The week started off with the usual classes. Unfortunately we would have a quiz on Wednesday in Migration. Luckily, by doing all the reading last minute we appear to be doing just fine. College Success Strategy utilized. We also have to do an interview for the same class. Sigh, work.

I also have to get off my ass and do some writing for Cities. It turns out I need a 10 pager based on some quality research. Well I’m sure that will work out as well.

I’m trying to get some more creativity into my life. So beyond trying to pound through books I want to get some creative writing done. I was doing a bit of research on Nyarlathotep from the Lovecraft mythos. So many good ideas so little time. Damn deadlines making me feel like I need to prioritize.

I’ve been doing a lot of planning. I’m hoping to get a hostel, restaurant, and bar off the ground. So if you have tons of money let’s talk.

I’ve been drooling over a bunch of tech lately. The Zune HD looks really sexy but the iPhone. I really want so many things. +1 to poverty. You get the idea.

In Gender, our professor gave all of us who were on time Pro-Abortion Stickers and everyone else who was late got nothing. It was amazingly kindergarten but beyond effective. There was a collective moan from those who were late. The disappointment was palpable.

I’m trying to figure out what I want to do after school. Where I want to live, what I want to do, how to rob a bank so I can afford a phd? The usual questions people ask themselves. I’ve thought about living outside the country, in other states, and different regions of California. I suppose it depends on where I can go to pay off my school loans in a year. Worst case scenario, I will live in a van down by the river. I’m curious in a bunch of fields so as long as I get out of sales or customer service and try a bunch of stuff I’ll be pretty happy. I need to look into becoming a masseuse, travel doctor, and drug designer. Those are the newest things I’m interested in.

I found an amazing website called FriendAGorilla.org that’s right gorillas in the jungles of Africa using social networking sites.

I also am tempted to import a puppy to the US. They have these cages in the Mercado Merced where they are kept in tiny cages where they don’t have enough space to move. They are tiny and adorable. I want a 6 pack. As it turns out US Federal regulation is really simple. Basically they need to be in good health and have a rabies shot.

Jill and I acquired a bunch of reggaeton. One of my favorite lines from the songs we got is, “Mama you bi? No, I’m try. I’ll try anything”.

In my Spanish class we played the game where you write a name on a card and you have to guess who you are. It was hilarious. I was our professor and the professor was Christopher Columbus.

I watched Eagle Eye and Push this week. Push could have been a lot better but whatever. Sometimes you need an action film with a shoddy plot. I thought Eagle Eye was significantly better. The plot almost made sense and it seemed to be fairly well done.

I had some good conversations about language use and fgm. I basically think that by fully examining the language we use we can influence the ideas of those around us. Basic propaganda mantra but let’s think about this. If we say minority or subaltern it directs the movement of thoughts. In the US minority is considered ethnic but subaltern is someone who isn’t the main part of history. Magic. Another example, antiabortion vs prolife. Same thing. This is my suggestion. If feminism is simply the struggle to end sexism. Feminism sounds like empowerment to women and may make some think at the expense of men. What if we called it Antisexism? I think everyone could get on the antisexism band wagon. I did a project awhile back about Language and Culture and I think most of my current interest stems from that.

Jill and I went out dancing. Beyond the motion sickness I had a wonderful time. We had shopped earlier in the day for some nice clothes. I made us some jungle juice. Some of you maybe familiar with Tucker Death Mix or as my friends affectionately called it God’s Piss. You grab 32oz of Gatorade (generally lemon-lime but this time I used mango), 16oz of Red Bull (I did 24oz this time because of supply issues), and a bottle of Everclear (couldn’t find it at any of the closeby stores, so I used some Smirnoff and the rest of a Peach Vodka). Mix it all together and serve by Camelbak (I chose Gatorade bottles for storage purposes). So we pregamed with that and then it was off to the Zona Rosa. Jill and I were some sexy looking well to do’s, I’ll tell you what. So we walked around and I thought I was doing better so we headed up to the lesbian club, Lipstick which was ironically filled with only homosexual men and the odd straight couple. The pounding music made me feel worse so we went for another walk. We sat in the park looking at the Angel. I bought Jill a dozen roses and then when I was feeling better we went back and danced until after 200am. We got back at exactly the same time as our flatmate and we all hung out for a bit. Jill quickly passed out while I couldn’t sleep until 400am.

How to Make Tortillas, According to Jill

1. Retrieve dough from the fridge, left over from Kerstin’s huarache-making success.

2. Find two flat things to press dough with. Cover them with Wal*Mart bags.

3. Put a flat pan on the stove and ignite the fire. Spray olive oil in the pan. Deliberate, then spray more oil until the pan looks like it’s covered in a thin layer of sea foam.

