I woke up bright and early to get out to the Guelaguetza Popular an hour or so after it was meant to officially start (never show up to anything on time in Mexico or you will be the only one there). I had to ask a bunch of people how to get there and eventually had to take the bus. I had no idea where I was meant to get off the bus so I was praying that the rest of the passengers on the bus were heading to the same place. Luckily there was a nice woman sitting near me who must have seen that I had no clue where I was going and told me when to get off the bus. So I walked along with her and the rest of the crowd passing a million little vendors on the way until I got to this huge soccer field with a big stage in the middle surrounded by chairs. The first of the dancers were already on stage. It was a really awesome good time and as I discovered later on it was very illegal for me to be there as foreigners are not permitted to partake in protests in Mexico. Anyway, at the end of every dance the dancers throw some item of food into the crowd like onions or tostadas or tomatoes. It was really funny. I was so very confused and the blistering heat of the day was not helping things. I only ended up staying for a few hours before I couldn't take the heat anymore. On my way out, I went up to where I saw a group of people gathered thinking that it might be where the bus stop was. I was wrong. There was a bus there alright but it had been stopped sideways so that it blocked off the whole street and there was a group of man with scarves wrapped around their faces setting off fire works and yelling things at the crowd. I didn't stick around to find out what was going on. I got my buns outta there pronto!
The reason that I was able to attend both the Guelaguetza popular and oficial is that the official one is so well attended that they have two (one in the morning and one in the evening). Now were I not the silly uninformed tourist that I was I would have gone straight from the Guelaguetza popular to wait in line at the Guelagutza Oficial. However I thought it would be a better idea to have a nice lunch and a little nap before I headed off to the second event. When I got to the auditorium I met massive crowds and ridiculous numbers of police and was told to turn around and go home because all the gates were closed and they weren't letting anyone else in. I was very disappointed but thought that I might as well walk all the way around and see what I could see. When I got to the very top/back of the auditorium they opened the gates and slowly started letting in a few people at a time. After nearly getting trampled by people trying to get in I finally got through the gates. The auditorium was huge and the located on the top of a big hill so the view out over the town was amazing. The dancing was great and they had a huge live band. I managed to get myself into a pretty good spot for viewing (mind you I was still about as far away as one could get from the stage). There was a group of young girls in front of me who were so nice. They made sure that I could see and every time I went to take a picture they were sure to be out of my way. Between each of the dances there were guys standing on the tops of the walls who would throw sombreros and tee-shirts to the crowd. The girls caught a couple hats and gave one to me. It truly made my day. Later on I passed on that smile when a little street girl came up to me and asked if she could wear it. I gave her the hat and watched some fireworks with her for a bit both of us with huge smile on our faces. She reminded me of my boys I had left behind in Ciudad Guzman and I got a little teary-eyed thinking of them.
After the show, I met up with Kira again and we went for dinner and margaritas. The next morning I had a flight back to Guadalajara and so we had to say our goodbyes. It was pretty sad as we had become pretty good friends over the past few days. The next morning I caught my flight and my dear friend Fernando came to pick me up at the airport. It was really great to see him again. So we went back to his house and I got myself organized for my flight back home the next day. Fernando's great uncle had passed away while I had been travelling and the funeral was that night so Memo had offered to take me to a soccer match that just happened to be a friendly between the Tecos vs the Boca Juniors who are one of the top teams in Argentina. The game was not all that great and ended in a 1-1 draw but it was so cool to see those players live and to finally go to a proper Mexican soccer match. My trip to Mexico was almost complete. After the game we met up with Fernando again and stuffed our faces with tacos... well I did anyway... these were my last Mexican tacos. I had to take advantage. After tacos we went out for some drinking and karaoke at the boys' favourite bar and ended the night in the playground outside Memo's house. I said some very sad goodbyes to Memo and Ricardo and went back to Fernando's place for a few hours sleep before I had to be at the airport for my flight home.
