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Published: October 29th 2012
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Mexico City Finance Center
Many skyscrapers line the main street in Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma. It’s my second day in Mexico City and there is just so much to do. For the first part of the day I decided to put on my fanny pack and head to the infamous Anthropology Museum of Mexico. In order to get there I decided to take the city tour bus which you can ride all day for $165 pesos or about $14 USD. Not real expensive but I can eat 3 meals a day for less than $100 pesos. Anyways, I got lucky by meeting a cute (not hot) Mexican chica from Colima, Mexico. She was with a group of youth who were from various areas of Mexico, all recently graduated college, and they were working for the Legislature. Well, the group had one leftover ticket and it went to the gringo!
I talked with the girl who was named Claudia and I asked her what her favorite place was in Mexico. She said Monterrey because it is very clean and organized unlike Mexico City. She is probably right because Monterrey is the wealthiest city in Mexico and it has the most U.S. influence; however, currently it is home to many drug-traffickers. I'll still add it
to my list of places to visit because there is nothing like sitting in a Taco Bell in Mexico amongst drug-traffickers (And yes Monterrey has a Taco Bell)!
The Anthropology Museum was quite interesting and I decided to rent headphones so I could learn more about what I was seeing. Everything was divided into sections and while the Aztec and Mayan exhibits are the most popular, I actually enjoyed the exhibit on the cultures of Northern Mexico the most. This is most likely because of my trips out to Sedona, Arizona, where Indian ruins are plenty. Moreover, the nomadic groups in Sedona were quite similar to the Pre-Hispanic nomadic groups in Northern Mexico. For instance, they both lived in cave dwellings and the cave dwelling replicas at the Anthropology Museum were fantastic. My favorite exhibit feature was the Painted Cave which was a cave with the most spectacular paintings ever found in Northern Mexico. Also the replica of a structure from the ancient city of Paquime was very interesting. Paquime was an adobe-like city that was once the largest in Northwest Mexico and had one of the most sophisticated irrigation systems ever known.
It met a sudden and violent end and was burned to the ground. Its inhabitants, which numbered over 3,000, were mostly killed and left unburied. Another interesting part of the exhibit was the model and artifacts of The Cave of the Windows, a cliff dwelling consisting of 16 structures located some 300 feet above a stream. I can explain more, but it would take pages to describe everything I saw in this museum.
After the Anthropology Museum I decided to walk up to El Castillo de Chapultepec for views of the city. The views were nice and it was fascinating to see the huge urban sprawl of Mexico City in all directions. Otherwise I was ready to get away from the tourist crowd and just walk around some of the neighborhoods.
My plan was to eventually make it to Coyoacan, a suburb that was once home to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Leon Trotsky. I didn't make it there. Instead I ended up wandering through the Zona Rosa and Roma neighborhoods on my way towards La Condesa neighborhood. Zona Rosa is the gay barrio and there were street vendors displaying gay porn
Graffiti Building
An old rundown building in Roma magazines. I'm nearly certain that in 99% of Latin America and probably even Mexico, this would not be tolerated. The Roma neighborhood was a bit more rundown and my favorite sight was a rundown, graffiti filled building. It was also cool to see posters for the U.S. band, The Temper Trap. Lastly was La Condesa which is more affluent. La Condesa was also very shaded and there were many upscale cafes. However, the best part of the walk was the Alebrijes which were temporarily exhibited along the main street of Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma. An Alebrije is a paper mache creature that takes on folkloric appearances. They originated in a small village outside of Oaxaca city...I hope to make it there later this week!
Unintentionally, I saved the best part of the day for last. Since I arrived back at my hotel somewhat early, I decided to go to a cantina called La Faena. A cantina is an old-school bar that use to exclude women. La Faena is a hole-in-the-wall and I walked nearly a mile past it before I turned around and found it. That extra mile allowed me to walk through the pot
smoke filled China town area.
It was quite an experience being the only gringo in La Faena. The bar and dining room had plastic lawn chairs and tables, missing roof pieces, and old bull fighter clothes and manikins everywhere. Of course since I was at a bar I had to try a local beer and the beer I had was "Bola." It was dark kind of like Modelo Negro and the glass it came in must have weighed five pounds. A drunk person would definitely have a spill. I ended up eating dinner as well so I tried Pescado a la Veracruzana. This is a red snapper fish from the Mexican state of Veracruz. The fish was very good but if you don’t like fish skin then you may be a little taken back.
The best part of La Faena was getting to meet a family sitting next to me. It was funny that about twenty minutes into my meal the father asked me to be in a picture with his family. I assume that a gringo at La Faena draws a little bit of attention. After that we talked for at least thirty
minutes. Our conversation was mostly about food and Day of the Dead. He told me that the best food in Mexico was in the southern state of Chiapas. Oaxaca is a close second. In both of these states one can try grasshopper, mole negro, worms, and many types of fruits. I guess I will see if this holds up when I travel to Oaxaca in a few days! He was also sure to add that Oaxaca is one of the most traditional places to celebrate Day of the Dead. Awesome because I'll be there in a few days for Day of the Dead!!
Upcoming Blog: Tomorrow I will travel with a guide to one of the worst slums of Mexico City in order to shop at Mexico’s largest black-market. I will also venture into the Sonora market which is quite possibly the largest witchcraft market in the world. If there is time I may travel on my own to San Hipolito for the celebrations of San Judas de Tedao (St. Jude) which occur on October 28
th.
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Beverly Anderson
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Cool Indiun stuff!
Another great blog! Be safe!