Flying High

It's been a busy little while for Teresita Rosita.

After having a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing time in D.F. with Mexican Mel she decided to set off exploring properly. Rather than getting on her normal big red bus, she got on another red bus, one that took her all the way to Xalapa.

In Xalapa, Teresita Rosita met people, ate food, drank drinks, wandered streets, heard music, saw sights and then she left, for there was something extra exciting waiting for her in the north.... MUSIC!

You see, Teresita Rosita is a bit of a music fan. In fact it used to be that she couldn't go a week without seeing some live music, so she had been having some minor withdrawals since she had started her grand overseas adventure.

But yes, all was well in the world. Teresita was in for 3 whole days of music. Teresita Rosita transformed into Teresita Rockita.

However, it was not only music - it was music, workshops and culture all rolled into one at El Cumbre de Tajin in Papantla, Veracruz. Teresita learned how to cha cha, screen print, weave, and make things all glittery and pretty. She saw all types of crazy characters dressed up as scary moss men, or wearing giant and very heavy looking fans on their heads.

The real icing on the cake was up the top of a giant pole though. Now in Papantla they have this interesting, some may say crazy, habit of dressing up in bright clothes, climbing to the top of a really really tall post, tying some rope around their waists and then flipping off it backwards and spiraling to the ground. Yes, crazy I tell you. But crazy enough to give it a shot hey?!

Well...

"Not a chance", thought Teresita Rosita. So she went to the kids version instead. That post was only 30 metres high instead of 60 metres, though saying that, the age of the participants was only ten-years-old as well.

Maybe she should just leave it to the professionals...

And so she did. She watched from a safe distance and did what she had come to do in the first place - see some music. So she made some friends, had some fizzy apple juice and danced like a crazy person.

 It was fun. And probably a little bit safer than that whole pole thingy.

the rebirth of teresita rosita

So.. everyone knows that Mexico is a good catholic country, and sometimes when one travels they find themselves wanting to immerse themselves enpirely in the culture they are visiting. Sometimes they find themselves believing things they didn't used to believe, feeling more spiritual, more at one with the world...

This did not happen to Teresita Rosita when she went on her latest adventure in Mexico City, although there is still time for miracles to happen.

While we have already heard about Teresita Rosita's experience on the Metrobus in her last adventure, something happened the other day that warrants repeating.

Teresita Rosita went into the city again, did the usual stuff, went to a museum, had some food, went for a walk and then decided to go home again.

She got on the big red bus she had grown so accustomed to, she even got to sit down this time. Everything was fine, everything was normal, everything was in it's right place... or was it?

At the very next stop the bus suddenly filled with people. Many more people than you would think could fit on a bus. And then at the next stop even more people crammed into what little breathing space there was left. Of course, it was after 6pm...peak hour - and not just any peak hour - Mexico City, home to 20-25 million people sort of peak hour. But still, Teresita Rosita was okay. She had her seat and a little pocket of air around her head.
 
Now on the metrobus it is common knowledge that if it's busy you need to get close to the door at least one stop before the one you want to get off at, and so this is what Teresita Rosita did. She got much more intimate with the other passengers than she thought was possible, there are bumps and curves that even clothes can't hide when you're pushed up against them.

 
But Teresita Rosita endured and finally without too much of a struggle she made it off the bus and at the right stop and everything.

And that's whan it happened. For Teresita Rosita's journey wasn't over yet, in fact it had only just begun. Teresita Rosita has no memory of her birth, but she now has a pretty good idea of what it may be like.

After alighting the big red bus, Teresita Rosita found herself at the start of a long dark tunnel, a warm tunnel that pushed at her from every side. Something pressured her back and she sas forced further and further into the heaving mass ahead of her. At times she thought she was stuck, trapped in the hot, sticky mass for ever, but then with a heave the throng would surge forward and little by little Teresita Rosita could see more and more light at the end of the tunnel.

For the first time since she had arrived in Mexico Teresita Rosita was grateful she was just that little bit taller than most of the people around her. So while her body felt like it was passing through the most Mexican pasta maker she's ever seen, at least her head remained its original shape.

