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Huerto Roma Verde and a Mouthful of Shirt
I'm in my last week of six-hour Spanish days, packing up the apartment I can't wait to leave, and negotiating my deposit back over WhatsApp with a landlord who's taking my early exit personally. Also: the Fungi Festival, psychedelic cumbia, nooks & crannies, and weed honey.
The expat episodes begin on July 1st.
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Thank you for listening, please do it again, but get your shirt out of your mouth.
Onefjef is produced, edited & hosted by Jef Taylor.
Transcript
Hellooo.
Speaker:This is CDMX Dispatch number nine.
Speaker:Hello, everyone.
Speaker:Just gonna jump in for a quick one today, but I do hope you're all thriving.
Speaker:I hope you're all doing wonderfully well.
Speaker:I hope you're all enjoying the lives that you have chosen for yourself.
Speaker:And if you're not enjoying the life that you've chosen for yourself, then
Speaker:I recommend you choose another life.
Speaker:It's not so difficult, except that it is.
Speaker:It's rather difficult, to be honest.
Speaker:But difficult things are important.
Speaker:They build character, as they say, or that's what I keep telling myself.
Speaker:They're also more exciting than the easy things, so
Speaker:Do what you will.
Speaker:Do what you will
Speaker:For those of you who are wondering, who are saying to yourself or to me, Jef,
Speaker:when is the expat, when are the expat episodes going to start coming out?
Speaker:My response to that, to you, from me, is they will come out
Speaker:in July, beginning of July.
Speaker:July 1st is what I'm shooting for, which is a Wednesday, which is perfecto.
Speaker:So stay tuned for those.
Speaker:I've been extremely busy and overwhelmed for the last couple weeks with all
Speaker:sorts of things, life things, work things, social things, Spanish
Speaker:things, Mexico things, all the things.
Speaker:And I'm taking six hours of Spanish a day.
Speaker:This is my last week of six-hour Spanish classes every day.
Speaker:Well, two three-hour classes.
Speaker:I'm learning a lot, but by the time I'm done, I'm exhausted.
Speaker:And one of my classes is always kind of mixed changing people,
Speaker:and it's been a fascinating class.
Speaker:I wish I could make a sitcom about it, to be honest.
Speaker:Um, I, I don't even know how to describe the, the chaos that
Speaker:goes on inside of this class.
Speaker:I wouldn't say actual chaos, but just hilarity because there's
Speaker:people of all different levels in there, and yeah, it's, it's crazy.
Speaker:I actually met a, met a, a friend in that class, this, um, 20-year-old
Speaker:German guy who is getting ready to hitchhike across the United States.
Speaker:Uh, super interesting dude.
Speaker:Um, yeah, Germans are just generally interesting in my mind
Speaker:'cause they're German, you know?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I don't think I've ever met, like, a extremely dull or uninteresting
Speaker:German, but again, I haven't met a lot of Germans, so… Not again.
Speaker:I didn't say that before, so why did I say again?
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Habit.
Speaker:So yeah, still taking those.
Speaker:This is my last week though, two more days of that, and then I don't know if
Speaker:I'll go back when I come back to town in three weeks, two weeks, whatever,
Speaker:three, um, in, whatever, in July.
Speaker:I would like to because I really do enjoy the, uh, classes and the field trip.
Speaker:We went on a field trip last Friday and it was super fun.
Speaker:Super fun.
Speaker:Uh, we went to this place called like Sunken Park.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I'm not gonna describe the field trip because it's ridiculous to
Speaker:describe things that you experience be-- but, uh, you know what I mean.
Speaker:Anyway, it was fun.
Speaker:Um, and I'm learning Spanish although I'm now overwhelmed by… Like I've
Speaker:learned so many different tenses now.
Speaker:There's apparently 17 tenses.
Speaker:I may have mentioned this.
Speaker:Apparently 17 tenses in Sp- tenses in Spanish and that enough, I don't f- I've,
Speaker:I've learned probably six, seven of them but now it's like I'm overwhelmed by it.
