querida precious,
first, let me begin by saying that the internet at my hostel is painfully slow.i type in fear that i will loose much of what i have written if, by popular chance, the computer decides to crash.
mexico city has been so warm and welcomed which has affirmed by laymen´s belief that people who are dark & poor tend to be friendliest. i arrived in mexico city on friday afternoon (9.1) to learn that my baggage was delayed. the hostel picked me up from the airport with only my puma bag. driving into the city was unnerving, to say the least. september 1st is a national holiday in mexico, the day that the president (in this case, vicente fox of the capitalist party & former coca-cola latin america CEO) gives a national address. the address serves as the final adieu to the country before the suceeding president takes office.
given the claims of election fraud, the honor of ¨rightful winner¨ has been in contest since early july. there´s calderon on the right, and obrador on the left. the town center has been taken over by socialist demonstrators who are squatting on the city streets until something happens. that something, is unclear. el zocalo (the center) has about 50,000 - 70,000 people gathered at any given time & the police force is present in retaliation. each city corner on the 40 minute drive from the airport to my hostel was lined with no less than 10 armed officers. this, i believe, is the first time i have seen so many officers gathered in one location.
my driver from the hostel is named jonathan, who informed me that he spent 5years living in dallas as an illegal alien. i probed him about what that was like in a sloppy, spanglish mix. upon arriving, i met chad of santa cruz (USA) & dennis of sydney who are traveling and volunteering within central america for about 8 months or ¨until their money runs out.¨
together, the three of us head to the holiday inn bar as we heard from a local that that is the cheapest and best way to see the demonstrations from overhead. another local, on our way, stops us to inform us that is dangerous for us to be out there given the political tensions. we thank him for his concern & head to the holiday inn. later, we make our way to dinner at the hostel & i spend the night reading, getting adjusted, and wandering in my neighborhood (centro
historico).
the next morning, i wake up & immediately head for the frida kahlo museum by foot & subway. i arrive before the museum opens and am first to enter. i have about 20 minutes or so in la casa azul by myself, which is amazing. on my way, i meet a cab driver named juan who tells me that he loves me & that i am a beautiful woman. all i can do is say thanks & give a classically american head nod and hand wave; you know, the type of gesture a man named ¨dick¨ would do.
next, i venture to a local market followed by the leon trotsky museum, his home in mexico city converted into a museum. he is buried there after being murdered by a knife to the skull following his exile to mexico city.
later that evening, i meet 2 girls named eve and lyonh medical students from london. they invite me out with them. we are meeting up with their spanish friend eduardo, english friend named rosie, and their friends named farid and faustino. literally, i find myself out with a friend, of a friend, of a friend. together, we head to zona rosa to a gay club as all of the boys we are travelling with are gay. i hear campy, mexican music all night & find myself being hit on by 3 men, in particular.
we leave the club & head to a house party of some guy named leo (all 7 of us). we squeeze into 1 two door cab for 120 pesos & ride for about 20 minutes. leo, however, did not let us into the party. one girl named paola, an aspiring mexican actress, and her friend julia, a pilates instructor, invite us to their apartment that they share with 3 other people. there we meet unai, a mexican national of swiss and spanish decent. at the apartment, we all drink, smoke, and talk until about 3 in the morning at which point unai volunteers to drive us home. we pile into his car again (farid & faustino have left at this point). eduardo and rosie cannot remember the exact location of farid´s home and we drive in hilltop mexico city for roughly 2 hours. mexico city is beautiful at night - the city stretches roughly 40 km across. eduardo described the skyline as ¨pieces of gold, along black velvet;¨ he´s melodramatic but right in this instance.
finally, eve, lyonh, and i make it back to our hostel at 5 in the morning - my bag has arrived as so has my mission to get another free voucher from US Airways. a voucher is the reason why i am here in the first place.
mexico city has treated me well, thus far...
in peace,
shawna
