México, D.F. Dia uno.

I woke up bright an early this morning at 4:10am, nearly half an hour before the alarm was timed to go off. In fact, I pretty much cat napped through the night. Too excited to sleep.

No point lingering in bed so I got up and got ready. SuperShuttle was due to arrive between 5:15a and 5:30a. I passed the time laid out on the couch, trying to cram in a few minutes more of rest.

¡Vamos!

Se trata de las 5 am y estoy esperando a que mi viaje al aeropuerto. Después de 4 meses de planificación y de espera, no puedo esperar para finalmente llegar a México!

México, allá voy!

It is 5 am and I am waiting for my ride to the airport. After 4 months of planning and waiting, I cannot wait to finally get to Mexico!

Mexico, here I come!

Manta.

This picture is of a small stone ray, a gift from my friend and colleague Andres when he return from  trip to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. He gave me two of the little rays. This one I keep at home and the other one graces my desk in my office. I love these two little rays - they make me smile whenever I look at them.

When I decided to go to Mexico, I wondered if there were really rays in the waters there and if so what kind. Turns out not only are there rays in Mexico, they have the monster of rays swimming in the waters off the Yucatán Penisula.  Oh yeah. We're talking the giant manta ray!!

Cuisine.

Diana Kennedy,Susana Trilling, and Rick Bayless knew it before the rest of us even had a clue; that Mexican cuisine is something very special that deserves to be preserved and treasured as a matter of cultural heritage.