Murals and Botero´s Fat Ladies

Murals and Botero´s Fat Ladies Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico Setting-up Started the day with a nice home-cooked breakfast. Went back to Terminal 1 of the airport. Currency exchange is best between Gates 8-9 at $12.70 Mexican to A$1, no commission. Inside the airport, at arrivals it´s M$10 to A$1. Big difference! Bought SIM card at Telcel at the 2nd floor. I was told it would be difficult to buy elsewhere. Cost me $150. Getting Around Minimal Spanish proved challenging. They say 70% of communication is non-verbal and that´s probably how I managed to get around, asking people for directions. I have no guidebook with me. I also don´t have a dictionary or Spanish phrasebook. I took the Metro from Oceania, nearest train station from the airport. It´s around 10-15 mins walk. I should have alighted at Garibaldi to see the Mariachis perform at the Garibaldi plaza, but somehow I decided to change stations and head towards Bellas Artes. Instinct.
Bellas Artes Metro – Murals I have a thing for murals and graffittis – Bellas Artes metro station was made for me. I got photowhoric with all the murals! Mexicans have such a rich history and culture to draw inspiration from. Their artwork says a lot more than words can say – cliche but couldn´t be more true in this case. Palacio de Bellas Artes – Botero´s Fatties Botero is a Colombian artist with a very distinctive style: most of his paintings and sculpture are with fat people. He makes fat beautiful and sexy. I was enamored! I spent a good 2-3 hours in Bellas Artes. Of course, more murals were in store for me. These were government commissioned murals to reaffirm Mexico´s identity beyond colonialism. Diego Rivera et.al. had massive murals that spoke of their history and their struggle for liberation — and a destiny defined by their people. So far, I the recurring themes I´ve noted are serpents, death, fertility and the significance of women in society, jaguar, and a very violent past from indigenous infighting, political uprising, etc. Correo Now this is a grand post-office! The best I´ve seen. It´s right next to the Bellas Artes. Inside the design was so grand, with ´golden´´ reliefs on the ceilings and walls, with chandeliers and an intricately designed staircase in the middle. Think palacio. Bought a postcard and sent it to my mu-in-law. She doesn´t know yet I´m travelling – will be a surprise for her when she receives the postcard. Zocalo My last stop for the day. The center of DF is full of contrasts. On one side is Palacio National, the seat of goverment. In the background you hear activists´ protests. Next to it is the Cathedral, the biggest one in Latin America I was told. There´s a couple of people with lots of proganda material on the ground. protesting against the negative influence of th church. That´s as far as I understand because everything was in Spanish. I only guessed the anti-Catholic sentiment because one of the guys was dressed like a nun and pointing at the Cathedral with a dirty finger, while raising his hobbit up his thighs revealing a red sexy garter.
Right outside the gates of the Cathedral are indigenous people performing native dances and rituals. Superstition is very much alive with people queing up to be ´blessed or cleansed´– a blue-painted man does the ceremony, waves smoking herbs all over the ´subject´ while another man blows a shell. The natives dance to indigenous drums with music reverberating across the zocalo. Not sure what the Pope would think about all this. Templo Mayor Right behind the Cathedral is the Templo Mayor, a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site. The place was closed, but I could see the ruins of a pyramid. It was already past 6PM and the Cathedral area had become intensely crowded. Must be people spilling from work.
Backstreets and Alleyways Noted one alley lined with stalls from end-to-end. The stalls are nearly all books! That aside, there were so many Librerias all over town. It says something about Mexicans. I went hunting for food and ended up in a cantina without realising what it was. Was wondering why most of the customers were men. I got frustrated when I was ordering food and the waiter was saying something I couldn´t understand instead of just getting my order. I later found out that cantina is a bar, and I had to order a minimum of 4 drinks (alcoholic) to be served food. Embarassed, I left the place and found a nice food place a couple of doors away. Had a yummy Flor de Calabasa (sqush flower) quesadilla with fresh melon juice all for M$40! Along th way, I stumbled upon a crowd where I heard music playing — traditional Mexican. It was a band of blind musicians. Music is all over. Even in the trains, hawking of music CDs are accompanied with blaring music coming from the hawker´s backpacks. Ingenious!
Trivia

• Mexico City was built on a lake.
• The place is prone to earthquakes. 30,000 people died in the last major earthquake.
• The earthquake softens the soil underneath. That is why buildings are sinking and you don´t see that many high-rises in the city

Meeting my Host Coming back to my hostel via the Metro was a nightmare. The trains are not airconditioned and commuters were packed like sardines. I nearly was unable to get out if I hadn´t pushed myself aggressively out of the pack. Scary experience! I decided to just take the cab to Mixcoac where my host for the next two days lives. The hostel arranged the cab so it´s safe. Taxi fares are pre-arranged , cost me M$130. The driver waited until I´m safely inside the apartment, a kind of service I haven´t seen anywhere! I had to miss Lucha Libre, which happens every Friday at the Arena. It starts at 8:30 but had to meet my host. My host Rose and I hit it off the moment we met. She speaks English fluently. After settling me in, providing me my own room with very comfy bed, she prepared a simple dinner. She´s vegetarian. I´m in good hands!

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