Mexico City, part one

I wanted to write this blog while things are still fresh in my mind. I am going to post it in two parts otherwise it will be too long to read. This will probably be the last 2 parter blog I post since we're going to slowly be making our way back home to B.C. and covering old familiar ground. We've decided to leave the copper canyon for another time, Stan is tired of driving and wants to go home. I'm okay with that. We've had a very good trip,amassed quite a few
great memories along the way, should hold us till the next time.
To say that Mexico city is huge would be a bit of an understatement, it's sprawling, up hillsides, along the main and secondary highways and it will keep sprawling into its very indefinite future.
Almost 25 million people call it home, that's the core center and the outlying areas combined.
We started seeing the outskirts about one hour before we actually got to one of the main bus stations, there are four of them. Once there we still had to take a taxi to our hotel which took another good 40 minutes, traffic was apparently "lighter" than usual this being Saturday.
You prepay at a main kiosque according to the distance you will cover and then you just find the taxi, no fuss no muss. It's a good system.
Our hotel is very modern sort of European style. The rooms are streamlined, modern decor and modern washroom. We could be in Paris but in a bigger room, Paris rooms are tiny.
On Sunday we booked a tour to the Basilica de Guadeloupe and the ancient Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan. We were in a little van with a guide (all in Spanish of course) and 4 young people from Argentina and a retired Mexican engineer from Oaxaca. It can get very tiring listening and speaking in another language for an entire day but we managed very well. The Basilica was incredible in that because it was Sunday there was a service in full swing and so many faithfuls. Mexico is probably one of the most Catholic nations in the world and for the most part they are extremely devout, they practice their faith with a lot of fervor. There were so many people it was hard to walk. The main basilica is the biggest church in Latin America it can hold 40,000 people! Wow, they don't fool around. The old Basilica was slowly sinking under the weight of the worshipers hence the need to build a new one. It was built in honour of the vision had by an indigenous Christian convert named Juan Diego. History tells that the image of the virgin of Guadeloupe was emblazoned on his cloak. The Virgin de Guadeloupe is revered above all others and many pilgrims visit her shrine certain days of the year. Even if you're not religious it's still inspiring to witness the strength of their belief. The other great thing about this Virgin is that she's brown and therefore has a special place in the hearts of the indigenous people of Mexico.
Teotihuacan is an archeological zone about 50kms. outside of the centro. It sits in a valley with mountain range offshoots surrounding it. It's very dry, almost austere and it's difficult to imagine that it once represented what was possibly the biggest city of Mexico's pre-hispanic Empire. I won't describe it in great details, you can always look it up online if you're interested in having a look at it. It's very impressive. The city is laid out in a grid pattern, we climbed one of the first minor pyramids in the complex known as the Citadel but the much bigger pyramids loom large in the distance. The Pyramid of the Moon is smaller than the Pyramid of the Sun which is the world's third largest pyramid at 70m. high. I don't think the pictures we took will do it justice, it's hard to visualize just how high that is. It's also 222m.long at its base and needless to say I didn't climb it. Stan climbed the Pyramid of the Moon but didn't risk the bigger one. We let the young Argentinians have a go at it. We both had very sore thigh
muscles, the next day, from all the climbing we did.
In addition we also visited a workshop where they showed us the various uses for the Agave plant, truly a magical plant. The blue agave is what they make tequila from but there are many different varieties and one in particular which can be put to many uses giving water, fiber, glue, paper. It's an astonishing plant, I took some pictures hope they work out. It's very similar to an aloe vera plant but thicker. It was a very long day. We left at 9 and didn't get back till 5, we squeezed in "lunch" around 3 o'clock. Interacting in Spanish for the whole day also takes its toll,we're not as fluent as we would like to be but everybody assumes we are.
I forgot to write about our first impressions of the city on Saturday. We got out on the street and noticed throngs and throngs of people, what would have conceivably been labeled a demonstration in a Canadian city but in Mexico city was just business as usual on a Saturday.
It was a bit overwhelming. We've both been to great capitals but never one as crowded as this one. Paris and Rome feel relatively "empty" compared to this. The noise is pretty deafening and constant, it's like a buzz in the back of your head which can vary in intensity but never completely goes away. One of the most bizarre sounds you'll hear, if you visit, is that of the organ grinder. Apparently the Italians brought that musical instrument at the turn of the century and they still play those same old instruments. Organ grinding is, believe it or not, a profession of sorts here. There's the guy who does the grinding and the person, male or female who waves the cap hat for donations. Yes they both wear a "uniform" of sorts but the cap is an indispensable part. You hear that sound everywhere in the old colonial section of the city. If you don't like that sound don't bother coming here it will drive you insane, it's a miracle it hasn't driven those who do it insane but maybe it has.
The main zocalo is phenomenally big, the beating heart of the old city. We ended up there gawking and marveling at how huge it actually is after having seen it as the stage for so many demonstrations on television. There was a market of "artesenia" set up on one side of the cathedral and many scantily clad a la Aztec type warriors and shamans. One such shaman was busy doing a "cleansing ceremony" involving many traditional and medicinal herbs. He would light the herbs and pass the smoke over the person while doing an incantation. We actually had that done in Cuzco, Peru and in this case many people were willing to line up to feel the herbs' beneficial cleansing effects. Not sure it worked in our case but at least it didn't "hurt much".
I'm going to finish part one here. I didn't want to describe in great details, I'm not writing a
traditional travelogue. I'm more interested in trying to capture in words the feel of a place, not sure I'm succeeding. Will do part two tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Leaving Queretaro tomorrow

