Sunday sunshine

Although yesterday it was unusually cold in the morning, finally the sun came out in the afternoon as we were over for a delicious 5 hour lunch at Julie and Jonathan's place!!!! And it stayed out all day today, too. These are the first sunny days since we arrived, so we decided to enjoy it but also to take it easy because James is still not so well, although he is on his way to recovery (had to leave lunch early because he still can't eat or drink except broth).

The last few weekends they had this amazing flower and plant market on Avenida de  La Reforma right between Diana and San Angel which is very close to us. So after a coffee and an hour of work in the Starbucks next to the US embassy (which, by the way, is almost reasonably priced here since people cannot afford US prices), we decided to take a walk and choose a plant that will be ours during our stay here. The variety was amazing... now I understand why Julie is so into plants. They had a hundred different kinds of flowers in incredible colors and shapes and the same is true to the green plants too. We liked so many that in the end we bought a big one (don't ask me its name), a smaller pink one (found it on the web and it's called "pink splash/polka dot" plant) and two cacti since James really liked them...Altogether we spent a whole $9 (90 pesos)! 

So we have sunshine and plants now, we are just waiting for James' health to be back, and everything will be perfect!

PS: On such beautiful days even hand washing is easier on the roof in the specially placed stone basin and washboard...

La Opera, Cafe Tacuba, and Sickness

Despite the title, the cantina, the cafe and James' sickness have nothing to do with each other. Yesterday we had a great time with Gabriel, James' friend and colleague from Stony Brook. It turns out that he is here too for research until the end of November. Gabriel and James ran into each other in the archive on Tuesday, what a nice surprise! It looks like we have one more friend here...

So yesterday I joined them in one of the most famous cantinas downtown, La Opera Bar, which is from the beginning of the century and it's most well known for a gunshot on the ceiling allegedly from Pancho Villa himself...(if you look carefully at the picture you can see it on the top right corner) The place looks really nice, old-times flavor, elegant but welcoming, and very much used to tourists...James hasn't even started asking the waiter, and he already pointed to the mark on the ceiling...

So the first impression was great, not cheap, not too pricey, nice waiters, nice atmosphere. James and Gabriel were drinking beer as usual, but since we arrived I have been drinking a lot of cocktails here, so I ordered a sangria...it was one of the worst I have ever had (lemonade and bad red wine mixed). To give the benefit of the doubt, next I ordered a Margarita, which is a real Mexican cocktail, so I thought if anything they must know how to do this right...I was wrong, it didn't taste anything like a Margarita except for the salt on the glass...it turns out Gabriel had a bad experience with another mixed drink, too. So even through the place has the vibe you'd like I don't think we'll be going back there a lot.

However, Cafe Tacuba, just one street over, is a real treat!! We have been there last Sunday already, but I wanted to go back because I really liked it. It has plenty of tourists as well, but it still has more of a genuine feeling to it, with its colonial architecture, tiled, colorful walls, many small tables, uniformed waiters, etc. And more importantly, it has great food and good drinks (haven't had a cocktail there yet), good wine and ... absolutely fantastic cakes!!!! Finally I had my first tres leches cake there and it wasn't a disappointment, to say the least. We spent a couple of hours there, too, and I think this is a place to visit regularly downtown. We also had huge, delicious tamales...for less than 3 dollars each!

And now onto the last thing: James hasn't been feeling well since Tuesday, he still went to the archive yesterday, but by the evening he could barely walk. It's the second time in three weeks he has this stomach virus. We have no idea where he gets it from (I haven't been ill with my stomach yet). Last night was a nightmare, and all day today he couldn't get out of bed. Luckily we brought antibiotics from the US, and they have stuff for it here in the pharmacy as well. But it's a 5 day treatment every time. We were told that this is common, but I thought it was only exaggeration...well, it's not - at least not for James. And we don't even eat from the streets and only go to good restaurants. I sanatize all vegetables, peel fruits and we never drink tap water. I have no idea what this could be, but I really do hope his stomach will adjust soon...

