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Published: October 9th 2008
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Hola amigos
Kidnapping, robbery and violent street gangs spring to mind for the unannointed to Mexico City. The last thing you want to happpen is breaking down on the way from the airport in some seedy back alley...which is what happened to me. They promised the guy from the hostel would be at the arrivals hall to meet me, he was a bit late and had me in a bit of a panic to begin with. We started driving into town through decidedly empty streets talking about the usual stuff...car-jackings and tacos etc when the car started to chug then died a death. No petrol. Memo looked a bit scared himself, I was just in a tired daze as we tried to flag down a taxi to get us to a petrol station. Staying in the car seemed a worse idea than standing by the road, surely a police car would drive past and help us. No, instead two little street kids approached to see what was going on, the thought that these guys could be part of some gang did cross our minds but these guys turned out to be angels in disguise and disappearing for a minute they
came back with a bicycle and a petrol can which they went to fill up for us for a small fee. In the meantime, we had called the hostel owners and they came to rescue me from the dark streets. Needless to say, I wasn´t charged for that journey!
The entry system at customs has to be the bizarrest I ever encountered. Once your passport has been stamped and your bags have been through the scanner, then you have to approach a little kiosk and press a button. If it flashes green; then you go through, if it were to flash red; then your bags get searched. It´s like one of those buttons you get in bars where your next round might be free should you get the timing right. Apparently they check one in ten..whatever happened to just stopping the suspicious looking people?
Well, getting here was a bit of an adventure but everything has gone smoothly since then...Mexicans are very friendly and polite, the streets are clean and colourful and the food is excellent!! Apart from the first night´s escapade the rest of the city has felt totally safe, particularly the posh residential area Coyoacan where
I stayed. I walked from here down to an area called San Angel, you can glimpse the huge mansions that line the tree-lined cobbled streets. You can tell who are the ostentatiously rich with fountains and statues at the gate to their house, the rest just hide beind huge doors and even huger walls. This is the domain of the rich and Porsche garages and private security guards are aplenty.
Having spent four days in Mexico City tramping round the museums I am a better educated on Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Trotsky and the anthropological history of this part of the world. Did you know there are still 68 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico today? These groups are unfotunatel the ones that live in most poverty and have been historically oppressed. What´s interesting though is their dedication to the community in which they live. On Monday´s men must devote their time to community activities, such as renovating the schools or mending roads. If they can´t make it then they must send their sons or pay a worker to go on their behalf.
Machismo is rife. They even have ´women only´ carriages on the metro system at rush hour
to save us
mujeres from male gropes! Amazingly, it is only 2 pesos to travel anywhere on the network...about 12 pence! I thought I might be in the way with my back-pack but it wasn´t as large and cumbersome as the man carrying a four-foot Jesus statue. People in museums are all too keen to explain things to you, sitting on comfy chairs infront of a Diego mural we were approached by an old guy keen to give us an art history lesson on the symbolism. My new friend Laurie seemed intrigued by the Rough Guide´s suggestion to visit the National Porn shop but diappointed to learn that I was referring to
PAWN.
The best thing I ate here were taco´s from a little stand under a road bridge. On a tortilla bed you get shredded beef and can then help yourself to as many toppings as you like from huge bowls...mashed potato, guacamole, beans, sliced cactus, chilli sauce, fried onions, raw onions, radish and fresh limes!! Que rico!
That´s all for now...I´m in Queretaro now, next stop, Xilitla and las Pozas (as seen on Monty Don´s
80 gardens around the world )
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jennie
non-member comment
he he
I like the no farting poster - I hope you got one! Glad you survived the scary taxi drive. All sounds good and love all the photos. Especially the crazy blonde with the black moustache on the other entry. Hope all is still good. Keep the updates coming they brigthen up my lunch break. I can almost imagine my tin of soup and bread are nice mexican fayre instead! Take care jen x