I Touched A Diego Rivera Mural

19 de mayo

Yay for more tests. I guess that's what happens when you take two courses in six weeks. The best part of the day was probably (well, definitely) eating this bigote con chocolate, which is basically a chocolate croissant and definitely my favorite food I've eaten here. 

I also finally visited a panaderia which was something I've been looking forward to this entire trip. It smelled heavenly AND it was extremely cheap. 

After visiting this panaderia, Kaitlyn and I chilled in the park by the school before heading back home. 

20 de mayo

Today, after class, we took a trip to el MIDE (el museo interactiva de economia). The museum was unfortunately a bit of a letdown and not at all as awesome as I expected it to be. But after the museum, we went to this churro place where they served churros and coffee. It's always interesting for our 20+ person group to show up at one restaurant together. One thing that has surprised me is that every place we have gone in a large group has been extremely accommodating and rushes to put tables together for us. I'm sure they don't want to turn down the business, but it's still pretty cool. 

21 de mayo

Today we had a lovely visit to the Castillo de Chapultapec. This was the home/castle of various "leaders" of Mexico, from Porfirio Diaz to Maximilian. It's pretty amazing because now this castle sits in the middle of a pretty bustling city. You walk through this peaceful park which is surrounded by very large buildings and the sound of traffic. This is what I mean: 

After the Castillo, we had an extremely filling four course lunch at almost 4 in the afternoon: soup, rice, a fish or chicken dish, and this custard for desert. 

22 de mayo

Today, I touched a Diego Rivera mural. It was kind of by accident, but hey now I can say that I've touched a Diego Rivera mural. We started the day (after 3 hours of class) at El Palacio de Bellas Artes--essentially an art museum. The building was actually constructed as a form of mimicking European architectural styles. We observed Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco murals which are pretty breathtaking in detail. We then visited the SEP, and on the way there almost got caught up in a protest at the Zocolo. We spent the next 2 hours learning about the Diego Rivera murals thoughout this ginormous building and courtyard. At some point during the tour, I decided it was a good idea to touch the wall behind me and received a "No tocas" from our guide, who then went straight back to explaining the significance without a pause. 

The biggest thing this visit to the SEP taught me was that our LBAT group is awesome. As tough and mentally exhausting as this program has been, I'm not sure if the group of people could be any greater. 

And of course we rewarded our starving selves with some I <3 Wok afterwards. Probably my favorite restaurant here. 

23 de mayo

After a week packed with excursions, we spent our afternoon off in Zona Rosa, a neighborhood near our closest metro station. The plaza on the other side of the station was like a whole other world. There were maybe two roads, lots of sidewalk, and people walking everywhere. The best part was probably the strip of at least five or six American fast food chains surrounding us. With that, we shamelessly ate McDonalds for lunch. 

We ended the afternoon watching La Lay de Herodes for class at a friend's house before a group of students went to see Lucha Libre. Apparently that was quite an experience, but I was perfectly content taking at least one evening on this trip to just chill at home before preparing for the upcoming tests and essays. 

24 de mayo

Today we visited Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's house! Which is much bigger than I would have expected. These two artists seemed to have really interesting lives and I'm curious to learn a bit more about them. 

After walking the grounds, we walked to the neighboring town/area of Coyoxan where we are filled (delicious) churros and then visited an Artesan Market. The markets like this are really interesting because they sell so many random things that seem really cool but have almost no purpose. Also, a lot of the stands have this very interesting take on or fusion of American culture. 

25 de mayo

More proof that studying abroad requires studying. We spent the entire day studying for our two upcoming tests. I also picked up a bigote from the cafe so that was exciting.