D.F.

Among locals, Mexico City is referred to either as just Mexico or as DF (pronounced de effe), which stands for districto federal. For some reason it has a reputation for being a dangerous place to visit, but we surely didn't have any problems or feel uneasy at any time, even when riding the subway or in the city center.

It's hard to explain what a city of 25 million feels like. For the most part it is like any city - your life mostly revolves around a couple of neighborhoods. But you are aware that there are a lot of people there - the highways and streets are almost always packed, and there is a constant hum of traffic in the background. Everything functions well, though...for example, the freeways are extremely crowded...if that many cars tried to drive here it would come to a standstill, but in DF they keep moving. And to top it off drivers are polite to each other, even as a taxi squeezes into a spot that couldn't possibly accommodate it! Being driven around DF is quite an experience - made me feel like I was in the middle of a city wide car racing video game. I believe the drivers there are much more competent than here - they really are talented.

We flew into Mexico at night so we couldn't get a look at the entire city, but finally when we flew to Zihuatanejo we were able to see it from the air. The city is incredible - I am sure it took more than five minutes in the air before we moved over open country! When you look down on it one thing I noticed was that there are lots of areas of large office buildings - not just one major business area. I'm sure I saw at least 10-12 areas with very tall office buildings.

More later.