People places and things

We went to the panaderia for breakfast this morning again. I got this raspberry stuffed bread thing that was covered in raspberry sauce and powdered sugar. It was actually good and not dry! So the day started off good! We were also able to sleep in. 

We went to a diego riveras museum and then some other musuem. I'm getting kind of sick of art. Then we went to this place called chupetic park. Its this huge park..kind of like golden gate park. There were vendors everywhere selling all these wonderful things. I thought about getting you all some gifts but then I remembered what you all did with the gifts from Chile. 

Anyways, we walked around this big palace thing and then went to the museum of anthropology which was huge and super cool! I'll send lots of pictures of that. Oh, we ate lunch at this outdoors patio that was super good! I got some awesome flautas (basically taquitos but softer). 

We got back to the hotel around 9 but I was still hungry so we roamed the streets looking for tacos. We found this heavenly taco place. I only got 3 tacos but I should have gotten 20. They were these tacos made with lamb amd pineapple and were just out of this world! You know when you eat something and its just so amazing that you cry a little? Well I took a bite of that glorious taco and almost had a meltdown. It was like a little piece of heaven. I'm really hoping that they are open for breakfast tomorrow. The place was very interesting as well..you almost couldnt breath it was so crammed. They also were frying the tacos like 8 inches behind me and it was all pretty hot and steamy. You dont care about those things though when you are eating dewdrops of perfect love. 

I'm doing well (obviously..all I do is eat tacos). I look similar to a lobster but I'm going to buy a hat tomorrow to help with that. 

When we were walking down this super busy street I saw a vendor lady. Backstory: lots of vendors dont have permits to sell so they just lay their merchendise out on blankets on the side of the street and if they see a police man they just roll it up in their blankets really quick. So they are some of the poorer people. Anyways, I looked down and saw this lady changing her babies diaper on the blanket where she sells her merchandise. It made me feel bad that neither this lady nor her baby get any privacy. 

They are out in that street all day trying to make some money and who knows if they have any sort of home to go back to after. Its a really hard life. I was thinking about the desperation that must come from having to change your baby's diaper on the place you work with hundreds of people almost stepping on you. Then I noticed that this lady didnt have any hands. It was one of those kind of startling images that really stays with you. We are all really blessed for everything we have. The people here work sunup to sundown (literally) 7 days a week without any breaks or vacations.

I hope you all have a great day!

So yesterday was another musuem day. We went to Frida Kaulo and Diego Rivera's house and toured around there. That wasnt super impressive but someone was selling bowls of fresh mangoes outside that were amazing!! The mangoes were creamy and just melted in your mouth. It was incredible. 

After the mangoes we went to this little historic church in this cute town and to a hippie market. 

We passed a bunch of teenagers in the back of a truck and they were kind of laughing at us at yelled out "where are you from?". My professor yelled back "del infierno!" (from hell). It was really funny. He's a funny guy. 

Today we got up really early to take 3 different metros to get to church. I really dislike the metros but I'm getting more used to them. It was so fun to be back in a latino ward. I felt so at home. Its interesting to see how much more they focus on the basics of the gospel here (and in chile) and they dont get caught up in far off doctrine things. It feels much more like a "everyone is learning together" experience and not a show off show that happens so much in the US. Its just a different feeling that I like a lot more. I wish our US wards could be more like these latino wards. They are so sincere. 

After church we went to the famous basilica where the virgin guadalupe has her cape or something. We attended this huge mass with incense flying everywhere. It was interesting to see people crawling about. A lot of people put a towel under their knees and crawl all the way to the cathedral from outside the gate (thats like a 1/4 mile!). It was fun to see everyone with roses to lay at the alter and kissing everything. I think the whole city was at mass. Its nice to see a whole country so religious. 

I got to eat more of those amazing tacos today. People in my group have become amazed at the amount that I can eat. I dont know why they are surprised..this is what I have been training my whole life for. 

I am continually amazed at how hard everyone works here. Most of it is hard physical labor in the sun for 15+ hours a day. And yet they are still mostly happy and kind. We walked by this huge fountain in front of a musuem and saw about 20 kids playing and swimming inside it. Some of the adults were in it too and everyone was splashing everything. They have their priorities straight here. They work hard for their family and any extra time they spend devoted to them. Social appearances and any sort of competition hardly exsists. I think that is a great example to follow. 

I love Mexico City. I love more than just the food (although that is a huge thing for me). I love all the cathedrals and the street dancing and how at any moment you can count at least 15 police in sight. We are leaving tomorrow..and I am sad. I love these streets.