Day 3: Shopping!

Today I got up very late, because for some reason, I stayed up late last night reading a guidebook about Mexico City. Mexico's history is quite fascinating: many wars, many revolutions, and too many ideologies. I slept through the first alarm clock, and only got up 30 minutes before school.

Breakfast was good like usual. Instead of eggs, I got to eat muettes? - some kind of bread with beans and cheese. I also had fresh fruits and yogurt. I knew that my teachers would ask me to describe this meal, so I took a picture.

School was heavy, and for some reason, I felt constantly sleepy. Is it the altitude finally kicking in? Cuernavaca and Mexico City are both way above sea level, which supposedly makes you tired if you are not used to high elevation. Or maybe it was just my lack of sleep?

In any case, I have a fantastic plan for tonight: shopping. I heard that there is a big mall not too far away from here. My classmates are going too. But because I live quite far away from downtown, I'll first have to take a taxi downtown and go from there. 2nd taxi adventure is in order! Also, will I have to haggle in Spanish later? I don't know, but I'm curious to find out!

At the school today, we celebrated a birthday. It was Becky's 78th, and we had a cake. Everyone was singing a Mexican happy birthday song, it was wonderful. Becky was very animated, speaking to me in both English and Spanish about how happy she was. Becky had been to the school 5 times before. She is in retirement, but keeps going back to polish her Spanish. Her partner is younger, and accompanying her as well. Also, at this party, I realized I had confused people's name. Becky's partner is Roberto. My travel companion for yesterday was Fernando. There are only 6 students in the school, and somehow I haven't managed to remember everyone's name yet.

Alright, I'm going to take a nap now, so that I'll have energy for the shopping trip later. I was thinking of not going, but my teacher said that I should take advantage of the time here. Take an-hour-nap and then go!- she said. I'm going to try to see how it goes!

** Update after the mall trip **

Dios mios, I got home at 11 pm! Homework will likely be very difficult! Aye aye aye, but I had a good time today with Lina and Fernando. We went to a big mall in Cuernavaca, and ate a delicious (and big) dinner at PFChang. It was actually good, and I was so super full.

I'm so thankful to have friends who speak better Spanish than me (much better). Lina and Fernando are fluent, they discuss music, books, food, and very sophisticated subjects with ease. They can also carry on interesting conversations with any local on the street. We had a lively discussion about Cuernavaca with our taxi driver, until he looked at me and said, Hmm, looks like you don't speak any Spanish, do you? Haha, you're right. Every so often, I'd pick up one to two words, and guess what the conversation is about. But in general, I have no idea. Lina was very kind to translate part of the conversation to me. Our kind taxi driver said, You'll get it some day! I hope that day is coming soon.

The mall in Cuernavaca, La Galerias, is huge! It looks just like any American mall, with a big department store (Liverpool, Sarbonnes), and a few big brands (Zara, Stefara). It even has a food court, and many restaurants. The mall was a long way from our places. It took almost 30 minutes to get there, in heavy traffic. But in Cuernavaca, you don't rely on meters. You get into a taxi, ask for the price, and then go on your trip. No meter is running, so your taxi driver can take short cut, or doesn't care if sometimes you have to be in traffic, because there is no other way to go. 

On the way back, all three of us shared a taxi, and that saved money. Tomorrow, Fernando will calculate the fare for us. For now, I'm so tired. I'm going to bed!