geekgrrrl without a network

(Most of this was written ~48 hours ago. Only reliable 'net access I'm finding is at Starbucks. Off to Chicago for 5 days tonight - will probably have better access - but less time - there. Ah well...)

Oh, the frustration of being in a hotel with a strong wireless network - and realizing that DNS resolution is horked at the router. The hotel I stayed in in December here had the same problem. It's managed by a friend of a friend, sorta, and I was able to go down and explain in garbled Spanish that I knew what was going on, and walk them through fixing it. I don't have the same "nuestro red es tu red" relationship here, so I can't just wander downstairs and ask to see their network hardware.

Probably just as well - long day & should get to sleep soon. A quick recap - up, coffee (absolute necessity) - then a trip to the Museo de la Historia Natural - kid's choice. He's up for anything prehistoric or otherwise really old; his interest wanes around the Middle Ages. Spent a few hours there, then - starving - went to the nearest place we could find - the Bosque Restaurant.

Now - it's my experience that park restaurants, particularly when surrounded by museums, are either outrageously overpriced for what they serve, or they serve utter crap - burger'n'fries of indeterminate origin, or sandwiches packed during Reagan's first term. ("Remember, children - ketchup is a vegetable!") Child & I, both tired, were sniping at each other over which this restaurant would be, or if we'd even end up staying.

Well - it was expensive. But the food - oh, the food was phenomenal. Prime Rib with creamed spinach and a lovely filet of fish in a balsalmic/tomato/olive sauce - reminiscent of puttanesca, but not quite. The restaurant is on one of the lakes in the park, and we spent at least three hours there enjoying a leisurely lunch. We were so underdressed for the place, but nobody seemed to care. It was great.

Did a quick stop at one of my favorite churches in town - the Ex-Convento de San Hipolito. When the group from the kid's school's parish is in town in just over a week, they're going to Mass there, and I was asked to swing by and figure out if the planned Mass time would work. Hung out there for a bit to pray - there's a particular devotion to St. Jude there, as well as a few others - and then wandered out.

Kid suggested that we try to catch WALL-E again - and we decided to head back to the 222 Reforma Cinemark; if it was at a good time, we'd stay, if not - we'd head back. The pesero got us to the theatre with 30 minutes to spare, and upon a second viewing, I'm happy to say that I really caught the Spanish dialogue. Way fun.

Getting home was a trip. 222 Reforma is on the edge of the Zona Rosa, Mexico City's gay hub. I stopped at a newsstand to grab a magazine, and saw a few curious looks - so odd for a woman and kid to be running around there that late. Of course, it was probably the safest place in the city for us to be - but the looks still said "Silly gringa. Well, if she brings a kid in here, she gets what she deserves if he sees this." The kid, steeped in gay culture since he was in utero, is completely oblivious to all of that - but is irate at the number of US-based megachains that populate the neighborhood - Popeye's, KFC, McDonalds, 7-11 ... Starbucks... and is ranting about global capitalism.

If you're reading this and the hotel network is still down, give thanks to Starbucks - universally the most reliable Internet access we've found in Mexico. It's funny the things that I worry about when I think about spending a school year here - besides whether I can bring the cats down, 'cause the kid misses them terribly. But also - can I get a stable WAN connection to wherever I'm living, so I can maintain the LAN myself and know it'll stay up?

Geek. (C'est moi.)