And then, POP! She was free! She filled her lungs with the comparatively fresh air, filling her lungs with the fresh combination of exhaust, sewerage, mango, and taco. She was alive! She was reborn!

Teresita Rosita´s Big Day Out

Today Teresita Rosita ventured out ALL BY HERSELF!

It was a little bit scary to begin with, D.F. is an enormous place and people only speak Spanish, and have brown skin and black hair (well, generally anyway, Teresita Rosita doesn't like want come across as racist or prejudiced, but you know, Mexicans are generally pretty brown, short and Spanish speaking). And as you're well aware Teresita Rosita is blonde, blue-eyed, a little bit tall and doesn't speak Spanish too good.

But hey, when you're on an adventure sometimes you need to do things a bit out of your comfort zone, so Teresita Rosita set off for the day.

First she hopped on a bus that would take her close to the city. It was a big red bus, and very, very, very full of people. Teresita Rosita found herself squished up against the window as more and more people crammed onto the bus, at least she got to look out the window.

At the appointed stop Teresita Rosita got off the bus. Now it would only be a short walk and she would be in El Centro Historic. Well that was the plan anyway. But for some reason things did not go completely according to the plan. You see Teresita Rosita always believed that she had an impeccable sense of direction, but this sense of direction tended to go array when she went to a new city, especially one on the other side of the world. So while she did indeed set off in the right direction it wasn't long before she was heading in the exact opposite direction to where she wanted to be.

As she was on an adventure and was already functioning on Mexican time, ie she didn't really need to be anywhere at any particular time, she just wandered aimlessly through the streets, saw some fairly intriguing sights one doesn't usually see on the normal tourist trails, and eventually made her way to the part of the city she knew best.

There were street stalls with every kind of delicious fatty cholesterol boosting goodness you could want, there were Mexican punks and the occasional tourist, and of course the red, white, and green of the Mexican flag EVERYWHERE!

So she did some shopping, some more wandering, saw some sights and then went home again.


All without even getting kidnapped. Maybe she'd do it again someday soon...

take off!

One day Teresita Rosita decided it was time for a new adventure. She had been working hard drawing pictures and making things fluffy for much too long, it was time to go off and explore the world a bit more.

So she packed her big green bag with all the essentials - her pink sunglasses, her coloured pencils, her serious walking shoes and her not-so-serious bikini. She put on her lucky panda hat, for as you know pandas never get lost and the last thing you want to do when exploring new places is get lost! And with her trusty companion Gato Roboto by her side, she set off on her adventure.

Well almost..

She was going to go by her normal mode of transport - a big bunch of balloons, but she´d forgotten to stock up on supplies last time she went shopping, so she decided to join the normal people (and yes, safety in numbers figured in her decision) and she got on a plane instead.

And actually the plane was pretty fun. They gave her food, she watched SO many movies, even had a bit of a nap and before she knew it she was landed in the USA  And she didn´t even have sore arms!

Teresita Rosita had always wanted to be an actor and now she was in Los Angeles she thought maybe she should just pop down to Hollywood and have a chat with some movie producers. But suddenly she found herself on another plane. Where was she going now?

The plane flew south and the sky got darker and darker and smoggier and smoggier and then there below lights began to appear. And then more lights. And then more lights. The city went on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.

Mexico City (aka el Distrito Federal D.F)

 Oh no! How had she ended up in Mexico? She could hardly speak Spanish anymore - this was definitely going to be a challenge, but there was nothing Teresita Rosita liked more than a challenge.


Luckily Mexico is filled with millions of lovely people and there was a friendly face to meet her at the airport, her old Jedi Master - Mexican Mel. Mel took Teresita Rosita home with her and then took Teresita Rosita out for some fabulous Mexican delicacies - TACOS!!

Ah! Teresita Rosita suddenly remembered why she loved Mexico SO much... the food was amazing. And so began Teresita Rosita´s reacquaintance with Mexican food. Tacos, Tacos and more Tacos. Sopes, Exquistes, Chilaquiles.


Oh, and a bit of sightseeing was done as well.

This was a fine start to Teresita Rosita´s big adventure...