Culture shock

None so far. I've been here in D.F. for a week, and everything is going fine. Have not had any intense experience or frustrating moment. It's probably because I spend half of my day at the office, and when I come home, I was either looking for an apartment, or after I've moved, I just spend a lot of time in my room. The other reason is that my Spanish is actually functional, not like when I first came to France, India, or Peru and was totally overwhelmed. Knowing the language helps tremendously. But seriously, just walking around on the street, it hasn't been as bad as some people have warned me. I get some looks, but people don't call me names or give me catcalls that often.

I got a great room in a super nice - though a lil too bourgeois - neighborhood called Condesa. It's supposed to be one of the safest parts in towns, lots of foreigners, lots of restaurants and bars. I was walking back home yesterday (Friday) around 10 and it was happening. I've been tempted to go around and look for a job working at one of these bars. But I have curfew at 11, so that wouldn't work. The hour's the only drawback of the room I'm renting. I'm paying 2500 pesos ($200) for an all-furnished room, all services included. It's a sweet deal; most people pay 3500-4000 or more, and I've not met anyone who's paying less than 3000 pesos, so I'm pretty happy. My landlady doesn't usually rent out this room, which was her daughter's. I'm actually her first tenant. She has a friend who has an account on compartodepa who saw my profile and told her to rent it out to me. It's a little strange, but it works for me. She's very grandmotherly. I has been sick, and just now she knocked on the door, asking if she could bring me some tea. I went down to the kitchen with her, and she made hot water for me, and then pulling out honey and lemon for my tea. She's also very "miedosa" (fearful) and whenever I go out, she would ask me where I am going, how I am going, saying how dangerous it is and tell me to be careful at least 5 times and then end with "Que Dios te cuide, hija" (May God protect you).

The only thing that is not so well is that I'm still sick. I got a cold right before I left San Franciso, and usually I would cover within 2 days, but it's been a week. I'm not coughing as much, but my nose's really bothering me. For the first few days, I slept little, waking up during the night because my nose got so stuffy that I couldn't breath. Now, I sleep extremely well (on an orthopedic bed), but for the whole day, my nose is so runny that I have to blow it every 10 minutes or so. And lately, there has been blood. I googled and found that it was nothing serious. Either I've blown my nose so much that I broke some nose vessels or because the weather's too dry. I'm not worried, but it's annoying. I know so many ways to cure a sore throat, like gurgling with salt water, drinking tea with honey and lemon, eating ginger, but none for curing a stuffy or runny nose. Arghh....