today we trekked out to teotihuacan. when i went ten years ago to df, we went everywhere with our own personal driver (a distant relative of twiddle thumbs's who happened to be a taxi driver). this time, we're doing it all on our own. at first i was a bit apprehensive of public transportation in a country where i can't speak the language precisely because i can't speak the language so my ability to research the routes is limited. however, i knew it would be cheap and convenient. now that i've been to the pyramids and back on public transportation, i can say with confidence that it is cheap, convenient, and quite easy. you may be overwhelmed by the sheer size of mexico because everything is big but that is part of the charm.

what can i say about teotihuacan? like many old abandoned cities that draw archaeological interest, it's a fascinating place but as time goes on and more visit, the more the ruins are ruined and bits get closed off to visitors. it was nice to see preservation going on or some new digging, i'm not quite sure of which was what, but some places i saw before or got to climb up before were off limits, which was sad for this trip but i'm glad that i was at least able to visit in the before time. it made me sad to think of all the other sites in mexico i'm interested in and have not visited but now or by the time i visit will be closed off. for example, the pyramid of the moon was closed off halfway up. you are not allowed to walk up to the very top. i don't know if it's temporary or permanent.

on the pyramid of the moon with the pyramid of the sun in the background

in the evening, we had dinner with some okinawans living in mexico. looking at the menu, there were few items i recognized and very little hope of veganizing anything but we managed. there were a couple dessert items that even twiddle thumbs had not heard of so we tried them. damn they are sweet. way too sweet for me. i think if i lived in mexico i would be a dentist! surely that must be where the money lies with the candies so sweet.