It ain't Tijuana

Mexico City

Day 1
Arrival at 2:30
Subway to hostel at Zocalo
Dinner-Taqueria
Alameda/Centro Historico/Palacio de Bellas Artes

Day 2
Basque de Chapultepec
Museo Nacional de Anthropologia
Paseo de la Reforma
Lunch-Street food (Tortas y tortillas)
Parque Espana + Parque Mexico
Condesa
Lunch-Cantina with Rafael
Zona Rosa
Paseo de la Reforma back home

Day 3
Three Cultures Square
basilica de Guadalupe
Teotihuacan

8/27
공항에 내려서 2000페소(20만원) 을 깨느라 30분을 소비했다. 결과는 구지폐라 이제는 쓸수가 없다는것!! 그지폐는 정은이가 가져온 것인데 출처가 분명치 않다. 멕시코에 간다니 누군가 준것. 이제부터 우리의 지하철타기 공포가 시작되었다. 12000원하는 택시값을 아낀다고 200원하는 지하철을 탔다. 우리가 있는 호스텔까지 세번을 환승했는데 환승구간이 엄청 길었다. 한 번 환승에 5분은 걸렸던 것 같다. 거의 25키로에 족하는 가방을 들고다녔으니.. 나중에 멀미 구토 현기증 증상까지 생겼다. 댄은 호스텔에 도착하자마자 나한테 앞으로는 내 짐을 들어줄 수 없으니 짐을 줄이라고 했다. 헉,, 댄의 복대가 땀으로 다 젖어서 그안에 있는 여행자수표까지 완전 젖었다. 의자에 한장씩 올려놓고 말렸는데 좀 웃겼다.
멕시코시티 호스텔은 위치도 좋구 시설도 참 맘에 든다. 숙소에 도착하자마자 지하철타느라 고생한 나머지 오자마자 정은과 나는 짧은 반바지로 갈아입고 저녁을 먹으러 나갔는데 밖에 있는 남자들이 우리를 너무 쳐다봤다. 식당에서도 한남자가 정말 1분에 2번씩 흘끔흘끔 쳐다봤는데 주변을 보니 짧은 반바지를 아무도 안입어서 다들 그렇게 쳐다본듯했다. 날씨도 춥고 기분도 별로 좋지 않아서 호스텔에 가서 다시 반바지를 갈아입었다. 댄은 극심한 땀을 흘린 관계로 1시간정도 잠을 청하고 정은이와 나는 소칼로로 나갔다.
광장앞에 감동적인 멕시코 국기(이름이 뭘까?), 한 번도 태극기 보고 이런 감정 느낀 적 없는데 가슴이 찡했다 . 광장주변 가게를 돌아 보았다. 이렇게 많은 상점들이 한 지역에 이렇게 많은 것은 처음 보았다. 댠대단한 규모라 … 나중에 테오티우아칸 가는 길에 끝없이 이어지는 빈민촌 달동네를 보았다. 스케일이 한국 달동네와는 비교할 수없었다.

8/28

어제 저녁 일찍 잠을 청했다. 밤중에 여러번 깼다. 8명이 쓰는 방에 특히 20대 초반의 젊은이들(밤문화를 즐기는, 우리들이 이방에 열령대를 몹시 높였다는 특히 내가) 왔다갔다 부선하게 움직이는데 내잠을 깼다. 하지만 우리도 아침 7시부터 일어나서 전날 저녁 복수를 해주었다. 고의적이라 할 수 없는… 첫날 하는 사워라 이것 저것 서툴렀다. 내일 부터는 수건만 두루고 샤워장으로 직진(다음날 그렇게 했음)할 것이다. 하루종일 시내를걸었다. 유럽에 가본적 없는 댄은 많은 건축 양식에 반했다. 내가 처음에 멕시코시티를 우리의 일정에 넣었을 때 별로 안 내켜했니만…

As you can see from the pics above, we are knee deep in Mexico City. A few things of note that I've learned about the city:
As of 1995, Mexico City had the most polluted air in the world to the point that the air quality on 9 out of 10 days was classified as "unsafe" by environmental standards. It has since gotten better, although, as you can see from my feet above, there is still plenty of pollution in the air.

