Si, gracias!

Mexico City, Mexico: Just realized blogging is no fun for me. So I decided to instead "journal". This may be absolutely boring to read, but it will keep me writing.

Just got back from the park, I think they call it "el bosque"? Spanish here seems very difficult. I guess I expected to land in Mexico City and miraculously become fluent. That didn´t happen.

Instead I find myself just smiling, and nodding, and saying "gracias," and "si." It really is mentally draining, because in L.A. most people who speak spanish know at least a little english. So you can always ask: ¨como se dice..." Here they just look at you like, what?

I´m trying, but it´s not coming easy. Although everyone here is so nice.

¨Hablas bien," they tell me.

All I can do is smile, and say gracias. lol.

Everyone is so nice. I´m staying with my grandmas sister Concha; I call her tia. Right now we´re at my grandmas other sister Goyeez house, and her other sister, Terre, is here as well. I call them all tia.

"Gracias tia," "no gracias, tia," that much I have down.

The accomodations are very nice, I have my own room. The houses are very similar to the ones i´ve been to in T.J. The showers are hot, the bed is warm. It´s quiet nice.

The weather has been a bit humid. Earlier today I went to "el bosque" (sp) to run and do pull-ups. They have a set-up very similar to the one just south of the pier in Santa Monica. I think i´ll make that a daily occurence.

Mexico City is nothing like you´d think. About 3% of the population wears masks, about .01% wearthem correctly. No one seems to be concerned. Everyone greets each other with a hug, and a kiss. While in Rome...so I do the same. I´m not at all concerned about it. I do make good use of my Purell, but that´s something I may start doing even after this whole H1 non-sense passes. It´s become somewhat of a habit to apply Purell after i´ve touched almost anything. Just call me Mr. Hughes. Howard Hughes, that is.

No one is concerned about crime here, either. When I asked about taking the bus (or micros as they´re called here) or taxis, no one offered any opposition. They just said taxis are probably better, because you get places quicker. When I mentioned going to El Salvador, they freaked out..."ten cuidado!"

What´s funny is that I recieved an email today from someone in El Salvador, and after letting them know I was in Mexico City, they had the same advice. "Be very careful!" They seem to think Mexico City is a very dangerous place to be right now.

My primo Moy, who´s really my moms cousin, took me around town last night. He said it was easier to get around after 10pm, when the traffic dies down. The battery for my camera died, but uploading pictures is quite a chore anyways. I will post as soon as possible. I know pictures always tell a better story.

It looks like I may be able to watch the Laker game tonight. The game is on ESPN, hopefully in english. I had a 15 minute break today when ESPN en espanol turned into regular ESPN. I´ve never been so happy to hear Peter Gammons voice. I´ve always taken for granted how thoughtless it is to listen to someone speak your native tongue. I could be doing ten different things and still listen to what someone is telling me in english. But if i´m not giving someone my full attention when they´re speaking to me in spanish, I totally lose them.

But I guess I can´t expect to become fluent in a day. It´s been almost two, and I do believe there has been improvement. I guess I was just looking for instant results. I´ll be more patient.

I´ll post pictures as soon as possible. I know i´ve promised before, but these computers aren´t all that great.

Love you guys,

-Michael