Mexico City

This week was crazy, so I never had a chance to write about my trip to the D.F., Mexico City. Last Monday we had a break from classes because of some holiday, so I went with four other international students for a couple of days. One of them lived there for a year in 2006 and has a boyfriend there, so it was really nice to have a couple of people around who knew the city. And I have to say, I loved it there! I know it doesn't have a very good reputation, but there are so many beautiful and cool things to see there. And since I am fascinated by Mexican culture and history, it was awesome to actually see some of the things in person that I've learned or heard about. We saw all of the touristy buildings.. the palacio nacional, catedral, palacio bellas artes.. walked around some parks, looked through some markets, and went to the Museo de Arte Moderno (I think that's what it was called).
Anyway, the art museum was really fun. I managed to get yelled at by a security guard, so I think that's a pretty good indicator that I had fun. One of the exhibits was so wierd.. there were a bunch of photographs of the artist dressed up as a cat, and doing all of these bizarre poses, as if the artist really thought he or she was an animal. There was another exhibit, though, that was amazing... let's just say that Remedios Varo is now one of my favorite painters. If you like surrealist art, you should check out her work.
On Sunday, we went Coyoacan for the market, good quesadillas, and a visit to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's house (now museum), which I must say, is painted the most vibrant color blue you have ever seen. That was really cool, as well, and as bizarre as this may sound what with all of the original artwork housed there, I think my favorite part was a series of photos taken of Diego making wierd faces at the camera. They were hilarious. And oh my gosh, the quesadillas we had that day were A-mazing and fried.
Before we left, we had to make a trip to Teotihuacan, which are basically the biggest ruins in Mexico. It was awesome walking up the pyramids, but I really wish we'd hired a guide. Things like that are so much cooler and interesting when you know the history behind it all. Maybe that's just me, though, since I am a bit of a history nerd.