By an amazing stroke of luck. Jess' flight back into Guadalajara arrived about an hour or so before I was meant to board. So I got to see Jess again which was absolutely amazing but sad because we had to say goodbye all over again. I learned that at the Guadalajara airport they feel the need to hand search every single passengers luggage which was enfuriating because I had very carefully packed three bottles of booze so that they wouldn't get broken. Anyway, saying goodbye to Jess and Fernando was the worst. I cried from that moment all the way to Los Angeles. I cried for all the amazing friends I'd made and for my boys and for the food. Oh how I do miss the food! Getting on the plane to LA they also felt the need to search my carry on luggage and the wouldn't let me take on the unopened bottle of water I had just bought when I was already through security. And then they proceeded to pat me down and even made me take off my shoes so they could check them too. I was really truly hating on Mexican airlines by the time I got on that flight. It really didn't help the whole crying thing. And then I lost my luggage tags. Thank God they didn't lose my bags.
American customs were a breeze after the nightmare that was Mexico and I now consider myself somewhat of an expert at LAX since this was the fourth time I'd been through there in the last year. However, I had a seven hour layover there. After I had thoroughly gone through every shop and still had about five hours to kill I took to my usual passtime of people watching and enjoying a long drawn out meal. When I finally boarded my flight to Calgary I was so excited to get home. It was really starting to sink in that I would sleep in my own comfy bed that night. In Calgary I didn't have much of a layover at all and finally at around 12:30am on July 24th I was home! Mum, Dad and Alexis were there to meet me and I had never been so happy to see their faces.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Oaxaca
So now that winter is threatening I thought, what a good time to actually finish the tales of my summer adventure in Mexico... well, almost. Where were we... right. I had just been dropped off at the bus station to catch a bus to Oaxaca (ponounced wa-HA-ka). I got to the station thinking that buses would be pretty regularly departing (or so said the tourist guide) but I was wrong and had to wait a solid 2.5 hours for the next bus to leave. So I grabbed a coffee and some snacks and hunkered down in the waiting room to entertain myself watching all the interesting people that Mexican bus stations have to offer. So I waited and waited and waited and finally they boarded my bus and a long and rather uneventful six hour trip later we finally arrived in Oaxaca. Oaxaca is probably one of the most beautiful places I had seen (besides Tapalpa) since I arrived in Mexico. It was breath-taking. Now to be clear this was the city of Oaxaca in the state of Oaxaca... I never went to the beaches or to the rest of the state. I went to the city for the Guelaguetza folk dance festival.
I have to give you little history of Oaxaca so you can understand the big picture of the event. So in the last few years there has been a lot of violence and turmoil in Oaxaca state with the government oppressing the indigenous peoples. I got a bit of a one-sided story from the indigenous groups who were protesting in the city while I was there but they seem to have a pretty good point. I was told that in 2007, the bodies of six revolutionary leaders were found unceremoniously disposed of in a local cemetery after being assassinated by government forces. So anyway, Guelaguetzas of the past are sort of comparable to powwows. It is a time when many different local peoples come together to share their culture and it is a very important time of year for these people. Nowadays, the Guelaguetza is held in a giant auditorium and is put on by the government. So as you can probably guess, this has become quite the controversial event. The same government that is oppressing the people is hosting a celebration of their cultures. So now we have two Guelaguetzas: the Guelaguetza Oficial (put on by the government) and the Guelaguetza Popular (put on by the people). I was lucky enough to go to both which I will talk about a bit later on.
My first day in Oaxaca turned out to be a bit on the stressful side as I had thought (being the silly tourist that I was) that I could just show up in Oaxaca a couple days before Guelaguetza and find a place to stay. I learned the hard way that this is definitely not true. So I took the first place I could find (about the eighth place I tried) that cost me a painful 350 pesos/night ($35) but they were only available for one night so I had to go on a hunt for somewhere else for the remaining three nights or I would be sleeping in the streets. After excessive wandering I finally found a hostel (very uncommon in Mexico) that cost 100 pesos/night and they were actually available! It was not a very pretty hostel but the couple who owned it were super-cool (the guy wore a team Canada jersey half the time I was there as a sign of solidarity). So after I had that place secured I went to an awesome restaurant for supper where they served exclusively Oaxacan food. I was handed a flyer as I walked down the street offering me a free beer if I ate there. So I did. I ate squash blossoms stuffed with goats cheese. It was awesome even though I was the only person there. I was eating at 6:30pm which is an unheard of hour for Mexicans to eat. Anyway, after supper I meant to just go back to my enormous hotel room (king-size bed, tv, private bath...) and go to bed but on my way I came across the most wonderful jazzy pop singer named Ana Diaz. So I stayed and watched her whole show and promptly bought her CD. The CD was not nearly as good as her show unfortunately but it was still a $7 well spent.
