Yes, I know I have glitter on my face.

Current mood: thankful My pilgrimage to the land of Frida is now over...so glad I went! It was absolutely worth it. We went to the Frida exhibit at Bellas Artes yesterday--the largest exhibit of Frida's work ever. The line when we got there went down the stairs (the exhibit was on the very high 2nd floor). By the time we left, it was out the door and halfway to the street. It was the first time I had ever seen any of Frida's paintings in person. I've always considered myself more a fan of Frida the person than Frida the artist. Of course, I admired her talent, just not as much as I admired her spirit. The paintings blew me away. The prints just don't do them justice. They are brighter and more detailed that they seem in books. I love the ones from New York especially, where Frida shows how different New York is from Mexico City. They almost look like collages, with symbolic objects in random places. We started our morning at breakfast on the roof of...

Current mood: content Yolanda and I took the subway and the bus all by ourselves to Frida Kahlo's house. It really is as blue as it looks in the movie. I recommend to all of you who haven't seen it, watch "Frida". There's a beautiful garden inside the walls and the house itself. I spent a long time in Frida's studio, just gazing at her work table, paints, easel, wheelchair... Then I went into her room. It was a little alcove that only fit a single bed, but she liked it because she could look out on the garden. She died in that room, in the bed that's there. It has the mirror above it that she looked into to do her self-portraits, and also her makeup! On the bed with a rebozo surrounding it, is Frida's death mask. Finally, Frida without pain! One of her torso casts was on the bed and next to it were her crutches and her prosthetic leg, still wearing a very cool red, wedge, knee-high, lace-up, painted boot. She loved her colors! Beyo...

Current mood: enthralled Dearest loved ones and Shelley, Yesterday we went to the pyramids at Tenochitlan. Amazing. Yolanda, the super trooper, climbed all the way to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun in the rain. Yours truly, sweaty as always, trudged halfway up. I GOT HALFWAY UP! I met Yolanda on her way down and she told me the view wasn't much different from the top, so I decided to just go down with her. There was a thunderstorm while we were at Tenochitlan, climbing the pyramid. Actually, as I was debating going up further, there was a huge rumble of thunder, which I interpreted as the gods' way of saying, "Get off our pyramid you infidel!" We also went to the Shrine of the Virgen of Guadalupe. It was one of those moments that I forgot to breathe because I was so filled with wonder at being able to look at a true miracle. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, the basilica is on the very spot where the Virgen appeared to Juan Diego ...

So I was thinking last night, under my lovely fresh sheet on my bed, that I probably sounded like I hated my day yesterday. So not true! Yolanda is a champ, by the way, she can just walk and walk and walk and there I am just trundling along behind her, sweating... But it´s good. So cool to be in the biggest city in the world and actually navigating the public transit system. We are bad ass! So today, Frida!!! Yay!

Current mood: indescribable We´re here in Mexico City, after a short little 4 hour flight and 1 hr sleep... When we got to the hostel, they had a tour leaving for the Archeological Museum so we decided to go. Our guide, Elizabeth, took us and three British girls on the subway and then a crowded microbus to the museum. We thought that paying for a museum tour meant that we would be transported??? Once at the museum, Yolanda and I were completely burned out, so we left our lovely guide and cruised through the Azteca, Olmecs, Maya and culturas norteamericanas before buying some fresh potato chips from a street vendor and having her flag down the bus we needed to get home. Once on the extremely crowded microbus, with my fresh potato chips drenched in salsa sticking out of my purse (Ithought maybe I shouldn´t eat on the bus), some very nice people told us when to get off. We walked back to our hostel and the entire street was full of street vendors selling swap meet type stuff ...