Settling In

It's hard to believe that I have already lived in Monterrey for forty days. In some ways I feel as if I've just arrived - the house is still a bit bare and I am still using 'Retournos' like crazy when I get lost or over-shoot my destination as I explore the city; however, I have established my routines and some new friendships and feel very much rooted to the spaces of my daily life.

Life in Monterrey is vastly different from life in Cairo. Most notably, transportation is different. Maadi, where I lived in Cairo for most of my four years there, was a very walkable neighborhood that, for Cairo anyway, was very green. I did not have a car most years, so that meant taking a 20 - 90 minute bus ride to and from school each day and relying on taxis and Said's family of drivers to get around. Friday morning always meant a coffee date with T down Road 9, followed by grocery shopping - which required visits to no less than four different specialty shops within the same block, and a $1 cab ride each way. Adventures downtown either meant a 20 cent metro ride to Tahrir or the Opera House (in the years before the revolution), or a $8 - $12 dollar cab ride that could last from 30 minutes to an hour; both of which relied on an open window for air-con.

In Monterrey I have a car. While the central rules of the road are the same as in Cairo (lanes are mostly arbitrary, aggressive driving IS defensive driving, etc), here there are traffic lights and stop signs that are more-or-less obeyed, and fewer cars in general. Yesterday, I met friends for brunch 20 km away and it took only 20 minutes to get there.  Last night, I went to a play near downtown (which had an amazing cast!), and again the drive time was short and it was easy to find. My morning commute is less than 10 minutes.

view of Monterrey from a neighborhood 1/2 way up a mountain

Of course, I've traded the quaint, walkable Maadi for highways and strip malls; my adorable little veg man, the cute pork guy, and the Massoud's lady for large, western-style, one-stop, well-stocked grocery stores; and coffee with T is now over skype instead of in-person. Some of these adjustments are as much welcome as un-welcome (though I think it goes without saying that coffee-chats over skype lack a little something and in-person meetings with hugs and sunshine would be the ideal.)

One amazing thing I have reclaimed in the transition to Mexico is brunch. I almost never brunched in Cairo and I can tell that brunch in Mexico is going to be a regular thing. Especially when it is as good as the chilaquiles I had yesterday that cost about $5 and kept my belly full for the rest of the day:

mmmm...chilaquiles!

Food here in general is pretty amazing. At a birthday party the other night, there was a taco stand set-up in the street next to the home (the host had hired a guy to come and make tacos for the party); after-school last week, I met some colleagues and we walked to a taco stand nearby and had amazing, enormous tacos. Near school is a place called Todos Empanadas, where you can pick up a big box of assorted empanadas with chimichurri to dip in, and all the empanadas have a little stamp branded into them that tells you what's inside that particular empanada (I like the steak & cheese and the chicken best).

I guess it goes without saying that I've put on a little weight here. I walk less, I sweat less, and I eat more; but other than needing a bit more exercise, I would say that life is pretty good.