Aeromexico asked me to check in my only carry on bag,and they threatened that if I didnīt check it in I would have to get off that plane. I argued with them, why didn't tell me at the time of booking or before I put valuables in that bag. Neighboring passengers were fed up with the arguing and asked us to shut up. so I shut up and had it checked in.
Arrived in mexico city airport at 12pm and thankfully didn't lose that checked bag. Then went to airport bus terminal to check buses to Celaya, still 2 hours away, but buses in north station is more frequent, but the taxi to autobus de norte is 225 pesos, I thought I would just take subway/metro. it was a very long walk to metro station->40 minutes. I had one 1000 peso bill but subway ticket is only 5 pesos, so I asked around and couldn't get it changed, then police let me pass without a ticket. I didn't know which line to take, and I regretted that I left airport bus terminal, walking already took 45 minutes, now a wrong subway may take another hour, i.e. I saved nothing by taking the risk of coming out of airport. There were some people looking at subway map, they told me to take yellow line and get off at autobus de norte. But the entrance to yellow line says ĻNo passĻ, I stopped and look at those people, they signaled me to enter regardless, so I went in, but there were 3 lines there, and I was confused and asked another lady but because of my insufficient Spanish she didn't understand me, then an orange train came (I thought it should be yellow train), I asked her should I get on it or not, she nodded, so I jumped on it. When I was on the train, I was worried because it could be a wrong train, now it will waste me a lot of time to find the right train. I asked people on subway, they said yes it will go to bus station. But the subway map is very far from me and I couldnīt see station names and there is NO announcements for stations(Mexican public transportations have no announcement for any stops), so I took out my cell phone, because I had subway map on my phone. An old lady tried to tell me the station names, but I didnīt understand her, she asked a boy who can speak English to tell me to be careful with my cell phone and donīt take it out. When arrived in bus station de norte, there were 3 people told me how to walk to bus station, one old guy even signaled me to follow him into the bus station, I could see him keep an eye on me to make sure I didnīt get lost. I got a bus to Celaya in 2 minutes after arriving there. Bus arrived in Celaya at 6pm. while still on the bus, I saw fruit and vegetable markets next to the bus station. So when Lucy(Jorgeīs sister) came to pick me up, I wanted to buy some fruits first, I saw something similar to tiny mandarin oranges, but didnīt find any, maybe it was something else when viewed from bus. Lucy parked quite far, she and her daughter didnīt help me with luggage, I guess maybe they donīt want to appear too aggressive. Her son sat in the car watching the car. I ate 3 fruits that I never ate before. 1 fruit full of crunch seeds that Michael shared in massage class. After we arrived in Lucyīs house, Lucy didnīt cook anything, then we went to pick up her youngest daughter from school at 8:30pm, Lucy still didnīt cook supper. not sure why this family doesnīt eat supper. When needed to wash hand, her daughter had to bring me a bucket of water, oh, they donīt have water in the house. Finally in bathroom, I saw cockroaches running around. I slept on the same bed as 4 years ago, the plastic cover was still on, not sure whether there is bed bugs or not, I felt something bite me, just hope I donīt get ill. To give me a separate room, 3 ladies squeezed into one bed, her son slept on concrete floor in living room, I need to stop complain. Lucy doesnīt have internet in the house, I canīt use any app on my phone. The 16 year old said there is no internet in her school either. I remember 1 year ago in LinTong Shanxi (a very small town in China) all 10 year olds were using ipad for homework assignments and communications, but Mexico doesn't even have internet in schools?!
