Mosquitoes got me, a lot last night while sleeping! Damn, I hate mosquitoes even though mosquitoes love me. In Japan, in the summer, I’d never keep myself away from pesticides to protect myself from mosquitoes. But in Mexico City ... I didn’t expect that I would be attacked by mosquitoes!
... And my roommate snored hard. Plus, because of jet lag from consecutive international flights, I could not sleep very much.
Also, my ears were little weird, feeling kind of stuffed, blurred. I assume it’s because of the high altitude of this city.
I walked around in the historic area this morning. A huge cathedral, colonial buildings, stoned walkways, etc. Everything that I saw was cool. And people were nice (though again, they don’t understand English). But I’m kind of enjoying this miscommunication.
For example, looking for a place to have dinner, I entered a very local bar restaurant where local guys were hanging around, watching a soccer game on TV. “Can I take a look at the menu?,” I said to a waiting person, pointing the sigh on the wall. But it was the menu of alcohol. “No beber. Comer, comer,” I said. Finally, the waiting person understood me, “El menu!,” and gave me a menu. But of course, I cannot understand the menu in Spanish. So, I went to the kitchen with the menu. “I want to eat vegetables. Not meat. Do you have any vegetable dishes?” They didn’t understand me. I pointed chopped lettuce on the kitchen table, “Vegetable, vegetable!” They didn’t understand me. I found vegetable soup in the huge pot. “What is this? Vegetable soup? I want to have this.” Then a waiting person pointed a lady who was cooking steak in the kitchen, and said in Spanish something like, “The soup comes with the beef. Lettuce and tomatoes are also on the side” (this is my understanding—or imagination—and, therefore, it is not exact translation of what he said). “OK, I will have it, but the steak is huge. Will you make it half? Media? Pequeno? Chico? Un poco?” “Si, si.” The waiting person looked relieved that I finally decided what to eat, ha ha ha.
Anyway, people were very nice. They don’t try to cheat you.