Speaker:It's very confusing.
Speaker:Um, there's a lot of different tenses, a lot of different conjugations, irregular
Speaker:verbs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:You don't realize how complicated language is until you start
Speaker:to learn a language, you know?
Speaker:Um, they're complicated.
Speaker:You kinda take it for granted because you're just like,
Speaker:yeah, I, I have gone to that.
Speaker:I have gone to the store a few times.
Speaker:Um, I went to the store a few times and just start thinking about the nuanced
Speaker:differences between these different…
Speaker:Anyway
Speaker:It's also rewarding, of course.
Speaker:And, and I'm actually proud of myself because I'm getting better at Spanish,
Speaker:which I've never really leaned in this much to learning a new language,
Speaker:and, uh, it's, it's rewarding.
Speaker:So I recommend it to anybody who's considering it.
Speaker:Uh, it also makes it easier to understand people here in Mexico City.
Speaker:So there's a twofer there.
Speaker:So yeah, after I finish those classes, I'll have more time freed up to,
Speaker:to, um, buckle down and edit some of these interviews and get them out
Speaker:to you, my valued listener, to enjoy and absorb and so forth and so on
Speaker:I've also had some work.
Speaker:Been doing some work which isn't interesting enough to go into.
Speaker:Um, and as I said, I'm moving out of this apartment in, uh, one week
Speaker:from today, as a matter of fact.
Speaker:Um, and I've had this quite extensive back and forth with the landlord.
Speaker:My lease, uh, first off, my lease says that… I wouldn't have signed
Speaker:the lease had it not said this.
Speaker:It's a six-month lease, but it says either party-- this says this
Speaker:in Spanish, so I can't, you know, quote verbatim, but either party may
Speaker:leave the lease or, uh, you know, end the lease with 30 days notice.
Speaker:So I have given 30 days no- I gave 30 days notice.
Speaker:Uh, but the landlord, I guess he didn't understand what the lease said.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:But he was kind of being a dick about giving me the deposit back.
Speaker:I was trying to be as friendly as and open as I could, and, uh, yeah, he was
Speaker:just kind of responding with like…
Speaker:I think he's just-- I understand he's angry because I'm leaving early, but I
Speaker:can't stay in this apartment any longer.
Speaker:But that doesn't, you know, justify not giving me the deposit back.
Speaker:So I've had to go back and forth with him on, on WhatsApp, of course.
Speaker:And last night, I think I had a bit of a breakthrough, I think, and I think that
Speaker:it's starting to lean towards I will get my deposit back, but I don't know what the
Speaker:terms of that are gonna be or how much of it I'll get back or, or anything really.
Speaker:I honestly, you know, say would say a 60% chance right now.
Speaker:Sorry, drinking water.
Speaker:60%, maybe 65.
Speaker:I'd like to get that deposit back.
Speaker:It's 21,000 pesos, which is about, you know, 1,200 bucks, maybe 1,250 now,
Speaker:because the value of the peso compared to the dollar, or the value of the dollar
Speaker:compared to the peso continues to drop.
Speaker:I'm 52 years old.
Speaker:I don't entirely understand converting money.
Speaker:Oh, well.
Speaker:I mean, I do.
Speaker:I'm not, like, idiotic, but it's just still, you know.
Speaker:No matter
Speaker:So yes, hopefully we'll get the deposit back, and I've started to pack.
Speaker:I've been packing up.
Speaker:I'm trying to get the apartment back into a good condition.
Speaker:I've got, you know, the apartment's big and there's all
Speaker:sorts of nooks and crannies.
Speaker:Nooks and crannies.
Speaker:Did I just say nooks and crannies?
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:You did, Jef.
Speaker:You said that.
Speaker:Oh, well, I don't regret it.
Speaker:Um, a lot of places… I-- anyway, this is not exciting to talk about unpacking
Speaker:to, to move, but this is what I'm doing.
Speaker:Uh, and it kinda feels good to pack 'cause I'm, I'm really ready to
Speaker:get out of this, this apartment.
