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MESSAGE FORUM & BULLETIN BOARD soul trip california dreamin' knowledge is power aim for the sky love, man to your health seize the day capoeira my bloodline my buds my baby book life in club med SpRinG BrEaK kali kali kali random events ryanroweinrio Read Guestbook! Sign Guestbook! |
Mexico City. Taxis. Agua de horchata. Pyramids. Topes. People. Traffic. Parks and trees. Street vendors. More people. Bilingualism. Tourists. Buses. Metro stations. Price variations. Museums. Universities. INAH. Mountains. Geckos. Hot Latin Women. Licuados. Rain. Flash thunderstorms. Roundabouts. Crazier drivers than Montreal. Poverty. Parties. Paseo de la Reforma. Clubs. Dirty cops. If you listen to everything that EVERYONE says about Mexico City, then stay away. However, if you've got an adventurous spirit, don't fear the unknown, or just plain stupid, then you should visit Mexico City. That's when you'll find out your grandmother would have been safe here. The most dangerous thing about Mexico City is its pollution and its drivers. I took taxis several times, used public transportation on a daily basis, and drank the water. YEGADS! Actually, I've been drinking bottled water since I got to Mexico, but I haven't stopped brushing my teeth, accidentally swallowing while I shower, or keeping my mouth closed while I swim. I also haven't refused tomatoes, apples, and other washed fruits. I've eaten plenty of meat from vendors on the street. Tortas, tacos, quesadillas, comida corrida, whatever my insatiable appetite desired. Think I'm getting hungry again. Comida corrida translates loosely to home-cooked food. Most of the time it'll be a garage converted into a restaurant, and they serve a standard plate of meat stew, rice, and refried beans with tortillas (corn or flour, your choice). Basically they're cooking in their kitchen and serving it to you on their table. It's really cheap, it's really good, and beats McDonald's anyday. Rainy season. As soon as I hit the mainland, rain started to fall. I've been lucky so far and haven't really gotten caught in it. Others haven't had quite the same fortune. It's not just the rainy season, it's hurricane season. Hurricane Isidore devastated the city of Merida, in the Yucatan and Hurricane Kenna caused damage of US$50 million and injured 150 in Puerto Vallarta and San Blas. Imagine, I was in that area only two or three weeks ago. And I'm headed to the Yucatan next week. Was I born with a silver horseshoe up my arse? I'm white, and blond, with a backpack and earrings. This makes me an easy target for price-gouging. Go for the places that have their prices posted. My budget from now until Christmas is approximately US$15 per day, and that includes accomodations. It's doable. Central America is apparently a lot cheaper than Mexico so don't think I'll have much of a problem. I can always grab my harmonica and this little flute-like instrument I bought at Teotihuacan and entertain the locals for a few pesos. They'll pay me to stop playing (I'm not very musically-inclined). In Mexico City, I stayed for two weeks with my friend Mariana and her family. I can't thank them enough. Without their hospitality, I would have only been able to stay a few days, maybe 5 at the most. Big cities are expensive. So to them I dedicate this email. My first weekend with them they took me to their cottage. It's in the mountains on the outskirts of a town called Valle de Bravo. Mariana and her brother brought their friends Rafa and Marcela. We had an awesome time up there! Their house is beautifully situated directly on the shores of the lake. The weekend included speeding around the lake in a powerboat, relaxing by the pool at the marina, and visiting the cobble-stoned streets of Valle. It was also here that I finally found a pair of cheap sandals! I had been looking for some since Los Angeles. I will never get over the amount of mosquitoes that were up there. I should start a hummingbird farm and sell living-breathing-mosquito-killing machines to the highest bidders. I would make a fortune. I visited the zoo. Zoologico de Chapultepec is huge. And FREE! Remember the 20$ I didn't want to spend to get into the San Diego Zoo? Ha! I saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Actually no, the lions and tigers were hiding when I visited. This particular zoo by the way has a very successful panda breeding program (in captivity). The zoo is situated inside the Bosque de Chapultepec which itself is gigantic. It is home to a lake, the presidential palace (known as Los Pinos), and on