Diecisiete de Julio

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Originally uploaded by pastry_child

Awoke with a headache today – damn you Corona and Pacifico…and tequila. ;> A walk to the Starbucks down the street and an Americano fixed me right up though! Of course, I do want to go to a local coffee shop while I’m here. Veronica informed me that they don’t like Starbucks because the service is so horrible (read: not a café with table service).

Found out today that only “bad” girls have tattoos. Adrianna’s mother apparently said that I am very pretty, but it’s too bad that I have a tattoo. However, she does love my hair. She asked what color my hair is naturally, and I told her purple and green. ;>

We went to a market today, and I was able to get most of the gifts that I wanted to take home. I also found a really fantastic handbag for myself – soft leather with a purple flower! Also, we went to the jewelry district, which is completely insane. It’s counter after counter of silver, gold and jewels in all shapes and sizes. It even goes underground in some spots! They post the market rate for a gram, so you know what you should expect to pay. When you find something that you want, they weigh it to find out how much to charge, which can change depending on the quantity – most places, if you spend at least 500 pesos (about $50 American dollars), they will go down by a peso or two per gram. I’ve learned the “routine” for buying things at the markets here: Find something you like, then discreetly tell Adrianna, who will be a short distance ahead or behind, and she will go back to the counter to find out how much, then go to other sellers to see if she can get a better price. Once she has found a good deal, she calls you over to make a decision. I had been told to do this initially, but without thinking I went crazy over a particular bracelet. When the girls told me how much it would cost, Adrianna told me that it was a ridiculous price, but by that time we could not get a better deal. Obviously the sales-people know they can get much more out of tourists – but really, even the overly high prices are excellent deals!

We traveled in the Mexican way to get downtown – cramming 8 people into a car that comfortably seats four! What an adventure that was! In addition to that, we experienced the terror of public transportation – I truly feel that I have an “authentic” experience here every day. ;>