My previous post covered the majority of my trip to Mexico, but now I want to clean up some odds and ends beginning with the 5K race we ran the morning after we arrived.

I’ve long wanted to do a race abroad, so when asked if we wanted to do this one I was all in.  I did not factor in that we would end up getting like four hours of sleep after flying across the continent or that Mexico City is roughly 7,000 feet in elevation higher than where I live.

The result was a first mile that left me completely gassed with an effort that felt like it was under 7:00 but in reality was 8:15.  Data from my watch shows my stride length and cadence were very normal for me, but the elevation is laughably different:

The one on the left is the Mexico City race.  In the middle is a 5K I ran one week prior.  The right is an easy run I did today.  Despite it being incredibly hard, we still had fun:

I also mentioned in the earlier post that while I do know some Spanish, I’m still learning.  That means I come across new words all the time and try to make sense of them.  That led to this exchange in the city of Guanajuato:

Chris: What’s a ferretería?
Thalía: a hardware store.
C: oh.
T: what did you think it was?
C: a place where you buy ferrets.
T: …..
C: a librería sells libros, a taqueria sells tacos…
T: …..

I posted that on social media and let me tell you, Spanish speakers enjoyed it very much.  You’re all welcome.

While we’re on the topic of me being dumb, I have another thing to share.  All over Mexico City there are green signs with a white circle in the middle and white arrows pointing to it.  The first ones I noticed were at Chapultepec Castle:

Now.  Here’s the thing.  When I kept noticing them, they were outside of popular tourist places because as a tourist I was at popular tourist places.  They also happened to be located in spots that were very ideal for taking pictures.  As with the ferretería, my brain reasoned that this was some kind of initiative to help tourists get the best possible pictures during their time in the city.

This was … an absolutely incorrect conclusion.  It’s one thing to be wrong, but when you ask about something in a way that is kind of confident in what you think you’ve figured out, the only result can be much deserved laughter.  Thalía then kindly informed me those were the places you are supposed to go when there’s an earthquake because they are safe spots away from the building.  Now everyone knows.

Moving on to something more innocently fun, we spent a little time with some close family friends in Durango, including going to get drinks at a coffee shop with a pair of girls ages 10 and 11.  They are both taking English classes and we spoke some English together.  At one point they whispered a lot to each other, with pieces of “can you ask him” “no you ask him” “okay but how do I say it” slipping out.  After a while they asked me if I like Japan.  I told them I’ve never been there but it seems nice.

Later as we were leaving the shop there was another conference leading up to another question, and I had to break it to them that I do not like sushi.

In Guanajuato we stayed at a hotel Thalía was familiar with from staying there previously.  We called the night before and they were happy to put us up for the one night we wanted (any stay longer than that and they were booked).  We arrived and walked up to the second floor, and as we got close she realized the room they had for us was the exact same one she stayed in with her sister about eight years ago.

One of our next stops was in Bernal where went to get some gorditas with friend Mayra.  When we got to the restaurant it was up to us to pick our own table, and Mayra chose for us.  Thalía sat down with a “what the heck” look on her face and told us that last time she came to Bernal she sat at the exact same table with her family.  We don’t know what any of that means, but we had fun in both places.

Finally, I arrived at the airport in Mexico City with some pesos still in my pocket.  I bought some breakfast near my departure gate and some cool notebooks at a little store:

All of that left me with a 50 peso bill and a 10 peso coin.  I like the design of that coin so I had already planned to keep it, but what to do with the bill?  There was a currency exchange place where I stood in line behind a guy who was getting several thousand pesos.  When it was my turn, I explained what I wanted, handed over my passport, filled out a form and received my bounty:

I’ll try to buy myself something nice.