Mexico #1

I woke up, went to the airport, got on a plane, and flew to Mexico yesterday. In two months I will do the same, but my plane will be taking me back to the states. For the time in between, I am staying at the Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia (INNN) in Mexico City to run a study on a new low-cost exercise device for stroke patients that I have had the chance to work on. Woo!

So before now, I've only been to two places in Mexico, a little border town called Mexicali and a tourist town called Puerto Penasco. Mexico City is much different. Flying in, my first impression was, this place is green! My second was that it was huge. I don't remember my third.

Anyway, I had a little trouble bringing the exercise device (a glorified arm support) through customs. Not because I couldn't speak Spanish well, but because they couldn't understand my English. Fortunately the director of the rehabilitation clinic at INNN was there waiting to pick me up, and he is fluent in English, so we worked things out pretty quickly with his help. Then he took me to my apartment at the institute, which is an awesome corner Suite that I'm pretty sure is supposed to house two people instead of one. My first hint was the two twin beds in the bedroom, which I've now pushed together to make an awesome queen (America!).

Then we went out to dinner with his wife at a nearby restaurant called Arroyo (which means stream, according to Dr Hernandez). We had chicharron (pig skin) with guacamole, tortillas con salsa, carnitas, barbacoa, cactus, cebollas (little grilled onions you eat with salt and lime) and some typical Mexican soups. Mine had avacado, cheese, chicken, and chipotle peppers, and it was most excellent. Plus horchata, which I have to say, is better in Mexico. Its a good thing I like spicy foods as well, because otherwise I'd be lame.

We were also lucky enough to have a table of very drunk people right next to us. In America, I know this is sometimes thought of as a bad thing, but in America, we don't have mariachis... well, we do, but most Americans of non-latino descent tend to not like them as much. I will admit, that I wasn't really a fan of mariachis before, and I have to say, they are not better in Mexico. But apparently the fact that they aren't that good is generally ignored due to the mutual drunkenness of both the players and the patrons. Its all in the fun of the meal, and really it just ends up being a good show for everyone around.

Then I went home and crashed for many hours. Today, I set up my apartment, got myself a Mexican phone (pero no voy a compartir mi numero contigo), and stocked up on some food. One of the OTs at the clinic showed me around the city, and at times it didn't feel all that different from Los Angeles, except I knew that I couldn't quickly retreat to the English speaking areas.

But now I'm going to relax for the rest of the night, since I start work on my project tomorrow. I'll probably go hang out in some dark alleys with an American flag and money hanging out of my pockets. Maybe go scope out some druggie hotspots. Who knows? Either way, one of the advantages of travelling is that whatever I do here automatically feels cooler simply because I'm doing it in another country. Nice.