So what do you do?

I hate Puebla. It is no fun. Everything closes at 10. There are good enchiladas. There is a really big pyramid (largest in the world by volume) in nearby Cholula. I yoinked some pictures from someone we met there. The pyramid is earthed over now, so it really just looks like a big hill with a church on top. It was pleasant, but not so impressive. You can also see a volcano from it. I might not hate Cuernavaca, but I may never know because I spent way too much time being sick in my hotel room there. I ate a lot of bread. If I had stayed in the first hotel (I'd rate it at about one fourth of a star) one more night, I'm pretty sure I would have died.

Irene and I returned to Mexico City and went to talk to the good people at International House Mexico. We really thought that we were just having a chat, but then we noticed that we were already on the teaching schedule and they kept refering to us as if we already worked there. Yeah, so now it looks like we work there. Oops! I do like the city, but I think I only want to live there for five or six months. I filled out a form and wrote something besides "student" as my occupation for the first time in my life. That somehow makes me feel both very old and very young at the same time.

The next day we went to the IH Mexico Christmas party. It was on the 47th floor (somewhere in that big round thing at the top) of the World Trade Center in Mexico City. The view of the city was stunning, mainly by virtue of just how expansive a city of 18 million people truly is. It is intimidating and thrilling all at once. Dinner was incredible, but I honestly wish that I hadn't eaten a bite so that I could have eaten more cake. Cake is good. Irene won a DVD player in the raffle. That is good, because it looks like the school is going to hook us up with an apartment, so I pretty much won a DVD player by association. The school is apparently going to furnish said apartment, so we are hoping that we get to help shop for furniture and the like. We have also been promised phones, visas, and the occasional paycheck.

When I checked the monitor at the airport in Mexico City, it showed that my flight to "Austin Robert Mueller" was right on time. That seems like excellent news until you realize that the last time a plane landed at Robert Mueller Municipal Airport was May 22, 1999. I felt like I maybe should mention that to somebody. Do I tell the pilot? Should I give him directions? Someone must have clued him in, because we landed safely at ABIA. Silly Mexico. Now I am back in Texas for a couple of weeks. I am enjoying the BBQ, drinkable water, and milk that doesn't make me see pretty colors.

Home and Away Again

Well, my camera is officially dead. The internet said it was probably dead, but I took it apart anyway. That didn't work, so I moved on to a 'tapping method' which had worked for some people. That didn't work either, so I moved on to the 'banging and throwing method', which I actually devised myself. That mainly just broke it enough that I could give up. So that is why there are no pictures.

This problem will likely be solved in a matter of weeks, however, as I found a direct flight from Mexico City to Austin and will be home on December 17. I may be home for as little as ten days, giving me a chance to reload and set back out.

Add my suitcase, often known as The Tank, to the list of broken things. One of the two zippers to the main compartment has broken, and The Tank appears to be slowly dying. This was the suitcase I bought for my Israel trip in high school, so I am deeply saddened by this. Yeah, I know that's stupid.

The last night in Playa was insane. At various points in the night, I had friends who were on the floor of the bar and behind the bar serving drinks. A couple of us washed some dishes, too. I don't really know how that happened. Three of us had a flight to Mexico City the next day. Only two of us made it onto the plane. Intense.

I stayed in Mexico city for a couple of nights. It was nothing like the picture in my head and was quite beautiful at times. Walking from neighborhood to neighborhood, I often felt like I had walked into a different city. Irene and I dropped off resumes at a couple of schools, including one affiliated with the school in Playa. Traveling is great, but I am finding that traveling with a specific purpose in mind can be much more exciting. Everywhere I go, I am constantly evaluating whether or not I could see myself living there for six months or more.

Now I am in Puebla, a city of about two million people. It feels nowhere near that large, and is full of colonial architecture. It is said to retain the Spanish influence more than most any other city in Mexico. It is a far cry from both the beaches of Playa and the bustle of Mexico City. It is also cold. Actually, I think I am going to stop typing and go explore. If you are going to be in Austin in a couple weeks, I will see you soon.