Mexico City: The Fulbright Orientation

Naomi:
We made our way from Querétaro to Mexico City on a “Primera Plus” Autobus… the buses are very fancy tour buses and it was very relaxing to be driven to our destination after a week of driving. When we got a taxi from the bus to our hotel, we knew immediately that we had made the right choice not to drive in Mexico City! First of all, it is the rainy season, and apparently Mexico City, much like Venice and Amsterdam, is built on swampy land and things are sinking, so there was flooding from the downpour.
Church en el Centro Histórico that is sinking.

But more importantly driving in Mexico City is perhaps the most challenging that I have seen… driving in India seemed the most unpredictable because the roads were filled with such a variety of … well I won’t say vehicles, because that would not include the cows! But the users of the road in India included huge semis, buses with people hanging onto the roof and windows to hitch a ride, cars, motorbikes piled high with up to five family members (including babies), people riding or leading animals along the road, pedestrians and the sacred cows. Mexico City’s traffic is more uniform (with the predictable buses, cars, taxis, motorbikes and trucks), but the streets themselves are confusing to say the least. A taxi driver told us that there are circular streets in addition to typical North-South, East-West and diagonal cut through streets. Intersections are awe-inspiring. Once we were driving down the left side of the street, watching the traffic move in the opposite direction on the right side and suddenly we reached mid block and the left lanes moved back over the right side and vice-versa. Certainly pedestrians are challenged by these intersections as well, but it was incredible to see the taxi drivers navigate the city.
City streets of Mexico.

One evening CoMexus (our Fulbright organization here in Mexico) arranged a taxi to take us to a small intercultural exchange dinner in our hosts’ home. Our taxi ride lasted 1.5 hours and what was striking was the tentative nature of our driver. He quickly handed navigation over to us and repeatedly complained that there are not signs marking street names. Using the penlight and map he gave us I was able to generally keep track of our route and make recommendations about where to go. However, the driver’s uncertainty led him to jump out of the car at least 8 times to ask locals for directions. Unfortunately, they didn’t know either! Our hosts were extremely gracious and completely unsurprised by our late arrival. When they drove us back to our hotel we saw that we had not actually traveled very far.
That’s a lot of info about transportation! Our week was very exciting and inspiring and also exhausting because of the non-stop schedule. It was wonderful to meet so many fantastic people in such a short time… and really hard to keep track of names, faces and Fulbright projects/locations because we were also inundated with information about Mexico and Mexico City. Plus, I was sometimes overstimulated (or maybe understimulated) by trying to follow lectures about history, politics, etc. en español! The days were long and packed full of activities. We were lucky to be able to visit pyramids, el centro histórico and view the murals of Diego Rivera.
Overlooking the pyramids at Teotihuacán

Naomi at Teotihuacán

I was awestruck by his murals in the Palacio Nacional and was happy to have a tour guide to pick out details for us to look at and learn about. In fact, I’ve often avoided tours in my life, but they are very informative and I really didn’t know where to start when looking at the murals because they were so full of images and meaning.
Inside the Palacio Nacional

Diego Rivera

Mexico City is really incredible. Before I left LA, my cousin Dan told me my Aunt Mary said Mexico City rivals Paris… and she is right! Beautiful architecture, endless museums and so much happening…
We had amazing food (of course) and heard great stories. One of the highlights for me was from a former Fulbrighter, was giving us tips for living in Mexico/Mexico City. He said he had two words for us: “Nasal irrigation.” Apparently he had sinus issues from the pollution and was sick approximately every 6 weeks until he discovered a Netty pot, which cleans out one’s sinuses. He reported that he has not been sick for 6 months!
One of the best parts of the orientation was making new friends, who are located all around Mexico… we’re planning on both hosting and touring to visit new friends.
We arranged ahead of time to stay an extra day in Mexico City we were so thankful that we did. It was really nice to hang out with our new friends Josh & Missy and meet some locals.
Arriving back in Querétaro it really felt like we were coming home. Our hotel is much more modest than the one in Mexico City (that was paid for by CoMexus) and we’re looking for an apartment, which is also exhausting, but this city is gorgeous and more my speed right now.

