Mexico City Day 1

Mornings in this hacienda held a certain magic that otherwise I wouldn't be able to experience living in the big city. The lively birds singing their morning song outside my window was a sound I hadn't heard in forever. Living in the university's dorm rooms was boring and didn't allow for much nature experience. I grab my phone from the cherry wood nightstand next to my bed and read a text from Harry.

Harry: Meet you at the breakfast table. We have a lot to do today!

I smile at the thought of Harry having planned a day for us. I honestly hadn't given much thought to what all I was going to do here or what was there to explore, so I'm glad that he has something up his sleeve. Most importantly, I'm glad he has thought of me to go with him. I rush out of bed and into the bathroom across the hall, hoping no one is using it. I brush my teeth, wash my face, gather my hair in a side braid, and apply moisturizer with sunscreen. I know I will need daily sunscreen for my delicate face, the sun here seems to burn even brighter if that's possible. After dressing myself in jeans and a floral top, I make my way around the confusing paths of this hacienda until I reach the dining room. It's very large with the center of attention being the long dining table. It must fit around 50 people which seems reasonable since this hacienda gets rented to large parties. Various students are at the table, some in groups of 2 or more. I notice Harry sitting on one side towards the middle, a hot drink in front of him. He's chatting with one of the guys who's sitting directly across from him but turns to smile at me when he sees me standing at the entrance and motions me over.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" he greets me as I take the seat next to him.
"It is a good morning, how did you know?" I laugh.
"You've met Paul? He's in our class." he motions with his thumb to the guy across from him.
"No, but hi, Paul! I'm Daniella." I shoot a friendly smile at him.
"Nice to meet you, Daniella. Well I'm all done here, I'll see you guys around." he excuses himself and stands up from his chair. I turn to Harry who's drinking from his cup and I wonder what he's drinking. My hungry stomach is starving.
"The tea here is delicious." he tells me setting his cup down and I couldn't take my eyes off of his cup. I bet he's right about it being delicious. He must have noticed as he picks it back up and offers it to me, "Do you care for some?" I nod and take the warm clay cup in my hands. I take a sip and he's completely right, it's to die for.

Just as I sat the cup in front of Harry, a lady in a bright green dress with floral accents comes up to me with a menu. She introduces herself as Estella, her heavy accent was quite noticeable. I thank her and look through it not knowing which breakfast to choose from. I wanted them all! When she came back to take my order, I settled on coffee and the chilaquiles rojos plate which is fried corn tortillas in a red sauce topped with sour cream and queso fresco. My grandma used to make this plate for breakfast every Sunday when I was younger and it reminded me of her.

"Did you eat already?" I ask Harry who's leaning back on his chair.
"I had a fruit salad. I wasn't too hungry." he answers taking his tea cup to his lips. I couldn't help but notice the slight glistening of remaining tea on his mouth, it made me wonder how sweet he probably tastes and how warm his lips must feel from the tea. "More?" he asks, noticing how agape my mouth is.
"Uh, no, I'm fine thanks." I look down trying to focus on making myself not blush.

I spot Estella as soon as she turns the corner into the dining room with my plate in her right hand and my coffee in the other. I wasted no time digging in, each bite reminding me of my childhood. I hadn't realized how much I missed my grandma's cooking until now. As I ate my food, Harry took the time to fill me in on the plans for the day. He said he wants us to go to the Frida Khalo Museum. He explained that he has always been interested in her and Diego Rivera's work to which he also hopes we have time to visit Diego's murals.

Once we're ready to go, Harry and I walk down the long rocky road that serves as the entrance to the hacienda. He said that in order to get into the city, we'd have to catch a bus that makes stops alongside the road so we'd have to stand on the side of the main road and wait for it. When we arrived at Hacienda Vieja, the road seemed shorter but now that we're walking it's uneven path, it seems to be incredibly long. I'm beyond relieved when the main road comes to view, that means that we're almost there.

