Atelman, Nooooo!

For my final week in CDMX, a city I was ready to return to super soon already, I had two friends dropping in from San Diego and Tijuana, for a wedding that weekend. They were to arrive Thursday, so I knew I had to get as much writing done as possible. So on Monday, I laid low and worked, and then emerged to catch my friend at El Pescadito for fish tacos and a walk around the neighborhood. She was sort of working and I ended up following her around as she ran errands. First, to her English school to pay tuition, then we rode the rush hour subway to the end of the line for her to pick up items from a craftsman — he was a no show — before going downtown to Zocolo for a look see and cafe time. Then when it got late, I rode the bus back with her to her neighborhood, so I could see where she lived. The twenty minute ride took us out to an area that was slightly more suburb-y, but definitely still city-like. So that was super fun and simulated exactly what I like to do in cities. The su...

After five days of full on playing I had to get to work, so knowing that, I buckled in for a few days to get some work done. So to begin the week, I only ventured out around Roma for fish tostadas at Marlindo. Everyone kept recommending Contramar for seafood and their tuna tostadas, but when I walked by the other day, it seemed too scene-y and crowded. So Marlindo was the perfect choice and delicious. I sat there, eating and reading, and then eventually wandered over to the movie theater to watch Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which is the highest grossing independent movie in Chinese history. It features a one-shot for the last hour or so. The film was quite beautiful and surreal, but I didn’t the entire plot because the audio was in Mandarin (heavily accented) and the subtitles in Spanish. I had to see it because I was scared it would be gone from the theaters, and I had already missed it in the States. Afterward I got some boba and then bought shoes for the upcoming we...

Fresh off acquiring data, I sat down on a bench nearby and loaded up all the important messages I’d missed in the past hour. After dealing with many pressing issues that demanded my immediate attention, I looked up and noticed a sign two doors down from me that said "Bubba Tea & Co.” Could it be? I had inadvertently run into the only boba shop in all of Mexico City? I hustled in, put down my sixty pesos and got a "blackcat (té negro),” the first thing on the menu. It must be pointed out that this was the first time I’d ever had boba at a non-Asian owned place. Not only was the inside beautiful and designed like a high end coffee shop, I was so thrilled at my discovery that I didn't realize there was another whole sitting area, and only found out online later how beautiful it was. The quality of the boba itself was wonderful as well, with perfect QQ bounciness. Needless to say, I was more than pleased. As I write this a few days later, I realized that not only h...