It's been two long months of travel. It does get a little trying at times living out of suitcases, Stan is starting to feel the strain. We decided not to stay in San Miguel for a number of reasons. The hotel we were able to get, with our car, was far away from the center and we didn't relish having to walk down to get something to eat each and every day, especially after having done that a lot while in Guanajuato.
San Miguel is apparently a haven for expatriates but while in the "jardin", San Miguel's version of a square, we only noticed a few here and there. I suppose they were mostly all ensconced in their fabulous villas bought at a time when it was still fairly cheap to settle here. Although San Miguel is pretty with lots of cobblestone streets, it's also bone dry. It sits in a desert valley where some plots are irrigated but the rest is mostly given up to cattle or to the birds. There is a "lake" which we could see in the distance from our hotel viewpoint. We took a tour on one of those little tramways and we were able to visit most of what makes San Miguel interesting. A long time ago there were many haciendas there many of which have been converted into hotels "de grand luxe". The cathedral is very interesting in that it has semi-gothic architecture on the outside, very unusual for Mexico. The inside did not reflect this however, no stained glass windows and no real flying buttresses, the same busy, ornate interior that we have come to expect from Mexican churches.
With its narrow sidewalks and buildings which hide much of what's inside San Miguel had a slightly claustrophobic feel to it. It's not that we didn't like it, it is pretty and a great example of colonial architecture but it just wasn't the town for us.
Queretaro, on the other hand, is quite splendid although I do have to qualify that statement somewhat. The colonial center is extremely well laid out, the rest of the city is plagued with the same problems plaguing most big cities here and elsewhere. Congestion, pollution, sanitation problems, too many people, not enough jobs although it does feel more prosperous than a lot of other cities we've been to but that might just be an illusion.
The colonial center of the city is quite big and flat because the city doesn't sit in a geographical location as dramatic as that for Guanajuato or even San Miguel. On the other hand it's a very walkable city with lots of little green spaces, plazas, coffee shops, fountains and an army of sweepers in green and orange, mostly women, keep it sparkling clean. They work at it from morning to night. It does instill a sense of civic pride in its citizens that's undeniable.
We visited two museums on Tuesday which happens to be a free day. We were more interested in the architecture of these old convents than in the art itself which consisted mostly of religious art. I've seen enough religious art to last me a lifetime, neither of us really cares for it but we dutifully took a look if only to remind ourselves how much we dislike it.
If you throw a coin in Queretaro it's sure to land on one of three things: a church,a shoe store or an optometrist/optician. The first one is obvious, so many churches here it's mind boggling and as far as we can tell none of them are too involved with helping the poor. No soup kitchens for instance and the need is certainly there. As for the second the women and men must be inordinately fond of footwear so plentiful are the shops. The third is a little more problematic and we haven't figured that one out yet. People do wear glasses here but not in huge quantities, it's puzzling why the need for so many eye doctors and eye stores.
One thing they sure lack is "lavanderias". We found only two in a huge radius and none of them could take our clothes because they were too overwhelmed with all the orders they had already.
That's another puzzle, the buildings are old, doubtful they have washer/dryers in them and yet.... One could make money just starting one of these babies up, no worries though it won't be us.
We were fortunate to meet two friends of Pedro, Monica and Oscar. We spent some time with Monica and she gracefully showed us around. We will be stashing our car in her house.
Oscar invited us for lunch and came to pick us up on Wednesday. He and his wife manage a stand in the market where they sell raw chickens. They have two little girls. We visited them in the market, they're quite expert a wielding that knife to cut up the chickens in parts that customers will want. They do this 7 days a week except for Christmas day and New Year. It seems like a hard life but they appear to be happy working alongside each other and making enough to send their two daughters to private school. I'm opposed to private schools on principle but public schools are severely underfunded in Mexico and I can understand wanting to provide the best for your child.
Our hotel was built in 1825 and is the oldest hotel in Queretaro. Unfortunately the bathroom stinks of "aguas negras" (sewer) which wasn't immediately apparent when we booked it. We've had to live with this shitty smell and literally breathe through our mouths when having to linger in there. Actually this pervasive odor is one that we encounter very often in the city. Obviously there are a lot of problems attached to disposing of waste material.
Today opposite our hotel there is an indigenous woman with a small 3 month old baby and a 4 year old boy who looks tiny for his age. I spent a bit of time observing passersby and pass by they do without even a backward glance. Indians are a forgotten and ignored majority here. It's not the first time I've observed this, Mexicans seldom give and apparently are quite good are ignoring as well. I went down to talk to her and gave her some money. I know I'm a friggin softhearted Liberal but I couldn't stand it. She's from some poor village, she didn't speak very good Spanish, she can't read or write, never went to school, what chances does she have and what chances will her children have? The newspaper today was filled with glowing pictures of the mostly white elite, so prosperous, so filled with a sense of their accomplishment and their right to the good life,the contrast is just so jarring.
Tomorrow we leave by bus for Mexico city. It's going to be a wild time, okay I'll amend that, not too wild but I'll be sure to blog about it, no worries.