Speaker:It's starting to annoy me more and more the closer I get to my exit
Speaker:date, which I guess, um, makes sense.
Speaker:But yeah, it's not horrible, but I'm just excited about the new
Speaker:apartment, and, like, I'm excited, I'm excited about starting, like,
Speaker:the new phase of my, of my life here.
Speaker:The next round, if you will.
Speaker:Not like this is a boxing match, but I mean, in a, in a manner
Speaker:of speaking, it kind of is.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Went to, uh, f- the Fungi Festival over in Huerta Roma Verde, which is
Speaker:this, uh, eco center kind of park right near me here in Roma Sur.
Speaker:It's an awesome place.
Speaker:If you are living in Mexico City, you should go there just to wander around.
Speaker:It's a really, it's a vibe.
Speaker:I don't really know how to describe it.
Speaker:There's like all sorts of ecological exhibits and, and like buildings and
Speaker:like there's a coffee shop there.
Speaker:You can sit outside and drink coffee.
Speaker:It feels like you're like in a respite from the city 'cause it's
Speaker:kind of separate from the city.
Speaker:It feels like you're in your own little oasis separate from the…
Speaker:There's chickens, there's kitties.
Speaker:Kitties, cats.
Speaker:I guess there may be a kitty or two.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I haven't seen the kitties.
Speaker:If I did, I'd be there more often, believe you me, 'cause I like kitties.
Speaker:Um, anyway, went with a friend of mine to the Fungi Festival, which has been--
Speaker:There's like a festival at this place, Huerta Roma Verde, every weekend and
Speaker:I, I'll usually like wander through once every weekend just to see what it
Speaker:is, and it's usually, you know, fest- fantasy festival, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker:Uh, but this one was heavily advertised, Fungi Festival.
Speaker:Love the name, like fungi.
Speaker:Why not?
Speaker:Let's go.
Speaker:So went to this festival and, you know, there's a lot of vendors
Speaker:selling like, like honestly like just a lot of mushrooms,
Speaker:obviously, uh, fungi, if you will.
Speaker:Uh, but also like, you know, weed, um, mushroom gummies, uh,
Speaker:psychedelic, obviously psychedelic mushrooms, all sorts of things.
Speaker:I don't know how the law works in Mexico City and how this-- I think
Speaker:mushrooms might just be legal here, but marijuana is not necessarily
Speaker:legal, but it's kind of legal.
Speaker:There's actually places in the city you can apparently go, and I've
Speaker:seen one once, where it's legal to stand outside and smoke weed.
Speaker:Like there's three legal smoking areas.
Speaker:They're not very-- The one I saw was small, and I knew I saw it 'cause
Speaker:I just saw this like little area that was kind of roped off a little
Speaker:bit with just like 30 people just smoking what I assumed was weed in it.
Speaker:So it didn't look fun, but you know, who knows?
Speaker:So that's weird.
Speaker:Uh, and it's also like what, what exactly is the law here about marijuana?
Speaker:I imagine the law is wherever the police at the time decide it's
Speaker:going to be, which is usually the case, and then you bribe them.
Speaker:But it is very confusing because they're literally like open- openly selling it
Speaker:at this, at this fe- fu- fungi festival.
Speaker:So
Speaker:But it was really fun.
Speaker:There was like, my friend knew that one of the, the DJ who
Speaker:was playing, so there was a DJ.
Speaker:That was fun.
Speaker:Uh, we ate some like, um, like weed honey that was honestly delicious.
Speaker:They gave you free samples, and it was a, it was a sizable sample, I'll be honest.
Speaker:Um, am I saying I'll be honest a lot in this episode?
Speaker:I think I am.
Speaker:I wonder why that is.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Anyway, uh, yeah, the DJ, there was a band playing for a while.
Speaker:Um, we talked to this interesting Mexican woman for a while about
Speaker:how she's changing apartments.
Speaker:There was an amazing band that played.
Speaker:I believe it's a cumbia, cumbia band that played.