The next day I was a little more adventurous and did some serious shopping all afternoon. My first stop was a little shop to purchase the local specialty: a tasty little beverage called mezcal. It's made from the same plant as tequila (agave) but is fermented with the aid of a little worm that is still in the bottle when you buy it. I was so excited that I had found it because it was the only request Alexis had given to me for gifts. So I bought the bottle with the fattest worm I could find. Then I was off to find something particularly Oaxacan for Mum (that was her one request). I ended up in a massive artisans market. On my way in a Mexican man asked me if I had the time. I have since learned to claim ignorance on this one unless it is a sweet old lady asking. When I responded in Spanish this guy took it as an invite to ask me all about my life and tour me around the market for the next hour. I didn't protest until after I had used his local know-how to buy Mum the most fabulous hand-made rug and a couple Day of the Dead dolls for myself. Then he started asking me if I had I boyfriend... I knew where that conversation was going so I told him very firmly that I was totally loyal to my Canadian boyfriend and was not interested in a Mexican boyfriend for a few days and good day to you sir!!! Have I mentioned how much I dislike Mexican men? Not to say that there aren't good ones out there. I had many a wonderful Mexican guy friend while I was there but I consider myself lucky with those ones.
So that night I went down to the cathedral to find a good vantage point for parade viewing and as I was waiting an American girl started talking to me. It was very exciting to find an English-speaking person after a solid two days of lonely wandering through town. We decided to hunt down this parade and found it with no difficulty. There were massive crowds and loud music to guide us. The parade was awesome! Kira and I managed to get to the front and these crazy guys dressed as devils decided they needed to dance with the silly white girls while the local tv channel filmed it all. It was highly entertaining and helped heal the wounds left by some other crazy dancers throwing fishing nets over the crowd. I had bruises for days. Anyway, that parade was great and we got an up-close look at all the fabulous outfits of the Guelaguetza dancers. Earlier that day I had gotten word that Leonor (one of the Mexican girls I went to school with in Australia) was in town for the Guelaguetza too! I was so excited because I had missed her in Mexico City when I was there. So after the parade Kira and I met up with Leo and her Australian boyfriend Ian and went for drinks at a nice bar to pass the evening. It was so great to see both of them again.
The next day, I went for a nice long breakfast of proper Oaxacan food (I love Oaxacan food!!!) and then saw an orchestra playing in the park. After that I checked out the museum where I discovered my new favourite artist: Flavio Diaz. His work blew my mind. After the museum I met up with Kira again (she was working in Oaxaca for a coffee exporter while killing time between terms of study in Puebla) and we unintentionally got caught in the middle of a big protest parade. The town square was getting so packed with people and protesters we could barely move. After not too long we decided it was time to get out of the madness and went up to a fancy restaurant just off the plaza where they gave us free corona sombreros for buying beer. It was super! We soon discovered that we had an awesome vantage point to witness the Mexican tradition of the fireworks tower. After the tower had properly exploded and the crowds dispersed, we came down from our balcony refuge and wandered to our respective homes for a good nights sleep. For tomorrow would be the Guelaguetza.
I have to give you little history of Oaxaca so you can understand the big picture of the event. So in the last few years there has been a lot of violence and turmoil in Oaxaca state with the government oppressing the indigenous peoples. I got a bit of a one-sided story from the indigenous groups who were protesting in the city while I was there but they seem to have a pretty good point. I was told that in 2007, the bodies of six revolutionary leaders were found unceremoniously disposed of in a local cemetery after being assassinated by government forces. So anyway, Guelaguetzas of the past are sort of comparable to powwows. It is a time when many different local peoples come together to share their culture and it is a very important time of year for these people. Nowadays, the Guelaguetza is held in a giant auditorium and is put on by the government. So as you can probably guess, this has become quite the controversial event. The same government that is oppressing the people is hosting a celebration of their cultures. So now we have two Guelaguetzas: the Guelaguetza Oficial (put on by the government) and the Guelaguetza Popular (put on by the people). I was lucky enough to go to both which I will talk about a bit later on.
