México City

Last Sunday I went with a group of volunteers to a suburb called El Pueblito to check out some of the activities around there. The first thing was a small pyramid called El Cerrito--30 m tall, so pretty small by Méxican standards. It was my first pyramid! We weren´t allowed to climb the ruins in any way, though, so it was slightly disappointing. Our other hoped-for activity, a charreada (rodeo), wound up being in a different city, so it will be something to try for in the future.



On Wednesday, our group of technology transfer volunteers plus three instructors hopped onto an autobus for Mèxico, aka Mèxico City, aka D.F. to the locals. We finally got to see the countryside that we drove by when we flew into Mèxico three weeks ago. Central Mèxico is very green, with farms and small towns between the major cities, much like the US. As you get closer to DF, you start seeing volcanoes. Some of them are apparently still active!

In Mèxico, we had a whirlwind of activities, some touristy and some not. We had a couple of meetings with higher-up directors in several government organizations, which was really interesting. I can´t imagine people at that level in the US government taking several hours out of their day to talk with a group of volunteers from another country. It definitely showed the hospitible side of Mèxico.

From the touristy perspective, we went to see the Casa Azul, or Blue House, where Frida Kohlo and Diego Rivera lived. Both are famous Mèxican artists. While there were not a lot of their works in the house, it was really interesting seeing how they lived, their studio, and some of their personal collections. Later on, we saw some of Diego Rivera's murals at the Palacio Nacional and Bellas Artes. These were really beautiful--I can't even imagine how the artists drew such large, colorful, and detailed murals.



Also on our list of places visited was the Zocalo, or central part of Mèxico, the Templo Mayor, a giant Aztec ruin in the middle of the city, the Museo de Anthropologia. There was so much stuff to see that I could have spent several days at each of the sites, but I did get a flavor for everything. Hopefully I will have a chance to come back in the future.

On the food side, we had only one bad meal and a bunch of great meals. One of the specialities was an Argentinian Grill. Here is the plate of four different types of grilled meats and vegetables--it was all delicious! These were part of a parrillada, or a set meal for 4 people.