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Free Tequila
I got sick, got antibiotics from a tip-jar doctor, and came back to life right as the World Cup kicked off here in Mexico City. The city went dead quiet, then erupted. I Watched Mexico win from a cantina with free tequila and a torrential downpour. Oh, and I'm moving.
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Thank you for listening, please do it again, and then take antibiotics.
Onefjef is produced, edited & hosted by Jef Taylor.
Transcript
What's going on, onefjef?
Speaker:So Chris said that you weren't feeling so hot, man.
Speaker:So I just wanted to say feel better soon, and that you're awesome.
Speaker:My hope is that if you aren't feeling better by the time you get this video,
Speaker:that you feel better super soon, man, so you can get back to the good life.
Speaker:This is CDMX Dispatch numero ocho.
Speaker:Hello again, my friends, my family, my enemies, my neutral parties who I don't
Speaker:really have much of a thought about.
Speaker:All of you, hello.
Speaker:Welcome once again to onefjef, the podcast, home of top choice parasocial
Speaker:content for you and your ears.
Speaker:I've had a month.
Speaker:I think I can very easily say that I've had quite a, um, a
Speaker:difficult month here in Mexico City.
Speaker:And, you know, this is what it's about, the testing of the resilience,
Speaker:the how do you do in the hard times, the et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker:But I'm alive, and I'm starting to accept that part of this experience,
Speaker:this relocating, this restarting my life experience in a new
Speaker:country, is about letting it roll.
Speaker:Letting it roll, not getting caught up.
Speaker:Don't cling to it.
Speaker:Let it go.
Speaker:Like meditation, let the thoughts come and go.
Speaker:Just enjoy the ride.
Speaker:That's, I guess, the thing.
Speaker:I've learned to enjoy the ride.
Speaker:You have to do your best to enjoy the ride.
Speaker:Otherwise, you're going to get sick and throw up everywhere.
Speaker:I'm no longer sick.
Speaker:I was sick for two weeks.
Speaker:As I think I said in the last podcast, eventually I wasn't getting
Speaker:better with the stomach illness, so Patricia took me to a pharmacy
Speaker:where there's a doctor there, and the doctor just kind of lives next door.
Speaker:Doesn't live, but, you know, has a little office next door.
Speaker:And you go in, and they check you out, and you don't even have to pay them.
Speaker:You just-- There's a tip jar.
Speaker:Literally, there's a tip thing there.
Speaker:So you tip them, like, two or three hundred pesos or whatever, and then you go
Speaker:next door, and you get your prescriptions.
Speaker:I guess all I needed was antibiotics because the antibiotics really immediately
Speaker:was… Not immediately, but a few days later, I was finally starting
Speaker:to feel like myself again and not, you know, peeing out of my asshole.
Speaker:Sorry, sorry.
Speaker:Couldn't help it.
Speaker:So God bless modern medicine or, in this case, somewhat older medicine.
Speaker:Antibiotics have been around for a long time, but you get the idea.
Speaker:And I got my first experience with Mexican medical care, at least one
Speaker:part of it, and it was a positive one because I, I feel better.
Speaker:So hooray for that, right?
Speaker:But it was still about five days after that that I was still kind of recovering.
Speaker:But I think, like, yesterday and today is the first days I've actually felt like
Speaker:myself again, which has felt amazing.
Speaker:The first game of the World Cup was yesterday.
Speaker:I'm recording this on Friday, and it was here in Mexico City.
Speaker:I did not go to the game.
Speaker:The tickets were, of course, eight hundred dollars apiece for nosebleed seats, which
Speaker:again, FIFA is a criminal organization, but we don't need to go into that.
Speaker:I watched the beginning of it.
Speaker:I watched, like, the opening ceremony.
Speaker:The school that I'm taking Spanish classes at had a little, I don't know,
Speaker:party or gathering where they showed the opening ceremony, and they were gonna
Speaker:watch the whole game on a projected screen in one of the classrooms.
Speaker:And I hung out there for a while.
Speaker:We had pizza and stuff, and that was fun.
Speaker:But then the, uh, YouTube video, I don't know where they were getting the
Speaker:stream from, but it kept stuttering.
Speaker:Like, every five seconds it would stop and start again, and I'm thinking, "I cannot
Speaker:watch the whole game like this." Nobody else seemed to mind, but I was just, "No,
Speaker:I cannot watch the whole game like this."
Speaker:So I left right after kickoff, and since I left right after kickoff, I'm walking
Speaker:back to my apartment through, like, k- a little bit of Condesa and then into
Speaker:Roma Sur, and it was like a ghost town.
Speaker:I have never seen Mexico City quite like this.
Speaker:There was barely any traffic, and the area my school is in
Speaker:is a very busy intersection.
