Pinche lurgies

I'd only been on the ground in Mexico City for about ten minutes before I heard my first "Orale carnal!" Perhaps what surprised me most about DF was just how Mexican it was. Even Guatemala City has a bit more of an international vibe on initial acquaintance. And for such as famously populous place, the streets were remarkably quiet that Saturday morning.

Not that I saw a great deal of this huge metropolis. We came down in a weak morning light when the sun was yet to lift itself up from behind the city's surrounding mountains and their mantle of murk.

I was feeling a bit of culture shock as I voyaged underground on the Metro, trying to figure out on the hop the various line changes I would need to make to get from the aiport to the Zócalo. At every stop someone would get on with a portable digital music player with speakers strapped around their waist, blasting out tracks from some CD of largely local interest that they were hoping to sell to the apathetic lot slouched on the benches around the carriage.

A few days after my arrival in Guate I went down with the lurgies and the unseasonal dampness of the weather hasn't helped my recovery. I'm unlikely to blog further before my return, but will be uploading pics as I take them here.