"So, is this your new look?" I ask Harry who's wearing a black hat I hadn't seen on him before.
"Uh, the hat? Yeah, it's fashion and provides shade to my face." he chuckles.
"I see.." I nod my head and look towards the road to see if I spot a bus.
"Do you like it?" he asks after a minute, a grin on his face.
"Yes." I answer and shoot him a silly smile.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, we spot the green and white bus that is taking us into the city. We climb on board and pay our 20 pesos for the ride. The bus makes a few more stops outside small towns and schools until the bus is packed. Many people were standing instead of sitting and that included elderly people. I motioned to Harry for us to give our seats to two elderly women and he thought it was a great idea.

"I love this about you." he whispered into my ear and I felt my heart skip a beat. Harry was being extra forward lately and I'm not sure what to make of it. I look back to him and bat my eyelashes playfully.

Our stop was right in the middle of an outside market with stands run by indigenous women selling everything from fruit to clothes. To my surprise, Harry pulled out a map from his back pocket and began to read it. I followed him as I had no idea how to navigate this foreign city. As we turned a street called Londres, we knew we had arrived. The bright blue house turned museum was hard to miss among the rest of the buildings. The line wasn't long at all which I found surprising. We showed our student IDs to get a discount on ticket prices which is great that we only paid 40 pesos instead of 140.

The museum was laid out just like if Frida and Diego still lived there. We read that this was their family home and where Friday was born and then spent her last night. A shiver ran down my arms upon learning that fact. Her art was displayed on the walls, Harry intently looking at each one and snapping a picture. The kitchen was very captivating as it was a traditional mexican kitchen. The space was decorated with earthenware pots and plates while the counters and floor were a bright yellow. The best touch in my opinion was the tiny pots on the wall spelling out Frida and Diego's names with doves tying a lovers knot next to them. I imagined myself making a meal in this kitchen and it made me chuckle. I can hardly make a meal in a conventional kitchen, much less in this one.

"You know, they met when she was in college. He was like 20 years older than her. They had a marriage full of ups and downs but in the end they stayed together." Harry states as we walk through Frida's final bedroom.
"Sometimes love isn't what you expect it to be, I guess. I think it's sweet that he turned the house into a museum. It's one of a kind, really." I say as we approach the room with Frida's urn. Another shiver ran through me, this was Frida's real ashes upon us. It is an excellent touch to finish off the museum.

We began to make our way to the exit but Harry insisted we linger a bit at the garden Diego built for Frida. He went around touching the walls and snapping pictures. The reflection pool and fountain were nice touches to the space.

"I want a picture here. Right in front of this wall." he points to the stone wall with encrusted shells. I extend my hand to get his camera but instead he hands it to someone who's close by and grabs my hand to be in the picture with him. He wraps his arm tightly around my waist as we pose in front of the wall that Diego lovingly built for his wife.

Exiting the museum, we decided to grab something to eat. We walked around a bit and settled on a taco stand on the side of the street. Harry was a bit apprehensive but I told him that it's not a real experience unless you eat street food from the places you travel to. The food turned out delicious after all and Harry agreed that it was better than what we would have gotten at a restaurant. The afternoon was creeping up on us and we decided it was best to head back to the hacienda because we didn't know if buses drove out there later on in the evening. The last thing we need is to be stuck in a strange city. I agreed and followed Harry back to the corner in which the bus dropped us off earlier

As we wait for the bus to pick us up, I spot a woman next to us selling bracelets which she makes with plastic and colorful thread.

"Want one?" I ask Harry, drawing his attention to the bracelets.
"Yeah!" he answers, his dimpled smirk forming on his face.

I ask her to make me one that says Daniella in red and white while Harry aso chooses his name but in green and black. As we walk away I begin to tie the bracelet around my wrist but Harry stops me.

"I think we should exchange bracelets." he says handing me his.
"Why is that?" I ask wondering what's up his sleeve.
"Well, we're best friends. This can be the equivalent of friendship bracelets." he shrugs and goes to grab mine. I don't protest and tie his bracelet on my wrist, my heart fluttering with joy.

Notes

:)