Hello from Mexico City - First Impressions

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Just after a few particularly hectic days ahead of my departure I got up at 4:30 am yesterday and my husband drove me to the airport. Given that my flight was with Delta Airlines and had a stopover in Atlanta, I had to go through US immigration, as constantly an intriguing encounter. The whole process took me about 45 minutes, but lastly I was by way of. Then it was off onto the bus to get to the departure terminal. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 8:20 and certain enough, at about 7:20 there was an announcement that the "rudder control switch" was loose and that maintenance would have to be named in. The ground personnel indicated that they were nonetheless attempting to get us off the ground in the very same plane, but it could take a when.

I was beginning to get a little concerned because I would have much less than an hour in Atlanta before my connection flight would leave for Mexico City. Effectively, the maintenance crew came in and with about a 40 minute delay we got off the ground in Toronto after getting reassured that we should nonetheless be able to make our connection flights and that time would be made up in the air.

Approaching Atlanta I noticed that this city ought to clearly be undergoing a lot of growth: new subdivisions are becoming built everywhere in the forested locations, many of them quite big with a lot of space between neighbouring homes. The soil in Atlanta is orange-red, so looking at it from the plane you see this colourful tapestry of green (forest), grey (roads, buildings) and reddish hues with a relatively smaller cluster of skyscapers announcing downtown.

I often like to look at diverse cities from the air because even a 1st glance gives you a actually decent idea what's going on with a location. Ground personnel had been already waiting at our arrival in Atlanta and were directing us to our connecting flights. I had to move from terminal B to terminal E, so I caught an underground train that connects the diverse terminals at this airport. When I got to my gate I walked ideal into the plane as the flight was boarding already.

With a sigh of relief I plunked myself down in my window seat and started to relax, certain that I would be able to make it into Mexico City on time right after all. As time went on, I began chatting with the young lady beside me, who lives in Minnesota and was flying on from Mexico City to Mérida on the Yucatan Peninsula. She said that she was visiting pals who had retired early in Mérida and are getting a awesome time. They lost their jobs with the neighborhood Minnesota state government in their late to mid-fifties and began researching the possibility of retiring outside of the US and lastly settled on Mérida exactly where they are apparently actually enjoying themselves. They have learned Spanish and are quite effectively integrated in the nearby expatriate community as effectively as with Mexican locals. My conversation partner promised to link me up with her pals so I'd be able to do an interview with them about their retirement way of life in Mexico.

Our approach to Mexico City was fairly a contrast to approaching Atlanta. In Atlanta the air had been clear, there were lots of forests and greenery and houses had been spaced far apart. The sky over Mexico City on the other hand was particularly hazy. As it is currently the largest city in the world with a population of about 25 million, its dimensions are big, and houses and buildings are built particularly close together. I saw a series of workplace towers in the downtown places and quite a few of the residential locations had highrises as well.

Lastly we landed, right on time, and we passed through immigration particularly easily and by the time my passport and immigration forms were checked, my suitcase was already rolling about on the baggage carousel. I don't think I've ever observed such efficiency at any substantial airport - very surprising. I came out of the exit exactly where a lot of folks were already waiting to pick up their loved ones. Vanessa, my co-worker and local Mexican professional, was nowhere to be observed. I waited about 15 minutes, exchanged some Canadian dollars into Pesos, and just a little later I saw her walking towards me. There was a second exit where she, her dad and her mom-in-law had already been waiting for me. Vanessa has already been in town because last Saturday to pay a visit to her loved ones and it was outstanding to meet her father and mother-in-law.

Right after a brief walk via a substantial airport hall, her mom-in-law departed and the three of us started our explorations of Mexico City. We drove by way of the southern part of the city that is relatively modern day and was built about the 1950s. Cars are also up-to-date models with surprisingly several European cars such as Renaults, Seats and Alfa Romeos. Our 1st quit was at a neighborhood market place (known as a "tianguis") exactly where market day is held when a week by merchants who move around from town to town. Fruits, vegetables, meat, clothing, arts and crafts were on sale in portable stalls and we settled in for our very first meal. I had a quesadilla de flor de calabaza (quesadilla with cheese and pumpkin flower - just scrumptious).

On our walk about, Vanessa began explaining the various vegetables and fruits, many of which I had never noticed. For dessert we had a "nieve" which is kind of similar to gelato (not cream-based) and particularly delicious. I had three flavours in my cup: queso (cheese), mamey (a tropical fruit) and beso de angel (the "kiss of the angel" flavour which includes strawberries and a whole bunch of other mixtures).

From there we went on to drop off my luggage and pick up Vanessa's mom and then we drove via the historic location of Coyoacán, an region with tree-lined streets, museums, art galleries and cobble-stone pavement. Coyoacán is known as "the location of the coyotes" and positive enough, 1 of the central attractions is a fountain featuring two coyotes in the spectacular Jardín Centenario. We also visited the charming Iglesia de Santa Caterina and Vanessa pointed out all the numerous shrines inside the church where consumers had left golden hearts and little trinkets, all evidence of miracles caused by the Virgen de Guadelupe.

We walked through the whole Coyoacán Area and correct subsequent to the church we saw local Indian girls selling little dolls, we saw an organ player, quite a few several stalls were selling Mexican delicacies and sweets. Young consumers had been sitting down chatting, couples had been flirting, young children were playing.

Vanessa and I walked through a few nearby markets, some of them selling fruits, vegetables and meat, others selling handicrafts, arts and paintings. Altogether this was an particularly lively and colourful scene. I ended up purchasing a few smaller hand-painted brightly coloured pictures in yellow, purple and green frames that I located pretty charming.

Then we reconnected with Vanessa's parents and had dinner in a restaurant overlooking the key square of Coyoacán. The restaurant called Sanborns was housed in a historic creating and beautifully decorated. I had a tortilla soup and a spinach salad. Vanessa had warned me earlier that salads can be a bit dicey from a hygienic point of view, so I thought that since this was a pretty high class establishment, here is my chance to eat some greens without having invoking the Revenge of Montezuma. Vanessa had some interesting nearby delicacies: cows feet. I am not commonly 1 for eating a lot of meat, especially anything that comes from strange body parts, but I gave it a try: the meat had a gelatine-like consistency, but was truly highly tasty.

We had a lovely conversation, and drove back to the apartment. By about 9:30 I was fully wiped and crashed into my bed. But my first day in Mexico was the excellent initiation to more adventures to come...