Speaker:But it was like it was not busy at all.
Speaker:They, they let everybody stay home from work yesterday.
Speaker:I think everybody had to work from home.
Speaker:I don't know if the kids had school.
Speaker:So there's reasons for it, but even, like, the taco stands, which are numerous, um,
Speaker:all the food stands that are numerous in that area, were all kind of dead.
Speaker:And, uh, it was kind of amazing, like, in a weird way, you know?
Speaker:They were all just not doing anything and just listening to the game or watching
Speaker:the game, and everywhere you went, all you heard was just sounds of the game,
Speaker:the broadcast of the game everywhere.
Speaker:And then you knew when there was a goal because I was walking…
Speaker:The first goal, I was walking.
Speaker:I was almost to my apartment, and I knew exactly when the first goal happened
Speaker:because then you suddenly h-heard horns honking and the sound of people cheering
Speaker:from some apartment, whatever it was.
Speaker:It's pretty neat.
Speaker:It's pretty neat.
Speaker:So then I met up with my friend Shauna at a cantina here that we've gone to before.
Speaker:It's about equidistant between our apartments, and we went there once before.
Speaker:And cantinas are, uh, like- Basically old-timey Mexican bars.
Speaker:I guess that's the only way to put it.
Speaker:I think they used to be men only, but they're not anymore obviously.
Speaker:But it's just like an old-timey Mexican bar.
Speaker:It's like a traditional Mexican bar.
Speaker:This one's not as old-timey as others, but it's definitely got a vibe to it.
Speaker:And so we went there, but as I was walking over there, like every single
Speaker:restaurant and bar, y- you can just peek in 'cause they've all got open fronts
Speaker:'cause the weather here is amazing, and they've all got the game on.
Speaker:You can watch the game and, you know.
Speaker:It was fun.
Speaker:The entire city was kinda like unifying.
Speaker:So we went to the Ultramin- Ultramarina Cantina it's called actually, here in, I
Speaker:think it's Roma Sur, but maybe Roma Norte.
Speaker:And they're always wonderful too.
Speaker:The both times we've been there they've been just w- so wonderful,
Speaker:and we're always the only, you know, white people in there.
Speaker:We sat on the patio, watched the game on a little TV.
Speaker:It was a beautiful day, and everybody walking by was in a good
Speaker:mood with wearing the, you know, the, the jerseys and everything.
Speaker:I don't really care that much about sports, but it always makes me happy when
Speaker:a sport thing brings together a giant population of people under one umbrella.
Speaker:Like everybody likes each other, and that's always nice.
Speaker:Not that people get, don't get along and don't like each other here in
Speaker:Mexico City, but you know what I mean.
Speaker:So they won the game, of course, and every time there was a goal, I caught some of it
Speaker:on a, uh, or maybe Shauna did, on a video
Speaker:And then after they won the game, a guy, one of the, you know, the guys
Speaker:who works there comes around and gives free shots of tequila to everybody.
Speaker:And then we were still on the porch, and then it started to rain.
Speaker:And this, uh, torrential rainfall came in, which happens quite a bit
Speaker:here, but it was torrential, you know?
Speaker:And we're under this umbrella on the, on the patio, and it was
Speaker:just kind of beautiful, really.
Speaker:It was really fun.
Speaker:There's people going by cheering, people honking their horns.
Speaker:At one point, there was a guy with a giant Mexican flag in the rain just
Speaker:waving this Mexican flag determinedly.
Speaker:You know, determinedly?
Speaker:I think that's a word.
Speaker:Everybody was in a good mood.
Speaker:I didn't know that I was gonna do anything for the World Cup,
Speaker:but I'm really glad that I did.
Speaker:I'll go watch the next game too Another announcement is that I am
Speaker:moving to a new apartment next month.
Speaker:I'm going back to the US for about two, two and a half weeks in about two
Speaker:weeks to see the family and to enjoy the kickass 250th birthday of America.
Speaker:Bam!
Speaker:Hell yeah, bro.
Speaker:How can I miss the 250th birthday of America?
Speaker:It might be the end.
Speaker:It might be the end, and if it is the end, it's the most perfect ending of all time.
Speaker:You could not write a book or a movie or anything better than the story of
Speaker:America that ends with Donald J. Trump.
Speaker:You could not.
Speaker:Anyway, when I leave for the States, I am going to be moving out of this apartment.
Speaker:I'm leaving a bunch of my stuff over at my friend's house, and then when I come back,
Speaker:I will be moving right into the new place.
Speaker:Why are you moving, you ask?
Speaker:Well, I'm moving because when I was sick for two weeks, I realized that
Speaker:this apartment, which is mostly an Airbnb that has been… They got
Speaker:sick of Airbnb-ing it, and they just decided to rent it long term.
