hurricane update

Work is closed tomorrow. What am I going to do with myself?

uncertainties

A lot of us are planning on traveling this weekend (our last!) to Zacatecas, a colonial mining town about seven hours away by bus. Word on the street, however, is that some hurricane (Dolly) is going to flood MTY ... now all our travel/work/play plans are uncertain.

hmm, this weather is no fun. I also need to be more tan.

the most scandalous thing I did this weekend

was ask for nachos without cheese this afternoon at Chipinque (a national wildlife reserve up in the mountains). It caused quite a stir, let me tell you.

Other things I did this weekend (I'm feeling lazy today so it's just going to be a list): attend yet another house party, clubbing in Barrio Antiguo, went to some low-budget but very fun museums at el Parque Ninos Heroes, saw Batman (objectively a good movie but not my type of movie at all; for me it was redeemed by Heath Ledger's stellar performance + Christian Bale's hotness), aaand went to H-E-B and got some plain hummus. La vida loca.

I have less than two weeks left in Mexico. I've had fun but I'm definitely close to being ready to go back to life in CT and, eventually, school. I miss my bed, parents, cats, friends, car, a diverse selection of hummus, etc ... :)

Mexican hipsters

A small, under-studied segment of the world's population that I am getting to know quite well.

magical realism

While reading his book, I've started to think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses it as an excuse to write down the most ridiculous stories he comes up with while high and pass them off as literature. I still enjoy it, though.

Today I spent some time in the nicest McDonald's I've ever visited. It had free wifi, a massive playground, and a separate Starbucks-like cafe. A girl was walking around offering free samples of mocha frappe. Nicely done, Mexico.

trust me, i'm a doctor

I spent today shadowing the PhD student I work with (he's also an MD) as he worked at a free clinic near Monterrey. I was pretty much useless as I sat on the side listening to him converse with patients. The people who came in all seemed to have similar ailments: diabetes, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, fatigue, and/or arthritis. Despite the repetition, it was still a cool experience. I even got to take some blood pressures (I'm pretty sure I botched the first few! oops!).

Tonight I made chicken breasts, red peppers, and green beans for dinner. I'm surprising myself - I never thought I had it in me to cook real food.

Now I'm watching my bff Mariano Rivera pitch in the All-Star game .. if only he had been pitching last inning, the game wouldn't be tied. Papelbon is a poor excuse for a closer. Obviously I want the AL to win always, but I especially want them to win this year because 1. it's the last time ever in the original Yankee Stadium and 2. like Hank Steinbrenner, I hold the NL responsible for Chien-Ming Wang's injury. Grr.

Also, RIP Bobby Murcer. I grew up listening to him announce baseball games and hearing about his death really affected me. Life is short :(

beer & bioparque

Since I never did find my camera (=it's gone forever) I'll have to survive the rest of my time in Mexico by taking pictures on a disposable camera and posting photos I've stolen from other people's facebook albums. :(

This weekend went by too fast. Friday night Jude Law and posse took us to a house party (Chuy's gradation party, to be exact, though I never did meet Chuy) in San Pedro. This was tons of fun - hung out and met a lot of cool people from Monterrey. It reminded me a little bit of house parties at home.

Saturday we got up early to go to EL BIOPARQUE, which is a little bit like a zoo, except with more emphasis on petting/feeding the animals rather than learning about them. In short, it was totally meant for people under the age of eight, which means we had a great time.

A snapshot from our super exotic safari, courtesy of Vanessa:


deer!

Too much sun/not enough sleep motivated me to stay in that night. Sunday was pretty quiet too -- I went to Sagrada Corazon again with Lauren, went food shopping at H-E-B, had a hottttt skype date, and did my laundry.

Today it was back to work,


(courtesy of Kate)

I did manage to get in a lunch with two of my American lab mates *and* an hour out by the pool, though, so I can't really complain. Love Mexico!