its fringes sit the embassies of many world nations. In Mexico City, site of the 1968 Olympics, there is the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. This broad courtyard surrounded by high-rise buildings and the peaceful Tlatelolco housing complex holds the gory history of the massacre of as many as 300 student demonstrators. It occurred only ten days before the start of the Olympic Games. The student protesters had gathered to call for greater democracy in the Mexican government. The government of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz initiated military procedures to end the movement in the face of international attention. The official count of dead stands at 30. A monument to the event now stands on the site, surrounded by garbage, dog excrement, and broken pavement. In the same complex of buildings, I discovered an exhibit honoring Austrian exiles during World War II. Poets, novelists, and artists who had been sent from Austria by the Nazis because of their writings and expressions. These individuals were taken to many Latin American countries, among them Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Many of them never returned home, and made their lives in these countries, contributing to the social, artistic and cultural development of the cities in which they lived. Mexico City is soo big that I am sending this email in two parts. I'm not finished writing about the museums, Queretaro, Teotihuacan, and the Basilica de Guadalupe. Also, like I've mentioned in other updates on the website, I have over 300 pictures. Only a small portion of those are up. Please be patient. Oh yeah, check it out. My last night here, I was invited by a girl I didn't really know to a party in a part of town I wasn't familiar with. What's life if you don't take chances, right? I grabbed a cab and sailed on down to this massive house party. I showed up and obviously didn't know a soul there. The girl I knew had left and I was stuck at this party where beer was only 10 pesos, the music was hopping, and there were tons of hot Mexican girls. Let's put it this way. Try being blond in Mexico. It's really cool. :) I made friends with a whole bunch of people. In fact, half the people I met had visited, studied or had friends who live in Canada. And they really like us too! I met one group of girls, Barbara, Patty, and Ana, they were a whole bunch of fun. They convinced me to stay an extra couple of days, and they brought me to a Halloween party the following night. I got to see a real Mexican piñata! I also got to experience for the first time Mexico's corrupt police force. After the party, a couple of cops decided to give us a hard time for being in the car without the motor running. They asked us for the equivalent of 300 pesos ($30 American). Either that or 30 days in jail. I wasn't quite ready to pony up that easily, so I pleaded my case long enough for one of Barbara's friends to show up. Rodrigo's father happens to work for the federales... so he gave them a good talking to and we took off! The bad experience didn't seem to shake them. The next day they dragged me along to Xochimilco. If you come to Mexico and you've got a crew to chill with, COME HERE. South of the city, you show up and the scene is hundreds of young adults milling around drinking beer and shootin' the breeze. You buy your poison and this is where the fun starts. Xochimilco is a maze of canals and waterways among several small islands (at least that's what they looked like). You rent a trajinera, and pile onto it with 20 other people and just party your butt off. Bring your own supply of music and alcohol, and it's the recipe for a good time. The trajineras will take you out for as long as you want. Cost varies to size of boat and number of people in your party. Mexico really is MI CASA ES SU CASA. Sr. Ramírez, Sra. Ramírez, Mariana, Jose Pablo, thanks for Valle, thanks for Queretaro, thanks for Mega Gym, thanks for Coyoácan, thanks for new friends, thanks for everything!!! I'll never forget it... Congrats to Christine, Juan, and Alain. You will all receive postcards... There are others who wrote to me and will also get postcards as soon as I can get them out... Linda, Monica, Johanne and others... I forgot to thank MARSHALL in my last email. A big thank-you for directing me to Sandi's bookstore in Guadalajara to get the Lonely Planet. Barbará, Patty, and Aná - awesome meeting you girls... definitely have to keep in touch so you can party with me again in Mexico City, or perhaps in Montreal! |
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