My first day in Oaxaca turned out to be a bit on the stressful side as I had thought (being the silly tourist that I was) that I could just show up in Oaxaca a couple days before Guelaguetza and find a place to stay. I learned the hard way that this is definitely not true. So I took the first place I could find (about the eighth place I tried) that cost me a painful 350 pesos/night ($35) but they were only available for one night so I had to go on a hunt for somewhere else for the remaining three nights or I would be sleeping in the streets. After excessive wandering I finally found a hostel (very uncommon in Mexico) that cost 100 pesos/night and they were actually available! It was not a very pretty hostel but the couple who owned it were super-cool (the guy wore a team Canada jersey half the time I was there as a sign of solidarity). So after I had that place secured I went to an awesome restaurant for supper where they served exclusively Oaxacan food. I was handed a flyer as I walked down the street offering me a free beer if I ate there. So I did. I ate squash blossoms stuffed with goats cheese. It was awesome even though I was the only person there. I was eating at 6:30pm which is an unheard of hour for Mexicans to eat. Anyway, after supper I meant to just go back to my enormous hotel room (king-size bed, tv, private bath...) and go to bed but on my way I came across the most wonderful jazzy pop singer named Ana Diaz. So I stayed and watched her whole show and promptly bought her CD. The CD was not nearly as good as her show unfortunately but it was still a $7 well spent.
The next day I was a little more adventurous and did some serious shopping all afternoon. My first stop was a little shop to purchase the local specialty: a tasty little beverage called mezcal. It's made from the same plant as tequila (agave) but is fermented with the aid of a little worm that is still in the bottle when you buy it. I was so excited that I had found it because it was the only request Alexis had given to me for gifts. So I bought the bottle with the fattest worm I could find. Then I was off to find something particularly Oaxacan for Mum (that was her one request). I ended up in a massive artisans market. On my way in a Mexican man asked me if I had the time. I have since learned to claim ignorance on this one unless it is a sweet old lady asking. When I responded in Spanish this guy took it as an invite to ask me all about my life and tour me around the market for the next hour. I didn't protest until after I had used his local know-how to buy Mum the most fabulous hand-made rug and a couple Day of the Dead dolls for myself. Then he started asking me if I had I boyfriend... I knew where that conversation was going so I told him very firmly that I was totally loyal to my Canadian boyfriend and was not interested in a Mexican boyfriend for a few days and good day to you sir!!! Have I mentioned how much I dislike Mexican men? Not to say that there aren't good ones out there. I had many a wonderful Mexican guy friend while I was there but I consider myself lucky with those ones.
So that night I went down to the cathedral to find a good vantage point for parade viewing and as I was waiting an American girl started talking to me. It was very exciting to find an English-speaking person after a solid two days of lonely wandering through town. We decided to hunt down this parade and found it with no difficulty. There were massive crowds and loud music to guide us. The parade was awesome! Kira and I managed to get to the front and these crazy guys dressed as devils decided they needed to dance with the silly white girls while the local tv channel filmed it all. It was highly entertaining and helped heal the wounds left by some other crazy dancers throwing fishing nets over the crowd. I had bruises for days. Anyway, that parade was great and we got an up-close look at all the fabulous outfits of the Guelaguetza dancers. Earlier that day I had gotten word that Leonor (one of the Mexican girls I went to school with in Australia) was in town for the Guelaguetza too! I was so excited because I had missed her in Mexico City when I was there. So after the parade Kira and I met up with Leo and her Australian boyfriend Ian and went for drinks at a nice bar to pass the evening. It was so great to see both of them again.
The next day, I went for a nice long breakfast of proper Oaxacan food (I love Oaxacan food!!!) and then saw an orchestra playing in the park. After that I checked out the museum where I discovered my new favourite artist: Flavio Diaz. His work blew my mind. After the museum I met up with Kira again (she was working in Oaxaca for a coffee exporter while killing time between terms of study in Puebla) and we unintentionally got caught in the middle of a big protest parade. The town square was getting so packed with people and protesters we could barely move. After not too long we decided it was time to get out of the madness and went up to a fancy restaurant just off the plaza where they gave us free corona sombreros for buying beer. It was super! We soon discovered that we had an awesome vantage point to witness the Mexican tradition of the fireworks tower. After the tower had properly exploded and the crowds dispersed, we came down from our balcony refuge and wandered to our respective homes for a good nights sleep. For tomorrow would be the Guelaguetza.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Rest of Mexico City
Photos of my walk with crazy guy of the Revolution and Independence Memorials respectively; rich people at the mall; crazy roads of the city.
