Hola todos! (hello all!)
Well I made it to Mexico and I am in Mexico City. I am in the Iztapalapa Delegacion (county-ish), Paraiso Zone, Juarez District, and Meyehualco area. My area is pretty small geographically- como 5 miles by 5 miles- and it's all walking. The tacos are fantastic, better than anything i've ever had by the same name in the states.
It's so different here- the food (i can't really cook anything that i know because all the ingredients are mexican), daily chores, cleaning, etc. We have a little plug in 1-plate stove, no dryer, no oven (no casserole-making). We do use a little tiny washer that the owners are letting us borrow on prep day, but it still takes FOREVER and a DAY to do laundry...that's all we really have time to do on preparation day. The air quality is terrible--i blew my nose and all this black stuff came out along with the boogers. I actually watched us pass through the blanket of smog in the plane...gross. but that's life here. The water is just as bad...it reminds me of the water we had to filter on all those high adventures. It kind of makes washing our cloths a joke. Lets just say i won't be bringing any white shirts back. they'll be another color.
We have a little boiler water heater thingy outside of the house that we have to lite each morning at 6:30 so we can have some warm water at 7 for showers. We tried to get it to work on the first day but the gas tank was out. Cold showers...the best! We're all fixed today though.
In the night it gets below freezing and in the day it's probably 78-80 F which is pretty frustrating. we have to switch from being frozen all night to sweating during the day. oh well.
The food is great. Very rich and filling. I did eat out on the street with the secretaries in the mission office the first evening. Luckily I haven't gotten sick yet. There's purified water everywhere that we can buy too whcih is really good. Everything is so much cheaper here than in the States. Still, it's hard to get to my money. We tried to withdraw some money today from an ATM, but the power went out (happens often) right before us, so all the ATMs rebooted and were out of service. IT's a pretty far walk to the bank too.
I don't even know how the mail works here. I don't think that they can deliver to the house very easily. The directions/addresses make no sense, unless you know everyone and where things are by heart. I think the mission office just holds on to it and distributes it at conferences/meetings. We'll see.
I did get to hear Elder Holland speak at the MTC during the 4 days that I was there. It was just what I needed. I'm pretty sure that's why my visa took forever to come.
The spanish ward here that we cover is GREAT! There is so much support for the missionaries. 4/6 ward missionaries came out with us the second night and walked around showing us all the members, inactive members, and investigators and where they live.
It is very much city life here. 24/7 it seems. Music (mexican and comfortingly, american) in the streets. I fell asleep listening to music from a party across the street and I woke up to the music from the same party...crazy. I do hear lots of American music here--all sorts. I've also seen lots of shirts with the Red Hot Chili Peppers printed on the front...strange.
Anyway, we're almost late for a district meeting, so I have to go (we have to walk to the chapel). I'll try to write down more things that I notice that are interesting (like NO PEANUT BUTTER :\ ).
I love you all and miss you!
Que les vaya bien todo! (Let everything go well for you all)
Elder Bunker