Speaker:When I was sick here for two weeks, I realized, I looked around 'cause
Speaker:there's, I mean, there's so much of his stuff, the guy who owns the apartment.
Speaker:It's all over the apartment.
Speaker:There's his books.
Speaker:There's his stuff on the wall.
Speaker:It's really… I feel like a stranger, like, in this house.
Speaker:I feel like if it was just an Airbnb that I was renting for, like, a month, and I
Speaker:knew I was leaving, that would be fine.
Speaker:But, like, being here for, like, three more months, it's hard enough doing
Speaker:what I'm doing here while also feeling like I'm a stranger, like I'm a guest
Speaker:in this apartment that is supposedly supposed to be mine, you know?
Speaker:And also, there's been a, there was a ton of noise when I was sick for those two
Speaker:weeks, and it drove me a little crazy.
Speaker:And the street is also very noisy.
Speaker:As I've lived here longer, I've realized that I don't need
Speaker:to live on this busy street.
Speaker:It's very, very noisy at night, and I can't really have my windows open.
Speaker:Anyway, many reasons that I wanna leave, and there's also a complicated
Speaker:story about how the guy's not giving me my deposit back, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:But I don't really wanna go into that because it's not fun.
Speaker:The apartment I'm moving into is, uh, much smaller, but this apartment
Speaker:is, is just too big for me, honestly.
Speaker:It's two bedrooms.
Speaker:One of the bedrooms I'm just using for storage.
Speaker:And then when the, when the, when the cleaning women come, every time
Speaker:they come, I can't find something.
Speaker:Like, it's where did they put this?
Speaker:Where did they put this?
Speaker:Like, they always are rearranging things, and it drives me insane But
Speaker:then they also, like, occasionally fold my underwear in a very nice way, and
Speaker:that actually makes me forgive them.
Speaker:So… And I've tried to fold my underwear in the same way, but I'm unable to.
Speaker:It's like origami, something like that.
Speaker:So granted, I haven't spent a lot of time trying to figure out how
Speaker:they fold the underwear, but I've spent, you know, five to 10 minutes,
Speaker:five to 10 minutes, I'd say.
Speaker:The next place is just a one-bedroom, but it's, like, more modern.
Speaker:It's on the top floor of a five-story building, and it has a, like a patio that
Speaker:you can see the mountains around the city.
Speaker:I can watch the storms roll in.
Speaker:That was kind of the selling point.
Speaker:The patio was a big part of it.
Speaker:Also, it's just a cool… Like, it's, it's not big, but it's a cute little place.
Speaker:The street is also quiet, and there's a garbage room, so I don't have to chase
Speaker:down the dinging bell to take my garbage out, which honestly will be wonderful.
Speaker:So that's what's happening, and in a way it feels kind of like a reset, you know?
Speaker:Like a starting over.
Speaker:You know, I did round one with Mexico City.
Speaker:I'll be leaving, then I'm coming back, and then I start round two, and I've
Speaker:got this next apartment for seven months and I can always extend, so.
Speaker:So yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker:I'm excited for a change of location.
Speaker:You know, I did like this apartment quite a bit at first, but the
Speaker:longer I've been here, the more the, the issues with it have started
Speaker:to kind of become more apparent.
Speaker:And then I just kind of really lucked on this other apartment.
Speaker:I was one of the first people to message on Facebook, and I think that's
Speaker:a big part of the reason I got it.
Speaker:And it's cheaper than this place too, which also helps.
Speaker:So, so that's happening and I'm excited.
Speaker:And there's also a screen on the bedroom window which, if you know, you know
Speaker:because the mosquitoes here are a thing.
Speaker:They're not crazy bad, but if you leave your window open without a screen on
Speaker:it at night you're gonna get a mosquito in there, and that mosquito is going to
Speaker:drive you to the edge of your sanity.
Speaker:It is going to drive you to the very edge of your sanity But if there's a
Speaker:screen, they can't come in, so bing bong.
Speaker:In case you're wondering, there will be new feature length episodes
Speaker:coming soon with interviews from expats and so forth, and Mexicans.
Speaker:Uh, I've got a bunch of them in the can.
Speaker:In the can is lingo for I've already recorded them.
Speaker:And, uh, I just have to double down and start to cut these things
Speaker:down and start releasing them.
Speaker:But believe you me, in the next week or two I'll start to get those out.
Speaker:Um, I've also been working quite a bit.
Speaker:I'm still taking Spanish for six hours a day.
Speaker:I'm not making excuses, I'm just explaining.
Speaker:But next week is my last week for a while of, of all these Spanish
Speaker:classes because it is exhausting.