4. Grab some dough and roll it between your palms. It should be about the size of a golf ball.

5. Put the golf ball on flat thing #1. Smoosh it with flat thing #2.

6. Peel flat thing #2 back from flat thing #1. Admire your roundish pre-tortilla. Very carefully peel pre-tortilla away from flat thing #1.

7. Frown in consternation as pre-tortilla splits in three different ways and sticks mostly to flat thing #1.

8. Roll the dough up again, press it again, and attempt to peel pre-tortilla away.

9. Repeat steps 7-8 two more times. Eventually decide to toss the three pieces of pre-tortilla into the pan anyway, which sizzles loudly in protest.

10. Realize that the burning olive oil sea foam has begun to smoke up the kitchen, dining room and hallway. Turn on the stove fan.

11. Alternatively stare at and flip the tortilla. Nibble it when you think it’s done.

12. Pick up the aerosol olive oil can, and realize that putting it next to the stove encourages explosions. Spray the pan quickly and set it safely on the washing machine instead.

13.. Kill the mosquito that is trying to overthrow your operation. Wash your hands.

14. Make a few tortillas–some doughy, some crispy–before deciding to peruse the internet for tortilla wisdom.

15. Realize that you were dumb enough not to flour the golf ball or flat things #1 and #2, which is the source of all trouble. Also realize that the pan should be ungreased. Oops!

16. Go overboard flouring the dough and the flat things. Experience immense pleasure when pre-tortilla peels back easily and whole from flat thing #1.

17. Throw pre-tortilla onto the pan. Stare, flip. Pat yourself on the back and repeat this new process several times.

18. Realize that all the brown and black stuff in the pan is burnt flour. Oops.

19. Make tortillas until the dough is gone.

20. Enjoy!

Lazy Do Nothing

If there is one post that you ignore I encourage you to skip this.

Spoiler Alert: Literally nothing happens.

The Laziest Saturday

There was waking up and there was lounging. I felt rather terrible in the morning and Jill was a doll. She went out to get me some Gatorade and medicine. I did some reading and some internet. I cooked vegetables and turkey al pastor while she cooked pasta. Jill and I watched Dollhouse. I found out that I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is now a movie.

Do Nothing Sunday

I wake up and do some reading. I make a breakfast scramble. I decline to go to the Zocalo for some photography show and the witchcraft market. I watch the Hangover instead. I enjoyed it. I strive to do as little as possible.

1st Week Back

Somebody Has A Case of the Mondays

This is probably the longest day I have ever had. So we get up and at ‘em. We have a relaxed Spanish class. We ate banana bread and talked about verbs. Our homework was to write about our favorite animal. Next was Migration, where we talked about day laborers. There was a quick lunch and then it was off to Cities. We discussed the construction and reconstruction of Mexico City and Los Angeles. After class we had a quick meeting regarding our Gender project. I was walking with Marijane and Lina to a restaurant. They had some food and I kept them company. The rain came down hard. When we finished Marijane and I had to run through a torrentual rain storm. On our walk back to the apartment complex the road was flooded knee deep. So I did what anyone would expect, I waded across the river. Once back at the apartment Jill and I ordered a Pepperoni Especial from Dominos. We demolished that pizza. Jill and I spent the night hanging out and having a great time.

Random Violence Tuesday

I had to be up early to meet my group to discuss our Gender in the Media presentation. On my way to school when I was halfway across the street this guy slammed on the breaks. He caused a little bit of traffic but I just assumed his car stalled. Well he threw his car into park and got out of his car and went to the minivan behind him. The guy had a shiny object in his hand and I’m pretty sure it was a knife. He started screaming ‘AYE PUTA HUEY’ and punching the window. The guy inside the minivan was laughing. So the first guy starts stabbing minivan driver’s car door. The minivan driver is not amused and floors it. He then pushes the first guys car several car lengths and the car eventually is pushed to the side of the road. The first guy is chasing the minivan as he does this. The minivan driver escapes and the first guy hops in his car and goes back to his business like nothing happened. Meanwhile myself and the ten other people on the curb are all looking at each other shocked.

I got to the Casa 15 minutes late and no one was here. So I set up the projector, the files, and all of the stuff for our presentation. I ran into Danielle in another room and she was working hard. Our Spanish professor was able to make it. She told us she has collitis. We went over irregular imperative verbs and then talked about our favorite animals and mental disabilities. Not our favorite mental disabilities but how animals are beneficial for people with those issues. After that we went to Gender. The professor started with the trajectory of women achieving the vote in Mexico. Then it was my time to shine. So our group gets up and does our presentation. We analyzed magazines, commercials, music videos, and film. My part was commercials. I looked at how advertisements for men portray women. I focused on Axe and Trojan. Everyone was very uppity during my presentation. So for your entertainment here are the advertisements that I used.

