As we approached the city by bus, I really didn’t know exactly to expect from a city with almost the population of Canada. Other then it was going to be big and that most people we talked to felt that it was not very safe. We had done a lot preparation for this part of the adventure. Once we arrived in the historic district, it was a lot easier when we started to look at the city in pieces, as neighborhoods or by activities, just like any adventure.
One thing that was not expected is that the great city does sleep, but the city workers don’t. Catherine has mentioned this in her post, so no need to repeat the story in-depth. Overall Mexico is noisy, but Mexico City takes the amp volume up to 11. There was noise almost 24 hrs a day in the downtown core. By about the 3rd night the noise started to fade into the background. You have a choice: either forget about it or just get up and do something until you are so tired that you go back to sleep. I certainly noticed right away that there were waves of people selling things, bands in the streets, and public protests the size of a tsunami. I figure when there are so many people the constant noise just becomes part of life for the locals.
In terms of public demonstrations mentioned above, on one of our first nights we walked out of the hotel into what seemed to be a flood of people as far as you could see. Realizing that the doormen were laughing and not locking the doors to the hotel, we figured that this must be somewhat normal. In fact it was the electricians guild (union) that was marching very peacefully for different rights and in support of a political party. Both the level of passion and the noise were amazing. The march went on for over 20 minutes with motorcycles spinning through the crowd and people dressed in costumes shouting into bullhorns. We walked in the other direction, but it would have been interesting to have had followed that crowd. Over the next couple of days there were different protests and parades down our street, including a Zombie parade where thousands of people dressed up and in their best zombie walk, moaned the length of the street.
One of the most unique and interesting experiences for me was when we went to see the Belles Arties gallery and the murals of Diego Rivera. While sitting in from of one of his most important works – Man at the Crossroads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_at_the_Crossroads , a small Mexican man approached us and asked if we wanted to know about the mural. We were not sure if this would be a costly “yes”, but we decided to see. It worked out that the man was a retired history professor and just simply loved telling people about the public art in the city. It also works out that seniors get many free services in Mexico including free admission to galleries and other public exhibits. R2 (as I started calling him) explained the mural in such detail, running from one end of the mural to the other and asking us questions about different elements. By the end of R2’s presentation, I was left speechless and shocked at the level of detail that had been put into the piece of art from the early 1930’s that basically outlined most of the major international issues that would occur in the next 50 years.
Over the next couple of days were ran into R2 multiple times and he took us to other locations to see Diego’s art and gave us a glimpse into Mexican culture that we would otherwise never had seen.
We met up with our friend Matias Gonzalez’s family during our stay and the Gonzalez’s (Simon, Diana, Ina, and Paco) were amazing tour guides. We visited a small “hippy” town south of Mexico City. En route through a mountain pass we experienced our first rain in our 3 weeks in Mexico…and did it ever rain. Visibility was reduced to about 10 feet and we came out of it hoping that the worst weather was over for the day. We got to the small town to see that sky had parted and we thought it would be ok. Until the wind switched again and within a couple of minutes the downpour had followed us from the mountain pass soaking everything including the market vendors in the town. We jumped into the entrances of a couple of different storefronts around the local market as street vendors desperately tried to cover up their products. Diana and me were in one storefront and Catherine and Simon in another. All of a sudden Catherine and Simon ran by in the rain hollering something about ice cream. It seemed like a decent idea and we all started running down the street until we came to the most wonderful ice cream shop that was packed with people eating ice cream and watching the street turn into a river. After about 20 minutes the rain stopped and we started out to see the town. As quick as all of the vendors had covered their products, everyone was back in business.
After touring some of the market and the stalls with roasted grasshoppers snacks that were actually yummy, we then went to see a cathedral and there was a wedding going on. We made a decision that it was inappropriate to crash weddings in Mexico and we went to see the adjacent building that had been turned from a convent into a local museum. It was beautiful and lots to see including a garden with a variety of fruit trees, and a rare look at guava trees.
After a good walk through the tourist shop, we walked out in front of the church to see a number of musicians and performers. At first we were thought for certain that the performers were there for the wedding until we saw a funeral procession walking to the church while the wedding was finishing. Oh my god! We anticipated a religious train wreck. The funeral parade got to the doors of the church and then suddenly stopped and moved to the side, likely realizing that the times for the two events were overlapping somehow. It was like watching a car crash between the pope’s bullet proof car and a bus full of nuns at 5 km per hour, and with that we decided to get out of there before conversations started regarding the scheduling and if the priest was drinking.
We had gone back and forth on seeing bull fighting, but it was an experience that could not be passed up. We had gotten tickets online and we were not sure about our exact seats, but it was really cold and overcast as we headed to the Arena. We got there and started looking for our seats and I thought that they were in the lower bowl. As it worked out they were in a covered balcony and a little far from the action. An usher walking us down the row farther and farther until he came to the two seats at the end. Looking up, we were less than 3 feet from the band’s drum kit and this was going to be an experience, a loud one. Within about 20 minutes the bullfighters were talking the field and it started to rain. All of a sudden the band didn’t seem so bad, as we were in the only dry place in the crowd and the band was actually really good!
I couldn’t help but go for the bulls knowing that the deck was drastically stacked against them. In one of the matches, a bull would not go down, no matter what punishment was put against it. The crowd’s anger started to turn on the Bull Fighter for not being able to finish the match in proper form. The bullfighter was expected to kill the bull with a single thrust of a sword into back of the bull’s head and this was like a “Kids in the Hall” or “Monty Python” skit after about 20 stabs. All of a sudden there were foam set mats, beer glasses, and other merchandise was flying at the bullfighter from everywhere and he walked of the field in disgrace to a chorus of da da da ..da da. The bull was taken off via another exit, a proud walk, only to be killed at the end of the corridor. Not a good ending, but something nice to know that at least one Bull won in the ring. The band played a different song this time and it must have been a song for when a bull wins. They were all looking for the sheet music and cues from the conductor. It was a song that is not usually played.
We decided to stay 2 extra days in Mexico City to go to the Lucha Libre. This was something I was looking forward to since going out at Nacho Libre last Halloween. We met up with our friends and went to the arena. Picking up a couple of masks on the way to make sure we could completely get into the festivities. It was everything that could be expected, except for no midgets. This was ok, because the crowd and the wrestlers made up for it. The costumes were fantastic and the acrobatic abilities of some of the wrestlers were Cirque de Soleil quality. The crowd and the fighters tossed verbal jabs back and forth and often the wrestlers even ended up fighting in the front row of the crowd. At one point a mother took her small baby girl in a pink Mexican wrestler mask to the ring, said something to the largest wrestler in the ring. He then held the baby up over his head in the ring as the crowd went wild. So many things happened at this just one event that would have gotten the organizers in trouble with Canadian authorities and on the evening news. We got all of that excitement and also 1-liter beers for the equivalent of 4 dollars.
After over a week in Mexico City, I am still absorbing everything that I saw and experienced. It is an amazing place with a lot of international potential. I certainly feel like I experienced much more than I would have ever expected in a week. To truly understand the city you would likely need much more time.
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