Transit, The D.F. and other odds and ends

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The Metro

Although we took the Metro to Coyocan to see Frida´s house, the glory of the system did not make its full impact upon me until Mario led
Tessa and I to the National Museum of Anthropology, which in itself is very cool, containing giant phallic statues, stone heads, and giant stone boxes full of knives. In the metro, having 1 through 9 or 12 and A through H different lines with intersecting stations, there are
people selling anything imaginable. The bravest of these entrepreneurs, enter the trains and sell peanuts, chocolates, discos
compactos, and DVD's. (I finally discovered the apostrophe key!) The carpet baggers selling music and videos actually walk through the
trains with miniature sound systems and if they are selling video discs, portable DVD players with screens. Each sales-person has their
own rhythmic poem describing the items for sale and the prices...

On a particular line a blind man selling Norteño music had been on in our car for a stop when a younger man pawning reggaetone entered the car at the other door. The blind salesman quickly pushed his way through the crowded car towards the other vendor and started pushing on him, shouting an insult about his music and the occupation of his mother. At the next stop the blind salesman pushed the meek reggaetone vendor out of the car, but not before the ejected was about to pull out a sucker-punch right hook at the ejector and hit him dead in the ear. Color is everywhere on the metro. And whole it can get hot and steamy, it is surprisingly clean and lacking of the sulphurous smells that emanate the rest of the Federal District.

Basilica of the Virgen

Wow. Tessa was not feeling well on Wednesday, so Mario and I decided to head out to see our old Catholic Mother, The Virgin of Guadalupe. After several metro transfers, some chopped-up, chilli-ed mango in a bag, and wondering for several blocks we came upon the Basillica and all of the surrounding stalls selling Mary, Jesus, and Saintly memorabilia and idols. The gate to the courtyard of the church was surrounded by federalies with fully-automatic M-16s of the civilian variety. Mario and I took photos of each other in front of the original church dedicated to the Virgin and then we had fun taking pictures of a statue of Pope John Paul II. We then followed a large
group of French youths into the Basilica. A lady was fervently preaching in a small cloister; Mario related that she was asking the
believers ´´What would have happened if Mary got an abortion?´´ Hmm. Maybe God would have found someone with more faith.

So, there is quite a bit of seismic activity that occurs in Mexico D.F., but the density of the scaffolding in the Basilica only makes
one question the glory of the Almighty? From the number of horizontal and vertical pipes in a square foot, one would be lead to believe that the entire Basilica was made of graham crackers. We got our 15 seconds in front of a reproduction of Juan Diego's poncho and then out to the right, where there was a gift shop on our left. The new church, which sits on the left has the color of OZ and Mario thought
the architecture resembled a circus tent. I have to agree with the sentiment. Even in mystical Mexico some buy and sell faith.

Bus ride to Oaxaca City

Tickets for a First Class ADO were obtained 7 minutes before departure. Luggaged was checked, the guitar obtained for 650 pesos was refused. It was taken aboard by the hand of the owner, your humble narrator. The seats were plush and more comfortable than those
employed by the airline. Three movies were shown on board. The first a Korean film, dubbed into Spanish, the second a Canadian film, with Spanish subtitles, and the third an American film dubbed into Spanish.

The country side is very different from the Cuidad. First there are little barrios all made from masonry bricks of the grey variety. The
fancier buildings have brightly colored plaster on the exterior, while the more humble one's sometimes are coated with white paint and
rainbow colored graffiti, that when observed more closely are advertisements for politicians running in upcoming elections and local
musical groups.


These scenes pop up intermittently, but now nature and farms take over. Maize and other green crops are seen frequently, dotted with
pastures of goats, sheep, and cows, in order of decreasing appearance. The soil varies from vibrant orange-red to cool granite green, and when roads have been cut through the hills, lines of sediment are exposed, revealing thousands of years of semi-stationary existence. The natural flora are awe inspiring. Cati with oblong blades sit upon wooden trunks, agave (or maguay depending upon whom you ask) push spears covered with yellow to orange flowers, to the overcast sky. All types of deciduous shrubs and mesquite cover the hills and the mountains. In certain stretches of valleys tall and narrow Cati are so dense that it
appears a forest fire had burned through heavily pined area ten years prior. Having read many works of Dr. Seuss as a child, I am led to
believe that he consumed prolific amounts of hallucinogenics in the natural settings of the Mexican south.

-end transmission-

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Comments

[Tony]

Great Blog! Blogosphere! I think Degenkolb worked on reconstructing after a Mexico City earthquake back in the 70's. Pretty mundane factoid, but I thought I'd still post it. The weather has been pretty shitty in SF, but I still bike about. Miss you man!