Mexico – Page 5 – GringoPotpourri

Passion Runs High in Iztapalapa

I lead an English-language conversation club twice a week. Last Wednesday, I asked one of my students to bring in an article to read to the class. She selected an article about Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter Week) traditions in the Catholic community. Only half of the class was Catholic, so the article prompted a lively discussion to say the least.

I won’t politicize this blog entry; that’s a subject for another day. One of the topics that came up in our small group discussion was the importance of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, etc. observations among Catholics and Christians in general. As it happens, I’ve spent several of the past Semana Santa weeks in various Spanish-speaking, majority-Catholic countries, and it’s not uncommon to find daily (or nightly) processions through the streets, with locals dressed as Roman soldiers or paying penitence for their belief that Jesus died for their sins. Culturally, it is quite the spectacle.

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Gringo Nacho Lucha Libre

Last weekend I scratched off one item from my Mexico City “bucket list.” I was somewhat curious about lucha libre wrestling. If you don’t know, it is a stylized version of “WWE” wrestling and is popular in Mexico, Japan, and predominantly-Hispanic regions of the U.S. In lucha libre, wrestlers commonly wear masks. Years ago, the masks were simple, one-or-two-color affairs worn basically to help spectators identify who was who. “Blue Demon” wore a light blue mask and faced off against “El Santo” (“The Saint”), who wore a white mask. Culturally, the masks caught on, and today are worn not just by the wrestlers but by their fans as well. Many masks remain simple in design, yet others are more ornate, and can resemble serpents, gods, or other mythical warrior figures, often borrowed from Aztec culture.

Research revealed that matches take place every Friday night at the Arena México, and I figured it could be a fun Friday event if I could gather a few friends. My buddy Mario – a life-long Chilango who, like me, had never been to a match – was up for it, and we were joined by my friend Sofía as well as by three of her friends. We consulted an arena map before buying, and the prices seemed reasonable for all but the most expensive of tiers. We chose a section slightly right-of-center, and on match night, I couldn’t believe how close the seats really were. A bargain!

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The (Long Awaited) Mexican Food Blog – Part One

This is a pambazo. You can’t really tell from the photo, but imagine a sandwich piled with grilled chorizo (Mexican sausage), potatoes, cheese, onions, lettuce, sour cream, and your choice or red of green salsa – all topped on warm sandwich bread. Sounds delicious? It is. I had never heard of pambazos before two weeks ago. I was hungry, though, and in a bit of a hurry, so I bought one from a neighborhood street vendor, as it took just moments to prepare…and upon taking my first bite I immediately ordered a second.

After experiencing that tasty goodness, I decided to finally crank out this post. I love Mexican food (who doesn’t?!), and have been intending to blog about comida Mexicana for months, but the cuisine is so varied, that as a subject to be written about, I barely knew where to begin. I have decided to save my observations about the customs related to food (restaurant hours, tipping practices, etc.) for a separate post, and for now will concentrate solely on the different types of food – a few of the many varieties from a few of the many categories. Here goes!

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A Saturday in Tequisquiapan

It’s been awhile – two months, more-or-less, since I last posted about my life in Mexico. I returned to Mexico from the U.S. three weeks ago, determined to make 2014 a great year. I was also determined to take better advantage than I did in 2013 of living in Mexico City to visit places of interest surrounding the metropolis.

I’ve held true to my word so far, and took a day trip two Saturdays ago to Tequisquiapan, a “Pueblo Mágico” (magical town) two hours north of el DF. I enjoyed the company of Monroy, a good friend and enthusiastic Chilanga who, as it happens, has a car. I met her at 8 a.m. near where she lived in the Polanco district of Mexico City, and we were on our way.

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Día de Muertos 2013

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a festive, uniquely Mexican affair that occurs every November. A Mexican resident for over a year now, I had the privilege of taking in this colorful holiday in full last week.

Day of the Dead is, as the name implies, a time for remembering the deceased. It actually takes place over two days, not one – November 1^st and 2^nd. On the first, Mexican families make a pilgrimage to any cemetery housing the buried remains of child relatives who died way too young. Here, the living relatives tend to the graves, sweeping away dirt and fallen leaves, laying orange flowers in memory and making ofrendas (offerings) – toys, food, or religious trinkets – and spending some hours “visiting” with the dead and toasting their memories. The ritual is repeated on the second, but this time in honor of adults who left this cherished plain for the next world.

