Monterrey

North: Monterrey, in my mind, is like almost any other large, sprawling, impersonal city. At the same time, we met amazing people there who truly made our stay worth it. Our host, Irais, offered us a lovely sunlit living room floor to sleep on. Sebastian made us pasta and supplied us with endless amounts of Swiss chocolate. We might have done better to just stay home and cook because in the city we wandered indecisively up and down the same streets, finding mostly fast food, shoe stores and internet cafes that were without internet. Yet, we were greatly rewarded on our first day though when our wandering brought us to a magnificent Frida Kahlo exhibit, only 30 pesos for students, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO). I on-and-off hitched onto a tour and learned more about her work and life, so much tragedy and beauty that at the end of her life, according to our guide, Frida said "Vivi, y vivi intensamente. Ame, y ame intensamente. Pero, espero no regresar." I really enjoyed reading some of her letters, too. In one, she tells her doctor her opinion of "Gringolandia" after she'd spent some time in New York. She said the thing that truly bothered her about "gringos" was their hypocrisy, their endless ambition and blood thirsty desire to be "somebody." She said, "I don't want to be anybody" Me either, Frida. A tremendous tormenta delayed our departure from Monterrey, but as with most fast and heavy rains, no harm was done.