Mexico City, part 2

Monday was the day we were going to take the Touribus which is a double decker bus that gives you a pretty comprehensive tour of the city. You buy your ticket, get a bracelet and then you can get on and off at various stops along the way. The Touribus is very popular since Mexico city is so spread out that it's impossible to view all the sights on your own in a short period of time.
We walked to the centro after having a copious breakfast of fruit and yogurt. However once we got there we found out that our plans were to be derailed because of a planned demonstration on that day. The circuit around the city would be greatly compromised and thus they couldn't guarantee that if tickets were sold the trip would go ahead. Being an activist of long status I was immediately intrigued by the notion of a massive demonstration. Canada is not known in general for staging those. We're pretty passive, as a population, in general.
Museums are closed on Monday as well so that was out of the question. I was determined to take the metro. There had been stuff on the news about aggressions in the metro but with that many people taking it day in, day out, what could go wrong?
We headed for the subway station. Tickets were cheap, 6 pesos to the two of us. I also asked for directions to Chapultepec Park since I figured it would be open and we could hang out there for a while. The directions were pretty easy to follow. We had to change one subway line and take the one to Obsevatorio (Observatory) where women and children, at the behest of guards, were ushered into one train, and men ushered in another. That was strange but I suppose it's a security measure for women traveling alone. If you're with a man you can opt to go into the mostly male compartment, which is what I did. Stan wouldn't let go of my hand. He's more afraid of getting lost than I am.
We arrived safe and sound only to find out that the park is also closed on Mondays. We knew about the museums but why a park???? Eso es Mexico, some of the rules just don't make sense at all. I didn't want to go back to our hotel. I wanted to walk to the zona rosa which is a famous area of Mexico city. I asked a bus driver and he said it was only 3 semaphoras (lights) ahead of us, a fairly easy walk. That area of the city was no longer colonial, therefore not quite as historic. Lots of big buildings around, a bit of a hodge podge really making it apparent that central planning has not been Mexico city's forte.
The zona rosa is prettier with tree lined streets, residential housing, cafes, nightclubs and restaurants. We ate lunch in one of the restaurants and then moved on towards Paseo de la Reforma which is one of the biggest streets in Mexico city.
As it turned out lots of demonstrators were already massed in that direction. We could see throngs of people with banners furled and unfurled,a great number of buses and watched as the riot police, in full gear, started arriving. They didn't have batons but they had the plastic shields,body armour, helmets etc...It was pretty freaking impressive as a show of force although the people there didn't seem fazed in the least bit. It wasn't their first kick of the can in so far as demonstrations were concerned. I wanted to hang out and talk to some people but Stan was worried we would be caught in the melee. Nevertheless I prevailed. We had to go to the bathroom and were in front of a huge hotel Fiesta Americana, demonstrators were also hanging out in front.
They were actually hanging out everywhere. I was sure that our "white skin" would enable us to find a bathroom without being hassled. In fact I was right as we were given directions to one, no problem. Draw your own conclusions. We came back out and sat down beside an older couple who were there to demonstrate. They came by bus, all the way from Puebla. Twenty buses in all came from there. They live in a pueblo outside the main city. They were farm laborers. He's now too old to work and gets no pension. The average salary for a full day's work (sometimes 12 hours) was between 100-150 pesos (12 pesos to the dollar). They get no help from the government. The land is owned by either a rich family or a corporation. The land is much too expensive to buy. Their children work as day labourers too, caught in the same cycle of poverty.
They get money here and there doing various things, every day is a struggle to put food on the table. They didn't expect much from this demonstration but it was a way to show the government that they still exist. They were incredibly gracious, I would have been pissed but I guess after that many years a certain resignation sets in.
We were impressed with the level of solidarity amongst the various groups,a great many of them indigenous people from forgotten pueblos. This couple took the bus at 4 in the morning and they would be leaving after the demonstration around 9 or 10 o'clock to go back. Many groups bring their own food, set up soup kitchens etc... Sad because so little would come out of this.
We got back to our hotel and hung around for a while. At 6p.m. or so we got out and found the marchers. The demonstrators were heading towards the main zocalo. As we were watching one group veared off and headed for Madeiro which is a pedestrian street. Three cops tried to stop them but they couldn't, the crowd was too big. We followed along with those demonstrators all the way to the zocalo, the only gringos around but at the plaza I bought 3 socialist newspapers in Spanish so we didn't quite look out of place. Many fiery speeches later the demonstrators all headed for home or buses. It was great to have been part of something like that but, as I wrote, incredibly frustrating because no one in a position of power would be listening.
The next day the event (at least 50,000 people+) was reduced to a traffic problem with people complaining about the closed roads, clogged traffic etc..I understand there is "demonstration fatigue" in Mexico city but when a group is consistently marginalized what other choice do they have? The news never addressed once the issue of genuine grievances which the various groups have in terms of poverty, lack of good public education, hours of work, minimum salary, corruption, nepotism, the list is long, very long.
On Tuesday we went to the National Palace to see the murals of Diego Rivera. We had seen some of his murals at the Museum of Bellas Artes (impressive rococo style building) but the ones at the palace were even more impressive. Huge murals recounting much of the history and political influences that have shaped Mexico. A truly astounding work of art which made up for the fact that we didn't go to see Frieda Kahlo's Blue house. The security in that building was pretty impressive too. Next it was the Touribus (too hot, too long, too many stops with the motor still running) and Chapultepec and the Museum of Anthropology where we spent a little over 2 hours. Extremely impressive as well, very thorough, beautiful displays but after a while your eyes kind of glaze over. It's too much information to absorb in too little time.
Tourisbus back to the hotel and then a last stroll to the Zocalo and it was adios Mexico City in the morning. Took the bus back to Queretaro. Our friend Monica picks us up, dropped us off at her house and we were on our way towards Guadalajara. We covered quite a bit of distance and arrived in Mazatlan,2 days later. Stan was pretty sick the night before we got here. He drank some bad water. He's better now but he was weak for a while.
I'm going to add a final blog of bits and pieces and it will be Sayonara for a while. Hope this has been interesting and not too long.