Today we went to the Templo Mayor. Notice how you can see the ruins of the Great Temple--which made Cortez's blood curdle--behind that, the Metropolitan Cathedral--constructed promptly on top of some Aztec horror after the Conquista--and further back, the campana de Delores 1810 to 2008. Que Viva México! So, we have Aztec, colonial, and national all in one picture. 

In Mexico, the layers of history are laid bare to the outside world. Sin Vergüenza. 

 

In the United States (and Europe) we have history painting which shows the individual in history, in Mexico it's social history painting in the great cathedrals of secular government. So, in the Palacio Nacional, Diego Rivera has shown how the sick man of Europe raped and sacked his way across Mesoamerica--an important aspect of the cosmology of Mexican history. Further, scenes of la vida cotidiana populate the walls of the palacio nacional. Could you imagine, instead of Napolean or George Washington, to have scenes of the metate and Indians dying their linens? Social history painting. Much hipper than regular 'ol history painting. Really, somehow the social has been incorporated in old Mexico. How sincerely, remains an open question. 

So, basically Indians and Peasants are celebrated in Mexico. The United States doesn't have peasants of course--the individual that goes out into the woods and sets himself up in a shack and two acres away from society is a hero. 

Talk about lonely.

Bar Milan

On Friday, our friend Pablo invited us once again to have lunch with his family. Lunch is truly the biggest meal in Mexico as opposed to dinner in the US. Although lunch is the most important meal of the day in my part of the world as well, I have to say that it is nothing compared to a Mexican lunch. They stop working to eat at around 2:30-3:00PM and it lasts for two hours after which they return to work until 7:00-8:00. Except on Fridays they often don't go back to work! I have no idea how they can do any work being so full as I was after the incredible lunch at Pablo's family...

His mom made the famous chile en nogada, a seasonal dish that we mentioned before. But that came later... before we had a soup that I am a huge fan of now and will regularly cook it from now on. It's a black bean soup (mashed) with angel hair pasta in it, simple but never had any better bean soup. Then there was a "middle dish", tortillas with nopale (cactus served with every meal) and rice. And only after all these were we served the deliciously rich chile en nogada, which is so creamy (pure walnut sauce), somewhat sweet but with ground pork, and it's very-very filling... I could barely move at this point, but there was also dessert coming, a very interesting fruit mashed and mixed with oranges, but the whole thing was black. It is called "sapote" (had to look it up) and it is very unique, not very sweet, a little tart.

Anyways, apparently everybody went back to work after this feast, but me and James could barely make it home for a nap... In the evening when we were ourselves again, we took Pablo's friend's advice and went to check out a new bar called Bar Milan, which is not very far from us. We even took a pesero (bus) there, which means that we have started finding our ways slowly. The Bar is pretty cool, you have to pay at the cashier and exchange your money to "Milagro" which is their "currency" that you can use at the bar. They have a great variety of cocktails, decently priced although not cheap, but tip is included in the price. We had two very good mochitos (the best so far here), hung out, didn't meet anybody, but were intensely observing people...younger, older, really mixed crowd, more man than women, definitely more single men than single women...Then we came home (again on a pesero) and checked out a neighborhood place, as it turned out more American than Mexican (free peanuts), but we had a great spicy guacamole (for the first time since we are here).
Tomorrow is our day off, we have lots of plans, we'll see what happens. Oh, and almost all museums are free on Sundays!

Vik Muniz

Ok, we saw this exhibition at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, which right north of Zocalo last Sunday. I know that it has almost been a week, but I wanted to write about it separately because it was soo interesting and great. The only thing I don't know is why haven't I heard about this guy ages ago and why haven't I seen any exhibitions by him in New York...it might be my ignorance (James has heard about him before), but I think he is certainly not as well known as he should be.

