¿Bueno?

Buenas tardes! Well we have had an excruciating day! We hope not to let you down, but today’s adventure was more like a siesta. We were so exhausted that we just slept in until 10 and we only got up then because we were expecting the phone guys. They got here on time to our surprise and a brother met them here to help with translating since these people talk so fast! They don’t realize they’re talking quickly so Kate started saying in Spanish “Could you repeat that slower” and she’ll ramble off something very fast in English. They usually get the picture and speak really slowly…

We didn’t end up going out last night because it was getting rainy, so we bought some junk food from the convenience store on the corner and watched Hitch (with Spanish subtitles of course). Don’t worry all, we have had our trusty umbrellas within our grasp at all times so we didn’t get pelted with angry bullets of rain!

After the phone guys left, we walked to the bus stop, which is now only about 1 block away, and took the 629 bus to galerias mall. We went to a little shop comparable to Claire’s. Got some cute earrings for really cheap. We had lunch at Chili’s, which we shouldn’t have done, but we were really craving some familiar food. Too bad we didn’t get it! Speaking of which, you know how we told you how everything is different here? Sherry told us we needed to try McDonald’s Desayuno Mexicano (McDonald’s Mexican Breakfast), which we thought was strange. But we tried it and it was strange. Good, but strange. It consists of 1 English muffin cut in half, slathered with REFRIED BEANS and a slice of American cheese, eggs scrambled with pico de gallo, and a sausage patty. They give you more pico de gallo on the side and at their condiment stand they have a ketchup dispenser and a jalapeño dispenser! We got a picture of their other condiments, though it was impossible to do so without drawing undue attention to ourselves. Yes, those are whole jalapeños and salsa packets.

Anyway, back to the mall. We returned to the Starbucks on the third floor and the one lady remembered us (how could she forget, after all?). Kate asked about work there…get worried friends. A shift supervisor named Jesus gave her a tour of the back and even a coffee passport in Spanish! It’s confusing ordering a drink in Spanish. For example, Kelsey’s drink is called “helado grande soya caramel macchiato.” Oh yeah, they have dulce de leche here. That totally makes up for their lack of zucchini lattes. So we walked the whole mall from top to bottom and noticed a couple of funny things. Check out the creepy mannequins!

It seems as though there’s a slower way of life here. At restaurants, for example, they won’t give you the bill until you ask for it. Well, if you don’t know that, you will sit at the table all day waiting! They consider it to be very rude to give you the bill without you asking for it. We’ve also noticed that it doesn’t seem like they drink very much soda or water. At petrol stations, they have deals on hotdog and chips combos whereas in the states they would do a hotdog and a drink. Even if you’re at a restaurant that offers free refills on drinks, and that’s a big IF, they won’t refill unless you ask! Sherry said that they feel that a meal is a leisure time and that no one’s in a hurry, so they don’t rush you. However, it isn’t considered rude to call the server over to your table.

Right now we have the front door open with the screen shut and it’s not only letting in some great cool air but also some fun music. The Mexican people are very fond of music and dancing, and when they listen to music they do it right: LOUD! We’re adapting well to the exchange rate (which is up to 10.6ish) and we’re getting some great deals! In the picture, that's about 32 dollars, 320 pesos. Hopefully we’ll get to go to a tiangis (pronounced tee-ang-ies), which is basically a swap meet, and that’s where we’ll find some street venders with cool local stuff. We’ve got some room for souvenirs so that will be really fun to check out! We have service tomorrow morning folks, so look forward to some fun stories.

With love,

Kate and K3LSO