Not so random observations

I just wanted to update my post of yesterday. I didn't want to make it too long, people might get discouraged at the length and stop reading them, we all know that time is precious.
Regarding Guanajuato although it is a pretty city not all of it is pretty of course. The one thing that does stand out for me is how incredibly difficult it must be to live there if you're old and infirm. The very steep streets are a challenge and we have noticed a lot of older people going poco a poco with some difficulty. Those who don't have cars usually walk to get their groceries and in the center the place to get your goods are found in the main market. The market was at least a good 20 min. walk from where our hotel was none of it easy. Of course there are buses but they seem very slow, the traffic is so congested that it's still faster to walk sometimes than sit on a slow moving bus. The buses are extremely noisy. I wonder how Guanajuato is going to make out in 10 years from now with more cars behind added to an already gridlocked situation.
There is so little parking available in the center that the city has allowed car owners to park in the main tunnels which makes for some very tricky driving. Rows and rows are parked down there, interestingly those tunnels would seem perfect for a late night robbery or assault but the crime against persons or property appears to be quite low. It's wonderful news when all one hears is how violence prone Mexico is.
In Guanajuato they seem to love cheesies to an inordinate extent. The cheesies here are like fat, nubby fingers but they're not gnarled, they are smooth. They store them in these humongous bags, I took a picture of them, it's hard to believe but they must eat cheesies by the bucket full and that's not exaggeration.
It was nice to see so many young people about. It's a vibrant, university town and it shows.
We didn't notice too many tourists around, if tourists there were they were mostly Mexicans from neighbouring towns or states. Certainly not as many gringos as on the coast.

