¡Bienvenida!

Well...kindof. In the literal sense of the word I did not arrive well. The flights were long, involved about an hour's wait to go through US customs and another 3 hours hanging around in Atlanta airport at what was for me, about 1am but to everyone else was only 7 in the evening, until I could catch my connection to Mexico City. However in the actual sense of the word, it is definitely true. Pretty much everyone here (both Mexican and British) has been absolutely lovely, very welcoming, hospitable and understanding (of the jet lag, of the homesickness and even of the vegetarianism!). The 3 days I spent in Mexico City were pretty mental. With meetings from 9 til 5 pretty much every day, I was surprised that we actually managed to see any of the city at all what with jet lag hanging over us and making me want to drop to the floor at 6pm, but luckily our hostel was based pretty much in the heart of the touristy historic centre. This meant that the Zócalo - one of the world's largest squares, holding the Cathedral, the Aztec ruins Templo Mayor and the Palacio Nacional, was literally on our doorstep. This is me and Hannah at one end of it. To be honest I don't think even we could experience how massive it actually is because at the time there were masses of homemade tents - tarpaulin type things stretching across a lot of the square protesting against the president but even then it was impressive. However, close proximity to the main square was not entirely good news. The first night was the worst. Having woken up at 3am anyway due to a totally messed up body clock, I was unable to get back to sleep due to the constant noise from car engines, beeping, shouting, church bells and MUSIC from the square. Someone later that morning commented that they'd been awoken by the sound of Thriller - Michael Jackson blasting out from the square at 6am. Safe to say I employed the help of earplugs over the next few nights to try to at least get some rest...

The meetings were quite overwhelming to say the least. Before I arrived in Mexico, teaching had been one of the last things on my mind. Sure, it was how I had actually got to come here in the first place but so many more exciting (and worrying) things were going on in my head that I barely gave it a thought. These meetings brought me smack right down to earth. We must have sat through about 10 powerpoints in total about what was expected of us, how best to go about teaching, how to teach with limited resources, how to give a good first lesson and other such handy tips that actually just made me panic a bit about the fact that I am actually going to be in charge of a group of people on my own whose English I have to improve. However, we'll come to that next week when I begin my lesssons. What actually shocked me, and I think most in the room, was the security briefing. Having already been warned that several girls cried during last year's presentation, I was expecting the worst, and it definitely delivered. It started off with common sense things: don't show off your valuables, don't get in an unmarked taxi, don't walk alone at night, but then got more and more extreme. Buy a lock box for your valuables and hide it away in a different place every night. Still kindof acceptable advice. But an extensive list of step by step instructions about what to do in a situation of kidnap... This is further than I thought it would go. It involved tips like "Only defend yourself at the start, and if you think you can TAKE them" (how am I ever going to be able to take on a kidnapper unless it is a child and/or does not eat?!); "Try to build a rapport with your kidnappers. Talk to them about sport, family, the weather" (how has someone judged these as appropriate topics in scenarios of kidnap?!); "Once in your holding place, try to keep fit, do some lunges, stroll around your cell, how about some light arm excercises..."?!?!; and lastly "Be prepared to be handled roughly until the rescuers can decipher who is the victim and who is the kidnapper". Oh and following the talk, upon asking where each person was going, lovely man that he is, told me "Oohh Veracruz... probably one of the more dangerous areas" - "Why?" - "Oh yeah there's a clash between two drug cartels all along the Eastern Coast" [Man then proceeds to start up another conversation whilst I'm stood there on the brink of tears] - CHEERS DUDE!!

Anyway... the few afternoons that we had, including that afternoon, once I had gathered myself together a bit (free tacos for lunch definitely helped), were so much fun. From drinking on the hostel's very own roof terrace at night with views over the city, cheep beer and someone's cheesy ipod (Spice Girls definitely came on) to dining out in typical Mexican restaurants, marvelling at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and wandering around the market area, each different sight was as exciting and interesting as the last. The market area, though, was probably one of the places that it hit me most that we were in Mexico. People selling fizzy drinks, pirate dvds, jewellry, souvenirs are all things you would expect to see in places back in the UK like Camden, but interspersed with barbecued sweetcorn, taco stalls, fresh mango and questionable meats buzzing with flies, alongside policemen on horseback, shoe shiners and dodgy wires sellotaped together going through a puddle (gave Lewis an electric shock) all made it quite apparent that Mexico was not just any other city in the world touched by globalization what with the Starbucks chains, Louis Vuitton stores and swish looking MacDonalds, but was a city of its own customs, its own flavours and a population that cannot always afford a Starbucks coffee. I saw people down the side streets selling old toys, ornaments and books, trying to make money from their own treasured belongings, whilst a kilometer down the road a buisiness man or woman strolls into Tiffany's or Louis Vuitton... Without getting too deep (it's getting late) it is evident that Mexico City, as I expect is the rest of Mexico, is a country of great wealth (the richest man in the world is Mexican) but also of grave poverty.

On a lighter note, on our last day we went up the Torre Lationamericana from which there are INCREDIBLE views of the entire city - there are buildings as far as the eye can see, even some creeping up the surrounding mountains. We were all (not quite literally - the wind wasn't that strong...) blown away when we got to the top and saw for ourselves how massive the city is (one of the 5 biggest in the world according to wikipedia). What's more, there is even a bar up there and I think we could all agree that we appreciated the view a lot better with a mango margarita in hand :) Following that, on our last evening we went to Plaza Garibaldi where there was a food market where we ate not the biscuits but potentially my new favourite cheese: Oaxaca cheese, which is melted in a pot and eaten with tortillas and salsa. Deeelicious. Then, stomachs finally satisfied, we were able to fully appreciate (apart from having to dodge stray dogs for fear of rabies) the masses of Mariachí bands, all in traditional dress playing away to their hearts content, maybe for money or maybe just for fun, I didn't notice, but the music was great all the same, once you learnt to tune into one band rather than just hearing a mess of different tunes!!

Stole this picture from google but if my camera hadn't blurred it would have looked pretty much like this

So overall a great few days stay in the Distrito Federal. I will definitely be returning within the year to see to unfinished business (so many things yet to visit and explore!) but as for now I am more than happy to explore my new home for the next few months in the luscious green state of Veracruz :)