Mexico City, July 2013 - #5: The Grand Catch-up

Oh I'm so behind! But I guess being too busy to write is a sign of a great couple weeks. And this week has been pretty amazing so far too, with Lou visiting and some serious adventuring in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende! But more on that next time. So, more through pictures than words, here is a snapshot of the the end of July.

Right after my last post, I went to NYC for the weekend for my friend Carly's wedding. It was a whirlwind trip and completely worth it! She and the wedding were absolutely beautiful, and it was a much needed weekend of time with people I love. The wedding was pure, unadulterated joy, as you can tell from this gorgeous new bride! 

View from the plane landing back in Mexico City after my NYC weekend

Before getting into the pretty awesome things I've done since I got back, I'll start with a curiosity. When in the grocery store a couple weeks ago, I noticed that everyone was walking around with grocery carts literally stuffed with toilet paper. There was toilet paper everywhere, and everyone was buying as much as they could. Part of me was intrigued, and part of me was worried. Was I missing something important? A big festival where you tee-pee all the buildings in town? A mummy-wrapping contest that I was unaware of? Or as my roomie suggested, maybe everyone knew something I didn't and was preparing for a giant outbreak of Montezuma's revenge? A few days later, my roomie confirmed that yes, people were buying up all the toilet paper they could, and no it was not for any of the reasons I worried about. It was simply because there was a sale. That's all. TP was a good deal, and people were not going to pass it up. I knew that Mexicans were crazy for sales (they don't happen that often and they're usually not that good, so when they happen no one wants to miss it) but this took it to a new level.

In mid July a friend from Harvard came to do preliminary research for her thesis, and as a side benefit, I have a tourist buddy now! Our first tourist excursion was to Zocalo, one of the largest city squares in the world and the center of Mexican government (the Presidential offices, Palacio Nacional, are here) and of Mexico's history, with an archeological dig of a vast Aztec temple called the Templo Mayor that was underneath the buildings constructed by Cortez and others when they began building their capital. It is also the center of political protest, which right now, has to do with the education reform. (One of the reasons I was so excited to come work here this summer!) Here you can see different delegations of teachers from various Mexican states in their camps in Zocalo, in front of the Palacio Nacional. They are steadfastly protesting the education reforms.

Walking back from Zocalo, we happened upon a parade of dancers from different regions in Mexico. It was so cool, full of color and costumes and upbeat music. My favorite part was watching the women use their full, bright skirts as they danced, looking almost like butterflies as they swung them back and forth to the music.

 Two weekends ago, I went to Tepoztlan with my roomie, his girlfriend, and her friend and her friend's boyfriend. Jose's family has a house there, una casa de campo, that is absolutely beautiful if a little covered in cobwebs and dead aracanes (small scorpions) from not being used in at least a year. But Tepoz (as it's called) is gorgeous - a small pueblita with lots of artisan crafts, cobblestone streets, and and a stunning view of the mountains surrounding it. It's only an hour outside of Mexico City, and has been dubbed a "Bario Magico" by Mexico's tourism board (or whoever decides those things). It is an incredible escape from the city into fresh air and fresh delicious tortillas and quesadillas before a long hike up to the very old pyramid built on top of one of the mountains on the edge of town.

A girl making us some tortillas in front of her (or her family's) "restaurant" on the street

Puffing tortilla before she flips it over and then puts it in the pile of piping hot tortilla's for other hungry people preparing for an hour and a half hike up a mountain.

Jose with his fortifying fresh squeezed orange juice while waiting for our quesadillas. Orange juice here is always fresh-squeezed and it's not uncommon to be walking down the street and be pleasantly accosted by the smell of fresh orange juice and cut fruit.

Sideways (couldn't figure out how to rotate it) view of where we're aiming for on our hike up the mountain. Totally gorgeous!

On the ascent!

Pyramid ahead! (At this point my camera was full and phone was dying, so when I get pictures of our arrival, I will post them!)

Work has has also been great, as I finish up my research and prepare a presentation for the office. I got to go on a little excursion with the director of the organization where he presented to youth leaders from around the country who are part of an organization called 1 Million Youth For Mexico. It was great to see the Mexicanos Primero presentation and to see Claudio in his element. He is quite the speaker and the students could hardly wait to ask questions and give comments. When he asked for questions at the end of his presentation, hands that had been fidgeting while waiting for this moment shot up into the air. It was pretty exciting to watch. 

The drive to the youth conference just outside of Mexico City

We also had some students come to the Mexicanos Primero office to visit and give their own observations and opinions about education and their schools. One girl, Esperanza, was the same impressive student from my visit to the school at the beginning of my trip. She was, yet again, incredibly impressive, and it was cool to hear her and her friends' perspectives on their own experiences in school. This is a picture of the office and our visitors. 


And, of course, the most exciting thing to happen in the past two weeks is that Lou arrived! We are staying in the "hip" part of Mexico City, Condesa, and doing all the touring and visiting that I haven't been able to do yet. But more on that later...I have some canals and museums to go see!

