Semana Una

Friday, 1/10/2020 – Arrival

The flight in was beautiful; starting with fluffy, white clouds that turned into beautiful, hazy blue rolling hills that ended in an aerial view of Mexico City, it was a perfect way to start off this adventure.

Mexico City looked wonderfully bright and colorful from above, with continuity in some of its light buildings with red roofs. It had mostly low-rise buildings, with a corridor of high-rise buildings. Meriah and I arrived finally in Veracruz where we were greeted by a smiling Miss Sonia, who immediately became like our mom from Mexico. She and Mr. Delfino took us around the center of Veracruz where we got to try the classic “Guero guero” helado (I got mamay and maracuya – passionfruit!) and enjoy it by the light and dark blue ocean of the port of Veracruz. Driving around in the state was about as wild as one might guess, which can also be translated to the sentiments felt when crossing the street (yikes!). Our drive brought us to Cordoba, but along the way, we saw billowing clouds of smoke coming from the fields beside the road – Sonia explained that these were a result of farmers burning the top, itchy leaves from the sugar cane in order to make them easier to process. Undoubtedly this leads to some of the air quality issues in the area, in addition to the small roadside fires that occur as a result of the dryness and a simple cigarette spark. We got our first glimpse of the school, Prepa Tec, and I accidentally told one of the professors there that I didn’t know if I liked the school – my Spanish skills have been put to the test, and they have not done well :/. In general I have been able to understand most things spoken to me, sometimes with clarifications, but speaking myself has proven quite the challenge. To close the day up, we went to Walmart for some sustenance, and were treated to a classic Mexican/Cordoba restaurant (La Parroquia de Veracruz) with delicious coffee, salsa macha with my enfrijoladas de pollo, and treats like conchas. Besides the wonderful food, we got to see dancers performing La Bamba y La Bruja!