Although he lives in the US, he was born in Brazil and could be mostly associated with the pop art movement (although goes way beyond it, I think). Apparently, Warhol really liked and appreciated his work. I think his work is in fact more complex and interesting than Warhol's. Basically everything he does is exhibited as a photograph (larger or smaller), and he works with all sorts of materials such as wire, diamond, thread, ketchup, ink, chocolate sauce, dirt, and sugar reproducing famous cultural imprints in our brains, mostly photos or paintings. So, for instance one of my favorites was the portraits of young black boys who worked on a sugar plantation, and Muniz took their photograph and reproduced them perfectly using white sugar on black paper. It is the least of all that this technique is self-referential in many interesting ways, but it also comments on sugar's cultural and economic value in conjunction with questions of race, child labour, etc.

Another set of pictures reproduced the Warhol series of Jackie Kennedy in ketchup. Again, the reproduction is incredibly realist, but also a funny play on Warhol and American consumerism both of images and of ketchup. Anyways, these are just a few examples, the exhibition was very extensive and every section was surprising and refreshing. There were thread created landscapes, diamond created image of Elisabeth Taylor and Monica Vitti, as well as the famous photo of the young soldier boy in the Civil War recreated with toy soldiers...(see above).

I think you, art enthusiasts out there, would have loved this show! If anything by him comes up in NYC please definitely go and see it, you won't be disappointed. More on him on this blog:
http://www.vikmuniz.net/www/index.html

Indepence Day

The last three days we have spent celebrating the most important national holiday of Mexico: the day of its Independence! In fact the real thing is today, and even now I can hear the crowd outside on Paseo de la Reforma passing and chanting.

We were invited yesterday to a celebration party by Julie's friend, Alfredo. It is incredible, but he also lives in walking distance from us (so does Julie and her boyfriend, Jonathan). Living in this part of Mexico City corresponds to a combination of the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Lower East Side and Lower West Side...Anyways the party was good, we were the youngest but everyone was so nice. There was a lot to eat and drink, but it was potlock, everyone brought something. I made my famous layered cauliflower, but I have to admit I was nervous, firstly because they like to put their food in tacos (I didn't know how well it would go with tacos) and secondly because I was up against soooo many delicious Mexican dishes! Luckily it turned out pretty well and everyone liked it.

At 11:00PM watched the president's short talk on TV (he repeats the same few chanting sentences every year - very ritualistic), after deciding against going down to the main center Zocalo where hundreds of thousands of people were celebrating. But I'm glad we didn't go cause 1. it was raining again, 2. there were way too many people, 3. it only lasted 5 minutes literally, 4. we had a great view for the fireworks. The TV didn't show Lopez Obrador's talk of course which was competing with the presidents'...

On Sunday we also went to Centro Historico and saw an amazing exhibition, I'll write about that next time.

Observaciónes sobre México

James is here to offer some observations after almost a full week in Mexico:

The street vendors are legion. Ever since we got here we have heard an amplified voice calling out loudly, every night, right around dusk. I thought perhaps we lived around a mosque. And then I remembered that Mexicans don't have mosques. Or at least not many of them. Finally, last night I realized that the voice was ambulatory, and was indeed gaining in volume as it approached ever nearer to our quiet little apartment. "Tamaaaaaales....Tamaaaales"

I have been taking the subway everyday to work in the archives and my favorite vendors are the ones selling CDs caseros--i.e. homemade mixes. "Salsa Romantico! Como le guste! Come se acuerde, más de cien éxitos!" (You have to imagine the curious pitch that the barkers use, high and long and then tapering off into something that sounds like a question). Yesterday I took the train. When I at last disembarked at San Lazaro I walked from the last car to the exit on the far side of the platform, meanwhile taking the moment to peer into the individual cars through their gaping open doors. I observed pencils being sold in one car, flashlights in the next, a reggaeton mix in the next....

Next, two observations about class: First, there is definitely an underclass here. And let's not mince words--they are definitely darker. It's not that the United States doesn't have a similar underclass, (Katrina?) it just seems they are more hidden in the furthest reaches of our urban corners. Or waiting on us in large bureaucracies like hospitals, the DMV, Verizon's phonebank, etc. The Mexican "middle class" (let's call it that) and above, likewise, have people waiting on them constantly. But they are anything but invisible. There is an army of chofers, shoe shiners, maids (even we have one), etc. serving often lighter-skinned, better-off, Mexicans. The difference: in the United States good self-respecting liberals feel bad about this fact. That doesn't excuse it or really make it any better however. 

