I Love Mexico City

Day 60-71 I stayed in Mexico City

People might wonder, with all the crime, traffic, and pollution, why I love Mexico City as much as I do. The answer is simple. This city is filled with so many wonderful, amazing, talented, and beautiful people. It is overflowing with culture. I would even go so far as to say that it is the cultural capital of Mexico. All the musical acts throughout the country have to come here and perform if they even want to have a modicum of success in the rest of the country. Mexico City, has been the home of many famous artists including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco to name a few.
There is huge amount of art and amazing architecture in every corner of the city. One only has to go la Ciudad Universitaría (C.U.), as the U.N.A.M. campus is called, to see some of the most impressive murals in the world. The library there is even covered in murals on all sides made entirely from rocks that were collected from all parts of Mexico. One of my favorite places in C.U. is the Espacio Escultorico. It is a natural park area with massive sculptures which sculptures that you can climb and walk all over. Though there are many impressive works of art and architecture in C.U., you would have to spend many days exploring the city to see all of the notable artistic and architectural monuments that abound in this city.
I had the priveledge of seeing some very good music when I was in the city these last two weeks. One group was from Xalapa, Veracruz. Their name is Sonex and they play Son Jarocho fusion mixed with elements of hip-hop and flamenco. Another group named Paté de Fua had an Argentinian frontman with all Mexican musicians. They play a mixture of tango and jazz blended with various other Latin elements. My friend Edgar plays in a band called Los Malditos Hippies. They play a mixture of ska, reggae, and cumbia. Edgar also plays in a Mexican hardcore band called Cannabis Cerdos. All of the above bands can be found on myspace if you would like to listen to any of them. There are many talented musicians that call Mexico City their home.
There are so many incredible museums here that you could spend months exploring all of them. Among some of the more notable museums are the National Anthropology Museum, the National Museum of Art, and the National History Museum. I have been to al of those museums before so I decided to visit one of the more obscure museums when I was here. Last Thursday, Edgar and I rode our bikes to the Museum of Torture. This museum houses some truly horrifying instruments of torture with notes in both English and Spanish about their uses. One of the more interesting things that is at the museum are the shackles and chain in which Christopher Columbus was brought back to Spain after his third voyage to the New World. Among some of the more interesting things I learned was that it would often take days for someone who had been impaled to die, for, though the spear would go through the anus all the way to the mouth, it would miss most of the vital organs. Often, the spear would even have a rounded point so it would take longer to pierce through the body. I left the museum impressed with the ingenuity that people have when it comes to conceiving new forms of cruelty to perpetrate against their fellow brothers and sisters. I think that most of humanity is good but that there are some really evil motherfuckers out there. The problem we have is that, throughout history and today, many of these evil motherfuckers happen to be in positions of power.
I stayed with La Familía Medina during my stay here in Mexico. They have been the most wonderful and gracious hosts. They have fed me and let me stay here rent-free for two weeks. Whenever I would wash dishes to help out they would always insist that I leave them in the sink. Both parents are retired. Their son Edgar, who I have already mentioned, is a very talented guitarist as well as musician in general. Their daughter Idania, designs costumes and acts in a theater group which I also had the priveledge of seeing perform. Luis Fernando, the nephew who lives with them is eight-years-old and enjoys swimming and playing the trumpet. Bidel, the daughter of Idania is the newest addition to the family. She is cute as the dickens and is the princess of the house. La Familía Medina shares their house with five cats, and three dogs so, as one might imagine, it is quite a zoo.
I spent most of my time here hanging out with Edgar going to parties, museums, lucha libre, etc... It seems like Edgar knows everyone in the city because whereever we went we would run into friends of his. Now is the time of the posadas or Christmas parties and one can find parties in the streets of Mexico where everyone is dancing to salsas and cumbias and where there are free food and drinks. Techno is still pretty popular at parties thrown by college aged people here. Though I don't like techno quite as much as I like cumbias and salsa, I still had a good time at the parties because I met many beautiful women. I swear, it seems like every woman here between the ages of 15 and 35 is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. After leaving one of these parties I witnessed further proof that the cab drivers here are insane. The cab driver who gave us a ride home pulled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine. When my friends and I got in the cab, he was calm and polite. He drove patiently and chatted with us about various subjects. As soon as someone cut him off though, he was a different person. He rolled down his window, cursed the driver out, and then proceeded to drive a lot more aggressively: he started driving a lot faster and flew over speed bumps to the point where we had to hold on tight or risk injury. I guess Mexico City drivers would have that effect on anyone because I definitely found myself cursing people out when they didn't give me enough respect on the road.
