The Journey: Winnipeg to Mexico City

I find it incredible just how small the world really is. I´m reminded of this on the bus down from Winnipeg to Minneapolis. Behind me sits a woman from Vancouver who is following Bob Dylan´s tour by bus, catching as many shows as possible. Her mission is to create cards featuring her sketches of Bob Dylan performing and to sell them to raise money for an organizations of grandmothers in Africa.
Following a brief exchange abot ourselves, she alerts me to the man sitting in front of me, explaining that he and I have something in common- we are both destined for South America, eventually. While stretching our legs outside at the next stop, I find out that this man grew up partly in Bolivia working with, get this, disadvantaged Mennonite children. Originally from Altona, he travels frequently to Bolivia to volunteer in schools, clinics, as a translator, etc. When I tell him that I had difficulty finding volunteer work from home, he hands me his card and tells me I am welcome in Bolivia.
He then shares a story about why he is travelling by bus from Alberta to Florida- he is planning to get on a cruise down there that will carry him to Chile. He is avoiding flying. I listen in horror as he tells me of his last flight from the US to Bolivia where one of the planes engines failed and everyone almost plunged to their death. Great. I thought the greyhound was going to be my greatest worry.
I then hear that a couple on their honeymoon are on the same route as I- they are on the bus until Minnepolis, catching a flight to Mexico City the following day. They don´t care to take the metro with me though, so I go it alone. Once in the airpot I find a nice bench and lay down. I catch less than 5 hours of restless sleep and am wide awake at 3 pm. The two flights are rather uneventful, aside from having no luggage when I arrive.
In the cab on the way to Adrian´s, my host from couchsurfing, I am reminded of cab rides through Bangkok. The city is huge and the traffic flows in a similar manner. I feel a rush of excitement- I love everything about it. I arrive at the apartment shortly after and am welcomed immediately. My first meal that afternoon is amazing sushi at this small place two doors down from the apartment. My next meal is a phenomenal home cooked turkey dish with a delicious salad. I meet another couchsurfer, Erika, who was invited for dinner as well as Adrian´s best friends, Sergio and Claudia. It´s a great night and I feel at home already.
The next day, I catch a bus around the corner and arrive at Bosque Chapultepec, an enormous park in the middle of the concrete jungle. It would take days to see everything there, so I choose the zoo and the castle. The zoo is the best I have ever visited- admission is free aside from the special exhibits. There are hundreds of monkeys, where I spend most of my time. The other highlight is the aviary where you enter into their massive cage and stand just feet away from the birds, with nothing between you.
After the zoo I walk up to the castle and check out an amazing view of the city. I cruise through the castle and check out all the rooms clad in art and pieces from the royalty era. It is set up like a museum. On my way out of the park I get instructions on the use of the metro. It can´t be too difficult, it seems. But it´s so crowded once I get down there, I have to be careful not th get knocked over. I get out at the wrong station and am lost. Thankfully people here are super helpful, and soon I´m on a bus, the bus driver assuring me he will tell me when to get off. After what seems like too long, I hop onto the stop as the driver barely stops and head into a restaurant to ask for directions. I´m only a few minutes from home and find it easily. My luggage comes shortly thereafter.
After a nice dinner in the trendy La Condesa neighborhood, I get picked up by one of Adrian´s couchsurfing friends, Nate. We go to a bar for the weekly couchsurfing meeting a have a few beers. I meet a ton of awesome people. Afterwards we pick up Nate´s girlfriend and drive around forever in the maze the is MXC to drive her friend home. It´s a nice tour anyways. After a few more beers at a bar with super loud music, I get dropped off again at home and sleep as though I´m in my own bed. Here I am this morning, running late as I write.