But, more importantly, second: it's wonderful how you can feel social protest in the air. Maybe the government allows manifestantes to make their presence known, even if the changes that the protesters are pushing for will more than likely never transpire. Maybe, the protesters are even paid to protest and promote the actions of one faction or another. But the fact remains, we've seen at least two small-scale protests (something about the earth) and one large-scale protest (about Panismo in Morelos) since we've arrived. It's wonderful that there is allowance for social protest in the Mexican national space. I also think that, if the whole doctoral "ex-slaves in Mexico" thing doesn't work out, I am going to move here permanently and open up a banner production shop. "No al cierre de Michoacan," "Primero los pobres: ¿Cómo Dando Delgado?" We see a new sign every day around here in Colonia Cuauhtemoc and in Zona Rosa; they're always white banners hanging from balconies with large block letters printed on them. In the United States, they wouldn't let that shit stay up. No way. Which is more Democratic? If Mexico had money would  a stratified class society exist like it does in the United States? Or does the state allow the protests to happen and absorb some of the leaders in order to maintain status quo? At least there is consciousness here.

Finally, a word on Chiles en Nogada. We had the vegetarian version of this wonderful dish for lunch today. It is a chile stuffed with pork (or in our case, ground soy) and covered with pomagranite seeds and  a purée of walnut sauce. Like, a lot of walnut sauce. The special thing about it is that the chile (verde), the nogada (walnut sauce-blanco), and pomagranite (rojo) together comprise the tri-color of the Mexican flag. So ¡Qué viva México! Y esperamos con ansia el 16, o el aniversario 198 del grito de Hidalgo desde la iglesia de Delores. We'll take pictures of the celebration: maybe we'll even see AMLO speak...seems like a good occasion for a protest.

quick impressions

The last few days were a little more monotonous than before, I guess we are waiting for the weekend to do new stuff. James started to go to the archives (hopefully he'll tell you more about it) and I started working on my job applications...So just a few quick thoughts now about the last two days.

1.I decided that I will consider knowing this city when I figure out its bus system. The Metro and Metrobus are fairly straightforward (did I say how cheap they are? 20 cents a ride for the Metro, 45 cents for the Metrobus), but the buses are the most confusing and chaotic I have ever seen. First of all, they are not numbered - they only state their first and final stations (but where they route is in between is a mystery). Secondly, they only have two official stops (the first and the last), in between they stop by the sidewalk wherever and whenever anybody hails them (usually on street corners), but only for a second before they move on quickly. Thirdly, they are tiny and usually travel with their doors open. And lastly, there is no universal fee on them, it depends on both the line you take and the distance you are going (it can vary from 3 pesos to 7 pesos - 30 to 70 cents... luckily the conversion is easy between dollar and peso). Now, what do you think? We'll venture down to Condesa this weekend by bus, that's the most convenient way to get there apparently...

2. Besides being notoriously dangerous to hail just any taxi on the street (although they are super cheap which would make them a great and a quick form of transportation), taxi drivers apparently often "forget" to turn on their meters and most of the time they don't know how to get where you want to get. So simply giving them the address is not enough, it's best if you know exactly how to get there... Otherwise they often just keep asking each other and driving you around.

3.  Yesterday I went to our nearby market with Julie and now that I also bought stuff there my heart is even happier. I spent about 30 dollars (300 pesos) and could not carry the stuff home by hand (hence the first taxi experience) - just a short list: mangoes, a delicious fruit called mamey, avocado (not the cheapest btw), potatoes, reddish, cauliflower, peas, chicken, onions, beans, rice, parsley, cheese (3 kinds, James' favorite is the one with chili pepper in it)... everything fresh, cheap and delicious. They don't negotiate like I expected, but they also don't try to scam you for being a foreigner, which is nice. And they have flowers and plants that I've never seen for one 10th of the price in New York. We'll have fresh flowers in the house all the time now, it's a different feeling. I hope James will come with me next week and take some pictures...

