And how is Lassie?

I made it to Cuernavaca and am with my mom! Usually, there are many means of public transportation that people rely on to shuttle between Mexico City and Cuernavaca. Ever since the city experienced a harrowing earthquake in 1985 a lot of people have moved from Mexico City to Cuernavaca and commute. I remember that day because the year before we had lived in Mexico City for my grade 9 year because my dad was on sabbatical. The quake killed more than 10 000 people and collapsed more than 400 buildings. 

The scenic road to Cuernavaca is essentially over the volcanic valley in which Mexico City sits, and as you climb the mountain range you can see why the conditions are ideal for thermal inversion resulting in so much pollution (smog) in the city. I had 2 huge suitcases plus 2 carry-on bags, my laptop, a shopping bag, and a newly acquired 2-foot arugula plant which I picked up at the nursery just before I left, so I hired a private driver to take me door-to-door. Thankfully I had Arturo's number from when he last took me and Andrew to the airport in March of 2020. In the early pandemic days, Arturo used to take my mom to Costco and get her water and help her carry heavy things back to the house. But now my mom has a car and Arturo was happy to see her after such a long time. 

Arriving in Cuernavaca, which is known as The City of Eternal Spring, you can feel the warmth of the semi-tropical climate. In terms of an ecosystem, everything grows beautifully here, and so I proudly added the arugula to the mix of limes, plumbs, oranges, papaya, star fruit, and coffee that is growing in the garden. My mom (Chita) and I shared a delicious meal and we started to catch up, updating each other on who is doing what, who isn't married yet (which is the main piece of evidence my mom seems to rely on for whether someone is well or not).  She knows all my friends in Ottawa as she has visited countless times, but she does sometimes mix up their names. When she got to the end of the matrimonial status roll call she asked me in Spanish, "And how is Lassie? How is she doing?" Hmm, I definitely don't have a friend named Lassie, but I knew whom she was talking about. "Oh, Sally is just doing great," I said, "We play tennis regularly." I think that was the third time she had asked about Lassie over the years. The usual. 

Today, we took advantage of the 25-degree weather and went for a walk along a public path that I had not seen before. Even though the landscape is lush and eye-catching unfortunately Cuernavaca is not the kind of place where people step out their front door and walk for the sake of walking. It's too busy and the cars have the right of way over the pedestrians. Plus the sidewalks look like an earthquake just uprooted them, and then there are the "wild" dogs! I have been nervous around dogs all my life, attributed to the fact that my first experience with dogs is here, where they run wild, wait for you to walk by them as they are fake-sleeping on the sidewalk, and then lobotomize you with their aggressive bark until you swerve around them or in my case, back up and high tail it toward the opposite direction. Lassie would never do that!

My mom and I drove to the dedicated walking area, which is a bike path called John Paul II and it was guarded by the pope and the police!  On the way to Ciclopista Juan Pablo Segundo, I noticed a piñata shop displaying many different varieties. There is always a piñata version of a trending character or person, and a few years ago you could not pass by a piñata shop without seeing one of Donald J Trump.

The King of Piñatas, where the best parties start!

Walking with Chita

Ciclopista Juan Pablo Segundo

The bike path also has built-in gym equipment but the only person we saw using it was a man who stopped to rest his hat full of avocados. I guess the avocados were pretty firm.

Built-in gym equipment at the park

View from the bike path

After the park, I was acutely craving a good cup of coffee and so my mom offered to stop by "eStarrbocks" but when she pulled over I didn't have the heart to tell her the patio with people sitting having coffee was not Starbucks but rather the café of a very swanky grocery store. I went in and was very impressed by the modern and luxe display including the live vertical fish tank that can be seen in the blue column below. I swallowed my pride and took a photo of the store, even though I was already sticking out like a sore thumb with my white legs, shorts, and light hair colour, compared to everyone else. This was one time I did not mind my face being hidden behind a mask. 

City Market, a swanky grocery store

When we got home I made a huge salad from the organic arugula I brought and my mom went out to an appointment so I took advantage and blasted The Black Eyed Peas songs while I did my workout routine that I have been missing so much since I left Ottawa. It's the least I could do since  I can't play tennis with my dear friend Lassie.