Mexico City

Friday the 2nd of March, our program traveled to Mexico City for the weekend. Being the largest city in the world, it was quite a unique experience. We rode a chartered bus for five hours and after settling in our hostal (a very nice one), we dined at a nearby restaurant, called Mexico Viego. Trying to be adventurous, I ordered something that looked authentic, called Molcajete, and to my surprise, I received quite a presentation of nopales (cactus), cheese, and meats of all kinds!

Afterwards, we (at least my half of the group) met with our tour guide for the weekend, Monica, and walked around the city for a while. First we visited the Plaze de las tres culturas, where there are structures from the pre-colonial (Templo Mayor), colonial, and modern epocs. Then we walked to the Palacio Nacional, a giant government building with the fabulus murals of Diego Rivera which depict much of Mexico's history. Next we visited the Catedral in the Zocalo (center of town.) The depth of the religious attitude there is very sobering.

During our free time, after walking around a bit, we enjoyed a Jamaican-Latin style band in our hostal, and our tour guide bought us all a beer and tequila shot, to my surprise. The beer was warm, so I couldn't drink more than a couple sips. Afterwards, we went to the famous "Lucha Libre," where grown men in tight suits and masks perform ridiculous fighting tactics in front of thousands of shouting, cursing Mexicans. The first 45 minutes were fun and hilarious, but up until we left 2.5 hours later, I was ready to leave "Mistico" (one of the favorite fighters), and my headache behind! I was also disappointed that they wouldn't allow me to bring my camara into the arena. The process of getting my confiscated camara batteries was quite interesting, too, especially with some of the drunken members of my wild group! I think the night stressed me out so much that I had hives until mid-morning the next day! But over all, the uniqueness of the once-in-a-lifetime experience was worth it. This is Hans, Jacob, and DJ, I think, in the Lucha Libre ("Free Fight") spirit.