Well, we have big plans for this weekend, it's Independence Day and we'll visit some places. We' want to take more pictures and James promised to put them online so you all can see (if he doesn't don't hesitate to send "encouraging" emails:-)

Sunday in Mexico City

Yesterday we had a great day even though it was raining almost constantly. Apparently it rains a little every day in Mexico City...something I didn't know and wasn't prepared for. In fact it's raining right now again. We went to pick up our mobile phone from Julie, our landlady who also told us to check out the Sunday market and art in the park event not very far, just down the street.

Well, the market is truly incredible...although we didn't buy anything you can find just about everything you might be looking for and more. I have seen vegetables I've seen before but also good old fresh green peas familiar from home, cauliflower, all sorts of beans, rice, cut and mixed vegetables and a million different kinds of fruit, many of which I couldn't recognize. Apparently, it's the season of mango now so I'll be buying a lot of those in the next few weeks. The Art in the Park event was nearby - you all would have loved it. It is practically an opportunity for any painter or sculptor to put his pieces out for show and sale in a park. The whole small park was full of different artists and their paintings from the most cheesy and tacky to very modern and interesting stuff. And people walk around, have discussions with the artists, and also buy pieces...

After this, we took a Metrobus (which is a big bus that goes fast on its own lane and doesn't have many stops) to meet our friend Pablo and his family for lunch. It was a great introduction to exquisite Mexican/Spanish cuisine. I can't enumerate the many different appetizers, dishes and drinks we tried. It's important to know that Mexico City does have very good seafood and fish dishes. I also tasted a good tequila and for dessert I had the most amazing fresh figs with cream. Pablo and his family are just the nicest people on earth, I think we'll enjoy meeting people here.

After lunch we decided to check out Condesa, the trendy Williamsburg-like part of town, which was a little disappointing maybe because of the rain maybe because of the prices...We'll have to go back and explore more on a better day.

I'm reading a great book that we got from James' sister, Katie about Mexico City, the title is "First Stop in the New World: Mexico City the Capital of the 21st Century" by David Lida. I swear to God ever word that I read was absolutely truthful to my experience so far, except he adds his historical, economic and cultural explanation to the facts.

Well, so far so good, we are a little homesick too, to be honest, and a little lonely missing all of you!
Love
Lilla

Finally here

After having to deal with the new airport policies regarding luggage (of course they will try to rip you off as much as they can) and paying extra for the - true enough - fairly heavy suitcases, we arrived to Mexico city in no time (2 quick hours). Everything went well here, we found the official taxi, where you pay in advance and don't give any money to the driver, that took us to the apartment on Rio Lerma.

Julie, the landlady was here and she is super-nice, even helped us bring the luggage up (3rd floor, no elevator- can't escape our fate, it seems) and bought us some exotic fruits...We have settled in somewhat, the apartment is big and with lots of light. there are hummingbirds appearing from time to time in front of the window to feed on the sugary water left outside for them...never seen a hummingbird live before. We also went to see the small market that they have on Fridays just around the corner, not bad but apparently on Tuesdays there is a huge one close. We ate quesdillas for 8 pesos (80 cents), they tasted amazing...

Today, on Saturday we took our first sightseeing trip to the Zocalo which is the heart of the Centro Historico, it is a big square with governmental palaces and the Catedral Metropolitana, a huge and amazingly decorated baroque church from the colonial 16th century. We also saw the Templo Mayor, an Aztec place of worship that was quite recently excavated after they demolished a bunch of colonial buildings sitting on top of it. It is the foundation of a pyramid church from the Aztec times...

We didn't go in (next time) because we couldn't get into the Palacio National either (they asked for ID, the home offices of the president, which is decorated with Diego Rivera murals, so we need to go back there anyways...

Pictures and more will follow...