Weeks 96 & 97: Monday, June 23, 2025 – Sunday, July 6, 2025

Hey everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and that you are enjoying the last day of this long weekend. 

Since I last wrote, I've been to Mexico City and back, attended the school graduations of three of the four kids that I live with, and have been getting things ready to start implementing my new grant project in the next couple of weeks.

Needless to say, June was a busy month.

After getting back to Neblinas on Thursday, June 19th, I had about 5 days in the community before leaving again. But this time, I went all the way to Mexico City, for no other reason than to celebrate pride month with my friends and enjoy a festive weekend in the city. 

On Thursday evening, my friends Emma, Miryam, and I arrived in Mexico City and proceeded to make our way to our Airbnb where we met up with our friends Blake and Jaylee. We were the first to arrive—the rest of the crew was set to arrive on Friday evening—so we took advantage of having the first pick of beds and then made our way out the door to start exploring our neighborhood for somewhere good to eat.

After a quick dinner at an Argentinian-Italian restaurant (Mexico City truly has a little bit of everything), Blake and I left the check to our friends and hurried to get ourselves to the concert we both had tickets to for that night. The concert was headlined by Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer that Blake had seen in concert a few years back and who he had to get tickets to see again, knowing that she was going to be in Mexico City when we were going to be there. I didn't know her music too well, but I'm always open to new experiences, so when Blake sent out the link for tickets to the group chat, I took the leap and bought myself a ticket so a) I would have something fun to do that first night in Mexico City and so b) Blake wouldn't be alone going to the concert. The concert was a blast. Between the signing and dancing and incredible visuals on the backdrop behind Pabllo, I was left truly impressed and had a great time.

The concert ended around 11pm, and after debating whether we would go out afterwards or not, we decided to be responsible and save our energy for the rest of the weekend and head back to the Airbnb for a good night's rest. 

On Friday, the five of us had a slow morning, but we eventually got going around 11am and decided to make our way over to Chapultepec park and spend time exploring the famous anthropology museum, which so excellently takes you through the vast history of the first peoples who lived in Mexico before the Spanish arrived in the Americas. I've always found history incredibly fascinating, and I loved walking through the galleries and reading about the varied and diverse civilizations that existed in the land we call Mexico (and parts of the U.S.) before Spanish colonization.

After thoroughly exhausting ourselves at the anthropology museum, we walked back through the park to the Airbnb. We were going to take an Uber back, but with all the traffic at rush hour, it ended up being faster for us to walk back than to sit in horrible traffic for hours. So we made it back to the Airbnb, and I quickly gathered my things and called an Uber to take me to the hotel that I decided to share with my friend Sean for the second and third night of the trip, as I wasn't so sure I wanted to stay in an Airbnb with 12 people and 6 beds. I thought it might get a little uncomfortable. So I made my way as quickly as possible to the hotel that Sean reserved for us, showered and changed, and then Sean and I left the hotel for our night out with the rest of the crew, first going to a fabulous drag show and then going to a fun club in the famous Zona Rosa and dancing the night away. 

We woke up on Saturday morning (not too worse for wear), got ourselves oriented, and headed out to Colonia Roma for some bagels with our friends Megan and Dylan, and then made our way to Calle Reforma where the pride parade was taking place.

During the pride parade, I met up with my friends Luis and Osvaldo and we watched as the floats passed by and the hoards of spectators grew. Eventually, we got tired and found ourselves a place slightly off the beaten path to sit and eat and relax for a little while before trying to make it back to our respective places.

Can I just say, Mexico City is a truly impressive place. Twenty-one million people (counting the city proper and the outskirts) living in a densely-populated, urban metropolis makes for a very exciting yet overwhelming atmosphere. There's a constant movement of people whether via train, bus, car, motorcycle, or cable car, and there's always something enticing to eat, something intriguing to see, and somewhere exciting to go. While I've only visited for short trips on a few occasions, I'd absolutely love to go back and spend a longer time getting to know the city and its hidden gems. 

And actually, I've already made plans to go back once I finish my service in mid-October. I plan on spending a good couple of weeks in the city, going to the trendiest restaurants, sitting in the cutest cafes, and finding the best hidden gems around the city.

So that was my Mexico City adventure. On Sunday, I took the bus from Mexico City all the way back to Jalpan—an 8-hour journey—and was back in Neblinas by Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Melanie (the oldest of the 4 kids who live here) graduated from the elementary school, and on Thursday Juliette and Julian (the twins) graduated from their preschool. It’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown over the last 2 years. I’m certainly going to miss them a lot.

Now for some not-so-great news. Upon arriving in Neblinas on Monday, I learned that Mishu, the family cat, was attacked by 3 dogs over the weekend. And while he did survive, he was left in a compromised state. And so I've taken it upon myself to help get him better—letting him sleep in my room at night, making sure he is eating and drinking enough, and today, getting him antibiotics to help him get rid of the infection that developed in the site where the dog(s) bit him. I’m hopeful that he will make a full recovery, but he’s been a bit up and down the last week or so.

For the next 3 weeks—before heading to San Diego one last time before I end service—I’m planning on staying busy by really trying to get my new project off the ground. Technically, the project is already funded and ready to go, but the Peace Corps requires that projects funded through their Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) stay up on their website for 2 weeks to reach their funding goal. While the Peace Corps is supposed to provide the funding for the project if it’s under $2500 USD, they still like to see support from family and friends of the volunteer. So, if you are interested, I am leaving the link below in case you would like to donate a few dollars to the cause and give the Peace Corps a reason to fund my project.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/donate/projects/pp-25-510-002/

I hope you are all enjoying your summers thus far. I know there have been some major heat waves around the country, but still, I hope you are finding ways to get outside and enjoy some fun in the sun.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Love,
Ilana