I got up at 6:30am, wanted to go to internet cafe, but nothing was open. So I just walked around randomly in the neighborhood. I needed a bathroom, and saw a convenient store just opened up, but they donīt have bathroom. Then I passed by a small gym and they had a bano but without paper, so I went back to the convenient store to buy bath paper. After bathroom, I gave gym 1 roll of paper as payment of bathroom use. Then juice stores started to open, the juices are freshly squeezed, I drank 2, a cup of freshly squeezed juice only cost 10 pesos. In the morning, Lucy need to deliver some virgin statue and Jesus pictures to a village. She and all 3 kids were trying to get car started, we had to push the car to get it started. her car was 89 nissan manual shift, after it was started, we ran to a gas station to put in 50 peso gas(70 pesos/$4 a gallon gas, 1.5$ more expensive than NC). We arrived at a taco store in a village, which is quite popular with a lot of customers, I even bought a piece of taco for each one of us to try. Lucy's girls gave the front seat to me for photoing, they sat on the back and entertained each other by joking and laughing, they never fought or argued with each other. Each kid helps a lot around house and for the mother, the 16 year old fetch buckets of water from outside, goes to store a lot to get items and wash dishes and etc. The kids are very obedient, hard working and harmonious with each other. Then back to Celaya and put in 150 peso gas to head for Jorgeīs family. Jorgeīs family is quite rich because Jorge is sending money home all the time, they have microwave oven, gas stove, refrigerator, new furniture, tiled floor throughout, a brand new Toyota truck van, even has a cleaning maid. Jorgeīs wife looks better than 4 years ago. Jorge's 2 sons were sitting around in the house, his youngest daughter has 3 grand kids for him, one baby in her arm maybe a few month old. The other 3 kids were not there. After I delivered stuff to Jorge's wife, it was lunch time, Chinese families would cook us lunch, but not Jorge's family. Lucy, her 2 daughters and I walked around San Juan de la Vega centro, there was some kind of festival going on, it had live music, people on horses in the streets, kids putting white stuff on each other. I paid for everyoneīs lunch, the kind with cheese inside, open up put in meat and salsa. Then we visited Antonioīs brotherīs furniture store, it was huge with appliances and furniture of all kinds. We also went to bathroom in church, the church was selling live oysters, in Mexico, all catholic churches are selling stuff to make money. Then Lucy bought everyone ice cream. I bought cheap avocados because they are too cheap not to buy.
Then Lucy put in 50 peso more gas, we were driving on a long and very bumpy dusty road, Lucy said we were heading to a mountain, but when we arrived at the beautiful mountain, there was nowhere to park, so no stop at the mountain, then we arrived at a lake, Lucy said on the other side of the lake is San Miguel.
Then we headed home. I went to internet cafe trying to figure out how to change to Spanish language for the computer I brought for Lucy. I also stopped at some food stands and tried tacos, tortas, chips and etc. Got back to Lucyīs, still not successful in changing language settings, I guess need internet to download some language packs. Lucyīs 3 kids 20, 16 and 14 year old speak no English because schools donīt provide English classes, if you want to learn, you have to pay extra but Lucy has no money for additional classes for her kids. Lucy makes 6000 pesos a month, which is 300$, less than a day's salary I paid to a landscaper in U.S. Her rent is 2500p for a tiny 2 bedroom apartment, all store items and utilities are priced the same as in U.S.: 12 eggs for 20 pesos, internet for 400p, chicken drumsticks at 120p a pound, the only thing cheaper is vegetables and fruits. So Mexicans are 19 times poorer than Americans. Now you understand why Mexicans and central Americans like to come to work in U.S.Her son Roberto makes 7000 pesos a month, and gives Lucy half of that. Even though the family is poor yet all members co-habit happily and no complains or envy or arguments.
