Near my Apartment

I live in a nice, safe area called Escandon. My street, Jose Marti, is a mix of smallish apartment buildings and small businesses. A lot of small families and couples live on my street. Luckily for me, most everything I need is right on my street. We have lots of little delicious/cheap restaurants, cafes, office supply stores, internet rent cafes, hardware stores, bakeries, auto shops, convenience stores, gas stations, laundromats, butcher shops, cleaning supply stores, furniture stores, and my favorite: the fruit and veggie market. Yesterday, I went to the fruit and veggie market, and bought 2 big bags full of mangoes, oranges, and bananas for just 43 pesos--less than $4 U.S. dollars. Jose Marti is a very convenient street to live on!

Close by, there are some pretty places to visit. One that I walk by almost every day is the big church, San Jóse de la Montaña. It's right next to the metro, which is about 10 minutes northwest of my apartment, and there's usually one or two people selling handmade jewelry/candles at the churchfront. I've never been inside, but the outside is quite pretty I think:


Iglesia San Jóse de la Montaña

That church is on the corner of Benjamin Franklin y Patriotismo. If you take Patriotismo south, you'll pass my street, Jose Marti, and begin to see the World Trade Center in D.F. It's about a 10 minute walk southeast from my apartment, and a very impressive building. Impossible to fit the whole building into one picture, though!

World Trade Center, D.F.

North of my apartment, there is a neighborhood called Condesa. Condesa is a district with a lot of restaurants, yoga studios, and little boutique shops. Upon entering Condesa, there is a street called Amsterdam, which runs in a big oval around a park called Parque Mexico--a lovely place to walk and run.

"You are now entering Condesa."

The fountain picture above is on the street Amsterdam. Also on this street is one of my favorite restaurants/juice bars, Frutos Prohibidos. In my opinion, they make some of the the best juices in the city. Crossing Amsterdam will lead you to Ave. Mexico, which hugs Parque Mexico. The park is a great place to enjoy the trees and breathe in some fresh air.

Along the walking paths in Parque Mexico

The pond in Parque Mexico--a good place to stop, rest, and feed the ducks. Careful, the ducks are a bit food-aggressive!

Attack-duck

I love how green Condesa is. Nestled in the center of the concrete jungle known as D.F., it's a nice little oasis to get some nature, beauty, and fresh air. And, it's only about 15 minutes from my apartment!

I haven't done much exploring directly east or west, because those areas are mainly office buildings and aren't so scenic. If I discover something noteworthy in those areas, I'll add an update to this post!

Letter Home

So, it's only been about 2000 years since my last post, and unfortunately, I don't have anything too exciting to report today. Earlier this month, as some of you know, my grandfather passed away and I flew back to Iowa just in time to say goodbye. I'm glad I had that opportunity, and I was really happy and blessed to see my family, despite it being a sad time.

I came back to D.F. on Thursday, June 13th, and it's been a whirlwind of work since then. I now teach 8 groups a week, which is 36 hours. I spend a lot of time commuting (approximately 18 hours every week), as this city is huge. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, I walk to and from work in Polanco in the mornings, which takes about 45 minutes. Every weekday afternoon/night, and Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I walk 30 minutes and bus for 15 minutes to and from work in Del Valle. So, 54 hours of my week are dedicated getting to/from work and teaching. (Not counting lesson prep time, which I arrive at least a half hour early for). My earliest class starts at 7 am, and my latest class ends at 9:45 pm. As you can see, I'm left with little time to play tourist, and usually try to catch up on sleep whenever I get the chance.

Sunday is my one free day, which is when I usually can get out and enjoy life a bit. Tomorrow's Sunday, though, is going to be an indoor day. Here in D.F., it's been raining like crazy for the past four days--courtesy of Tropical Storm Barry. Even though we're about 4 hours from the Gulf, we're still feeling some of the effects from the storm. The rain will continue tomorrow. It could be a good day to visit museums, if I can muster up the will to walk for awhile in the rain sans umbrella. We'll see. Today, I appreciate the rain. It gives me an opportunity to do things that I've been needing to do--like clean my apartment, call my parents, make a blog post letting everybody know I'm still alive...There's a chance I'll go with some friends to see a movie tonight, if the rain lets up long enough for me to walk to the subway. I've been sick since Thursday, a mix of cold rain and bad drinking water, and I want to try to avoid walking in the rain whenever I can.

In four days, I'll be on my way to Colorado: Mom's getting married!! I'll be there for 10 days, so this is my last full weekend in D.F. until mid-July. If I do get a chance to post about any random excursions here, I'll definitely do so. If not, well....I'll be back soon enough :)

All the best!

XOXO

-Haley