So I guess it's been a while since I've updated this thing. I figured I should do it before I forget what I did. Anyway, after my strange encounter with Random Mexican Guy, I went to the Polanco mall where Leti had told me to meet her. This mall was mega-uber posh. While I waited for Leti I passed the time taking photos of rich people. When she got there I was so excited! It was so awesome to see one of my old Australia friends! She drove me all the way down to the south end of the city where she lives. I don' think I have ever seen highways like that in all my life... like out of the Flinstones stacked four high and criss-crossing every which way. It was madness. We stopped at Leti's friend Shajid's house on the way home and I got to experience some more upper class Mexican lifestyle. He lives in a gated community and has a maid and the trees in his yard are trimmed into the shapes of various animals. Then we decided we were hungry so they took me to a taco place that is supposed to be the best in Mexico. It was pretty delicious but I wouldn't say the best in Mexico. My vote for that honour still goes to the taco guy in Guzman. Next we went to a little cafe in a really pretty part of town near where Frida and Diego Rivera used to live. It was then getting pretty late so we went back to Leti's family's beautiful home for the night.
The next day Leti toured me around the city. We went to the Anthropology museum after driving around for nearly an hour trying to find parking. Then we went to the Chapultepec Castle and finally to the the Blue House where Frida and Rivera lived. That night we watched a movie at Shajid's house next to his pet duck! I decided I wanted to pet it and it bit me.
A ball court replica, a replica of a painting from Teotihuacan that anthropologists ruined trying to preserve it.
Aztec sacrificial stone, in front of the Aztec calendar
Burrial, Castillo de Chapultepec
Mural in the castle, Cinderella's coach
The tower from where los ninos heroes jumped, in front of Mexico City, Frida's studio at the Blue House
That night we were talking to Leti's parents about how I wanted to go to the pyramids at Teotihuacan the next day. Her dad decided that he would call his private driver (who coincidently also does tours) and get this guy to pick me up in the morning in his fancy SUV and drive me out to the pyramids where he would proceed to give me a private tour of the ancient city and then drive me all the way back for a grand total of $120 CAN. It was really properly awesome!!! The pyramids were breathtaking and I learned sooo much that I never would have known without dear Joaquin... and I felt totally posh out there with my private guide/driver! Joaquin took me out to this little artisan market where a guy showed me around and had me taste pulque (a traditional drink of the area that everyone drinks, kids included, even though it is alcoholic), mezcal (a tequila-like beverage complete with little worm in the bottle), and some sweet tequilas. I also saw a guy hand-weaving tablecloths and guys carving beautiful obsidian stone sculptures. It was a really great day. That night Leti, Shajid and I went to a movie at the mall (movies in Mexico are subtitled so us foreigners can still enjoy).
The next day Leti, Shajid and I went out to a little town south of Mexico City called Tepotzlan where there is this giant mountain with a little pyramid on the very top. So we decided to climb up and visit the pyramid. Around and hour or so later of climbing more or less straight up, we arrived at the top. The views were amazing and there were the funniest little animals up there (kind of a mix between a raccoon and a fox) that I never did figure out the name of. And amazingly I had cell service way up there in the middle of nowhere. They say all the skies in Mexico are Telcel skies. Telcel is the cellular company and the owner of which is the richest man in the world (or so I was told). On the way back down we bought lots of local goodies including a whole coconut and a michelada. Yes, you can buy booze and coconuts from vendors even on the side of a mountain in Mexico. Then we had some really awesome dinner at the market and some famous ice cream (you can find this stuff all over Mexico in every flavor imaginable). It was a really great day trip. That night was my last night in Mexico City so Leti got together a group of friends and we all went down to La Condeza for a night on the town. I had to leave bright and early to go catch a bus to Oaxaca so I said my goodbyes and my many thanks to Leti and her family for taking such good care of me and being so kind to have me in their home and Leti's dad called up Joaquin for me again and he drove me over to the bus station.
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