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Published: October 14th 2008
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After an attempted escape from my house at 4:30 in the morning, Saturday, October 11th, I was escorted to the Zocalo by both Mexican parents, mama because she wanted to bring me and papa because he can drive. I had tried to make my break and walk with Bridgette and Jason, but I couldn’t get the door unlocked and I was called at from upstairs to “hold on and we’ll take you” in Spanish by my groggy mama. Arriving downstairs she kept prying me with snack food until I showed her that my snacks bag was the same size as my clothed and weighted double. Onto the bus at the Zocalo and we headed off with Iban and our new driver Juan Louis.
I woke up three hours in, snuggled with Diana, to find the van surrounded by blue mountains and misty clouds. The blue mountains slowly turned in to what first appeared to be a burnt out pine forest with only the trunks sticking up into the sky. After a few minutes however I realised that they weren’t tree trunks, they were cacti! Thousands of straight, sticky up cactus, as far as the eye could see, all from the
Seguaro Cactus family. Eight toll booths, three pee breaks, on coffee beak and many IPod draining hours later and we arrived for our manic trip in Mexico City.
Now, I don’t want to sound pretentious and prickly here, but I am not one of those travelers that enjoys organized, guided bus trips. In fact, I would say that those who do are really more tourists then travelers. Yes, I know that is a loaded statement, but I am not saying that that sort of travel isn’t ok, I’m just saying that it doesn’t float my boat, so to speak. Eating on an air conditioned bus (for the record I have nothing against air conditioning) on my way to the famous National Museum of Mexican Anthropology I was so excited. I love museums. Unfortunately we were limited to 1.5 hours, 1 hour of which was spent racing after our fabulous guide Iban. This meant that I missed most of the explanations and information because I was busy getting sidetracked, getting lost and taking pictures. We were let lose for a total of 32 minutes which was just enough time to speed through Aztec, Oaxacan and Pacific coastal history and then
go buy the books at the gift store because I hadn’t had time to read any of the posted signs. The only way this was acceptable to me was the knowledge that I will come back in December and take a decidedly more leisurely pace.
After the museum we were herded back onto the bus to try and catch the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the murals contained within by the likes of Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The murals were beautiful but the building was breathtaking. Also used as Mexico Cities main opera house, it was begun in 1906 by Italian designer and architect Adamo Boari, but due to delays and the Mexican Revolution, wasn’t finished until 1934 by Mexican architect Frederico Mariscal. The building is stunning both inside and out, with a decidedly art deco design on the inside and an impressive European exterior. We had a total of 24 minutes in this wondrous place before we were whisked off again to see the zocalo and get dinner.
Dinner was the Mexican version of Red Robins, with taco’s instead of burgers. After dinner though, we really got the party started. Our waiter had told us
of this place where you can go and watch Mariachi bands play, so off we headed, only to discover that he wasn’t talking one or two bands, he was talking a full on Mariachi convention! The whole square was filled with Mariachi’s dressed in traditional black with big ruffles and white with pink sequins, fifty or more bands with entirely different costumes. We hired two, one traditional in black and white, and one Ranchero style with a more rock sound. We danced and drew in the crowd and had our own applause, then finished off the night with caramel filled churro’s.
Sunday we arose early for a most unappetizing breakfast of greasy scrambled eggs with hot dog cut in and hard cold toast on the side, pilled back into the bus and headed to Teotihuacan. Built in early 100AD, Teotihuacan (Aztec name for “the place where men become god’s”) is a large Mesoamerican site that contains some of the biggest pyramids of the area. The Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon face west and south respectively, and both are along the main causeway called “The Street of the Dead”. Famous for it’s preserved murals and
the Pyramid of the Sun (third largest in mass in the world) the site is popular with tourists and so I found myself half way up one of the most famous pyramids going at a snails pace for all the people.
Note to self: Don’t come on Sunday when it is free for students and cheap day for everyone else.
After the pyramids we headed back through town to Frieda Kahlo’s Blue House and spent a relatively leisurely hour wondering around on our own. The house was full of plants and water and felt cool and inviting. Pots pushed into the mortar to form designs and big open windows, it felt very much like the house of two artists. It started to rain and even that was inviting after a long hot day out at the pyramids. The rain turned to a downpour quickly however and the place museum was closing so we rushed back to the van and went in search of an open restaurant that could take all 20 or so of us on a Sunday evening. Snort.
After much searching a small mutiny that resulted in us heading back to the hotel, Iban managed
to spot a place that was just closing and talked them into serving us. Back at the hotel the food combined with heat and exhaustion to cause my poor roommate Chelsea to make a mad dash for the bathroom about 10pm, but after that all was calm.
Monday morning, once again we pilled into the van and set off towards Oaxaca, stopping for comida and a cactus farm tour in the state of Puebla. The cactus farm was very interesting and we walked all around, ooing and ahhing at the many different cacti, large spiders and widespread vistas, whilst being cooled with a gentle desert rain. At the end I was able to hold the centres little Horned Toad lizard, which looked more like the Balrog form Lord of the Rings then any Horned Toad I have ever seen (and yes I have seen quite a few). Homeward bound again and we played a few rounds of Mob Boss before we all separated and disappeared into the night.
Now it is Tuesday morning and though I am supposed to have gone and met my new school, class and teacher today, my stomach had other ideas. It chose 3am
to voice it’s discontent over the food here and though I attempted to reason with it my stomach won (it always does) and I spent the following five hours between bed and toilet reminiscing about other bouts of food poisoning as my stomach screamed and raged. I finally slept at about 10am after calling my FA and explaining that horizontal was the most appropriate position for me at this point in time, preferably close to the bathroom.
So here I lie, typing in a very Frieda Kahlo esq position, drinking my rice water from mama and listening to the two man marching band practicing on the street bellow.
XO
S
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