Day 5? It feels like a month!

So as far as my previous Charlotte post went... I have to say sorry to all my friends back home because I have a new best friend and her name is Pepto Bismol. Enough said.

Moving on. We had pancakes for breakfast. How do you say that in Spanish, you ask? Hot cakes. It's right on the box.

As we were leaving for school, Alfredo said to wait and he would drive us. I thought that it was just a nice random gesture until we got outside and there was torrential downpour: we've officially moved into rainy season. Not only that, but I wore jeans and a sweater all day and I rarely got hot, so it's cooling down from earlier in the week. How am I going to get savage and tan if I have to cover up so much??

Laura Moreno's class, Olga's class, then we went to Martha, program director's office to sign up for/ pay for the Mexico City trip (also called just México or DF for distrito federal, like our DC). We also made our official decision for our volunteer locations: all four of us will be going to Acortar Distancias, the first place we visited, and Chenoa and Anna will be visiting Los Pinos a few times. We also get free t-shirts, the real reason to help disadvantaged people out (just kidding).

Daisy and I walked back home and I have to say, los piropos, the compliments, are picking up. Men in passenger seats rubberneck and yell things, or one guy blew kisses out his window (the lazy eye made it even more flattering).

At home we had vegetable soup, enchiladas with lettuce and tomato, guava juice (it was okay) and chongos zamoranos. It's a cold dessert, I can't tell exactly what it is made of but there's some bread like thing and some caramel in it. I have to say it was not my favorite and I think Blanca could tell, because we were only a couple bites in when she gave us a talk about telling her which foods we do and don't like so she won't repeat them. Also, she says everything is "good for digestion." Unlike America, where the best meals "stop you up" (fried chicken, Thanksgiving, other heavy meals) the goal here is to keep things moving... sorry, this is turning out to be a disgusting entry.

Side note: I need to mention here that they have the cutest dog. Unfortunately, until I arrived, Joakin was the only one who ever gave her any attention or love. She has multiple names, including Motita and Doña, but it doesn't really matter what you call her, as long as you say things to her in Spanish she responds (come here, go away, jump on my lap, get down, pretty much anything but sit or stay).

So we were sitting at the table, no plans for the afternoon, and Blanca said "Everyone keeps telling you, go to el centro, but no one has taken you." El centro is (obviously) the center of the city. This is the most antique part of town and probably the most famous. We were very excited to go. So, Daisy asked her, "Got plans for today?"

Our adventure began before we even got there. The bus ride was the most insane roller coaster I have ever been on, kind of like the Harry Potter movie when the bus shrinks and stops and is out of control, only this bus drive had no magical powers. We came within 1 or 2 inches of a car once, right beside my window. The bus driver got it into 5th gear (on small side streets with stoplights and pedestrians) and we hit pot holes so hard that we literally flew into the air, probably 4, 5, 6 inches up! Our poor tailbones!

Don't worry, we survived the ride. El centro is beautiful. They have a market with homemade goods and streets of store-bought goods: we went into one store where Blanca haggled for individual Ziploc bags. There were many buildings with a lot of history, including one particularly beautiful cathedral, several old government buildings, and a clock in one of the squares with a gunshot hole in it from Pancho Villa himself. While we were out and about, we found out that Blanca has another son, Alex. There are more and more family members we keep hearing about, how many kids does this woman have?

We were there for 3 hours if not a little more, walking walking walking. We came back, Daisy and I collapsed in our room for a few minutes, and then Joakin's girlfriend came over and then Anna and Chenoa, so Blanca (poor woman, probably exhausted) fixed enchiladas (with that really good onion-cheese topping) and guava juice for us again, like lunch. The four of us hung out for a little bit then the other 2 headed home and we went to bed.