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Published: June 10th 2008
Main Cathedral
The Main Cathedral in the main plaza, Zocolo, of Mexico City. Hey all, college graduate speaking! Besides some complications with the tired immune system, the end of the term went pretty smoothly. All those projects that I waited until the last two weeks to start seemed to come together miraculously (I could have studied more for my Spanish test and presentation), but I think I managed to pull off some low A´s nonetheless, finally finishing my first chunk of school.
Just some catch up of the last couple weeks. Our last excursion was a three day weekend to Mexico City, which many people call D.F. (pronounced Day Effay) for District Federal. It gets confusing, however, when the locals call it simply Mexico. They also call Mexico state (where Mexico City is located) Mexico. So, when a local is interested in your trip to his country and he asks you "Have you ever been to Mexico," your natural response is "Duh, I´m in Mexico", but eventually you get the hang of it.
So, fifth biggest city in the world, pretty scary to this small-island girl, and I was picturing something like Guadalajara, but it treated me pretty well. I think it helped that one of the days we escaped to
Templo Mayor.
The reconstruction of the main Aztec temple found under an abandoned building, in the middle of the modern metro center. the outskirts to view the archaelogical reconstructions of the pyramids, abandoned during the conquest and buried with 500 years of erosion, only to be found and reconstructed according to historical plans. The place was truly magical, calm and relaxed despite the hoards of tourists and equally hoardish venders. It was amazing to think that once upon a time people built these just using a little bit of rock and slave labor! For me, it was also amazing that centuries later, we rebuilt them using a little bit of dynamite and heay machinery. We did a lot of stairstepping that day, and despite fighting a little Montecsuma´s revenge and desperately rushing to the sparsely placed bathrooms, the views were amazing.
The city itself was amazing also. One local told me that D.F. has more museums than any other city in the world, and whether this is true or not, we certainly got a little taste of museum hopping (pleasant for me because of the abundant bathroom situation). To name a few, the house where Frida Kahlo grew up, and later lived with Diego Rivera, the museum of anthropology (with tons of rock carvings from the ancient civilizations), and the Palacio
Templo Mayor.
Tenoctitlan (sp?) was the center of the Aztec city started on an island in the middle of a lake, where the "Gods" said to found the city. Some think that this prophecy was a way of disguising the fact that the only land left to build on was the crappy land in the middle of a lake. Nacional (with tons of Diego Rivera murals). Some of the other sites included ruins right inside the city. The Plaza de Tres Culturas is named so because in one plaza there buildings from ancient, colonial, and modern time period. What happened is that after years of erosion, the more modern and colonial Mexico City was constructed, later to be discovered on top of ruins of pyramids and temples. Some buildings were subsequently destroyed in order to reconstruct these ancient artifacts, but there is much speculation as to what lies beneath the rest of the city, for example, the main cathedral, which they will never tear down. There comes a certain limit when the preservation of history is in conflict with the advancement of present culture.
Overall, I really liked D.F., lots of diversity and lots of really nice places in the city to walk around (or get lost in, as Lauren and I found out trying to find a place to get her ear re-pierced). We ate well, slept well, and learned a lot, which lends to a very satisfied feeling after an excursion.
The next two weeks in Morelia were dedicated to finding the balance between dancing
Palacio Nacional.
Diego Rivera mural, including in his history of Mexico scenes from all different epochs. all night long, and finding time to finish (or start) term projects. It all came together, however, and we bid farewell to half our group this past weekend, while a few stayed to wait for visiting boyfriends or enjoy the city without the burden of school. I finally packed up and moved out of my host family´s house on Sunday. They couldn´t understand why I didn´t want to stay in their house for the next couple days, but I was too anxious to start traveling already and living independently, so Terra and I checked into an awesome hostel right in El Centro, only about five blocks from the main cathedral. We are each paying about $9 (US) a night, with a kitchen, hot water showers, free drinking water, and super nice employees. We went shopping at a little local market the other day to buy fruits and veggies to make a stirfry, then to a small store to buy eggs that they gave us in a little plastic baggie, and then to a Tortilleria right up the street to buy about 20 fresh tortillas for the equivalent of about 50 cents. It feels good to be shopping this way, not
Palacio Nacional.
Diego Rivera, showing the way of life of pre-conquest indigenous people. in the huge supermarkets that are all owned by Walmart anyways.
On a personal note, I´ve been feeling a little disoriented and nervous for my trip. It´s easy when all my friends are returning home to their loved ones to fantasize about doing the same. Being away from home is teaching me how attached I am to the people who are close to me and who I love. But I also realize that I haven´t even started traveling yet, and there´s still a lot of adventure and personal change to come. I´m excited to get out of the city and start exploring less modernized areas, and finally be on some beaches! So, to all my friends and family and loved ones, I love you and miss you all, and I´ll talk to you from Oaxaca!!
Til next time, Michelle
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