Measure twice, cut once...

As mentioned in the earlier post the majority of the week was spent doing homework and preparing for the test on Friday.  This being said I didn't leave myself a whole lot of time for validating my papers, this was left for after the test on Friday (which I think I did fairly well on).

Come Friday morning I was just glancing over my notes and talking with the host mom.  I told her of my plans to validate my school documents and she helped me figure out the best way to get there.  It was decided that the best route involved a trip to the metro, a metro ride to a bus station and a bus ride which would put me about 1/4 mile away from the office, not too bad.  I grabbed the file containing most of my school credentials and was on my way.

After I took the test I headed out to catch the metro.  I have become fairly proficient at this by now.  I took the metro to the proper stop and headed out to the bus station, so far so good.  As I was waiting to cross the street (a fairly daunting task here) I was calculating my plan for a successful trip.  I needed to go buy a bus card, similar to the smartcards in DC, hop on the bus and go 7-8 stops and get off, fairly easy.  So I crossed half the street ( the station is in the middle of the street) and as I was about to walk in when I realized I probably needed change. Dammit, so I kept crossing to the other side to look for something small to buy.  Once I got on the other side I realized that the machines most likely accepted bills, so I crossed back over.  Nothing says "I'm new to this" like a noticeably tall guy crossing the street several times in a short period of time.  So I walked into the station, looked at the machines, saw they accepted bills and waited in line.  While standing in line I made sure to notice how the other transactions were taking place.  When I got up there I put my cash in, 20 pesos, hit the "Comprar" button and out popped a card, nice work Dave, first try!  So I took my card, feeling pretty good, and headed to the gate.

Once I got to the gate I waved a my new, fairly shiny card in front of the machine, as I had observed others do several times, and waited a second or two for the distinctive green light which unlocks the gate.  However, in place of the nice green light I was greeted with a very harsh red "NO AUTHORIZADOS".  What the hell, I just bought the dang thing.  So I tried again and again I received "NO AUTHORIZADOS".  Son-of-a...  I began to think there was some security guard behind a desk playing with me, maybe he saw my little two-step in the street a while ago, I don't know.  So, instead of holding up the line any longer I returned to the machine and decided to read the directions.  Apparently, once you receive the card you need to place it in the slot to claim your credits.  Dammit, well I hope whoever was behind me gets good use out of those 20 pesos.  So I put my card in the slot to put some money on it and I get a "No Validos".  After another quick peak at the directions you need to put the card back in the slot to claim your credits AND activate it.  My shiny new card is garbage.  I buy another card, follow the directions and was on my way.

This time the card works perfectly, so I walked over to the first entrance and wait for a bus.  The first bus comes and it's packed, there were also some ladies waiting, one with a baby, so I decided to give them the first go.   No more room for Dave. I wait for the second bus, and the same thing happens, lots of ladies, no room for Dave. I also notice a weird look or two.  By the time the third bus comes I'm fairly determined to board (buses came every 2 minutes) but again I'm surrounded by women, so as I'm looking around waiting for the bus I notice a big sign that read more or less "This entrance is only for women and children".  That explains a lot.

So I get on the bus without further problems and head towards my stop.  The bus is actually pretty nice, it's actually more like a train on wheels, it has it's own lane of traffic and TV's throughout.  I don't know if the TV's are a good idea though, I was watching a spanish cartoon and almost missed my stop.

No problems getting off the bus and out of the station, High Five Dave. These are the little victories I have come to appreciate.  My only problem was that the bus dropped me off in the middle (literally) of an intersection with no less than 7 streets (see map).  Since street signs tend to be more of a luxury than the norm I inevitably start walking down the wrong street.  Fortunately I have begun to expect this and, after a map consultation, I was able to find my way down the right street.

Throughout my posts I have commented on traffic, and how you must always pay attention to it should you need to cross a street.  So, there I was just a 5 lane street away from the office.    Luckily the street was one-way making it much easier to cross.  One would think that since it is one-way you wouldn't have to check the other direction, but out of instinct I did. Turned out to be a decent idea.  Apparently one-way in Mexico City applies only to cars, it is well within reason, here, to place a lane of traffic for buses which runs opposite all other traffic.  So, imagine my surprise when, as I'm crossing the street looking generally in one direction a bus, albeit a good ways away, was coming at me from the other. 

Well I finally get there and decide to take out only the papers I need so I'm not fumbling through everything while I'm talking to the attendant.  I figure I have enough stacked against me. So I sit down on a ledge and get all the papers together except for the translation.  the translation came from a different office and are in the other folder, or so I thought.  Apparently I was thinking solely about the test and didn't think to check my files.  So there I was standing outside the office, the office I've been looking for since I got here, without all my papers...  

Well, at least I know how to get here and, if I hurry I should be able to make it back for lunch...