Whirlwind Mexico City

We were lucky getting into Mexico City, because we were able to contact Juan, a friend of Bryan's from university who was visiting his cousin (just one of his stops on a motorcycle trip from Thunder Bay, home to Colombia). Andrea and Rafael (Juan's cousin and her partner) were very friendly and hospitible - they let us stay with them even though they already had Juan as a houseguest, and twin babies on the way! Also, we were able to park safely in their neighbourhood, and avoid much driving in Mexico City, which suited me just fine!

Through Juan, we were able to see two sides of Mexico City. Andrea and Rafael live quite a high lifestyle, in a beautifully furnished condo kept by the bank Rafa works for, furniture included. The building is tall and super-skinny, with just one condo on each floor. The view of the city is unbelievable, although it would be even better if smog didn't obscure the mountains completely.

On the other hand, we were also able to meet Frida & Vaquero - and their imaginitive son Renato - friends of Juan's who make and sell jewellery in the Coyoacan market. The market they work in is a part of the informal economy in Mexico (basically anyone selling anything outside of a commercial business - and there are many, many people living this way), and as such the vendors are constantly struggling to have it remain unregulated and, by extension, to keep their already low incomes untaxed. Even though I'm generally a fan of a proportional taxation system, it was easy to see how becoming a part of the formally-taxed economy would make it hard for many people in Mexico to survive, when they're already living so frugally (fragilely?) as it is.

That day, we got a chance to visit Frida Kahlo's family home (now a museum), as it is in the same neighbourhood as the market. It was very beautiful and interesting, especially the kitchen which had lots of hand-painted tiles on the walls. The courtyard was amazing too, with lush plants, and large shells & pottery built right into the stucco of the house walls.

That night, we went to Frida & Vaquero's small apartment, drank some mescaline (alcohol made from the cactus plant) and went to a street party. During the week before Christmas, there are often neighbourhood parties to celebrate, and this one closed down the street so everyone could dance. When Renato got tired we went back and he was put to bed - then we all went out again for tacos. I was a little surprised that Renato was left alone (he's only 4 or 5), but things are very different there from Canada.

When we got back to the apartment Renato was, of course, sound asleep and totally safe. We slept that night on F & V's floor, then in the morning headed back to Andrea's condo.

Our second day in Mexico City, Bryan and I went to the Museum of Anthropology. We spent all afternoon there, even staying so late that we were unable to see Diego Rivera's murals in another building, as we had originally planned. Still, we only made it about one third of the way through the museum.

That night we went out for a wonderful dinner (followed by some not-so-wonderful coffee) with Juan, Andrea and Rafa. We found out that the largest coffee company in Mexico is Nescafe, so many places only serve instant coffee...no wonder we'd had so much trouble finding a good cup.

In the morning we said good-bye and took off with Juan in the back of our car...heading for Xalapa, to spend Christmas in his friends' house, and pick up his motorcycle from their garage at the same time.

It was nice to be travelling together...it gave us a third person to talk to!