Jose:
Hola a todos. It’s been a while since we last blogged, but for good reason. Naomi and I were having the best time of our lives in Mexico City D.F. There is too much to write about and the feeling we had in those 4 days can not be captured in words alone (we have pictures too ;-). So I’m just going to hit the highlights of the trip.
TUESDAY, August 26th
Our first day, we checked into the Hotel Geneve, a beautiful place, celebrating its hundred year anniversary. The rooms were incredible with lush comforters and plush pillows. The Comexus (the Mexican operation of the Fulbright-Garcias Robles) staff were great and had everything running like clockwork. We had a Get Acquainted reception that evening and met the 79 other Fulbrighters.
WEDNESDAY, August 27th
The second day of the orientation was filled with lectures and panels that talked about politics and cultural dos and don’ts. Lunch was served in the same building as the lectures. A tasty seasonal dish of chiles en nogados: green poblano chiles filled with walnuts, raisins, meat, pomegranate and other spices and then smothered in this delicious walnut creamy white sauce, mmmm. That night we were hosted by Fulbrighter alums, two Harvard lawyers practicing corporate law in D.F. We took a taxi from the hotel in the height of rush hour. Now if you’ve never been to Mexico City I have to stop here and explain the traffic. It makes Los Angeles traffic look like a speedy race track. We might as well have strapped onto a turtle). Our taxi driver was sweet and tried really hard to get us to our destination. And some might think he was trying to get more cab fare by ‘getting lost.’ But not the case. The price was set from the beginning. Naomi with her mad map skills was able to help navigate through the amazingly complicated streets (we warned by many not to drive to D.F. and now we knew why). The oddest part of our taxi ride was when the cab driver kept getting out of his taxi to get directions (about 8 times). At one point a police car rolled by and flashed his lights into the cab to make sure we were ok. Naomi smiled letting him know we were safe.
Our 'driverless' taxi

Anyway I was super nervous about being so late and even surprised that we made it all. But we FINALLY got there and our hosts were so gracious and were acting as if we were on time. Actually they were not acting; they told us that we were right on time and that dinner would be ready in a few. They told us that they knew we would be stuck in traffic for a while and that the cab driver might get a little lost. They offered us some stiff drinks before dinner, which we gladly accepted. Horacio and his wife Paula had a beautiful condo with a private elevator and a maid. Dinner was served and we had our second helping of chiles en nogados that day. We didn’t have the heart to tell them ;-).
Our hosts Horacio and Paula

THURSDAY, August 28th
The next day was less lecturing and more fun. We headed out to the temple ruins of the Teotihuacán (Lugar de los que tienen dioses). I’m not even going to pretend that I know the history or archeological facts about this place. Alls I do know is that it was a cultural site that dates backs to about 500 a.d. Oh and they had pyramids too. (We’ll let the pictures do the talking).
Walking to the big Pyramid in Teotihuacán

Naomi and I on top of the Pyramid (another pyramid over my right shoulder)

We had a tour guide that was very knowledgeable, but then again we were in the midst of some brilliant Fulbright archeologists who could’ve done this tour in their sleep. That said, we headed to a delicious lunch at the Villas Arqueológicas. By far the best meal we had on our trip. This was the first time we had salad on our trip. It was buffet style and the tacos were off the hook. I had chicken in a bag that melted off the bone in a spicy red sauce and bell pepper slices.
Back at the hotel we got ready for the US Embassy’s reception for the Fulbrighters. Leslie A. Bassett, Deputy Chief of Mission, was our host. The event was very classy and I didn’t recognize most of the Fulbrighters (they clean up well).
Some of our fellow Fulbrighters at the U.S. Embassy reception

We met Carlos Garcias de Alba, Director General of International Relations and Secretary of Public Education who has in many occasions been to Los Angeles and is aware of the conditions of our public school systems. He had loads of stories and was very hospitable, offering any help we might need in our host states.
Carlos Garcias del Alba, Naomi and me.

After the reception some of us headed back to the hotel to catch the last few minutes of the Obama speech.
FRIDAY, August 29
On the last day of the orientation we got a tour of el Centro Histórico de Mexico City.
Palacio de La Bella Artes

We started in el Zoculo the center square in the middle of the city. Then we headed towards El Palacio Nacional where we were treated to the amazing murals of Diego Rivera depicting the history of Mexico.
Interior of Palacio Nacional

Then we had an afternoon of Q&A with some panelists, group pictures and then a big farewell lunch at Hostería de Santo Domingo. Molé de pollo was the favorite all around and Agua de Jamaica was flowing sweetly.
This is a picture of the "dependientes." Most of us feel a little funny about that title, so we decided to call each other "Independientes." Naomi

That final day of the orientation, I was beginning to get what most of us refer to as the Monday blues (even though it was Friday). I say this because we were making fast and close friends with some of the best people you could possibly know; (smart, energetic, funny and so compassionate it would make Mother Teresa blush) and we would be leaving for our respective host states that day. Melissa and Josh were dear to us and we spent a good amount of time with them.
Melissa aka Missy, Josh and the back of Naomi's head

We also found Colleen to be of like mind and very dear. I would have loved to develop closer relationships with all of the Fulbrighters, but that would have been impossible. But we found those who crossed our paths and made us laugh and cry more than once. Thanks to all for the fun conversations and looking forward to meeting up for more adventures.