Sister trip in Mexico City

I love my sister.

We grew up together, but we could not be more opposite. Shelly loves being around people. I need my alone time. Her idea of a good time is a day of shopping. I hate shopping. My idea of a good time is curling up with a good book or hiking up a mountain. Shelly has too much energy to read for long periods of time. And hiking? Well, read my story on taking my sister up Mt. Leconte. Shelly is always fashionably dressed. I live mostly in jeans and sweatshirts. She loves a pedicure. I can’t stand having my toes touched. Her house could be in an interior design magazine. My house appears……lived in. Have I made my point?

A few years ago, I had made plans with my friend to go on our first global meetup with the Wanderful group. Wanderful is a world wide community of women who love travel. They have global meetups once or twice a year. There is one scheduled activity each day, but the rest of the time is yours to spend the way you want to. Women often come to these meetups alone, knowing that they will have a community of women to do things with and they will have the time to do activities on their own, if they choose. I like the idea of solo travel. I’m just not brave enough to try it.

My friend, who was also a member of Wanderful, and I had planned to go on this trip to Mexico City together. But she ended up getting sick, and she decided on the Tuesday before our Thursday departure that her health was not going to allow her to go. I panicked. Was I brave enough to go on my own? I am very uncomfortable when I am in a group of people that I do not know. I was tempted to just cancel, knowing that I would not be able to get back any of the money I had already spent on the trip. I was talking on the phone with my sister, telling her about my situation. A few hours later, she called me and told me she had requested off work and she would be able to go to Mexico City with me. Since Shelly was not a member of Wanderful, I emailed the founder, told her about my situation, and asked her if Shelly could go with me. She responded with “Absolutely!”

My sister and I were off to Mexico City! Another way my sister and I are different is the way we travel. Shelly likes to stay in very nice hotels or in her very nice time share. While I occasionally enjoy some luxury, my typical travel often involves finding unique places to stay, trying to get the best deal, and looking for ways to live like a local. One thing I had not tried yet was staying in a hostel. I had checked them out a time or two when I was planning a trip, but the reviews for the ones I had seen were not good. I didn’t know enough about hostels to know how to discriminate the good ones from the bad ones. One of the reviews I read said the pillowcases were dirty. Ew.

Wanderful had booked a block of rooms at the Selina Hostel in Mexico City. I checked out the hostel online, and I did not see any reviews of dirty pillowcases, so I was willing to give it a shot. My friend had wanted a private room rather than staying in a shared room of four, so I booked a private room as well. Shelly and I arrived in Mexico City and took an Uber to the hostel. The hostel was very nice and seemed like a really fun place. Shelly was staying in the room my friend had booked. Her room was on the second floor and mine was on the fourth floor. We went up to our rooms to settle in and to get ready to go to the welcome party. When I walked into my room, a very creepy feeling came over me. I quickly put my stuff down and went to the lobby for the welcome party. We met the rest of the group and enjoyed some food and music. A couple of hours later, we went to our rooms to go to bed. When I walked into my room, I experienced that very creepy feeling again, and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep in that room. I called Shelly, told her about the room, and asked her if I could stay in her room. She replied, “of course!” and I moved down to her room and stayed there the rest of the time. The only time I went back to that creepy room was to get more towels and toilet paper. Believe me when I say it was a very quick trip. I ran into the room, grabbed the towels and toilet paper, and ran back out in record time, looking over my shoulder the entire time.

The next day, we joined a group of women and walked to the Bosque De Chapultepec area. We walked through the park and saw some beautiful flowers. This area has several museums, including Castillo de Chapultepec (the National Museum of History) and Museo Nacional de Antropologia.

There are two art museums-Museo Tamayo and Museo de Arte Moderno. There is a zoo and lakes, paths, and monuments.

Later that day, Shelly and I went shopping. It had been suggested that we wear some traditional/dressy clothing for our dinner the next night. It wasn’t required, but I thought most of the ladies would have something appropriate. I had not brought anything like that with me, so I had to go shopping. Ugh. I hate shopping. I had looked online for suggestions about what I should wear. We had trouble finding something that I considered appropriate. I finally found this flowery dress that looked somewhat like the examples I had found online.

This is not exactly the type of dress I typically wear. It still hangs in my closet, and I have not worn it since that trip. But I guess there is always a chance that I will have another occasion to wear it someday……maybe.

That night, we were scheduled to go Lucha Libre at the Arena Mexico. Shelly had asked me what that was, and I told her I thought it was some family friendly event. I had in mind a variety show type thing, with dancing and singing. I had no idea what it really was. It was raining that night, so by the time we got there, we were soaked. There were vendors selling souvenirs outside the arena. I found one that was selling socks, so I bought a three pack.

The pictures on the socks should have given me a clue about the event, but I just wanted dry feet. I gave Shelly a pair, we both changed out of our wet socks, and we went into the arena. This is what we saw.

Not quite the family friendly event I had anticipated. There was dancing, but not exactly the type I was expecting. And there was not singing. Lots of grunting, yelling, and verbal threats, but no singing.

These were some of the comments that showed up in our group’s WhatsApp that night during the event.

I think everyone was a little surprised by this event. It was definitely a new experience!

We went back to the hostel to get some sleep. Each night, we fell asleep to the music from the party room downstairs. The music literally shook our room. Since the hostel had no air conditioning, we had to keep the window open to get some cooler air, so we were able to hear the sounds from the street outside as well. Surprisingly, we slept pretty well all week.

The next day we went on a tour to the Teotihuacan pyramids. Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city, located approximately 30 miles northeast of Mexico City.

It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The city was founded as early as 400 A.D., but it is unknown who built the city. Some scholars believe it was the Toltec civilization, and others believe it was the Totonacs. The Aztecs found the city in the 1400’s and named it Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan means “the place where the gods were created.” Teotihuacan appears to contain features of various cultures, including the Maya, Mixtec and Zapotec. Some important structures in the city include the Pyramid of the Sun,

the Pyramid of the Moon,

Ciudadela (“Citadel”) and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent).

We went to a place nearby that grows the agave plant. Most of the women tried the tequila shots that were offered, but I declined. I’m not drinking anything that sometimes has a worm in it. Ick. I did get a beautiful quilt that is made from the fibers of the agave plant.

The lady at the agave shop told me the colors would never fade. I’m hoping she is right. I have not actually used it as a blanket yet because I don’t want it to get dirty. I don’t want to test her claim by having to put it in the washer.

We got back to Mexico City and cleaned up to go to dinner. Dinner was at Salon Tenampa in the Plaza Garibaldi. Our Wanderful leader, who was from Mexico City, had recommended that we take an Uber rather than walk to the restaurant. She told us we would have to walk through some sketchy areas. However, we were not able to get an Uber. Several of the ladies decided to walk. Most of the women in this group were very well traveled and many of them were solo travelers. They were a very confident group of women, so I decided we would be fine walking with them in a big group. I wore my fancy new dress. I was a little concerned that I was the only one in the group with a fancy dress on, but I was hoping the other women who had gone earlier would be more dressed up. Shelly fell a little behind the group. She was gazing around, looking very much like a tourist. I reminded her to put her purse in front of her and to stay with the group. I didn’t realize that telling her that would freak her out, but I found out later that it did. Anyway, we arrived safely at the restaurant.

We arrived at the restaurant. I was the only one in a dress like mine. Most of the women had just normal clothes on. A couple of them had flower wreaths in their hair, so they were a little more festive. I felt rather self-conscious in my fancy, flowery dress.

We had dinner. Well sort of. Those of us who had ordered vegan or vegetarian meals waited for over two hours for our food. I guess that is not a popular menu choice at this restaurant. During the meal, some staff members came to our table with this box and some cords. People stood in a circle, holding hands, and the electric charge was gradually increased until someone in the group could not stand it anymore and let go of the hands, breaking the circuit. Does this sound like fun to you? I did not think being electrocuted sounded like a good time, so I opted out of this activity.

Since we waited so long for our food, and since some of our group was enjoying being electrocuted, this meal lasted a really long time, so it was late when we left the restaurant. Shelly and I decided to take an Uber back to the hostel. Since the restaurant was in a plaza area, we had to walk through the plaza to the street to get an Uber. It was very busy on this street. My app said the Uber driver had arrived, but I did not see him. I called him to find out where he was. He did not speak English, and my Spanish is not great. I finally managed to communicate with him well enough to tell him where we were waiting. We arrived back at the hostel and went to our room. As soon as the door closed, Shelly started crying and screaming at me. She said she had never been so scared in her life. I was taken by surprise. I had no idea she was upset. I stood there with a confused look on my face. She was really upset. She was shaking and crying and yelling at me. This was part of our conversation.

Shelly (while crying, screaming and shaking): “I’ve never been so scared in my life! I thought that Uber driver was going to take us somewhere and murder us! He didn’t say a word the whole time we were in the car!”

Me: “HE DIDN’T SPEAK ENGLISH!!”

I went into the bathroom and stayed for a while to give her a chance to calm down. I considered taking my chances with the creepy room on the fourth floor, but decided against it. I have fought with my sister before, but I didn’t know what the ghosts upstairs had in mind, so I decided to go with what I knew. When I decided it was safe to come out of the bathroom, Shelly said, “I may have overreacted.” I agreed, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to say that at the time. I don’t think Shelly has forgiven me for supposedly putting her in danger. She still mentions it from time to time. What can I say? Sisterly love.

The next morning was the last day of our trip. We went to brunch in the Canals of Xochimileo.

The Canals of Xochimileo are the last remnants of a vast water transport system built by the Aztecs. We rode in trajineras.

Our Wanderful hostess arranged for her family to serve us brunch. We floated down the canals in the trajineras, ate brunch,

and listened to the music from bands playing on other trajineras. Other trajineras floated by with souvenirs we could buy.

Later that morning, we went to the Frida Kahlo Museum. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter. Her life was very interesting. I wish I had known more about her before I went to the museum so the exhibits would have made more sense. After the trip, I bought a book about Frida Kahlo and learned more about her and her life. We also went to explore the markets at Mercado Coyoacan. This is a huge market. It is two stories, and has hundreds of stalls that sell art, bags, fruits and vegetables, snacks, and handmade trinkets.

We stayed one more night in Mexico City and flew back home the next day. My sister and I had survived a girls’ trip together and we had a lot of fun!

Tips:

1. I wish I could always remember to research places better before visiting them. But usually, I am more motivated to learn about the places after I visit them, especially if someone else is planning the activities. I’m a little better about it if I plan the activities. So after I got back from this trip, I bought books about Teotihuacan and Frida Kahlo and learned more about them.
2. Find out more about the Frida Kahlo museum at http://www.museofridakahlo.org. There are several tours offered, but we just went through the museum on our own. If you want a guided tour, you can find them at getyourguide.com, http://www.viator.com, and http://www.tripadvisor.com, to name a few.
3. It’s probably best not to scare your sister when traveling. You will continue to hear about it for years to come.
4. If your Uber driver does not speak your language, he’s probably not going to talk to you during your ride.
5. Just because your Uber driver does not talk to you, it does not mean he’s going to murder you.
6. I did not arrange the tickets for Lucha Libre, but I did a little research and found that tickets can be found on http://www.stubhub.com, http://www.ticketmaster.com, and http://www.viagogo.com. Don’t expect a variety show.
7. I recommend visiting Teotihucan pyramids. Tickets for tours can be found at http://www.viator.com, http://www.tripadvisor.com, and getyourguide.com. These same websites can be used to book tickets for the trajineras rides in the Canals of Xochimileo.