hold the mayo

The month of "Mayo" has arrived. I can't believe that I have been living in Mexico City for 8 months now. In two months, my Fulbright will be over and I will begin my physical and psychological journey back to Southern California. I am actually looking forward to returning to the West Coast, to spend more time with my family and SoCal friends.

It's nice to have had the opportunity to travel these last couple of years, living in Philly, NYC and DC, but it's also refreshing to finally return to the city that saw me grow up. In this sense, returning to Los Angeles represents closing the circle of my academic trajectory. Ever since I left LA when I was 15 years old to head off to boarding school, I have been on the road. After my Fulbright in Mexico, I hope to finally let the dust settle. I look forward to rejoining the millions of Angelenos in their morning commute to work. But more importantly, I look forward to answering people's questions with regards to future plans with a simple..."I am in LA to stay for a while!"

This past weekend, we had a reshuffle of flatmates in my apt here in Mexico City. Amy, our Scottish flatmate from Glasgow, is finally becoming a full-fledged "uptown girl" as she is permanently relocating to Polanco. In her place, Jeff is moving in from his former place on Insurgentes, a major city transportation artery.

After having some amazing pescadillas (shark meat tacos) at La Cueva del Cangrejo in Coyoacan, I drove to the Plaza Mexico in hopes of catching the Sunday afternoon bullfight. To my dismay, there are no more bullfights in Mexico City until mid-June. Fortunately, I will still be in Mexico City by then, so I can plan to attend a bullfight then.

So with the bullfight plan scratched, I headed to the House of Leon Trotsky Museum on Rio Churubusco 411 in Coyoacan. But after getting lost around the surrounding neighborhood (partly because of the incorrect signs leading to the house), I arrived with only minutes to see the entrance lobby. The museum closes at 5pm. So I plan to return to this museum sometime next week. The museum is only about 4 blocks from the Casa Friday Kahlo museum in Coyoacan.

After the Leon Trotsky museum kicked me out, I decided to drive to the Miguel Angel de Quevedo metro station....where the Ghandi Bookstore is located. Once there, I purchased my weekly fix of international affairs in the form of The Economist magazine. I also purchased a spanish language version of Truman Capote's "Un Arbol de la Noche."

Tonight, I am expecting three friends from LA. I am picking them up at the airport. I am hoping that they all have a great time in Mexico City.

To all those in the city, my flatmates and I are hosting a Cinco de Mayo party this Friday, titled "La Batalla." The celebration will be in Polanco. Come one, come all. Although Cinco de Mayo is not exactly acknowledged in Mexico as it is in the States, my fellow Fulbrighters and I are making the effort to ignite some traditional celebratory value to this holiday. Feel free to help us in our quest this viernes social. Ciao!