In 1968, students protesters were slaughtered at 3 Cultures Square at the (alleged)order of the President at that time, Luis Echeverria. This was supposedly in an attempt to prevent the protests from being covered by the international media prior to the 68 Olympics held in Mexico City and tarnishing the Games for the host. The suppression of protests succeeded, in so far as that the truth didn't come out until 1970 when the president left office. Hearing this, I thought of how Seoul students protested in 1988 before their nation hosted the Olympics, but with much more success. Many Koreans remember 1988 proudly in Seoul because it functioned as a coming out party for the "Hermit Kingdom" and the students protests for more democracy leading up to the games led to great strides in personal and political freedom within the nation. This is how many have hoped the 2008 Olympics in China would function, but you'll have to ask Gabel how that's working out. Still, I found the 20 year gap in emerging economies/democracies hosting the games (Mexico City 68, Seoul 88, Beijing 08) and each nation's reaction to protests leading up to the games to be interesting.

Outside of the Centro Historico, Mexico City reminds me of South East Asia (Thailand and the Phillipines specifically). I think it's the wide avenues, "functional" modern architecture, pollution, and vegetation. It's not the climate because its surprisingly mild here, due to being at 2000 ft.. It feels like early October in Cleveland/NYC. I did not expect this, but it's quite a pleasant surprise.

Centro Historico, Alameda, and Zocalo are beautiful and I'm glad we're staying around all these places because they were our first impression of the city. Zocalo is the main square and it is as grand as grand can be. This is what we walked up into after riding the subway from the airport (more on that later), and I was blown away by the size of this square and the old colonial architecture. Walking around, the details in each building and the charms of each alley and street were amazing. Alameda, the largest park in Centro Historico was also a nice introduction to the city. Within the park are the monument pictured above and Palacio de Bellas Artes, a grandiose theatre/arts center that is also pictured above. I think the reason this all impressed me so much is because pretty much everywhere I've traveled is "new." By "new," I mean, not old like Europe. I've travelled Asia and the US quite extensively and all the "old" things I've seen are asian structures. I've never seen the old European style architecture. Most people who've traveled to Europe would enjoy The Centro Historico, but not to the degree that I did. It felt completely new to me.

To save money, we took the subway from the airport to the hostel with about 100 lbs. of luggage. This was stupid. Don't ever do this, especially when taxis cost very little (we saved about $11). A few notes on the subway, because I believe subways and airports teach us about what cities are and what they aspire to be. The Mexico City subway system is efficient and fairly clean. However, when you transfer between lines at each station you have to walk between 500-1000m. I do not think this is an exaggeration, although the fact that we were lugging 100 lbs. of luggage and had to transfer 3 times may have made the distance between lines seem longer.

Of course I have to talk about the food. Street tortillas and tortas (pictured above) were the highlight so far, and yes Mores, communication in this situation was an adventure, but in a good way. The women making these were unbelievably friendly and as Sue said, "had very kind faces." I couldn't agree more, although I found the kindness of their cooking to have made more of an impression. We also enjoyed a more common meal in Condesa, a seemingly gentrified area where we met my former co-worker Erin's fiance Rafael. He was a great host and ordered us up some excellent "cantina" food that we enjoyed with some tequila served with lime juice and Clamato. Tasty! Our other great food experience was a family style meal on a tour of Teotihuacan. This was a great chance to sample a lot of different dishes, all of which were delicious, but all of which I have forgotten the names of. I should have taken notes, but I was too busy chowing down.

Teotihuacan was nice, but not as great as we would have hoped. It was once the largest city in North America (somewhere between 100,000-500,000 people )and has been in the process of being excavated for over 100 years. It also contains the 3rd largest pyramid (in mass, not height) in the world. Impressive in theory, but when we got there, I found myself bored. It was a mini-accomplishment to climb the pyramid (which wasn't that hard, but killed my lungs for some reason), but overall, not that great.

I think the reason I didn't enjoy the pyramids all that much is because anthropology and artifacts usually don't float my boat. I know its ignorant, but my general feeling is, "seen one clay pot, seen them all." Therefore, I was leery of the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia. I shouldn't have been, because what I've come away with so far from there and my other experiences is how vibrant and colorful all aspects of Mexican life are. The dress, architecture, paintings, churches, etc. are all totally different from their European counterparts. They don't feel historical. They feel alive. I never thought I'd enjoy wandering around a church, but when it's in the Moorish style, or contains tribal elements in color, it's much more interesting. These Tribal/European hybrids can be found everywhere: clothes, art, food, etc. and I think it's a great place for us to start our voyage.

A note on the Swill: Beer is decent, although I was looking forward to more Dos Equis. It's hard to find and a little more expensive than other beers. The tequila i've tried had been smooth, lending to the theory that American's idea of tequila isn't tequila at all.

Yet to come (Days 4 and 5). . .
Coyoacan
Plaza Garibaldi
San Angel
Mercado de la Merced