Mexico D.F.

I'm on spring break! but I am not going to the beach to see other crazy americans. This past weekend I went to Mexico D.F. (Distrito Federal) with two other girls from the program, and saw a whirlwind of sites. There are so many impressive buildings and parks.. we saw a LOT of them, but there is still so much more to see and do in the city, and so I think I might go back. and next time it will be a little more relaxed because I won't be running all over the place to see as many things as possible in 2 and a half days. I'm glad that I was able to visit so many important sites, but i would have liked to take it a bit easier, and soak things in a bit more. here are a bunch of pictures from this weekend:

Cathedral

Inside the Palacio Nacional

More Diego Rivera murals! my favorite. In these murals, he put some figures of Frida Kahlo in, which is pretty cool to see, especially when you spot her amongst a bunch of other people. These are inside the Palacio Nacional.


Bellas Artes. This is where the best art performances take place. There are more murals inside, but we didn't have time to go see them. Plus I think it costs money.


A metro stop at Bellas Artes. I really like the design of this particular stop, for some reason. We took the metro a lot.. yay public transportation!


A monument dedicated to Benito Juarez... Mexican leader for Independence and the only indigenous President of Mexico.

Sidewalk art by the Zapatistas in front of the Benito Juarez monument.

The castle that Mexico's Emperor (Maximiliano) and dictator (Porfirio Diaz) lived in. In it was the presidential chair that Pancho Villa sat in and Zapata sat beside when they met in Mexico in 1914.

In the National Anthropology Museum.

Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacan. We went all the way to the top! The pyramids are really impressive and there are so many other buildings and temples surrounding them. The pyramids and other buildings were actually covered with plaster and then painted with bright colors. Can you imagine what that would look like! wow.

there are more pictures, but obviously I can't post them all.

Mexico City is filled with beautiful buildings, but its also filled with people! About 25 million people. Half of our trip consisted of seeing the sights, but during the other half we met some really cool people! I really love practicing my Spanish with people, so if random, not too shady looking people want to talk, I'll talk back. In this way traveling is great, because you can meet so many random people who are traveling or just want to practice their English with you. We ended up hanging out with a guy who is a student in Mexico City and had a really great time, talking, exchanging music and phrases in Spanish and English. so now I have a friend in Mexico City!

today I am off to visit my host family in Amatlan!

peace,
Ruth