The lucha libre matches here are a cultural phenomenon that are worth witnessing. The luchadores are much like American wrestlers except even more over-the-top. They still have the staged battles between the good and bad guys or the technicos and rudos as they are called, respectively, only the moves are more acrobatic. It is not uncommon to see the luchadores flying over the ropes, out of the ring, and hurling into their opponents below. If someone removes the mask of a masked luchador they will lie face-down on the ground motionless as if their source of power has been stolen from them. My favorite match was between three dwarfs and three normal-sized people. Though the matches are obviously staged, I couldn't help but be impressed with the athleticism of the luchadores. You have to know how to fall and roll to be a successful luchador.
I have done quite a bit of shopping during my stay here in Mexico. While electronic equipment is more expensive here, just about everything else here is less expensive. You can buy pirated C.D.s, D.V.D.s, software, clothing, etc... Most of the pirated goods are sold by ambulantes as the street vendors are called. The ambulantes are a feisty bunch who often block roads and steal electricity from the city's power grid. They are known to have pitched battles with the police whenever they try to crack down on piracy. There is an advertising campaign by a conglomerate of companies that says that pirated goods are of lower quality than the originals but the sad truth is that the originals are not that much better. I have several pairs of pirated Adidas socks which I bought here over three years ago which still do not have any holes in them. I bought two pairs of full length bicycle tights for about $20 each. They would cost $100 in the United States.
Tepito is the center of ambulante culture. It is also known as one of the more dangerous parts of the city. In Tepito, you can buy D.V.D.s for 80 cents. You can buy drugs and guns. You can find hookers and contract hitmen for $1000. I have even seen tattoo stands on the street which I am sure are dirt cheap. Needless to say, I went to Tepito to do some shopping. I bought some $5 "Oakleys" and some C.D.s. The reality is that, during the day, your chances of getting shot are lower than they are in a mall in Nebraska. During the night though, a white boy would stick out like a flaming queen at an N.R.A. rally. I would never go to Tepito at night.
I did not go to Tepito to get my new tattoo. I, instead, went to a shop that Edgar took me to that was close to C.U. I still got a good deal. I now have a tattoo that covers my chest from nipple to nipple. It only cost me $200. The same tattoo would cost, at least, $1000 in the U.S. The artist, who goes by the name of Russo, took great care making sure that the conditions were sanitary. Don't ever let anyone tell you that tattoos don't hurt. Even after nine hours under the needle, the pain was barely tolerable. I had to bite down on tongue depressors and I would tremble in pain whenever Russo filled in the areas around my nipples or sternum. The pain was worth it, though. I now have a tattoo that is a mixture of Greek philosophy with the peyote inspired art of the Huichol Indians. My tattoo is an artistic rendition of the reunion of the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire into the fifth or quintessential element which is life itself.
Those who know me well, know that I am a lover of the funny expressions that exist in language. I learned some funny ways to refer to sex during my stay here. If you want to say that you are about to have sex, you can say vamos a matar el oso (we are going to kill the bear) or vamos a ponerle Jorge al niño (we are going to put the Jorge on the child). Cops are commonly referred to as tira, chota, puercos, or cochinos. Coca-Cola is sometimes referred to as agua negra de los Yankee imperialistas. I even saw a bumber sticker that said Coca-Colonización. At a party, when I was having a conversation with Edgar, I told him that, in my religion, I dance as a form of worship. He then asked me what my religion was named. I was just joking around but, together, we invented the words ganjobiciclatolico and ganjobiciclatolicismo to name my religion. They are formed from the words ganja, bicicleta, and catolico which I don't think that I need to translate.
I am going to miss all of my old and new friends in Mexico City but, alas, it is time to move on. I will soon head to the Pacific coast of Mexico and then to Guatemala.