My Recent Trip - Pt. 1: Mexico

Part 2 - Cuba: https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-farrell/my-recent-trip-pt-2-cuba/700475937005511/

Part 3 - Canada: https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-farrell/my-recent-trip-pt-3-canada/700499207003184/

Postlude: https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-farrell/my-recent-trip-postlude/700500773669694/

All the videos taken during my trip are hosted here: https://www.facebook.com/jeff.farrell.9699/videos

and here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzLV5qxkOHGnTe4ewA77IZLcpKSbG7p80

There are 18 videos or more as of this moment: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=701632450223193&set=a.271130169940092&type=1&theater

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First, I went to Mexico, Mexico City specifically. My flight from Boston was on May 11, 2018. There was a layover in Dallas. I used Airbnb for lodging. I got a room for about $10 a night in Venustiano Carranza right near the airport. Some of the places I frequented were: the park on Calle Oriente 172 and Calle Oriente 168, Mercado Moctezuma, White and Black Coffee, and Herbalife club Nutricional on Nte 33.

What did I do in Mexico?

Well, first I concentrated on learning Spanish. I taught English for free to various people in Mercado Moctezuma (workers and their children) and surrounding stores. I found that teaching English in Spanish was an excellent way to learn Spanish and at the same time help others out. English is much more useful to people in Mexico City than Spanish is to people in the Boston area.

Later on, I started playing soccer in the local park. I would mostly play with teenagers, but sometimes I would play with kids and adults. They would often cheer me on and call me “gringo” (what they call white people from the U.S.). Near the end of my stay in Mexico City, a friend took a video of me playing in the street with a newly-made friend:

https://www.facebook.com/jeff.farrell.9699/videos/644883345898104/

I played chess with people in Mexico, but I played soccer more often. It was easier and more convenient to hop into soccer games than try to convince people to play me in chess. I did however play some chess in the airport and with people in some of the stores.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=636694753383630&set=t.100011293339179

Toward the end of my stay in Mexico, I moved into a $5 a night room in a different house. This house was very close to the other house I had stayed at. Unlike the first location, I was allowed to invite guests to my room at will here. I brought Mexican women back to my room and played them in chess haha.

Speaking of women, on average, the women in Mexico City are more flirtatious than women in Boston. I suspect it is because gringos are highly sought-after there. A lot of women I hung out with were clearly just friends. The thing was, I was clearly getting much more attention in Mexico City than Boston. Now, here I am, sitting in the Boston area, 26 and single haha.

Que más? The food is VERY cheap in this area. And high quality too. There are various venders in the street selling tacos, pambazos, and various other Mexican food. The pambazos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pambazo#/media/File:PambazosDF.JPG) only cost about 20 pesos or 1 USD! If you stick to eating street vender food, you basically get small restaurant quality food in the U.S. for about a dollar or two in Mexico City haha. Oh, and the tacos are way better here than in the U.S. They put lime in their tacos, and the ingredients are just higher quality. Oh, and lime is huge here. They put lime in practically everything: soup, meat, smoothies, etc. They also put ketchup on pizza, and they eat different cheeses. Oaxaca and chihuahua (my favorite!) are very popular here.

One cultural difference is that smoking is much more popular here than the Boston area. For example, no one in my family smokes.

I was in Mexico City for about 3 months, and I learned the bulk of my Spanish there. By the end of my stay, I could say much more than “Quieres jugar ajedrez conmigo?”

There were other changes. I lost weight quite rapidly in Mexico, even though I was eating the same amount I was at home. I bought a few shirts in Mexico City, like the Mario shirt and Duff one. I also made a ton of friends there, to the degree it felt necessary to write many of my Facebook posts in Spanish. My Facebook page is now bilingual haha.