Saturday, stores open even later, even juice store didnīt open until after 8am. I went to another gym for bathroom and I insist on giving them 5 pesos. As the day before, I drank 2 juices(celery+nopal+pineapple+orange=verde, carrots+orange+pineapple=rojas), this time I also bought juice for everybody else in the house--it is not nice that I just enjoyed fresh juice by myself. We used the avocados I bought yesterday and made guacamole salad together as breakfast. I went to grocery store and bought chicken quarters for Lucy thus broke up a 1000 peso bill. Then we drove to a big park in Celaya, while in the park, we paid for bathroom, but bathroom had no water and we had to wash hands out of a bucket. We rented 2 paddling boats and paddled around ducks for 30 minutes. Then we drove to centro, parked at a drug store parking lot, Lucy went to buy some cheap vitamin pills just for the privilege to park there. The guys in the store were very nice and gave us some candy. While in a big church, a neatly dressed church worker came to me for money, i was not sure of her identity, so i didnīt give her but threw 10 peso to a homeless at church door. A lot of homeless at church entrances in Mexico. Lucy bought holy water pendant for Jorge only, why not me? Then we went to eat. I ordered some shrimp dough, but it was very salty, didnīt taste good at all. I paid for everyoneīs lunch. We went to buy a pair of sandals for me, Lucy also bought shoes for her girls, Lucy bought a bag of tea of the pretty flowers we saw in park for Jorge only again, why not me? (But considering that Lucy and her families tried their best to show me around,I shrugged off this small annoyance) It was very boring spending a lot time in shops. Then we headed home and stopped at another small park. Once I got to Lucyīs house, I immediately picked up my stuff to go to a hotel. I was too dirty. I got on Latino Silva bus and looked for a cheap hotel next to centro. I walked a long way in dark with all stores closed and finally found a room with shower. After shower I went out and found a lovely taco place after a long search because almost all food stores were closed, also bought more of Michael's kind of fruit.
I enjoyed more beautiful centra, nice foods and extremely friendly nice people in Celaya for another morning. At a church I ran into a funny and talkative priest. I also bought some merchandise from churches to support them. then I headed back to Mexico City. On the bus, the woman sat next to me just lost her husband 2 weeks ago. After got off bus, I knew exactly which subway lines to take to get to my hostel, so I didnīt give taxi a consideration. But blue line is packed with people, and it was blue line that I needed to get on. I skipped a couple crowded trains. Finally I got on, but at every station, incoming people flooded into train first and pushed all outgoing passengers away from doors.so I couldnīt get off at my destination, even after I missed my stop, I still felt my cell phone was with me, I needed phone to tell my friends how bad is subway in Mexico city. But when I was off in next stop, my pocket was empty and my cell phone was gone so I jumped back to subway, some European travelers told me other than cancel my cell phone quickly, there is nothing else can be done. I told police that the thief who stole my phone was on the train I just got off, please go catch him, but he understood nothing. So I just let it go. After I reverted back 2 stations and got off at Zocalo, I ran into a pair of Chinese, and asked to use their phone to cancel my cell phone, but they refused to help. I saw a white guy and his friends so I told him what I needed help on, he gracefully called Sprint on my behalf and spent at least 15 minutes to cancel my phone.
I needed to deliver the stuff to Luis as soon as possible because I didnīt want them to be stolen as well. I was upset so I just started to walk to Luis, and it took me 2.5 hours and asking of many people, and finally I was in the vicinity of Luis, there is no way I could find street Lieja off Reforma after 8pm in the dark, again I asked help from a nice guy, he used google map to get directions and also called Luis, after that I easily found Luis. Then I walked back to my hostel after another 1.5 hours. Luis has a radio station in his house, he advertise for American Hispanic businesses in U.S and he is making dollars while spending pesos in Mexico city, Luisīhouse is off Reforma across from HSBC tall building. Luis also has a charity organization that is why I came to see him because Jorge had some donations to Luisīorganization. Luis loves Mexico city and very comfortably living with his dog. He said he once drove for 3 months from Mexico to Argentina. Luis was in US for over 15 years, when he was a waiter, a customer taught him how to be a DJ that is how he started his radio business. He bought some properties in MX city 10 years ago at very cheap price, now those properties are 3 times more than 10 years ago. In my long walks I saw a lot of beggars who are kids, they should be in schools instead of begging for money or working to make a living for their families.
The hostel(mexico city hostel) is next to Zocalo very convenient, it is quiet, clean and very comfortable. it has hot shower,tasty hot breakfast, towels, paper in bathroom, free computer with fast internet, only 200 peso(12$) a night. I slept very well in this hostel. I think travelers usually donīt steal, professional thieves are locals working in specific turfs that they are very familiar with, so I need to avoid subways.
Since I ordered taxi through cell phone when coming to airport, now without phone, can't order a taxi anymore, so I emailed some friends to secure a ride when back home, luckily other information were printed out so without a cell phone I was fine.
