Thank goodness for futbol and familia!

This past week was a long one in Mexico City. I caught a cold, LouLou the Dog swallowed a nectarine pit and has been sick for days, it rained a lot, our last shipment from DC arrived in pieces inside a crushed wooden crate and we ordered the worst pizza in the world while watching the not-so-cheery movie "Half-Nelson" on our TV. Not to mention the MTV VMA awards fiasco. I know this hardly qualifies as one of history's toughest, but it was all still kind of a bummer. Did I mention that it has been really rainy? And that on the car ride home from our four hour long veterinary appointment (what's the deal with sick dogs lately?) we got a flat tire after driving through a huge crater in the middle of a main street in one of the fanciest parts of town?

But things are looking up: my cold went away, LouLou's vet is excellent, we're working on our insurance claims, Sergio is an awesome tire-changer and we have permanently lost the takeout menu for PizzaPoll. It is still raining a lot, but I hear the Smog Season is right around the corner, and it is supposed to be much drier!

Oh, and rumor has it that my job might begin as early as next week. And I've been able to add an additional Spanish class to my weekly schedule and am already seeing the results---I'm learning some verbs! I should soon be able to hold a conversation that goes beyond, " Yo soy abogada. You soy rubia. Yo soy de los Estados Unidos." Though I suppose that is quite a sum-up. So definitely, things appear to be on the upswing.

Besides, this past week did have some real highlights.



First, I attended my first Mexican soccer game. Saturday we went to see Cruz Azul, a DF team, play Pachuca, the reigning champ team from just up the road, north of Mexico City.

Sergio's gang from work organized the outing, and we took the Metro just five stops from Polanco to see the game.

The Embassy crowd...

The metro, by the way, is 2 pesos which is about 20 cents. And it goes everywhere.

We had pretty good seats, just to the left of the fan club section, made up almost entirely of 12-30 year old men. They kept up cheering, flag-waving, and taunting for the entire game. It looked pretty fun.



Apparently Cruz Azul and Pachuca have a long-standing rivalry, but it pales in comparison to the cross-city rivalries with Club America and the Pumas. We saw no real "hooliganism" though this sign posted in front of the rowdy fans did seem to indicate some cause for concern:


One of my favorite parts of the game was seeing all the weird treats on offer by the stadium's vendors. No cracker jack or hot dogs, but loads of personal pizzas, cup o'noodles, popsicles, popcorn, donuts, tortas and my favorite, meringue cookies and cannoli! The little boys in front of us ordered nearly every one of these delights.


The hometown team, Cruz Azul, lost the game 2-1, but it was fun to watch and we were delighted to have stayed dry even though we saw some pretty ominous clouds for the entire second half:



We walked home through the crowds feeling under the protection of Mexico's Finest...



Sunday we headed over to Coyoacan to visit Sergio's cousin who very kindly invited us over for a meal. It is great to discover we have family just a short drive away. Hugo Jose and his wife, Katya, live in this south suburban area near the University with their three kids Joaquin, Canela and Anahi and Katya's mother, Loyra. No photos of the baby girls---they got tired of the adult conversation and were enjoying a siesta, and rightfully so!





The Suarez family couldn't have been more hospitable, and we enjoyed a great chicken dinner. Hugo Jose described his research in Mexico City --- he's a sociologist--- which sounded really interesting. They've lived in this city about as long as we have, having just moved from Guanajuato this summer. Hugo Jose is working on a project here involving studying people's religious experiences outside of the Catholic church. (His subjects still self-identify as Catholics even though their primary relationship with God is not mediated by the Church.) It sounds fascinating, and we also learned a little about a religious practice in Mexico called Santa Muerte , Saint Death, which seems especially interesting. Katya is a television journalist, and had the unique pleasure of interviewing Vicente Fox on-air for her news show. We were very interested in hearing all about this, and from what I gathered Mexican presidents are no more candid than our own.

The UNAM library, designed by Juan O'Gorman, 1953.

After dinner, Hugo Jose took us on a driving tour to see the University and some of the town. It was raining so we didn't get to walk around much, but we got enough of a look to realize that this area has a lot to see. Coyoacan has excellent bookstores, a lively street scene and the University has an amazing collection of architecture and some interesting places to see music---we will be back soon!