The drive out of Guanajuato wasn't bad but it didn't go quite as smoothly as anticipated. We did however learn the Mexican word for roundabout it's called a "glorietta" we became acquainted with that "glorietta" twice once going through it and a second time when we had to turn back because we had taken the wrong exit. It is a very cute word.
Stan was ready to drive back home and I do admit it's very frustrating and hard. These colonial cities have narrow streets, parked cars on the side, topes,(speed bumps) everywhere, pedestrian crossings, pedestrians dashing across, kids, dogs, bikes, motorbikes, it's all very haphazard, it does get very stressful. Driving to the coast is one thing, relatively easy in retrospect, but driving in the interior is another kettle of fish altogether. Two years ago it's the reason why we sort of gave up after Lake Chapala and headed for the coast and then Baja California.
Baja California is really easy to drive through.
This time though we're not giving up but driving to Mexico City is definitely out of the question.
While driving to San Miguel we kept seeing people walking on the side of the road either in pairs or in groups, all sorts of people of all ages actually. You have to understand that there is nothing to walk to. Nothing for hundreds of Kms. it's a desert, there is no agriculture, just a little ranching. It starts getting greener and irrigated for crops around San Miguel. It was just so very puzzling, we wanted to know where they were going. Stan slowed the car and I asked.
It turns out they are pilgrims (pelegrinos) and they are walking for 9 days from San Miguel to San Juan de Lagos where the Virgin there is "muy milagrosa" (very miraculous). What an amazing sight. They walk with nothing, just the clothes on their back and the odd bag. We saw teens, women with infants, women with children, men, old and young, old women. Further up the road they were carrying banners and a portrait of this milagrosa virgin. They even have a roving "capilla" which is an ambulatory chapel. Wow! That's faith whether born of desperation or religious fervor it is faith indeed. More about San Miguel in a later post.

Postcard from Guanajuato

We have been in Guanajuato for three lovely, fun filled days. The only part which was a little difficult was getting here. Read the directions wrong in Guadalajara,my fault, ended up circling around the peripherico till we finally figured out how to get the hell out of there. It's very frustrating at times, a car is nice to have but not always easy to manoeuvre in a city of millions harboring drivers with mostly bad driving habits. It's our second kick at the can when it comes to driving in Guadalajara and that can is getting pretty dented.
Guanajuato is a city built on hills, houses scramble up the hillside, there are only 3 main arteries which very inconveniently change names periodically. In addition there are countless smaller streets and the tiniest passageways which they euphemistically call "calleron". In other words it's still a calle of sorts. Guanajuato is situated at an altitude of 6000 ft. not as high as La Paz, Bolivia which at 10,000 ft is one of the highest capital in the world, nevertheless you can find yourself a little short of breath especially when climbing some of those steep hills or stairs.
Our hotel Posada Santa Barbara is lovely but it's a little far from the center and to get to the center we must navigate this very steep street, fine going down but murder coming back when you're tired, still I'm not complaining we could be battling a blizzard instead and or shoveling snow not to mention having to report to a job.
Yesterday we took a tour, all in Spanish with a few other Mexicans who were also visiting the city. We visited a "haunted house" built during the colonial era who's owner went mad when his wife died. He proceeded to kidnap young girls thinking they were his dead wife. When he saw that they weren't he killed them and eventually took his own life. All very macabre, lots of sound effects, it was pretty cool. Mexicans love this kind of ghoulish stuff.
Our next stop was a viewing of the Inquisition's favored tools for torturing people. All I can say is they were endlessly creative when it came to punishing people, especially women who strayed. It wasn't quite as graphic as the museum in Lima which I was very happy about.
In the heydays of Guanajuato mining was what made the town prosper. As a result of having found a very rich vein one of Guanajuato's patrons built this lavish church in a totally baroque style, very ornate and that's where we ended up next. I found it ironic that we went from torture initiated by the church to "venerating" in a church. The Inquisition was a brutal time and there's no erasing that history.
In between we visited a shop that sells sweets, they have a wide assortment of specialties typical of Guanajuato.
After the sweets and the Church we visited a very small part of the original mine called Valenciana and to which Guanajuato owed a lot of its riches. We went down approximately 70 meters which seemed like a lot till the guide told us that the original mine went down about 600 meters. Everything was done by hand,inhuman conditions, slavery really and very hard to imagine how so many endured. Of course they generally didn't have a choice,
Many miners died in La Valenciana bringing back the precious gold and silver while others got morbidly rich, nothing ever changes.
We ended our day with a view of the city from one of its highest points. When the sun sets and hits the houses just right, the houses look like little jeweled boxes of color in blues, pinks, reds, oranges, purples. Not all the houses are colored but enough are thus giving the city its distinctive look.
I forgot to mention that the famous painter Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato and we visited the house where he was born. The house contains a lot of his earlier works which map his trajectory as a painter and muralist. The only problem was that the lower level of the house stank of "aguas negras" (sewers) which marred our enjoyment a little bit. Guanajuato has kms. of tunnels, about 27 of them, you must go through some of those tunnels to get out of the city and they form like a labyrinth if you don't know where you're going. They were also used, at one time, as conduits for the "aguas negras", they haven't quite solved the problem of the smell entirely. Of course it doesn't stink everywhere but periodically one does get a whiff.
Today we explored more of the city and went to a lovely museum which celebrates the fictional character of Don Quijote. Guanajuato has a love affair with the writer Cervantes and D.Quijote is revered as a mythical, inspirational character. It was interesting to see how many different types of representations of the same character could be done, in pastels, bronze, oil,marble, wood, silver etc... We really enjoyed this museum, made me want to read the novel all over again. We also went to visit the famous Museum of the Mummies, these are the bodies of ordinary people which were found to have been mummified when the cemetery was being redone because there were too many bodies. Apparently something special in the soil of Guanajuato allows for some beautiful specimens of mummification. We didn't linger too long, Stan was not a fan at all.
It's all very macabre but Mexicans embrace death, they don't fear it, in so doing they embrace life. It's an interesting way to look at the time we spend in this world and yet welcome the after life.
Tomorrow we leave for San Miguel de Allende and we were seriously considering hiring a cab just to guide us out of here. However this evening we managed to get some pretty good directions so hopefully we won't be stuck endlessly circling in Guanajuato forever. It should be a piece of cake, I'm always an optimist. Will let you know how it went.

