Thoughts: Friday, May 28, 2010

Schedule:

• teacher's strike holds up traffic
• Dolores Olmedo Museum
  --peacocks running freely
  --Xoloesquintles... ugly... hairless... sandpapery-feeling dogs from Aztec times
  --gross food

• Xochimilco
  --boat ride
  --blanket vendor
  --horrible mariachi band: the singing was horrible, the instrument playing was good
  --much better, more professional mariachi
  --vendor on our boat; Mexican finger cuff similar to Chinese handcuffs

Xochimilco, the floating gardens
It is named this because when the boats were once
adorned with beautiful, fresh flowers and they looked
like floating flower gardens...

Me on the boat


The good mariachi


A replica of the Island of the Dolls
There was a little girl who drowned near an island,
and to honor her the caretakers would hang up dolls...
This island was a five hour boat ride from the area where we were...
so we photographed this replica because obviously it was closer...
Still creepy...

• loooooooong bus ride back to Hotel Catedral
  --we drove on a college campus where 600,000 students attend for FIVE U.S. DOLLARS A FREAKING YEAR! We definitely chose the wrooooooong school...
  -- Marcela attended that school
  -- we also drove by the Polyforum
  -- got stuck in Mexican rush hour... so aggravating... so crowded.... so no bueno
• dinner at the Hotel
  -- ordered drink and food, I helped everyone order... especially those who wanted a hamburger cooked well done...
  -- got bothered about whether or not I finished the card for Marcela... got really aggravated by it because I have motion sickness and so I can't do anything while in the van, or on the boat, and I didn't bring my stuff into the museum...i didn't even have my camera in the museum! ..and we've been on the move all day with no break (unless of course you can work..while in a moving vehicle without feeling sick)....
  -- Evan and I ran upstairs after putting in our orders, to paint the card. Luckily I had drawn it out last night... Evan painted the back of the card, as I painted the front.
  -- We finished the card while eating dinner... Erin finished coloring in the gecko for us, using a watercolor pencil.
  -- I made it clear that I wanted to wait for EVERYONE to be present, before we gave Marcela the gift from the Browns, and my card that everyone signed.
  -- Marcela loved it, and I think I saw happy tears
  -- Then she gave us all hugs! And I decided that I love her :)

Images of the card before it was colored... I have no images of the card when it was finished because Evan, Erin and I rushed it during dinner... oh well...


We painted the card the colors of the Mexican Flag, green, white, red. The sun and moon were yellow and blue, the cactus was obviously green (good contrast against the red), and the gecko was purple. She loved the card. I'm glad I got it finished in time... if I hadn't drawn it the night before (because I have trouble sleeping)... it probably wouldn't have gotten made at all... unless someone who doesn't suffer from motion sickness would have made it...