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Published: August 1st 2006
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Whew! I survived the weekend! It was a wonderful one, but definitely one that left me feeling muy cansada esta mañana! As mentioned, the weekend kicked off with a giant fiesta here at the school. And....the rumors of the mariachi band were true!! As we were all stuffing our faces with the delicious food from the cooks, a 12-man mariachi group strutted out onto the patio and had us all up and on our feet in only a few seconds!! Never have I seen such an amazing, up-close performance by so many talented Mexican musicians! It was fun seeing everyone in a different environment than the normal school one. Teachers, staff and students were all cutting loose and just having a great time dancing the night away. And the fun continued for hours and hours, despite the rain!
Fiestas are great, but waking up early isn't quite as fun. We basically all just took brief naps before hopping on buses to head to Mexico City. Anne, Jordan, Ashley and I said good-bye to our dear Sonya at the airport and then ventured out into the city to conquer the city's transportation system. After 5 transfers and a lot of concentration,
Mexico City protests
Just a couple million people.... we found our hostel which was conveniently right behind the catedral, one block from the zócalo. We checked in and headed back out to the city for a scrumptous breakfast of café, pan (bread), and CAKE!! at Café de Tacuba. The café is a restored mansion full of antiques, paintings, and handpainted tiles. ¡Qué bonita!
Our main goal for the day was to make it to Xochimilco, a city about 15 miles SE of the city. It's known as the "Place of Flowers" and is the last place one can see the remains of the system of canals and engineered garden plots from Lake Texcoco. Xochimilco is best known for the trajineras (punts) that float up and down the canals, full of fun and family festivities on the weekends. And I was pleased to see that what my travel book had said was true....Mexican families use the trajineras and canals as a way of winding down from the work week. I found that the majority of the trajineras were full of large Mexican families, not tourists like ourselves. Dave (Thomas), you had asked if it's romantic there. I guess I would have to say that Yes, it could be
with the gentleness of the boat ride and the beauty of the water and flowers, but I personally found it to be more family oriented. I was completely entraced with all the families just enjoying life and each others presence. There was this one boat in particular that definitely caught my eye. It was a boat with (what appeared to be) an older mother and her three grown sons. I just kept thinking that a sight like that is much more difficult to find in the United States. Perhaps I am wrong, but from my experiences I've found that it's much more common to see that here than back home - three grown sons spending a Saturday afternoon with their mother.
Bargaining for a cheap ride on the trajineras allowed us to make a new friend, Eva, a woman from Barcelona living here in Mexico to study Shrimpology. Yes, that’s right…she’s study shrimp at the PhD. level. That’s a whole lotta shrimp!!! She was heading to Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño after the canal ride, so we decided to follow. Dolores Olmedo was an art teacher in Mexico City, as well as a friend of Diego Rivera. Her house in
Xochimilco is now a museum, filled with photos of her travels, a plethora of items made of ivory, and muchas pinturas by Rivera. The museum was well worth the struggle we had with the woman at the ticket booth who had NO change… Grrr.
It was all we could do Saturday evening to make it back to the hostel in hopes of finding food nearby. But luckily we were being watched over and we quickly stumbled upon a Chinese buffet. And let me tell you….the servers there have probably never seen a group of Americans consume so much food in such a short amount of time!!!! We demolished that buffet. (And no…for those of you wondering, I did NOT fall in love over the Cashew Chicken!) After feeding time we were exhausted and hit the hay early. At 9PM. On a Saturday night. We’re pretty wild like that.
Sunday morning began (at 6AM) with the sounds of Kenny G floating into our windows in the hostel. Why?! Your guess is as good as mine. We believe the cooks in the kitchen were behind the madness, but since they were able to fill our bellies full of fruit loops and toast, we forgave them. There was a lot of hustle and bustle outside the hostel as well…mainly because a couple million people were congregating a block away in the zócalo for a major protest of the recent presidential election. Our curiosity led us in that direction, but our sanity caused us to back off pretty quickly for fear of being swallowed by the masses.
Our first stop of the day was the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, which houses the cloak of Juan Diego with the Virgin’s image clearly visible. And just like Dave had always told me, those wanting to see the cloak that’s located in the back of the church behind the main altar have to hop on a moving sidewalk just like a ride at Disneyland!! But seriously, being in the Basilica was really interesting and educational. The appearance of the Virgin to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in 1531 began the belief that is now central in Mexican Catholicism. It was so astounding to watch entire families crawl on their knees to the Basilica as a way of honoring their faith and the Virgin herself. Apparently 15 million people make the pilgrimage to Tepeyac Hill every year!!
Another ride on the metro put us in Coyocán, a suburb that’s home to both domestic and international artists and journalists. The city had an artistic ambiance and I loved all the colorfully painted houses. But the cobalt blue house where Frida Kahlo was born and died had our attention for the afternoon. It was full of her personal items, such as her illustrated diary, love letters to and from Diego, and even her body cast that she wore and decorated after her tragic accident. There weren’t as many of her paintings there as I would have liked to have seen, but overall I would give the Museo Frida Kahlo two thumbs up.
Finally, after a quick stroll through the mercado, it was time to leave the 22 million people behind and head back to the seemingly sleepy town of Cuernavaca. A cheap (~$5!!!) bus ride back got us home in time for la cena and a good night’s rest.
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Carlie
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I miss Mexico!!
Sounds like you guys had fun in Mexico city! I'm SO jealous that you're still in Cuernavaca - I miss it there SO much! Miss you and Anne, too - hope you guys keep having a fabulous time, and I'll keep tabs on you through here. ;) So don't forget to share details, and say hi to Erica, Martin, Jessi, and Yeri for me!