Axe

Mexico

USA

Long AXE commercial – Watch more Funny Videos

Trojan

Mexico

USA

EVOLVE

Our presentation ran super long. We were supposed to use an hour and we used two. This made class a good 3 hours today. After class we went to the computer lab.

Walk It Out Wednesday

We woke up way too late and were a good 15 minutes late to Spanish. The prof seemed irked but oh well. She told us to write about our fieldtrip. Right after Spanish we hopped into a taxi to go to the zocalo for our Cities fieldtrip. As we would later find out no one bothered to tell our Migration teacher and now we have class on Friday. We spent a good 3 hours walking around the zocalo. We started at the cathedral near the metro exit. We saw a few of the plazas and the restoration work. Aside from our professor we had a director of the historic centers restoration with us. We saw one of the old style cantinas and the university building with cantina that has liquor license #1. Unfortunately it was closed a few months ago due to funds. We saw Santa Muerta and discussed the issues of the illegal informal street vending market. I found it interesting that our guides expressed frustration but didn’t do anything about it. We saw a cathedral that was lowered below street level to adjust for the sinking and allow for a new pedestrian pathway. I noticed they randomly place a bunch of pedestrian pathways where streets used to be. We walked past a famous restaurant that serves more indigenous style food like armadillo, called Restaurante-Bar Chon. I’m looking forward to going back to these places and trying them out. We saw some old plazas and discussed the history. The director was able to get us inside a closed off government building that was a former convent. The architecture was gorgeous. All the surounding areas were walled off so it was only a courtyard. We also saw another old house that the government bought and turned into a learning center. We also saw another pedestrian walkway that they recently implemented. They believe it was a huge success. It changed from a drug dealing and abandoned cars to small restaurants and shops. He mentioned that you need to get people to see that the changes will be beneficial and you need to have the people that live their own those changes. It was fascinating to spend the afternoon with someone who I think has a lot of say in how the city is going to look. Our tour concluded with us walking to an old cantina called Dos Naciones. It was a few blocks from Bellas Artes. If you have three drinks you can eat as much as you like, otherwise it is one drink one food item. After spending a chunk of time there hanging out we walked to Hidalgo Metro station and headed home. Once home, we relaxed, had some wine, and started watching Closer. I’m not too sure how I feel about the film. After that it was late and time for bed. Luckily, we don’t have to be up at a reasonable hour.

Gender Fail Thursday

I tried sleeping in and failed. Well we needed to try and watch a presentation given by the LEGENDARY Joan Scott for Gender. So we had only to do this one thing. We couldn’t get it to work at home, the campus, or Starbucks. Apparently the broadcaster got overloaded. So we spent a little less than 2 hours trying to get this to work. So we gave up and started walking towards a restaurant. We happened upon a group of protesters. This is the 2nd group in 2 days. They were protesting that books were not being provided to their children. So that died down and we continued to the restaurant. I got the comida corrida and a Modelo Especial. We hung out there and talked. Jill and I then walked the other way home. We stopped into the Gandhi and bought 1600MXN worth of books. Now we have some serious pleasure reading. When we got home I started Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. It was freaking amazing. This guy is brilliant and is being taken before his time. I made taquitos for dinner and everyone’s mouth orgasmed. I enjoyed a few rum and cokes. I have decided I need to try as many rums before I head back to the states. So far I’ve had Flor de Cana (Nicaragua) and Matusalem (Cuba).

Cusine Friday

We had a make up class for Migration because of the fieldtrip we took on Wednesday. There was 5 of us. Everyone else said fuck it. So I gave my current event presentation on an Immigration Lawyer that preyed on Illegals. We had some discussion but the professor wanted us to critically analyze the reading and no one read all that much. After class Jill and I went to Walmart to pick up a few things. We made more taquitos together and then I made us some quesadillas with the tortillas that were expiring. I finished Pausch’s book and I highly recommend it. After that I started Leaf Storm by Gabriel Marquez. It was pretty bizarre. For dinner Kerk made us huraches which are a long flat corn dough wrapped around beans covered in guacamole, nopales, and onions. Mmm. We also had some nice strong wine. After dinner we watched WKUK and then Machuca. I think that film is definitely worth watching. It deals with class difference in Chile pre-dictatorship.