Viva Tu Vida Hoy!

Whizzing down the Paseo de la Reforma on top of an embarrasingly large red double decker tour bus, we spot a Jose Cuervo Tequila billboard rising high above the Mexico City skyline - VIVA TU VIDA HOY (Live Your Life Today).  After four jam packed days, most of them aided by the steady flow of cheap tequila and the fumes of adrenaline, we decide this will be the motto of our journey.

In the short time we have been in Mexico City (which actually seems like a small lifetime), we have seen and experienced so much, it hardly seems likely that we have three months and ten more countries left to see.  William has taken to Mexico with passion and gusto and despite his almost total lack of Spanish, has adopted a more or less full-time Pancho Villa-esque accent and has put "si" and "gracias" into heavy rotation.  Strangely, in his effort to immerse himself, he seems to have forgotten how to speak English.  This is particularly troublesome since the extent of his Spanish vocabulary can still be counted on one hand.

To sum up our last four days would be impossible without several pages of travelogue (which we will write as soon as we can find a computer built after 1990)m but we can say this - Mexico City is beautiful and enormous, surprisingly cosmopolitan yet deeply traditional and historic.  The people have been lovely and welcoming and never have we felt unsafe.  All bowel movements remain solid, despite our very brave (ok, foolish) culinary adventures.  William has feasted on tacos de carne de cabeza (tacos made with beef from various parts of the cow's head) and I had a day at El Mercado de la Merced that would have made Anthony Bourdain proud - including ceviche de pulpo (raw octopus salad) and huraches (handmade corn tortilla topped with beans, cheese, zucchini flowers, and huitlacoche - a type of fungus grown on corn.  YUM:  The hot sauce has been blistering and the tequila and mezcal cheap.  We've drunkenly sung with costumed mariachis at the Plaza Garibaldi at one in the morning and, after only a few short hours, we've possibly adopted two Mexican children and promised to rescue their abused mother and help her and her boyfriend escape with us to the beach in Belize.  All in a day's work.

Viva tu vida!  Much more to come.....