Que Baracho

I was a bit late in leaving Jeff's apartment today so I had to really walk fast to get to school on time. I made it right at 9:00 but I was pretty tired. After class I went down close to the U.S. Embassy to have lunch with Jeff. I took one of the local favorite modes of transportation, the minibus. It costs $2.50 pesos (about a quarter) and I was jammed on this bus that looked more like a moter home or a catering truck. Muy authetico. I rode for about 15 min and then took a short walk to meet Jeff. We went to an Argentinian Steak restaurant for lunch called Que Baracho. It was very good. One of the best steaks I have had. I also had an empenada (pastery filled with various items) to die for. Mine was ham and cheese. At Que Baracho they surve chimichurri with your bread. It is real good. Check out this site if you want a recipe. After lunch I tired to get the bus back but I could not seem to find the right stop or the right street so I went down and took another bus that took me to the metro station and then I took the metro back to Polonco (the nieghborhood Jeff lives in). The metro was kinda dirty and crowded, but it is very cheap ($2 pesos, less than 20 cents U.S.). The Mexico City metro carries the third most people in the world per day behind Moscow and London and it is the cheapest in the world. The weather was great again today, mostly sunny and in the 70's. As long as this weather holds, Jeff and I are off to see the pyramids in the morning. Until then!!

The Turibus

After class today I decided to take the Turibus to see the main sights of Mexico City. The Turibus is a large open top, double decker bus that winds its way through the city. It has an audio guide that tells you about the areas and sights. From school I walked to the stop and right as I arrived the bus pulled up. It costs $115 pesos (about $11 U.S.) and you can hop on and off as much as you like in one day. It takes about three hours to make the circut. I stayed on all the way and saw the sights of the city, the Zocalo, Monumento a la Independencia, Bosque de Chapultepec, Condesa, Roma, and many others. I will say this, the traffic in this city sucks! There were times when it took us more than 30 min to go about 1/4 mile. At least the weather was nice today. It rained like crazy yesterday afternoon. You can go to the Turibus website and click on D.F. and you can see the route I was on today. Talk to you all later!!

Mexico Update

I started Spanish class yesterday. I am enrolled in the Angloamericano Centros de Idiomas school. This school has many campuses throughout Mexico and besides Spanish they teach English, French, German, and Italian. There are seven people in my class. I am the only one from the United States. There are two students from Japan, one from China, one from Germany, one from Turkey and one from Brazil. It is great that all of the instruction has to be in Spanish. When I was taking classes in the states, if there was a question it was answered in English. Now I am forced to use the Spanish that I know to ask the questions and all of the answers are in Spanish. This is helping me alot. The school is about a 30 min walk from Jeff's apartment. Class starts at 9:00 am and lasts for two hours. After class I have been walking around the neighborhood called Palonco, and getting my bearings. I will venture out in a few days. If the weather is nice, Jeff and I will go to Teotihuacan this weekend where there are Aztec ruins. It is outside the city a ways. Thats all for now. Talk to you soon.

Safe In Mexico

I arrived safely in Mexico City yesterday afternoon to dark skies and thunderstorms. It is a real stretch on the brain being in Alaska a few day ago with its wide open spaces and few people to the sprawling metropolis that is Mexico City. These two places are real opposites. I start Spanish classes today and then I will start some exploring of the city. I am staying with Jill's brother Jeff who works down here. We had some great street tacos last night for dinner. YUM!!

As far as an update from Alaska goes, I will need some time to process and then I will write a detailed post. The short version is it was an awesome experience! I was not able to convert my pictures to portable media before I left so I will not be able to post any pictures of Alaska until I return to the states next month.

Life is good and I will be in touch with you all soon. God Bless!!

AK-Update

WOW!! God is great! We have been blessed beyond measure. Alaska is a beautiful place. Words cannot describe the beauty that God has created here. Our VBS programs have been well attended and the smiles on the children's faces are worth a million dollars. Please pray for us as we continue God's work. We have been a bit sleep deprived but we are surviving. I will write more and upload some pictures when we return.

Alaska or Bust!!

I am off to Alaska to day!! I hope I got everything. It should be fun. We make a connection in San Fran and then off to the land of the midnight sun. We should arrive about 10:00 PM and the sun will still be high in the sky. You should check it out sometime. Do you want to go next year? I am already recruiting. I can't go because of summer school... oh well. I will write an update when I get back or from Mexico when I arrive there on the 4th. Until then!!!

Summer is Here!

June gloom is in full effect, the jackarandas are starting to lose their purple flowers and the din of students in the streets all point to the fact that summer is here, regardless of what the calendar says. When I was a teacher this was the best time of the year. No more papers to grade or parents to call. No more discipline problems in the classroom. It was a time to sleep in to maybe eight in the morning or something ridiculous like that. This year is a bit different. Since I have been the student my feelings are a bit different. I still have that joy and excitement of the year being over but I am looking forward to next year already. I guess that is what happens when you are studying something you like. This summer promise to be full of events and experiences. Please pray for me and those I am going with as we leave for Alaska on the 24th. I can't wait to get back to that great land. As I look out my office window I see the grayness of another So Cal summer morning. Ahhhhhh!!!! What a life!! God is Good!!