Speaker:I think it's a Colombian music.
Speaker:But anyway, cumbia, and they were awesome, and we were sitting
Speaker:in this perfect place for them.
Speaker:I actually recorded, uh, a little bit of what they sounded like, and
Speaker:I'm gonna play that right here.
Speaker:Like psychedelic cumbia.
Speaker:There's an- another genre that's kind of come out of cumbia, which
Speaker:is called psychedelic cumbia.
Speaker:I think it came out of Peru or Colombia, and it is like cumbia
Speaker:music combined with like, obviously, psychedelia into this very old, new,
Speaker:past, present, future kind of a vibe.
Speaker:It's really great.
Speaker:If you get a chance, give it a listen on the old, uh, Spotify
Speaker:or Apple Music or what have you.
Speaker:Psychedelic cumbia.
Speaker:Just go to, like, some of the top ones or playlist or whatever.
Speaker:You, you do what you need to do.
Speaker:Um, but yeah, it was, it was really fun.
Speaker:It was really fun.
Speaker:And, uh, anything else that's gone on in my life that's been exciting?
Speaker:Many things have gone on that have been exciting and/or emotional and/or eventful
Speaker:in the last two weeks, but a lot of them I'm not gonna go into and because they're
Speaker:not interesting, and the others I'm not gonna go into because it's somewhat too
Speaker:personal, which you're probably thinking, "But Jef, have you listened to the podcast
Speaker:you've been making for the last year?"
Speaker:Like it's, it's a little bit personal.
Speaker:And I say back to you, "Yes, I realize that," but for some reason, I have been
Speaker:inside of myself for the last month or so.
Speaker:Maybe you've noticed.
Speaker:Maybe la- maybe the last two month.
Speaker:Maybe since I've moved here, I've been kind of inside of myself,
Speaker:like kind of hiding myself.
Speaker:I don't know why this is.
Speaker:Not hiding necessarily, but not feeling as open as I have felt in the past.
Speaker:For example, when I was on my road trip.
Speaker:Maybe it's 'cause there's too much going on.
Speaker:I often feel overwhelmed here with all the things, but nevertheless, perhaps
Speaker:someday I will talk about all of it 'cause it's dramatic and exciting and a bit sad.
Speaker:Quite sad actually.
Speaker:Now you're like, "What is it, Jef? What is it?" Sorry.
Speaker:While I'm thinking of it though, um, you, you, you there, you know
Speaker:what you should do right now?
Speaker:Go to patreon.com/onefjef, O-N-E-F-J-E-F, and sign up for as little as $5 a month.
Speaker:That's 100 pesos.
Speaker:Would more people sign up if I made it, like, $3 a month?
Speaker:I wonder.
Speaker:Maybe it's too expensive
Speaker:I'll consider that.
Speaker:If you have thoughts on it, email me at onefjefpod@gmail.com.
Speaker:So yes, patreon.com/onefjef.
Speaker:Sign up, support the podcast.
Speaker:This is an independent podcast.
Speaker:I'm the only person involved, and it's a lot of work.
Speaker:So every little bit helps, and, uh, you'll feel good, you'll feel
Speaker:special, you'll feel like you're making another person feel better.
Speaker:And the number one thing that they've found is the, uh, that gives the most
Speaker:happiness to people, studies have shown, is doing things for other people.
Speaker:So in a sense, I'm giving you a gift of happiness that you can give back to me.
Speaker:See what I did there?
Speaker:Patreon.com/onefjef, and thank you to all of my present listeners
Speaker:or present Patreon subscribers.
Speaker:That is, you are my heroes, my idols.
Speaker:Um, you are the elite of the elite.
Speaker:You are the crème de la crème.
Speaker:You are the, uh, apple of my eye as, as it were.
Speaker:I think that's enough.
Speaker:Thank you very much for continuing to support the podcast.
Speaker:Que mas, que mas?
Speaker:The World Cup is in full swing here in Mexico City, and, you know, I'm not
Speaker:a big fan of soccer, football/soccer, football, football, soccer, whatever.
