silver lining

i, along with mariko and emmy, hopped on a bus for a day trip to taxco, mexico's famous silver mining pueblo. exhausted from the week's events i slept most of the trip, but woke up for the last twenty minutes to witness the wavy lush lumps of greenery that make up the landscape southwest of mexico city. as the bus driver swung around each corner--going a little fast for my taste--i spotted the cute little town protected by daunting cliffsides. right away the town made an impression on me--mostly because it is vastly different than the mexico city i have been accustomed to. the spanish-style houses stacked on top of each other like legos and the sun was shining without any company from the clouds.

we climbed the steep and narrow cobble-stoned streets, hugging the sides of the buildings along the way to dodge the white beetle taxis, which made me feel like i was in a clay-animated short film.


we reached the zocalo and immediately soaked in the beauty of the templo de santa prisca, a stunning example of baroque architecture, built from 1751-1758. jose de la borda, who made a fortune from silver mining, ordered the construction of the church and it nearly bankrupted him. i could see why. the ornate walls, ceiling and altars could leave you inspecting the details for hours.






because the city is deemed a national historical monument, new buildings must conform to the old style in scale and materials. mariko, emmy, and i scaled up and down the pueblo and at first, we searched for the silver market without much success but then hit the jackpot. mariko conveniently looked left and noticed that, tucked between two buildings and down a set of stairs, there was a crowd of folks doing exactly what we wanted to do -- jewelry shopping. the line of silver stalls snaked left, right, and around, completely disorienting us. we ventured deeper into the labyrinth of shiny earrings, bracelets, rings, and everything silver. the stalls never ended but we did indeed satiate our appetite for shopping, examining, and exploring.

in the past few years, officials of the city have announced that taxco has exhausted its silver deposits and will soon discontinue mining, of which then the city will depend more on tourism to sustain its economy. it will be interesting to see this town in a few years.

la felicidad

i've been reading this book called "the geography of bliss" by eric weiner. in it, the author travels to different countries in an attempt to seek out what comprises happiness. and so it's led me to think a lot about this abundant, yet coveted quandary.

once i asked my friend who i hadn't seen in a long time the typical question, "how's life?" and she replied, "i couldn't be happier. i have everything that i want." how beautiful. never before have those words come out of my mouth. not that i'm a desperately sad person, but perhaps it's not been obvious enough for me what makes me happy or maybe i haven't devoted enough time to thinking about happiness in my life.

for now, in mexico, i find contentment in accomplishing tiny feats in a big city...such as remembering which street the post office is located on and actually sending off postcards to my loved ones. there's also a daily thrill in knowing that both the juice guy and the coffee guy expect to see me every morning at their respective stands and once they see my face, they begin to prepare my drink. it's nice, but digging further down, what else is there?

in the book, "the geography of bliss," the author writes about how people in switzerland are happy because their trains are always on time. always. (and they have really clean bathrooms). it's the consistency and reliability that makes swiss people generally happy. i wouldn't say that about mexico's public transportation. even though many of my travel plans, whether big or small, have been thrown off track because of transportation complications, i find a certain level of reliability in the non-reliability.

for example, one day last week i was taking the metro around town to find a ticketmaster booth to buy tickets to the mexico vs. spain futbol game (yeah, i'm going). during rush hour, the locals pack into the metro. after already taking one crowded metro train, i politely waited for my transfer train behind the yellow caution line. as soon as the train clambered down the tracks and the magical orange doors slid open, it was a stampede to get on the train. it felt like a strong wind was at my back, much like the brief thrill of leaving the metrodrome in mpls. no, to be more accurate, it felt like a thousand arms/bodies were propelling me forward as if we were all racing for that flatscreen tv at wal-mart on black friday. i got sucked into the vortex of bodies and one place you don't want to end up is in the middle of the train car without anything to hold onto. it's a claustrophobic nightmare for a 4'11" lady. so, one gentleman saw the momentary flash of fear in my eyes and he grabbed my elbow, pulling me out of severe discomfort into moderate discomfort. led to safety, i could now hug up against the wall of the train.

