Hampton Inn & Suites Monterrey-Norte

... of swine flu. Once I sneezed and everyone moved out of the way so I got a seat - bingo! I also had fun spotting fashion disasters. It´s that thing in non English speaking countries where the cool thing to wear is anything with a slogan on it in English. These slogans are invariably nonsense. I saw a woman wearing a striped hoody with ´'Kiss me I´m a pirate" written on it. What?? Then this woman was wearing some bright pink tracksuit pants and on the back of the waistband in ...

... vestiti in modo macabro tipo Halloween, i bambini ci provano con "dolcetto o scherzetto", ci sono venditori di cibarie in ogni dove.<br>Ho visto una mostra interessante sulla storia dell'inquisizione, allestita all'interno del vero palazzo che fu dell'inquisizione, attuale facoltà di medicina-radiodiagnostica. Anche se in spagnolo ho compreso quasi tutta la narrazione dell'audioguida; la chiesa ce l'ha sempre avuta la mania del controllo e dell'annichilimento del pensiero ...

... to be known as 'Die & Go'!! He did ask for my e-mail address but unfortunately I left before giving it to him!! We then had a bit of an early Christmas celebration with Alex and Liz at Anna's before they headed off to Costra Rica for Christmas. I have now also found myself a flat and finally moved out of Anna's house. I love my new place, its much more central, closer to friends, and within a few streets of the supermarket, gym, cinema, metro. My flatmates are lovely although ...

... in such a flash, that the thief had disappeared before anyone had time to react. MacGyver's Spanish linguistic skills were now put under the microscope as he now had to explain to a nearby police officer what had happened, and subsequently got directed to the main police station to have a report completed. Already in the police station was a Mexican man who had cascades of blood dried blood stains on his face, another ...

... picante all over it. What the heck?! -Training. This week is the most intense week of my half-marathon training- 18 miles. After this, it´s all taper- resting up for the big day. With the combination of my super slow running and the 45 minute commute to the park/pool, training eats up a lot of time. (I love it though, and like to think it balances out the pizza and McDonald's.) -New friends. Been hanging out with this ...

... where Jon entertains us with beautiful piano music. Myrna is the sister to the late Juvantino Valdez who wrote hundreds of hymns. Very nostelgic as this is where he was from. The morning starts with traditional Yerba Matte from Chile. It feels good to be back in the habit. Breakfast seems like it;s their largest meal! An outpouring from the cosina (kitchen). The morning is spent doing the local sightseeing of the ...

... Mexican with a lumberjack's beard and an Australian who is trying to cut back on his smoking. I have to admit--I didn't think I would like Mexico City very much, with its reputation for being dirty, overcrowded, and dangerous. It is, of course, all these things--the soot and exhaust have affected me physically already--but the city is so charming and rich in history that it's impossible to leave unaffected. So without further ado, some of the ...

... before to say where were you?). In the dawn light the behemouth city was rousing itself and I felt rested enough to endure the shock of the random traffic as I made my way back to the airport.  As we took off, what had been only orange lights as far as the eye could see on landing, was now a sprawl, that seemed almost endless.  I do not know how any asthmatic could live in that brown haze. Once again the sun rose.

... green for the other side. Pedestrians cross on red. Under the eyes of the police. Everywhere. One can only conclude: they are 100 percent useless AND extremely noisy. My theory is that the city created 5000 useless police jobs to get 5000 unemployed of (or on) the street. Mexico City does a lot for their inhabitants. But, can they please, please take their whistles away? Roundabouts: they change direction! One minute clock wise, the other minute anti ...

Day one pictures below.. So I arrived in Monterrey yesterday and was met by a couple of students who gathered up all of us internationals. An hour later and we and our luggage have been put on a bus to set out for the 30 mile trek to the university. Once we got there, we went through registration, then it was off to find my home. I hailed one of the 47 little green taxis swarming the ...