![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lisankevin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/MexicoCity.jpg\" "\\"Mexico")
<\/a><\/p>\n(I may or may not have needed a refresher myself before my trip!)<\/em><\/p>\n Monday 5\/9<\/span><\/p>\n I jumped on a plane from SFO in the afternoon to Benito Juarez airport in Mexico City.\u00a0 The flight there is 3.5 hours and it was a pretty nice, easy ride in.\u00a0 Dinner was $7 worth of cheese, crackers and dried fruit…<\/p>\n 4 crackers, 4 pieces of cheese, 3 pieces of dried apricot and 2 pecans. Scrumptious. We landed around 8pm (Central time, Mexico City is 2 hours ahead of CA) and after crawling our way through customs we were finally standing on Mexican soil!\u00a0 We took a cab to our hotel (more on our hotel later) and after checking in it was around 9:30pm but we were starving so we went to the restaurant on the first floor called Sanborns G\u00e9nova.\u00a0 We were given a basket of bread, crackers and tortilla chips (all in the same basket) to hold us over as we waited for our food.\u00a0 I ordered the most amazing shrimp tacos I have ever eaten in my entire life and I swear I dream about them even now!\u00a0 Hahah.<\/p>\n The most delicious shrimp tacos ever created.<\/em><\/p>\n After dinner we went up to our respective rooms to try to get some sleep before the next day’s activities.<\/p>\n Tues. 5\/10<\/span><\/p>\n We met for breakfast on the first floor and I was so impressed with the breakfast brunch!\u00a0 There was such an amazing spread of fresh fruit (including papaya and mango) and some amazing fresh-squeezed orange juice and a huge basket piled high with pan dulce<\/em> (my favorite).\u00a0 And to top it off, there were about 6 cages filled with parakeets chirping along in the breakfast lounge.<\/p>\n The beautiful breakfast lounge on the first floor.<\/em><\/p>\n Oh how I wish I could eat like this everyday.<\/em><\/p>\n Chirp, chirp!<\/em><\/p>\n Our university’s campus is within two blocks of the hotel we stayed at and it was such a beautiful day so the quick walk was enjoyable.<\/p>\n El Monumento a La Independencia El Angel<\/a> (The Angel of Independence monument) just a few blocks away!<\/em><\/p>\n Neat outdoor decorations in front of a church<\/em><\/p>\n The hotel and university are in the Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) which is known as the gay-friendly part of town<\/em><\/p>\n Beautiful statue of Diana La Cazadora<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The following are photos of the Alliant International University (the university I work for) campus in Mexico City:<\/p>\n The front of the campus<\/em><\/p>\n The front entrance (once you get past the security guards, of course)<\/em><\/p>\n Beautiful courtyard in the middle of campus!<\/em><\/p>\n I loved these posters, showing our different campuses (San Francisco, San Diego, Hong Kong, Tokyo amongst the others in California)<\/em><\/p>\n The library<\/em><\/p>\n I would LOVE to have that view from my desk!<\/em><\/p>\n We were in a few meetings through mid-day but my boss and I got lucky with having the entire afternoon free to explore the city.\u00a0 Our tour guide Sarah (who works for the university) led us downtown for lunch, sight-seeing, and some shopping.<\/p>\n We went to lunch at a restaurant called El Mayor<\/a> which is on the roof of a building that oversees the excavation site of Aztec ruins.\u00a0 The view was INCREDIBLE if you can imagine and the food was pretty darn good too!<\/p>\n Overlooking the ruins of the Aztec pyramid Tenochtitl\u00e1n<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n La Catedral Metropolitana<\/a> (The Metropolitan Cathedral)<\/em><\/p>\n After lunch we made our way to El Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso<\/a> (a really neat museum) and passed along the way…<\/p>\n A few life-size, plastic Jesuses<\/em><\/p>\n Necklaces with the Pope’s face<\/em><\/p>\n A beautiful D\u00eda de los Muertos statue<\/em><\/p>\n A gorgeous street scene<\/em><\/p>\n The museum is in an incredibly beautiful building with a gorgeous courtyard in the middle…<\/p>\n Beautiful, intricate details everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n Lots of gorgeous stained glass windows<\/em><\/p>\n Breathtaking murals<\/em><\/p>\n Incredible walkways<\/em><\/p>\n Most of the exhibits were closed that day but the one exposition I was able to see was the photography of Flor Gardu\u00f1o<\/a>.