Speaker:Like, I didn't realize how much energy it takes to just think hard for six hours.
Speaker:I'm not moving, I'm just thinking, and by the end of the six hours I'm exhausted.
Speaker:My brain is just like leaking out of my ears.
Speaker:So I'm gonna do one more week because I really do enjoy some of
Speaker:the people in some of the classes.
Speaker:Some of the teachers are great, and I'm learning a lot, and they're giving me
Speaker:a 10% discount, which is also nice, so.
Speaker:So yeah, one more week of that, and then, then I go to Cleveland the next week, and
Speaker:then, uh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker:I wanna give a shout-out to our newest Patreon subscriber.
Speaker:We'll call her Sarah.
Speaker:Thank you, Sarah, for signing up for the Patreon page.
Speaker:You are a scholar and a gentlewoman, and I really appreciate
Speaker:your support of the podcast.
Speaker:You will be remembered when this podcast is huge.
Speaker:You'll be remembered as one of the first in a growing group of the elite
Speaker:early adapters of onefjef the podcast.
Speaker:And if you yourself would like to support the podcast just like Sarah
Speaker:has, you can go to patreon.com/onefjef and sign up for as little as $5 a
Speaker:month or $25, or honestly, if you want to, you can donate $100 a month.
Speaker:You can donate a hu- $1,000 a month.
Speaker:Elon Musk, I know you're a trillionaire now, you can donate a million
Speaker:dollars a month and you'll be fine.
Speaker:So why don't you do that, Elon?
Speaker:Are you asking yourself, "Are you really gonna take Elon Musk's money?" Yes.
Speaker:Yes, I would.
Speaker:Yes, I would.
Speaker:I'm not saying I like him, just saying I'd take his money.
Speaker:Anyway, patreon.com/onefjef.
Speaker:I do have extra content on there from time to time.
Speaker:Not as often as I'd like.
Speaker:I'm hoping to change that, but, you know, I'm giving you what I can.
Speaker:If you so sign up now, though, you'll get a whole past year plus worth of
Speaker:extra content that you can… You'll have plenty of stuff to listen to.
Speaker:Some extra episodes, some videos, some photos, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:You'll love it.
Speaker:You'll have a great time, and you'll be among the elite.
Speaker:You'll have escaped the proletariat of the podcast, and you'll have
Speaker:gone into the elite echelon there.
Speaker:So you'll feel good about yourself.
Speaker:Okay, that's it.
Speaker:Patreon.com/onefjef.
Speaker:Do that, please.
Speaker:I love you.
Speaker:And please do like, rate, subscribe, and review to the podcast because
Speaker:it does help the algorithmic gods to show this podcast to whoever else.
Speaker:Um, so thank you.
Speaker:And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, anger, whatever it is, you can
Speaker:email the podcast at onefjefpod@gmail.com, onefjefpod@gmail.com.
Speaker:That's O-N-E-F-J-E-F, just FYI.
Speaker:And you can also call the podcast, leave a voicemail, and I may
Speaker:or may not play it on the air.
Speaker:1-669-241-5882. That's 1-669-241-5882.
Speaker:Hey, that's good.
Speaker:1-669-241-5882.
Speaker:That's a song that's already been made, but I think it works.
Speaker:I think it works.
Speaker:It's no Garfield 1-2323, but who can beat Garfield 1-2323?
Speaker:That crown has been taken.
Speaker:And finally, please follow the podcast @onefjefpod on Instagram, @onefjefpod
Speaker:on Facebook, @onefjefpodcast on TikTok, and @onefjef at a bunch of other places.
Speaker:If you find the podcast, just follow it.
Speaker:You'll love it.
Speaker:You'll have a great time.
Speaker:Everybody will.
Speaker:And I think that's all for now.
Speaker:Do you have a meaningful quote to share with us for the end of this episode?
Speaker:Well, uh, I'm gonna try to find one for you.
Speaker:Well, don't take too long 'cause we're waiting.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:I appreciate you, but just give me one moment, and we will find it.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:Ah, here's a good one.
Speaker:A poem by Rumi, the Sufi poet from whatever century he was in.
Speaker:It was a long time ago.
Speaker:When was he in?
Speaker:13th century Sufi poet.
Speaker:I think Rumi is short for Rumiford.
Speaker:Here's the poem: "Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.
Speaker:Don't try to see through the distances.
Speaker:That's not for human beings.
Speaker:Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move.
Speaker:Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened Don't open the
Speaker:door to the study and begin reading.
Speaker:Take down a musical instrument.
Speaker:Let the beauty we love be what we do.
Speaker:There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Speaker:I'll see you next week.
Speaker:Very good, Jeffrey
