A few days ago I wrote about walking the streets (Watch where you walk!) – and conditions that might not be OSHA approved…!

Well, those sidewalks were just fixed with new concrete!

As Don and I were leaving school on Saturday at 6:00 pm after observing the extensive class (that meets every Saturday, all day, for 16 weeks), we were walking back to the bus station and noticed movement in the intersection of a very busy boulevard that comes together at about 5 points.

A woman and her young daughter were right in the middle of the crosswalk – the mother had a piece of cardboard that she laid down on the pavement, she quickly laid down on her back with her knees up to support her daughter who did somersaults and back flips! The entertaining lasted until the light changed. Then they jumped up, waved to the cars that were stopped in front of them and began walking toward the cars to beg for money.

The little girl seemed to be having a great time and loving it. I was amazed … and concerned.

Don and I have been riding the bus and the subway (several blocks from the Casa where we’re staying) a lot to learn the best route to our school which starts this coming Monday.

We heard the rush hour on the bus is crazy packed (there are something like 5 million people riding the bus or the subway every day). So we’ve been experimenting each day leaving at various times of the morning and at quitting time. The buses are actually two buses connected with the accordion connection in the middle. They’re super packed but a direct shot south to the school. It normally takes about 25 minutes at non peak times but can take one hour during peak times.

The subway is less crowded but not as direct. Time will be our enemy as class goes from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and several nights goes ’til 9:00 when we will be teaching or observing others teach. Then there’s several hours of homework preparing for the next day. It’s brutal. There is a rumor – ha! that on the second week, the students cry.

So, this morning we were at the dining table when it opened at 8:00 a.m. and hurriedly ate a quick breakfast with choices of eggs, fresh bakery bread, fruit, cereal and coffee. Leaving the Casa at 8:20 we headed for the nearest bus station stop.

It was amazing what the term “really packed” means!! We let several buses go by since only one or two riders got off and there where dozens of us waiting to get on. When we finally got on (pushing our way a bit), we were standing up, body next to body – like sardines in a can. At one point I was in the middle of the crowd and didn’t have a bar to hold on to so I just grabbed on to Don and we swayed in rhythm next to the others. I looked at Don who had his hand resting on a woman’s shoulder for support and whispered in his ear, “Do you think you should have your hand on her?” He quickly removed his hand as he didn’t even realize it was there – he was using her shoulder for support! People are smashed up against the glass doors as they open and close. It’s quite a experience!

We also noticed that the first car is reserved for women only (and handicapped).  They too had to push and shove to get on!

Then we discovered that we weren’t able to get off the bus at our stop!  We were too jammed in! The stop is also the subway hub and a “million” more people jammed onto our bus – so we rode it to the next stop and knew now to push our way out. We walked back up the several blocks.

Tomorrow we’ll do it again – this time moving to the front of the doors at the end station so we can jump off before the flood pours in!  More later time on the women’s section and the pink seats …

Wal-Mart is just 2 MetroBus stops north of us.  At the beginning of our stay at the Casa earlier this week, we weren’t brave enough to venture on the bus so we walked.  It’s maybe less than a mile or so up Insurgentes (super big boulevard) from where the Casa is and this is a Super Wal-Mart – meaning it’s huge.

While Leslie went off to explore, I wandered over (like always!) to the electronics area and looked around the cellphone displays.  We’d already bought a new SIM card (telCel) for Leslie’s iPhone (so now we have a local number) but I haven’t done anything yet with my Sprint 4g CDMA phone (that’s for another post – most of the world is GSM, not CDMA).

So I took a look at the Moto X and Nexus 4 they had on display – whoa! The prices were almost double from US prices (over $9,000 pesos) and I couldn’t even buy the new Nexus (Google phone) 5 here.  $9,000 pesos is about $700 US , so I a snapped a picture of some lesser phones to consider and research.  Take a close look – they use the US dollar sign for pesos here!

My CDMA phone (which I love) works for data and Skype here as long as I get wi-fi, but it’s limiting because a lot of the time I’m off internet and cell coverage.  It’s something I’m thinking about, but for now we’re just connected via Leslie’s phone.

But – my phone works great as a camera, so I always carry it with me and I’m using it to start learning Spanish.  I take pictures a lot (like menus!), then figure them out with Google translate when we get back to the Casa.

Our coursework next week required us to get a printer.  So off I trotted to a HUGE mall 2 bus stops up from here to Best Buy (see below why there appears to be shiny glass below Best Buy in the picture!).  The initial clerk didn’t speak English and so he went and brought back Benjamin with him.

As Benjamin was showing me different printers, I casually remarked he spoke English well and he said he knew Latin, Greek and was studying French – wow!  I asked if he was a linguist and he said yes, but as we stood there and conversed he said he was very “into” Cicero, the ancient Roman philosopher and writer.

According to that Wikipedia link, Cicero’s “influence on the Latin language was so immense that the subsequent history of prose in not only Latin but European languages up to the 19th century was said to be…”

Benjamin said he’s studying linguistics at UNAM (large university here) and ultimately would like to get his PhD focused on Cicero.  He was somewhat embarrassed he was working at Best Buy, but I assured him we all have to earn livelihoods. Since he was a young “dude” I gave him a high 5 for his achievements and future goals!

But on to my printer.  He took me up to the cash register, explained to the cashier my order and I flashed out my brand new “chip and pin” MasterCard.  Problem!  I didn’t have my passport for ID – but I did show them my California drivers license and after a very careful analysis of my drivers license by a store manager and (I suspect) a lot of persuasion by Benjamin that I wasn’t a blackmailer, they accepted my card.

I don’t understand it, but Benjamin said that somehow a credit card transaction can be used for blackmail (or worse).  So when a “foreigner” shows up, and you want to use a credit card, be sure to bring your passport!

Chip and pin credit cards – we don’t have them (yet) in the US, but they are becoming common in the rest of the world.  There is an embedded chip in the card which requires you to type in a 4 digit pin number for greater security.

So off I went with my new little printer!

PS – the glass in front of Best Buy is a skylight for a large train station below!  You can look down and see the tracks.

Our new printer all set up in our room at the Casa and ready for school!

This is what a “chip and pin” credit card looks like. That gold thing is the embedded chip.