So I’m writing this sitting in my new residence, the “residencia estudiantil Alpina”, in Colonia San Angel, Mexico City. So far I’ve been in Mexico City for almost two weeks. I arrived last Sunday, having no idea where I was or what I was going to do. I had gone straight to my hostel and was checked in by a very nice woman named Maria. With her I had my first extended conversation in Spanish and showed me that I could actually (kind of) speak in Spanish. Language-wise, things have only been improving since then.
I spent the first couple of days getting to know the area I was in: Coyoacan, a neighborhood in the south of the city that is centered around 2 big plazas. It is a great area with lots of restaurants, shops, parks, and museums, including the Frida Kahlo museum and the Leon Trotsky house. I stayed in a great hostel called Hostal Cuija Coyoacan, run primarily by two women, Maria and Monica. There was a flux of people going in and out, but in the middle of my 8-day stay, 3 other girls arrived. One, Ruth, is a law student who is also working in Mexico City for the summer. The other two girls, Koehler and Emily, were finishing up the last two weeks of a 5-month trip around South America.
I learned about Alpina from Ruth and went to visit it. It is in a different area of Mexico City, about 10 minutes by minibus, but it is a great atmosphere. I moved in on Monday, after my first day of work. There are about 24 students who live in Alpina, from all over the world. Right now is a transition period because a lot of the students who have been here for the semester are about to leave and the summer students are starting to move in. During the school year, there are more Europeans but apparently during the summer it switches to a predominantly North American crowd.
The area of San Angel we are in is not quite as quaint as the part of Coyoacan I was in is, but there are still markets, supermarkets etc. within walking distance. I hope I can spend more time in Coyoacan as the summer goes on, but for now I barely have time after I get back from work.
I have generally been working from 10-5:30 or 6, which means I leave around 9 (It is such a luxury to sleep in) and get back around 6:30 or 7. Then I have been going to the gym, cooking dinner and hanging out for a bit, and then it is time for bed. It is amazing how quickly time goes.
The gym I joined is about 3 doors down from Alpina, even closer than the boathouse. It is quite a funny place. It is run by two older men, Salvador and Ismael. It is basically a body-building gym, with lots of guys who like to lift weights everyday and not do much cardio. There are a bunch of bikes, a couple of treadmills, stair steppers etc., but it is mostly some older women who use them. The guys all lift. It seems like Ismael is the personal trainer of all the people in the gym. The first day I went in, he said “15 minutes on the bike”, and then after fifteen minutes came over and said “4 by 15 sit ups and then 4 by 15 leg lifts”. It will be nice having someone give me a workout occasionally, and I’m glad that it is so close. There isn’t anywhere to run around here because running in the streets is definitely not an option. There are too many cars, and the sidewalks are not quite flat…
I had found a great park a couple of blocks from the hostel, where there are people running every morning, but it is too far from here to go before work. I think I will go on the weekends though. Unfortunately I think this means that I won’t be able to train for the half-marathon I had wanted to do at the end of the summer, but I think I can stay in good shape nonetheless.
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