We made it! And finally, you get an update, only three days later! The business center here in the hotel runs on a new concept we are getting used to - ¨Mexican Time¨ - so we finally have access to it today. But so far, everything has been great.
Sunday started out at a time few of us student delegates have ever been awake for, and some of us didn´t even sleep before the flight, thinking we´d have time on the plane. The lay-overs went smoothly, and everything was on time. We all tried to sleep, but that was practically impossible. It was either the excitement of the trip keeping us awake, or the sugar high from the tootsie rolls being passed around!
When we got to Mexico, we met Laura and Joao, our new friends that will help us make our way around Mexico City. They work for the NC Department of Commerce here in the Mexico City office, so they know the best of both worlds. We settled in to our hotel, and grabbed a quick bite at the restaurant here. We were introduced to what REAL mexican food tastes like, without the ¨texification¨ we are used to at the local El Rodeo - for any of those who have never tried authentic Oaxacan mole sauce, imagine a chocolate bar melted on top of an enchilada and covered with cheese - really. RICH. But still just one of many interesting and unique experiences!
After lunch, we made our way to the National Anthropology Museum. We toured the rooms for a few hours, getting to see the most vast collection any of us have ever seen of relics from the Olmec period onward. Some of the main attractions: the sacrificial stones, the Mayan Sun Calendar, and of course all of the pottery and jewelry they have uncovered. We even got to see a bit of what we were going to see the next day - relics from Teotihuacan. Afterwards, we got to see the Ballet Folklorico, the highlight of the night. The costumes, dancing and music were beautiful and the experience was so different than any ballet we had ever been to. They had dances that symbolized the change in Mexico from the pre-columbian period to the revolution, to dances filled with romance and feeling. The culture in this ballet was richer than the mole sauce from lunch!
Finally, we returned to the hotel and hit the hay - something we all looked forward to since 3am that morning. But it´s hard to sleep when you are so excited about the next day!
From Mexico City,
Allison DeCarlo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment