Getting Out of the Apartment

Since I arrived in Mexico City last Tuesday, I have been under the weather with a cold, and I have not been venturing out of the apartment much.  Although my cold is still lingering, I feel much better now.  Yesterday, Saturday, I finally broke my self-imposed confinement.  Alejandro took me to his parents' house for a visit with his family.  

On the way, we stopped for breakfast at a chain restaurant... a chain whose name I shall not mention lest I be chastised by a couple of my regular readers.  Ha! Ha!.  In our defense, it was convenient, and I had a couple of coupons from a previous visit.  We actually had a very good breakfast.  I ordered a new item on the menu, "enchiladas yucatecas".  I'm not sure that there was anything authentically Yucatecan about the enchiladas, but they had a very nice sauce that was a combination of sweet and sour and "picante"

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The Christmas decorations are still up at Alejandro's parents' house.  It is not unusual for Mexican families to leave the "nacimiento" (Nativity scene) up until the 2nd of February for the religious feast of "Candelaria".  That is the official end of the Christmas season in Mexico.

I had a nice day with Alejandro's family.  They always make me feel very welcome and like a part of the family.  We had a simple but tasty afternoon dinner of roast chicken.

While we were there, Alejandro took me to a little, hole-in-the-wall jewelry shop not far from the house.  The band on my watch was broken, and the fellow at the shop quickly repaired it for the equivalent of 75 cents!

In the evening Alejandro had an invitation to attend the birthday party of a friend and former colleague of his... and I tagged along.  (In Mexico, no one minds if an extra guest shows up.)  The "birthday girl" recently moved into a new apartment complex far off on the southwestern side of Mexico City, and Alejandro would have never found the place without his GPS.  The event was held in the building's party room.  There was a  karaoke machine, and Alejandro sang a number of songs.  

I was willing to give it a try, but I really don't know many current Mexican pop songs.  Looking through the list of songs, we finally found a few traditional melodies, and Alejandro and I sang "Cielito Lindo" (Ay... ay... ay ay) together.

Today we have some sightseeing planned.  In spite of my frequent trips, there are still places in the Mexico City area which I have not seen!