Bought 2 day tour bus pass for 180 pesos, went to see basilica our lady, which I saw 4 years ago. Very beautiful, even though on the way to this temple is not pretty at all, dirty old and run down buildings. Then walked a long away from the touristic place and had 3 nice pork tacos for 27 pesos. Then got on another tour bus to see more well-known spots in mexico city, didnīt get off bus this time other than go to a very expensive Spanish restaurant bathroom(I had to buy a very tiny donut for the price of 3 tacos). American restaurant and coffee shops have free bathrooms and paper to use. The air in the city is very dirty and bad, I will never live in a big dirty and chaotic city.
Tour bus is very boring, took very long time and not convenient. I felt that I was over charged comparing to public transportation of only 5 pesos.
A lot of people were packed in every touristic spot, like in a big concert. vendors at tourist spots are very rude, unpleasant, stingy and bad food. Vendors donīt bring changes to open their day, even don't have changes for 100 pesos.
Mx city traffic is a nightmare. The tour bus was stuck in traffic all morning long, when I arrived in Coyoacan , it was already in the afternoon. Even though Coyoacan is only half hour drive from centro without traffic. After finishing up Frida museum, it took me over 1 hour waited for the bus to return. There were quite a few taxi drivers waiting and asking around for customers, I told one of them they should sign up with Uber or Lyft to avoid waiting and wasting time but having business around clocks. It was already 830pm when back to centro, no time for the orange line tour.
It was already after 10pm when I walked back to near hostel, and most food places were closed, I was very hungry for a long time, eventually managed to find a nice taco place. When back in hostel, wanted to use computer, but another victim of stolen phone was occupying the computer.
Today, got up early, while using computer, chatted with a Mexican guy from baja california, he speaks many languages not like regular mexicans, he said he actually grew up and was educated in U.S with dual citizenship, he is a salesman in mexico but paid in dollars, he has traveled 7 countries in this trip, he said Irish people are the most nice, and avocado is the cheapest in Europe. He told me to buy a metrobus card with 30p deposit, then go to the corner of venezuela and argentina to get on a red bus to go to airport. So today I need to get that card and figure out where exactly is the airport bus stop. I walked 1 hour and arrived at chapultepec park. The walk is very nice much better than wasting time on tourbus. I walked into anthropology museum, the ticket is only 70p but the museum is huge, it needs a few days to read and see everything, I had run through everything quickly in 1 day. compared to small frida kahlo's museum which can be finished in 1 hour but cost 230pesos. After anthropology, it started to get dark, but I havenīt seen the lake, zoo and botanical garden of chapultepec, and they are all closed, except I ran across some cactus garden, very pretty. Then walked back and asked somebody for bus card, while following her to Hidalgo I fell off street didnīt realized that big cities have steep street ramps. She didnīt know where to get card either, but one way or the other, I got the card for tomorrowīs airport bus. Then at a taco stand, a couple of homeless were there too, I was thinking whether I should give them 12 pesos to get 2 tacos, but the taco seller was giving them each a couple of tacos already. I was moved. Then I checked the bus stop for tomorrow and back to hostel to rest. My feet was swollen because of long walking.
Mariam came to my hostel at 6am for me to carry a luggage to U.S. I thought it is a common sense to check in at least 1 bag, but United charge $26 even for check in one bag, I had no choice but paying them. United even charge for snacks on flights: airlines are really squeezing every penny out of customers.
My customer picked me up from RDU airport on time, thank him very much!
The development in Mexico is very slow and barely visible, people are poor but extremely nice. Nothing was changed in 4 years. I think they should improve their education systems and schools. Once every kid gets good education, then Mexico will be like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and will become a prosperous first world country. Maybe American charities can open up schools in Mexico and other central American countries? Celaya actually is one of rich cities in Mexico, the northern and southern part of Mexico is much poorer: no water, no electricity, no schools, no transportation, no food, no shelters, Luis risk his life through narcotic front lines to deliver food and clothes to very poor natives. I have become so used to the comfortable and convenient life in America, maybe I should come here to open schools, but if I couldn't stand 2 days of cockroaches with no water, then I don't think I can be productive in a hard life yet.