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El Clima

It is officially fall in Mexico City, and there is a noticeable chill in the air. But the weather has been strange for months now – and it’s definitely thrown me for a loop.

You may recall in my Top Ten Mexico City post of last January, I noted “The weather” (el clima) as one of the ten things I liked most about Mexico City. Chingado, was I wrong.

Mexico City and the surround central highlands are considered “high desert.” For the altitude (roughly 7,300 feet above sea level), this implies chilly nights and mornings, pleasantly warm afternoons, and lots of glorious sunshine to break through the thick layer of smog. And almost no rain. This holds true from November through mid-May, but something daffy happens every summer. Starting sometime in late May or early June, it’ll rain in the afternoons – usually around 4 p.m. – and quick thunderstorms will strike. You wouldn’t want to be atop Teotihuacán’s Pyramid of the Sun, say, during this time. The rain seldom lasts more than an hour, and the next morning is dry and sunny until noontime clouds roll in and the sky opens up that afternoon. The rain might hold off for a day or two here and there but in general, it’s as regular as clockwork.

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¡Viva México!

This weekend Mexico celebrates its Independence from Spain. September 16, 1810 to be exact. Every delegación in Mexico City throws quite a party, with the requisite fireworks. This is the day when Mexico’s president peers out of a top-floor window at the Palacio Nacional and shouts “¡Viva México!” to a crowd of millions.

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Mexican Markets

If you’ve done any city walking in Latin America you have no doubt come upon a teeming mass of humanity that is the local market. Not commonplace in the U.S., Latin American-style markets are often an all-out assault on the senses. They can be loud – with fish and produce vendors shouting out the day’s fresh catch to passersby. They can be smelly – I don’t think they’re necessarily unhygienic, but all those spices mixed with all that meat and fish creates quite an aroma. They can be crowded – in fact, you can count on it. Especially on Sundays.

The closest we get in the U.S. is, perhaps, Pike Place Market in Seattle, or maybe Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I have never experienced NYC’s Chinatown market, but I’m told that it’s a must-see for market lovers. Europe has more: Covent Garden in London for flowers and produce; any random flea market in Paris; I found a lovely covered market in Kiev and have seen several summer markets in Scandinavia.

But the ones in Latin America – particularly those in Mexico – deserve special mention. They deserve their own blog entry, in fact. Allow me to do the honors!

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A Friday at Teotihuacán

I am way behind on this blog. I have so many ideas for topics to write about and so little time to actually put them all down on paper. This entry – about an early summer daytrip to the archaeological zone of Teotihuacán – is a long time coming. Said daytrip took place two months ago (!), and I’m only just now reporting on it to you, Loyal Reader. (I will often wait a bit after visiting somewhere before commenting on a place to let its impressions fully soak in, but this is just ridiculous.)

As you probably know, Teotihuacán is a large complex of ruins near Mexico City that is most famous for its pyramids, the Pyramid of the Moon and the larger Pyramid of the Sun. You may even recall that I ranked it as #5 in my Top Ten Mexico – The Country blog entry of January 2013. At the time that list was compiled, it had actually been ten years since my last visit to Teotihuacán. My photographic memory for travel details is like, say, my dad’s memory for baseball statistics. That is to say, I remembered my original visit like it was yesterday, and remain confident that my #5 ranking is just about right. Still, ten years is far too long to go between visits to a place as magnificent as Teotihuacán, so it was on a Friday in early June, with previous plans having fallen through, that I decided to make up for lost time.

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Metro Daily

Holy guacamole, Mexico City’s metro is a behemoth. Twelve lines, 201 kilometers (almost 125 miles) of track, roughly 1.5 million daily riders. On a normal day I ride the metro anywhere from two to eight times. I should rephrase that to say, I ride it at least twice daily, but seldom have less than one transfer in each direction.

The metro first opened in 1969, with Linea 1 running from Observatorio station in the west to Pantitlán station in the east. The newest line, Linea 12, opened last November (as if to welcome me to my new home). I don’t know if plans exist to lay new track or expand existing routes (expansion is greatly needed) but I know this much: the metro is cheap, efficient, crowded, hot, smelly, safe, and – every once in a great while – fun.

Each line has its own personality. I have ridden every line except for Lines A and B, neither of which serve any points of interest for yours truly, and both of which pass through some rather dodgy places. Below is my attempt at capturing what a typical ride is like, using Metro Line 2 as my point of origin. This blog is also an attempt at comedy writing, so if it all sounds a bit too negative I’d remind you that the best comedians are often the most cynical ones. Here goes:

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