here, people on the train really take care of the women, children, and elderly. i can't really say that for the u.s. so, in mexico city, i trust that people will allow me some opportunity to find comfort on the crowded trains. and that makes me happy.

and trust is a major character in the story of happiness. i'm sure we are happier people if we trust our government or our local institutions. i don't think the supporters of oscar grant are happy right now because they have no trust in either the police or the court system. also, we need to trust the people we work with. we need to trust the people we hold close to our hearts. otherwise, we live in constant anxiety and doubt. yuck. i want to know that my family and friends will show up with me on any given day to take on the world together. and sometimes, we need to take a leap of faith to trust those we don't even know. and this freedom of trust -- it brings wonders.

mosquitos love me in all parts of the world

like in all regions of the world, two major topics of conversation are the weather and the food. the rain particularly. we talked about how strong it was raining, how long it will last, and what will or won't happen because of it. much like when it snows in minnesota. weather connects us.


i spent the weekend in the yucatan peninsula where the humidity weighs you down like a sack of potatoes.

food also connects us. i learned that mexico adopted the dragonfruit, coming straight to ya from southeast asia! we got to drink this yummy juice, called pitaya here.


campeche city, in the state of campeche, is a quaint town with miles of history, especially with pirates. after the spanairds conquered the maya in this region, campeche became the major port of the yucatan.










por eso, the city was under constant attack by pirates so by order of the king of spain, strong forts and bastions were built like this one.














here, the centro historico is completely enclosed by forts. standing on a particular street, you can look to your left and see the door to the sea and to your right, is the door to the land. the centro is lined with cobblestone streets with bright and pastel-colored houses on each side.









in the plaza sits this 300-year old cathedral.












ednza. dang the mayans were smart. believed to be inhabited from 600BC-1500AD, these structures were used as both pyramid and palace. the building to the left is called edificio de los cinco pisos, the main temple of the gran acropolis (not modeled after roman architecture). masks of serpents and jaguars' heads used to adorn each of the five levels.







the sky was big here. it was hot and it was humid. we sweated buckets, watering the already green grass. the space was massive, once again humbling our existence. it's hard to imagine how many storms these structures have endured. mexico does a good job maintaining and restoring its history.
















we drove away from the ruins down a dirt road where yellow butterflies danced all around us, playing games of chase and falling in love with each other. it was nice to spend time in a less populated region and to know other parts of this vast country. i was also showered with generosity from tom's friend, elihu, and his family.

and funny, cuz when i came back to DF, it felt a little like coming back home.

today was a good day

not much to say except that all was good. i got full on food, art, cold drinks and good friends.

the lovely market in the tranquil neighborhood of coyoacan.

i ordered the huanchinango frito even though the waiter kept telling me the other one was better. thank goodness i'm stubborn.
me telling vt he had to eat one of the eyes. he didn't.
dessert.
casa azul de frida. stunning.
plaza hidalgo packed with families on a tuesday evening.
la b.
mezcal and yahtzee. i won.
cutest containers of salsa ever.
went to bed smiling.

the people i meet make me so international

it's sunday night and i can't wait to get back into the classroom tomorrow. it's been a week of sitting at the edge of my seat, thirsting for the teacher to call on me. i want her to call on me all the time. she's a dynamic teacher who storms around the room, stomping her feet and slapping her leg in excitement/frustration, cracking jokes, and putting people on pure blast. i love it and i laugh throughout class even though i don't know if i'm supposed to.

the demographics of my class look like this:
u.s.: 6 students
korea: 4 students
japan: 2 students
china: 1 student
haiti: 1 student
australia: 1 student
france: 1 student

yes, the class is diverse, each person bringing perspectives and experiences from different corners of the world. an older man from the u.s., who goes with full force to learn spanish, introduces himself by revealing he is from arizona, the state with a lot of controversy. to describe his state's position, he puts both hands up in defense and says, "i'm not against the mexicans. i'm not against mexico. in fact, i know a lot of them...." i've heard this line too many times. it could have been a lot of trouble but oddly, he is growing on me.