Speaker:I'm not crazy about it.
Speaker:Sorry, water
Speaker:I'm not-- I've never been that crazy about soccer.
Speaker:I played it when it was-- when I was a kid, and honestly, it was a
Speaker:bit traumatic, so, uh, uh, after that, I just didn't want to, um,
Speaker:I was bad at soccer.
Speaker:I was not a good athlete when I was very young.
Speaker:I mean, I'm not a good athlete now, I don't think, but I, I do more
Speaker:athletic things, and it doesn't matter.
Speaker:When I was a kid, I mean, I don't know, five, six, seven, eight, I don't
Speaker:know how old I was when I was playing soccer, but I would, I would like for
Speaker:some reason I had this… I was addicted to, like, I would take the top of my
Speaker:T-shirt and put it in my mouth 'cause I was probably nervous, you know?
Speaker:And my dad would yell from the sideline.
Speaker:He'd be like, "Jef, get your shirt out of your mouth."
Speaker:Why do memories like that stick with you?
Speaker:God.
Speaker:And there'd be like a big circular circle of slobber, like, on one dot on
Speaker:my shirt because I'd had it in my mouth.
Speaker:Oh, kids.
Speaker:Anyway, but being in Mexico City during the World Cup has really made me, um,
Speaker:enjoy and appreciate soccer a little more.
Speaker:I still think it's quite slow.
Speaker:There needs to be more scoring and excitement, but whatever.
Speaker:But yeah, I've gone, watched a few games.
Speaker:I went last night with a friend of mine to watch, uh, I don't
Speaker:know who even was playing.
Speaker:Argentina and Algeria, I think.
Speaker:Maybe.
Speaker:And, uh, that was super fun.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, it's an excuse to go out and have some beers and stare at a TV.
Speaker:Um, so I mean, I guess you don't really need an excuse for that, but, hmm.
Speaker:And tomorrow is the Mexico City versus South Korea game.
Speaker:Tomorrow night, I think I'm gonna go.
Speaker:The school, the language school I'm going to is, uh, Lengua y Cultura.
Speaker:Shout out.
Speaker:I recommend.
Speaker:Um, is having a gathering at some bar with whatever students wanna go.
Speaker:Um, we're all gonna meet up there, and that seems like fun, so I might just do
Speaker:that tomorrow night, which might be later now that you have listened to this later.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker:Time is but a circle, though.
Speaker:In a way, I am recording this podcast, and you are listening
Speaker:to it at the exact same time.
Speaker:Or perhaps you've already listened to the podcast, and I'm just recording it
Speaker:now because time is a circle, my friends.
Speaker:Please like, rate, and review the podcast.
Speaker:Uh, it does help with the algorithmic gods.
Speaker:It makes me feel better to see a new, fresh review there in Apple
Speaker:Podcasts, which is the place you should write a review if you can.
Speaker:Makes me feel happy, makes me feel like, "Oh, look, somebody wrote
Speaker:a nice review about my podcast." Makes me feel warm inside.
Speaker:So please go do that, and if not that, then just rate it, uh,
Speaker:five, 10 stars, whatever, and, uh, you know, give it a thumbs up,
Speaker:subscribe, whatever you need to do.
Speaker:Do all those things.
Speaker:And if you wanna contact the podcast or follow the podcast, actually…
Speaker:Uh, well, I'll do contact first.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:If you wanna contact the podcast, I've already told you, is
Speaker:onefjefpod@gmail.com or 669-241-5882.
Speaker:669-241-5882. That's kind of like a weird, like, John Cage or something.
Speaker:Um, not my best.
Speaker:Give it a call.
Speaker:Leave a voicemail.
Speaker:I may or may not play it on the air, as I deem.
Speaker:As I deem.
Speaker:Can I end the sentence with just as I deem, or do you
Speaker:need an extra word after deem?
Speaker:See, I am studying a language.
