Nada está Escrito en Piedra-Nothing is Set in Stone

Today was one of those days in which we found ourselves a little frustrated with operating on Mexican time.  We were up early, ready for a day at the pyramids, but, interferences, including a leisurely breakfast, continued hot water problems,  housecleaning, and a slow-moving teenager put our departure after noon, and we did not feel that we would have enough time to see the pyramids.  So, we opted to go downtown and take in a few museums.  Karina was out celebrating her birthday with friends, and so Omar and Ivan accompanied us.  We are getting the feeling that all this tourist stuff is getting old with them, but Omar informed us that he has never seen the pyramids, so they may go with us tomorrow.  We hope to convince him that we would like to stay at a hotel for a few nights before we leave, and perhaps attend the Quaker Meeting for Worship on Sunday morning. But, as we have found out numerous times on this trip, don't set your plans in stone.

Dreaming of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park

While we were downtown we went to two museums- the first was a small museum with a large, very impressive mural by Diego Rivera, and several other nice paintings.  We then headed to the Museo del Palacio de Artes Bellas (Palace Museum of Fine Arts), an absolutely beautiful building with an fine art collection. There was a variety of art in the gallery, some beautiful, and some terrifyingly brutal and graphic.  Mexican art definitely reflects their bloody history,  the struggles of ordinary people, and the creative genius of their artists.  We enjoyed the museums immensely, Omar tagged along, and Ivan seemed to like it- he is an aspiring artist himself. 

We stopped at a nice looking restaurant for lunch, which took a long time, due to the slow service (again, there's that Mexican sense of time-no urgency) which cut short our plans to see more murals by Rivera.  It was rush hour, raining, and hailing a taxi was not easy.  Finally, after changing corners several times, we got a taxi, and when we got near Omar's neighborhood, the taxi driver wouldn't take us up the hill to Omar's house, so we caught a local taxi ( a person with a Volkswagen bug  who gives local  rides in his car) to the top of the hill.  As usual, the afternoon rains had set in, and the long trek up the stairs to Omar's house left us wanting a nap.  Roger and Omar zonked out almost immediately, while Karen worked on the blog.  Today was another lesson in not making definite plans, just go with the flow and let things happen at a slow pace, and try not to get frustrated.

Your laid-back (or trying to learn to be) turistas in Mexico,
Karen and Roger