When I first step on the soil of Mexico in April 2018, precisely in the capital, Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX) my first impression is ' Wow, nice weather!' thanks to its high altitude location.And since we just completed a grueling 30+ hours flight journey with one transit (KUL-LHR-MEX) and 3 kids in tow including a 45 days old baby, we just skip the amusement later and focused to cure our jetlag..
Luckily the company provides a decent apartment in the heart of Polanco, a nice neighbourhood in CDMX... wikipedia describes Polanco as this :
Polanco is an affluent neighborhood in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City. Polanco is an upscale community, famed for its luxury shopping on Avenida Presidente Masaryk, one of the most expensive streets in the Americas, as well as for the numerous prominent cultural institutions located within the neighborhood, such as the Museo Soumaya and the Colección Jumex. Polanco is often called the "Beverly Hills of Mexico", having one of the country's densest concentrations of luxury shopping, with the most Michelin star restaurants, high-net-worth individuals, upscale hotels, and diplomatic missions and embassies. Additionally, it is one of the most desirable real estate markets in Latin America.
Well, I must admit the neighborhood is pretty cool and most locals and expats living here are loaded with money (us excluded). I like the fact that there is a 24 hours supermarket located at ground floor of our apartment, a posh branded boutique mall beside our building and many green parks around us.. also I like the fact that most people walk or ride bicycles everywhere. They have an efficient public transports like buses and metro,but if you're a first timer and outsiders please be more aware of your belongings as you can be easily spotted - not by your looks though because our skin complexion might be quite similar with Mexican, but the fact that you cant speak their language and also if you wear tudung like me.
After few days, the reality hit me. As this is my first time actually living abroad, i just realized that visiting foreign countries is NOT the same as actually living in a foreign country.. I immediately realize the challenges - language barriers, security and safety issues, lack of halal food and muslim community, not many Malaysians around, different culture and high living cost..the list goes on and on. Additional challenge for me to adapt with my just habis pantang baby! Overall it took me 4 months to battle my emotional issues.. I settled down when my kids are safe in school, even the baby went to school when she was 5 months old, and this mommy joined the bandwagon of newly enrolled students! Yay!
I enrolled for Spanish class mainly to talk to my kids' teachers and also for other domestic chores as well like buying groceries and ordering food. This was when I felt like human again, enjoying my me time before the chaos begin again when I fetched the kids from school at around 3pm. Good thing is the language centre, CEPE was also in the neighborhood, about 20 mins walking or 10 mins on bike.
As time goes by, more Malaysians were coming hence we made more friends, some even turned family. Our weekends were filled with jalan2 inside and outside the city.. or small gatherings among ourselves... i will furnish the jalan2 part more later...
After 2 years, we started to feel at ease with our routine here.. but of course never a day passed without me thinking about Malaysia, my families, the food and my job that I left temporarily...
to be continued😎
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