Adios Melaque

Tonight was our last night in Melaque. We had a lovely supper. Went out with our friends Carol and Max and sampled molcajetes which we had never had before. It's a stew which can have any number of ingredients including the meat of your choice and it comes steaming hot in a preheated lava bowl which you literally cannot touch or you will have a nasty surprise. Needless to say the unusual presentation is half the fun.
I have a few farewell thoughts to share on Melaque.
If you're into a laid back vacation by the ocean which won't cost you a bundle of money Melaque is definitely the town for you. Of course there are a few things you might have to be willing to put up with which are not so different than what you might encounter in many other Mexican towns.
Although they've made somewhat of an effort to spruce things up it's still a fairly dirty town but it's not as dirty as it used to be so that's a plus. There's even a bit of an effort made towards recycling plastics which is a scourge and a blight in all third and second world countries. We can thank petroleum for that wonderful gift.
Melaque has a lot of dogs which equals a lot of shit some of it pretty stinking big since although they love chihuahuas it's not their shit that gets noticed, plenty of other pedigreed and non pedigreed specimens around. They love their roosters. Mexican roosters don't go by a certain timetable, anytime of the day or night is good for crowing, you have to learn to tune them out.
Where we are there's also a goat and she adds to the general cacophony, once in a while the mule also kicks in for good measure. There's an army barrack near by and they play the trumpet regularly bright and early every morning, needless to say the playing is not concert hall material not by any great stretch of the imagination.
In Mexico and in Melaque there is no escaping the loud, boisterous parties which might be weekly occurrences, Mexicans love to party and they don't mind sharing the noise at all whether you want to party or not. Many people bring earplugs I just can't be bothered. When in Mexico....well you know the rest of that saying as well as I do.
You will never want for a place to eat, taco stands abound. There are pastry vendors on the streets at night selling slices of cakes and what could almost pass for creme caramel, not quite as good as the original but still very tasty. Of course there are also churros to fall back on,
fattening and greasy but I do enjoy the odd one or two.
The beach is lovely with waves suited to all abilities, great big monsters, medium size waves and gentle waves which lap and nibble at your toes. The weather is always hot and the sun is always shining. There is poverty here but there's also a lot of freedom and happiness, it's not all drab and hopeless. We're always amazed at how even tempered the vendors on the beach are. They plow that beach back and forth carrying their stuff that not too many people want, suffer through countless rejections and yet don't appear angry or even disappointed when you say "no gracias".
I would have put a bullet through my head a long time ago. We were trying to imagine an alternate scenario where all the vendors, mostly indigenous, sit under the palapas drinking beer, eating basically enjoying their "dolce farniente" while the gringos would be out there plowing the beach looking for potential customers. It did stir up some pretty humorous pictures in our heads even if it's never going to happen and truth be told I wouldn't want to trade places with them. It's a hard way to make a living, very hard.
I haven't blogged too much since being here because life has just been sweet and easy with nothing too much out of the ordinary to blog about. We've enjoyed it but we're getting itchy feet now and it's time to move on and explore new vistas. The beach can only sustain us for a while, we need to be stimulated anew, there's nothing like the thrill of discovery when you're traveling and that's certainly what I enjoy.
We're moving on so adios Melaque and Hola Guanajuato.