<\/p>\n This was my favorite photo of hers (Google her name and you’ll see some incredible work)<\/em><\/p>\n Sarah left us at the museum to go pick up her kids and then met up with us again after about 45 minutes of exploring the museum.\u00a0 Her kids are Beatr\u00edz (10) and Oliver (7) and they were so incredibly adorable!\u00a0 They have such great, spunky personalities and were fun exploring the city with.\u00a0 We took a cab to an outdoor market to do some shopping.<\/p>\n A beautiful church we passed on the way<\/em><\/p>\n Me, Bea and Oli in the taxi<\/em><\/p>\n The outdoor market<\/em><\/p>\n Beautiful alebrijes <\/a>(brightly painted fantasy creatures, so cool!)<\/em><\/p>\n Sarah and Oli about to jump on the metro<\/em><\/p>\n Trudy on the metro<\/em><\/p>\n After parting ways with Sarah and her family, we had an hour or so to relax at the hotel (read: take a nap!) before heading out to dinner.\u00a0 The concierege recommended Fonda El Refugio<\/a> for dinner which was just a few blocks away and it was the perfect choice.\u00a0 The special for the day (manchamanteles<\/a>) sounded really good but I wanted it without meat (it came with a choice of pork or chicken) so I asked the waiter if that would be possible and it was cracking us up because he and about 3 others waiters stood in a circle and discussed if it would be possible for a few minutes before letting me know that they would be able to make the exception for me.<\/p>\n At the end of the meal we were provided with three lollipops covered in plastic wrap and a small bowl of hot water and were told to dip our lollipops in the water for a few minutes until the plastic fell off and then to suck the lollipop.\u00a0 I had never experienced anything quite like that before and it was interesting to say the least!<\/p>\n After dinner I decided to explore the hotel a little bit to capture some photos.\u00a0 We stayed at the Hotel Geneve<\/a> which was built in 1907 and is an historic hotel and building.\u00a0 My room was on the third floor and there were so many little corners and hallways to explore, I don’t think I saw even half of it.<\/p>\n View from the street<\/em><\/p>\n View looking out on the street from the 3rd floor hallway window<\/em><\/p>\n The third floor hallway (kinda spooky!)<\/em><\/p>\n The lobby was one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever seen in my life: floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with old books, chandelier, stained glass windows, gorgeous seats, fresh flowers, art everywhere…<\/p>\n Courtyard<\/em><\/p>\n Some neat details found in the lobby…<\/p>\n Vintage telephones<\/em><\/p>\n Antique safes<\/em><\/p>\n Display with women’s clothing<\/em><\/p>\n Display with a bullfighter’s clothes<\/em><\/p>\n The bar\/lounge (too bad the singer they had performing that night was awful otherwise we would’ve spent some time in there!)<\/em><\/p>\n Me sneaking in a photo of myself (proof that I was there! Haha)<\/em><\/p>\n Wednesday 5\/11<\/span><\/p>\n We woke up bright and early to meet at the campus so that we could begin our day visiting two K-12 private schools in different parts of the city to work on partnerships with them.\u00a0 Both schools are bilingual so all students are fluent in both Spanish and English (and not just speaking but in analyzing literature and philosophy in both languages).\u00a0 I was so incredibly impressed with the schools and, although I realize they are private schools and are not the typical experience for every Mexican public school student, these schools reminded me of how far we still have to go even with our public schools.<\/p>\n We did a lot of driving that day, from one part of the city to the other.\u00a0 We passed Los Pinos<\/a>, which is the residence of the President of Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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