I hate boilers

It's been incredibly hot here both during the day and at night. I´ve been woken up every night, dying of heat exhaustion and craving water. Curiously, as hot as it is, you don´t wake up sweating...no, the air is dry and thirsty and before your body can even think about curing the heat with sweat, the air drinks it out of your body, leaving your hands, mouth and throat all arrid. It´s an aweful way to wake up.

Yesterday we took the subway from DF to Estado de Mexico. It´s not very far, but it took a subway ride to the end of the line and a bus ride to our destination. I love the subway. Somehow the people become completely zombie-fied the second a foot touches the train. Many sleep, others stair into space while some walk around the entire circuit selling silly things: coloring books, music CDs, toys, their own voice, their disability....anything. The buses are old and breaking down. Riding in one feels much like a roller coaster at a county fair. Randomly at bus stops or in the subway stations, people jump on the buses (of course asking permission) and sell their product, usually ice cream or chips. Once they've hit everyone, they jump off to wait for the next bus to jump on.

The economy seems to be slipping a bit. Surely due to the US's failing economy. The daily the other day announced that 1 kilogram of tortillas (which according to Toño cost 2.5 pesos when he was younger) just reached 10 pesos. A huge deal. Tortillas are eaten with every meal here. I wouldn't doubt it if we eat about a kilo worth of tortillas everyday, each. Three nights ago (give or take), while making dinner I sent Toño out for some tortillas, he came home with 15 pesos worth and we finished them easily that same meal. Soda prices are going up, even eating on the street isn't as cheap as it used to be (although, it still is dirt cheap). When we arrived we went to have tacos de canasta (tacos from a basket) with someone Toño's been buying tacos from for years, that day they were 3 pesos each. The other day when we went back, they were four each.

The Mexicans have an amazing plan for having everyone recycle. When you buy a bottle of soda, you have to leave the bottle with the person you bought it from. If you buy bottles on the street, you either drink it all and leave it, or ask for a can. In restaurants you can't leave with the bottle. The business owners then take the bottles back to the warehouse and are then charged only for the soda, not the bottle it comes in. It's incredible. If the bottle is tainted with trash inside, however, it is deem non-retornable and the business owner gets nothing for it.

I've been having a good time with the names of products here. Twinkies, for example are spelled Tuinky, Ding Dongs are Penüinos (penguins), marshmellows are called Bombones, Dannon yogurt is Danone and yogurt is spelled yogurth. Instead of pronouncing French words ending in T like Ballet, Valet, Chevorlet, Depot without the T, they pronounce them with it...which makes plenty of sense to me, say what you read...And finally, the funniest of all, yesterday in the mall I came across a shoe store called Athlete's Foot!

I'll post pictures soon.