Around Polanco

We stayed put in Polanco this weekend, and explored a little of our neighbourhood. We walked to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, which would have kept Johan and I engrossed for half a day but courtesy of the girls, we stayed for only an hour. After seeing some odd archaeological finds of long time past, ancient Mayan tombs and the skeletons, they were ready to leave and play at the huge fountain, which is also inside the museum. Impressive.

We hung out at the park outside the Museum and we were distracted by a group of men, in their late 50s, dressed in traditional costume performing some local dance. Soon after, they started climbing this 30m steel pole, no safety net below, no fancy safety precaution whatsoever. Just their wits about them and sheer craziness. A crowd gathered quickly and after a few minutes, with a single rope tied around their waist, they 'helicoptered' head down, in a synchronized and fluid manner. This I had to say was very impressive.

Have a good week everyone!

Was intrigued by this old cash register

The huge fountain that caught their attention

This was a funny moment. The girls were going crazy chasing bubbles, courtesy of bubble lady, in front and around a wedding couple trying to capture their magical moment.

And here is the sequence of the swinging dancers ...

Midway

Almost touching the ground and Johan even worriedly comments about their heads

But just a metre from the ground, they swung their bodies upwards and stood up ... phew.

Mexico's own 'kachang puteh' stall ... not sure how Johan took over the vendedor's place?

Monarco mariposas

This weekend, we went in search of butterflies, specifically the mariposa monarcos that annual migrate southwards from North America. The vast majority migrate to the pine-oak forests of Michoacan and Mexico. So lucky us, we got to see this wonder just two hours drive from D.F. And for me, it has been a 11 year wait since I missed it the last time I was in Michoacan.

We arrived at one of the sanctuaries and together with a horde of others, we climbed rocky mountain for 45 minutes. We weren't aware of the steep climb so thank goodness there were horses for hire! Sera and Isis happily got unto a horse. Yassy went on Johan's shoulders and the rest of us struggled up (the altitude plus the very dusty path wasn't so pleasant) but when we finally got to see the monarcos ... wow, it was certainly worth it. The life span of the monarcos range from 2 to 8 weeks. So, unfortunately, there were many dying or dead monarcos that were on the ground as there were on the trees. All part of the circle of life.

We trudged down the trail but this time, Yassy also got unto the horse with Patricia. After a quick dust, we got into our cars and drove another 30 minutes to Valle de Bravo, a pretty town by a lake, that also hosts the annual world para-sailing championship. We explored the town a little before we drove back to D.F., with the girls fast asleep within minutes in the car. Enjoy the photos!

Johan had the toughest job with Yassy on his shoulders

Sera and Isis huddled together while Raquel brought them all the way up!

The monarcos nestle on the trees (look closely and you see them in clusters)

Resting peacefully on the ground

Above my head

Yassy got unto the horse for the journey down. It got so steep at one point that the guide had to carry her.

On the way to Valle de Bravo, we drove through thousands of monarcos

Monarcos on my right

Girls checking out the view of the Lake Avandaro

Lake Avandaro

Just give me 3 minutes!

How was your week? Let's say, early yesterday morning at 6.30, I was wishing it was Friday night. For some of you, it's already the weekend! Start enjoying it! It's Friday afternoon here and the girls are playing 'monsters' with each other. Now, I am simmering ... slowly detoxing from the week of manic school runs, incoherent Spanish conversations, the traveling husband, the endless mundane errands. But the traffic, the mindless tussle with the other drivers ... ahhh, sometimes it feels like I'm in a very bad computer game. I wish it was less stressful, especially so that the girls don't get a glimpse of their crazed mother during the morning rush ... and again, in the afternoon. I know, EVERYBODY has to deal with routine and the best kind would deal with it elegantly and with much acceptance. I'm still working on it ...

And I've learned yet another specifically Mexican expression, 'ahorita', which means, 'immediately or right now'. So for example, the electrician would say, "Ahorita!" and you think he means he'd be back in 5, or maybe 10 minutes. But in his mind, he actually means, tomorrow or maybe ... in 2 days, if you're lucky. I do NOT exaggerate. This week, on top of my usual mundane routine, I had to deal with a few of these 'ahorita' episodes. Give me a second while I take a deep breath! My Spanish teacher said that to live here (happily), one has to accept the way of the people. Yes, for me, coming from Singapore ... it's not easy especially when 'compromiso' here is rare and not practiced.

Ahh, but now I will cease complaining because I've finished my cup of instant coffee (actually Yassy drank half of it!). And I've decided that if I'm allowed 3 minutes of griping every now and then, I can deal with all the 'ni modos' or 'ahoritas'. Goodbye for now ... I have a 'compromiso' to take the girls to the playground ... Ahorita!

'ni modo'

There's an expression here, "ni modo", which loosely translates as 'whatever', or 'what can we do about it'. And I learned about it on the night we were supposed to move into our apartment. You see, we were looking forward to moving in on Monday but at the same time, we were almost (after inspecting the progress of the renovations and the mess leftover) certain that we couldn't. But we were hoping, really hoping. And we were ready, all packed. So am I writing this post in our apartment ... 'por supuesto que no!' (of course not!) or should I just say, resignedly, 'ni modo'?

So 'ni modo' which I don't think is actually verbally used is more like an attitude of the locals. But 'ni modo' or not, we were not pleased. Our displeasure was expressed but at the end of the day, what can we do? So we were given another day, this Thursday ... or should I say, 'ni modo'?

On a happier note, the girls visited a jardin de mariposas (butterfly garden) at Chapultepec Park, on Saturday morning. It was really nice for them though Yassy was stuck to my legs or in my arms throughout the visit.

Girls waiting for one to land on their hands

My girl with that Mr Magoo smile of hers

And in the afternoon, we still had to go shopping for the apartment ... Sera gave up and fell asleep. Yassy didn't even care that she slept on this baby seat that was attached to the trolley.