In summary:
Things are ALWAYS bigger than they seem.
Addresses are better than "near that street I was at two days ago"
People who give you directions should generally be listened to.
Today was the second day of classes and things were going fairly well.
Class was fun, and I'm actually learning a good amount here. After class my plan was to eat somewhere other than at the house (they eat lunch around 2-3 pm, so actually that should be "in addition to the house"), register with the Mexican Secretary of Education, buy a phone and return home.
So nothing terribly lofty on the agenda, everyday tasks if you will, I figured there might be a couple problems with my spanish but I was feeling pretty confident after my second class.
FAIL!
The afternoon was a complete and utter disaster. I thought things were going fairly smoothly after class because I was able to take the metro over to the area I needed to be in but that's where the success ended.
I managed to order food at a small restaurant decently, but I distinctly ordered "tres" taco and I definitely received "dos". At first I thought they just piled more meat on the tortillas and I was supposed to distribute the meat and potatoes evenly to make the third, then I realized how stupid that was and accepted the fact I only got two. While eating I fully expected to get charged for all three but didn't put a whole lot of thought into it. I finished my two tacos and a coke in about 8 or so minutes and then sat there for 15 minutes waiting for the waitress. After an overview of the place I realized that the waitress was no longer around. I sat for a couple more minutes pondering my options before I realized you pay at the counter (This should have dawned on my sooner since I had a similar experience yesterday at the drugstore). So I went, paid for my "tres" tacos (not knowing exactly how to argue I figured the extra dollar wasn't worth the hassle as 3 tacos and a coke cost me $4) and was on my way.
Not terribly detoured by the "taco incident" I was on my way to register so I can sign up for the test I need to take in 3 months (I have plenty of time, so no need to worry). I remembered seeing the place last time I was in the area as it had a huge, several story banner draped down the side of the building that read " Secretaria de Educacion Publica". So, I knew the general area AND the street I was walking on when I saw the place a couple days ago so it should be fairly simple to find, right? Nope, wrong, I must have walked well over a mile trying to find the damn place but to no avail. One would think it would have been easy to find this place, considering the giant banner and practically being there two days ago. But no, no luck sso in a poor attempt to be productive I wrote down a couple websites of apartments for rent in the area and headed out.
The metro trip back was fairly easy, the metro here is actually pretty nice, cheap and easy to get around, well by train anyways. Once I arrived at the station near the house I got out and headed to the exit, but this station isn't like those in D.C. with 1 or 2 exits. This place has 6 exits spread throughout and the tricky part is the entire station is an optical illusion. Seriously, I felt like I was walking through the same place over and over again (occasionally I was) but you end up at a different exit each time. So after getting to the wrong exit 3 or 4 times I completely ignored my host mom's advice (exit at Calle Doctora or you WILL get lost) and decided to take the exit I was at. Big Mistake. Apparently there are long distances within the station underground and different exits leave you at very different locations. The first exit had two separate exits within it. I took the first one and it lead me into this weird abandoned fair ground type area with a couple unsavory looking characters hanging about. So I walked out, walked around didn't recognize anything and headed back to metro to try the other side of the exit. This side put me into some weird market area with a multitude of tarp ceilings, all of which were about eye-level with me, and all kinds of items being sold. No luck here, back to metro to try a different exit.
The next exit was a bit more promising, there were actually streets with some shops and restaurants, not the nicest place but things were looking up. As I was walking to get a better view I notice a very unhappy looking woman laying on the ground, very dead-like, after further inspection (further, not closer) I noticed her breathing and decided not to do anything since (1. I wouldn't know what to do and) there were several other people around. These people were also not paying attention to her, but they were more stationary than I so I figured she was their responsibility. After checking out the area I still could not find anything familiar so I went back to try the other side of the exit. The dead-like woman was still there, still breathing still not looking happy but at least she wasn't dead!
So, onward to the other side of the exit, this was definitely the way, well not The way but a substitute route that would lead me home. I walked up the stairs and things seemed normal, there was even a steady stream of people walking in a promising direction! This was definitely a way home! I followed everyone out and around a very respectable looking store and down a path. Things were looking good, people started heading in their separate directions and the path was near a busy street. I took the sidewalk around the block hoping that this corner was going to look somewhat familiar. I rounded the corner, saw some smaller shops etc. nothing I recognized yet... then Dammit it's the dead-like woman again. Only this time she's not dead-like anymore she's thrashing around sporadically. I walked past her, sure that the locals in the stores recognized me (note to self, no more yellow), into the station, paid to go back through the gates and finally found the correct exit.
After this whole fiasco I went back home to eat some lunch (around 4) and relax a bit. The rest of the day (so far) has been fairly decent. The host mom was having her Thursday group over (2 ladies one who is in her mid-80's, the other in her mid-90's), so I sat down, ate lunch with them and headed to my room.
Shortly thereafter the german guy walked in to say hi, we talked for a bit and I asked him about cell phones around here. he said I can get one around the corner for 300 pesos which comes preloaded with 300 minutes, not a bad deal.
So on a quest to do something right today I headed out to the store. I find it in under a minute, finally, something accomplished. It's closed. Shit.
I headed back home, got slightly lost but managed to make my way back shortly thereafter and started writing this blog.
Mexico City, absolutely awesome, just don't get lost.
Adios
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