Speaker:Can deem work by itself?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Let me know if you want to, 669-241-5882.
Speaker:Let me know if deem can be used as a standalone word in the English language.
Speaker:Thank you very much in advance.
Speaker:And yeah, I, I think that's gonna be it for this week.
Speaker:Um, I know it's been kind of scattered and, uh, kind of short
Speaker:this week, and I think some people actually enjoy the shorter episodes.
Speaker:Maybe they don't.
Speaker:Just let me know, 'cause I have no idea what you like.
Speaker:What do you like?
Speaker:Please tell me, you the listener.
Speaker:If you're listening to this right now, please just take a minute
Speaker:right now or after you listen.
Speaker:Don't stop the podcast, of course.
Speaker:As soon as this is over, which is almost over, so y- be ready.
Speaker:Pick up the phone, 669-241-5882.
Speaker:Leave me a voicemail.
Speaker:Tell me what you like about the podcast.
Speaker:If you want me to play you on the air, just say so.
Speaker:Or send me an email at onefjefpod, a quick email, onefjefpod@gmail.com.
Speaker:Say, "I like when you do these episodes. I like when you do
Speaker:these." It really would help me.
Speaker:Like, I'll give you what you want, I mean, to a degree.
Speaker:I mean, let's see how far we can push it.
Speaker:If you have requests of what you'd like to hear, just let me know.
Speaker:I'll see if I can do that for you.
Speaker:I'll take requests.
Speaker:Why not?
Speaker:I mean, within the bounds of the podcast, you see?
Speaker:I'm not gonna go crazy here, right?
Speaker:Anyway, I would love to hear your feedback.
Speaker:Um, but I am getting more listeners, so thank you to all the-- welcome, and
Speaker:thank you to all the new listeners.
Speaker:Welcome to onefjef Nation or onefjef Squad or, I don't know, something like that.
Speaker:I think onefjef Nation's amazing.
Speaker:I mean, that's the thing to do, right?
Speaker:onefjef Nation.
Speaker:Anyway, yeah, thanks for listening.
Speaker:I hope you enjoy.
Speaker:Uh, this is not typical of the show.
Speaker:Well, maybe it is, actually.
Speaker:Maybe old listeners are thinking, "Yeah, Jef, this is exactly what the show is."
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Maybe it is.
Speaker:I clearly have not been reflexive enough, reflective enough when
Speaker:it comes to the podcast of late.
Speaker:I- maybe I don't.
Speaker:I should go back and listen to some of the episodes.
Speaker:Who am I kidding?
Speaker:I've listened to some of the old episodes, and whenever I listen
Speaker:to them, I'm like, "Goddamn, that was better than I thought it was.
Speaker:That's actually good." So I like the podcast.
Speaker:I like it, and isn't that what's important?
Speaker:I'm making a podcast that I enjoy.
Speaker:So if you enjoy it too, that's wonderful.
Speaker:Let me know
Speaker:And yeah, thank you for listening.
Speaker:Thank you for being a human being in this world, this chaotic, confusing world.
Speaker:Thank you for being a human being that gives me your ears every now and again.
Speaker:Um, and I am trying to find a quote of some sort or a, um, you know what
Speaker:I mean, to end the episode with.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:Oh, is this Carl Jung?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:My… I have this quote app, quotations app, where I can just-- somebody
Speaker:says something wacky, um, I can just write it down so I can remember it.
Speaker:I've got a ton in here.
Speaker:But my old quotation app became obsolete, so it stopped working.
Speaker:So I found a new one, and I've transferred them from the old app,
Speaker:but they transferred all weird.
Speaker:So some of the attri-attributions, um, are not accurate.
Speaker:But I think… Well, let me know if you think this is
Speaker:actually Carl Jung, um, famous psychotherapist, so forth and so on.
Speaker:But it's a good quote, whoever said it, but I think it was Carl Jung.
Speaker:So we'll go with that.
Speaker:"I'm not what happened to me. I'm what I choose to become."
Speaker:I'll see you next week Very good, Jeffrey