during one class we were discussing the environment and the teacher asks which countries have a lot of mountains. students start listing them off: mexico, peru, switzerland, nepal, tibet...then the chinese student cuts in, "pero tibet no es un pais." some students, including me, respond with an "ohhhhh." and the teacher halts the conversation and says, "this is spanish class."

another time we were talking about natural disasters and she was randomly picking people to sit in front of the room to talk about an experience with a natural disaster. after three students spoke, she noticed they were all korean students and she said, "wait a minute, we can't have the korean empire rule." this is why i love her.

i'm excited to soak in small glimpses of the world. i find it fascinating that the common language between me and the other asians in the class is spanish. plus, we make up half the population in the class, which is exactly proportional to the world's population so maybe it won't be a korean empire but an asian empire :0

"PORKY! PORKY! PORKY!"

lucha libre: the best night i've spent in mexico city so far. you know how when kids (or adults) are learning new languages and the first thing they want to know how to say are all the curse words? well, i think i learned every single one of them at lucha libre. called groserias, people not only shouted them at the top of their lungs, the groserias often developed into long, rhythmic chants where i couldn't do anything except bop my head to. i might have even raised my arm, hand in a fist, pumping it in solidarity.

the moment i walked into arena mexico i was cheesing the entire time. there was so much to take in. teams are divided into two: the rudos (the bad guys) and the tecnicos (the good guys). there are four matches throughout the night, each team battling 2-3 times. the energy in the arena is sky high, with people routing for each side. some of the fighters seemed to be the most athletic men i've seen. don't look away from the match because you'll probably miss some high-flying acrobatic moves where the fighters, coming off the momentum of their opponents or the ropes of the ring, gracefully complete olympic-like aerials.

tonight's event was special. the second match was a one-on-one revenge fight. whoever lost 2 out of 3 matches would have to get his head shaved. i didn't think they were actually going to do it. but that's the point of traveling i suppose, having all your preconceptions wiped away. the tecnico lost and was pretty badly "injured" in the last round so the "doctor" came out and using his stethoscope, made sure the luchador was fit to have his hair cut. first, the rudo got to cut a large chunk of the tecnico's long locks to keep as a trophy. then, the official hair stylist cut and shaved off the rest. the luchador was looking a hot mess with his spotty-haired head. the true loyal fans still cheered him on.

my favorite luchador was, of course, porky. he walked out and the female fans went bananas. he promenaded down the walkway, stopping to grace each of the scantily clad women with his sexy dance moves. during the match, porky's size was no hindrance to success. his aerials, with the help of his fighting partners, were some of the best of the night. and everyone knew the match was over when he climbed to the top rope and belly-flopped on a pile of his opponents, crushing them to a mound of jelly. "PORKY! PORKY! PORKY!!" what a dreamboat.


we weren't able to take any pictures (they actually confiscated my camera before entering) so all i can offer are pics of souvenirs being sold outside the arena. i will definitely be coming back. let me know if you want a mask.

las piramides

i have seen the wonder that took place two thousand years ago. i climbed the pyramids of teotihuacan yesterday, the largest city of ancient mexico. it sits just 50km northeast of today's biggest mexican city. i got to travel with my educational partner in crime: ms. keller. when we arrived at the site all we could say was "wow." not many words passed between us. for me, perspective was hitting hard. how many people came before us? the silence was soon gladly interrupted by children trying out their new souvenirs: kazoos shaped in the form of ancient animals. only it wasn't the low buzz that a normal kazoo makes. instead, these musical instruments actually sounded like small tigers, succeeding to alarm us throughout our visit.

as i climbed each step, i only wished that i had a time warp machine so i could see/experience everything that took place in this city at its height (except for the human sacrifices, of course). at the summit, i watched and listened to los viejos, los ninos and everyone else give their exasperated shout of celebration after trekking up 248 steep steps, bent over and breathing heavily to catch their breath: "hijole!" and "si me pude!" and "llegamos!!" triumph echoing into the fluffy clouds.

