El Centro

So, I'm a little behind on blogs.  I recently had to go to the Palacio Federal to get finger printed for my resident paperwork.  This means I had to go to a part of town called, "El Centro".  This area used to be the center of town way back when the Spaniards were still here.  I only saw a small part of it as I was in and out, but I'm definitely going back.  I'm sad I didn't have my camera as this area is full of ancient, gorgeous buildings as well as ancient cathedrals.  Even the government office I went to would rival the white house in awesome architecture.  Luckily I started up a good conversation with the taxi driver and he pointed out interesting sites.  Before we got into "El Centro" we passed this beautiful fountain and statue in a round about.  Absolutely stunning.  Behind it there is a towering wall with beautiful arced openings for traffic.  The taxi driver explained that this used to be the city entrance way back when.  Anyway, needless to say, I felt like the ultimate tourist.  Head out the window and gawking.  There are wonderfully situated parks with a lot of statues and many other architectural pieces to look at.  There was just too much to see as we were flying by in a taxi.

On a similar note, the experience at the government office was interesting.  First of all, you had to wait in line for one of the two elevators.  Apparently it's so busy there's a elevator "helper" to ensure only the right amount of people get on the elevator each time.  Once there, it was the typical government experience.  One thing that made me laugh is that in getting my finger prints, they used this very permanent blue ink.  Now getting one finger printed... fine, whatever.  However, I had to get all 10 of my digits recorded.  Afterwards, they give me a kleenex to wipe it off.  Um... Really?  One of the least sturdy cleaning utensils ever.  So, I attempt to clean off my hands and end up with really blue fingers and one very shredded kleenex.

Once I was done, I found the stairs (the elevator took forever on the way up... wasn't going to make that mistake on the way down too).  Once back downstairs, I moved to find a bathroom.  Interestingly enough it's in the basement... so basically the furthest it could possibly be from wherever you are.  However, I took the time, cause I was afraid I'd get blue all over everything I touch.  Once I found the bathroom, I scrubbed and scrubbed and the blue would not come off.  So, I settled for having blue fingers the rest of the day and maybe through the weekend (it was a Friday).  In the end it lasted through about Sunday.  I'm pretty sure it would've lasted longer if I hadn't cleaned my apartment on Saturday (using Clorox and other stringent products).  I'm not exactly sure why it's so important to use such strong ink, but hey I guess if I do something wrong they really want to make sure they can find me.  I'm assuming through my blue fingers and not the actual print.