as a 6th grade ancient history teacher, i am adding to my arsenal. even if we don't study ancient latin american civilizations, i have witnessed these symmetrical, colossal and astonishing ancient constructions that have endured so many years. i can't wait to brag to my students about it.

piramide del sol: the third largest pyramid in the world. cobbled together around 100 a.d., from three million tons of stone, without the use of metal tools, pack animals, or the wheel. impressive.


the city of teotihuacan behind me. i'm at the top of piramide del sol and the piramide de la luna is in the background.
the 1st of hopefully 11 people i will see coming to d.f. from the bay area: samantha!
concentrating hard on climbing. i'm trying not to look up so as not to get dizzy.
how small i really am. and this was just one of the small structures that lined la calzada de los muertos, the main avenue of teotihuacan.

la UNAM

universidad nacional autonoma de mexico. my new school.

• founded in 1910 by justo sierra
• considered the largest university in the americas in terms of student population
• home to hundreds of student protests
• host of the 1968 olympics, where tommie smith and john carlos raised their fists in black power, forever banning them from the olympic games
• on the list of unesco's world heritage sites

la biblioteca central. knowledge spilling from the bookshelves. students desperately cramming for exams. when i walked in here it smelled just like carleton's libe. must be a good place for a long nap. mosaic done by juan o'gorman.


at the foot of the biblioteca.


a pretty building.


walking to some classrooms.


light reading.


el estadio olimpico.


me! and the campus bus i take.


classes begin on monday, from 9am-12pm monday-friday. i placed in the level of basic 4. a little frustrating considering how much i have studied spanish. but that's what i get for not speaking that much for the past seven years.

and if you're wondering, i did survive the mini-earthquake on wednesday nite. although it felt like someone, perhaps god, picked up my room and shook it just a little bit to say, "hey, don't forget you're in mexico." how could i?

no so quiet anymore

right now i can't sleep. the rain is pounding lightly outside my window. but it's not that that's keeping me from falling asleep. there's a birthday party upstairs and you know our version of the "celebrity" game? well, it feels like they're playing that game. inside my bedroom. btw, i have my spanish test at 8am tomorrow morning to determine my placement. yikes.

today i also saw everyone i know in d.f. that's a total of three people right now: casey (as you all know), francisco (a friendly neighbor who lives upstairs who is not part of the current raucous) and yuri (casey's friend who is catalan and is currently on a "sex diet"). i hung out at flora lounge where gays frequent todo el dia. apparently, i'm an international gay magnet.

the noun of this trip: perseverance. it took me nearly four hours to take the metro to the university and find the building where i will be taking classes. i almost gave up a few times, but there was always someone that would give me a little bit more hope in finding it. but, that's my only job right now so luckily i have those four hours in my day.

ok, crossing my fingers that i can fall asleep. pictures are coming, i promise....

new to D.F.

today i spent the entire day virtually by myself. besides the few encounters with locals such as my three-hour breakfast to watch japan lose in penalty kicks, or buying produce at the farmer's market that is literally outside my door, or asking directions to the anthropology museum (five different times), i didn't have a single conversation. it's quite fascinating to be consumed by only your own thoughts, serve only your needs, and tend to only your appetite. for an entire day.

and here i am, blogging. estoy sola and it feels alright. this apartment, who is katiequach's, another friend from college and doppleganger to my sister, is quaint, quiet, and perfect. i step outside the apartment and at my fingertips is mexico city, a daunting world to explore. funny though, because i get teleported back to viet nam, mostly through smell, which is a mixture of fresh fruit, fried snacks, and car/motorcycle exhaust. it's that beautiful third world shit.

so, inevitably having to spend a lot of time on my own, i have decided to dedicate this summer to myself: the summer of viet-ly. and i hope to share some of it with you.


my fascinating adventure for the day: el museo nacional de antropologia. the world is massive. history is massive. this museum reminded me of that through its endless exhibits, which were all presented in a phenomenal manner.




p.s. i have been hanging out with my old college friend casey and his myriad of mexico city friends, so i'm not a total loser.