Mexico City, July 2013 - #4: Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination...

Well I'm a little behind in my blog posts, and we are now nearly to the half-way point of my summer. Hard to believe! I have to say, although I am having a pretty great time, doing work that is interesting with people who are wonderful, being away from the people and places I love is starting to wear on me. I think I am squeezing out the last drops of any desire I had to run away and live in another country, because the thrill of meeting new people and being able to live in another language is shadowed by how good it feels to come home to an apartment I share with someone I love more than I ever thought was possible, to be able to grab coffee with my dad any afternoon, to have girls outings with my mom, eat frozen yogurt and lunches with friends, and to study in the spots I know so well. It is a strange feeling, knowing that you are doing everything you wanted, having the best time possible, and wanting so badly to have what you left to get what you have now.

Luckily this was only a temporary leaving, and even more luckily, I will get to see some of the people I love most this weekend when I make a much needed trip to New York City for a very dear friend's wedding. I am so glad I have the good excuse of her beautiful marriage to come back for "oxygen" as my grandmother says. So, tomorrow, I am flying back for a very quick trip to refill and refresh before coming back to finish my internship here.

Now for the fun stuff! This past week and a half was (happily) less eventful than the one before. Even so, I did a lot! I'll just give you a taste of what my week was like. This week, I decided it was high time to do some touristy exploring. So on Thursday afternoon, I finally visited UNAM, the national university that is not only one of the best in the country, but is also covered with stunning murals and pieces of art.

A mural depicting the humanities and sciences

The University Library, with intricate mosaics on all four sides of the building

  While I was there, I couldn't help but pay a short visit to the law school, which is a large and imposing part of the university with a statue showing the myth of the founding of Mexico City. The story goes that the people who founded the city were told by their gods that they would know where to settle when they saw a bird standing on a cactus eating a snake.When they got to the lake in the valley that is Mexico City, they saw it and began to build the city that is now millions of people strong. And inspired some pretty cool statues in front of buildings too...

A couple and a mother and daughter admiring a triptych by Diego

 On Friday, I went to centro historico for the first time, to visit the Museo de Bellas Artes and to one of the largest squares in the world, Zocalo. Bellas Artes is an imposing facade leading to a suprisingly small and manageable art museum, full of murals by famous Mexican painters including Diego Rivera. There were some really interesting exhibits that made landscape paintings and sculptures somehow modern, intriguing, and even exciting. After my visit to the museum, I still had some daylight left, so I decided to go visit Zocalo, the giant plaza that is bordered by an enormous cathedral, the National Palace (where the President lives), the Templo Mayor, and the Portal de Mercaderes (Commerce buildings). It was really impressive, full of people and make-shift tents in the center for what turned out to be a teacher protest from one of the states that is staunchly opposed to the reforms my organization is pushing for. But I only stayed to peek into the Cathedral, tired and a little overwhelmed by the crowd. I will certainly go back and explore the monuments there, and I think this was a good first "scouting" trip.

On Saturday the touring continued! I met my friend from work for an amazingly delicious Mexican breakfast. We had some of the richest hot chocolate I have ever had, and I ordered a squash blossom omelet that came with a small but rich tortilla thing on the side. Everything was so good that even though I was stuffed, I practically licked my plate clean. Our tummies full, we walked a few blocks to the Museo de Arte Popular, or Folk Art Museum. This museum is by far my favorite thing to have visited while in Mexico City! It is full of bright colors and intricate designs, and the building itself is a beautiful open space with a handful of rooms dedicated to art workshops for kids (which we of course popped in to see and to admire their hard work).

This was also the first time I saw alebrijes in person. Alebrijes are sculptures made either from wood or paper mache that are central to Mexican mythology. They are "monsters" of sorts, some good and some bad, and they appear in folk tales and children's stories all over Mexico. They are some of the most imaginative, surrealist, visually thrilling pieces of art I have seen, and I am totally in love with them!  These were some more modern alebrijes, including some by the artists that raised them from street art to more of a fine art form. Some were tiny, hung from the ceiling, posed on stands, or lounging on blocks staring (or snarling) up at us. The iguana (in the picture) was one of my favorites, carved out of wood and beautifully painted. There were so many to look at, I never wanted to leave. We had a lot of fun in that exhibit, as you can see!

 The rest of the museum turned out to be just as wonderful! One of my favorite parts was an exhibit of art for Los Dias de la Muerte, of which there is one for adults and one for children. The skeletons and traditions on each day are different, and there was a room full of different skeletons doing everything from smoking cigars (like this grandma that I couldn't get enough of) to playing mariachi music, to strutting around in fine clothing. I think what I loved so much about this museum is that it was like walking through a million artists' imaginations. What fun!

Some more alebrijes in a different exhibit

A porcupine inspired alebrije

Inspired by the museum, we went to an artisans market in La Ciudadela to look for our own alebrijes. It is like a labyrinth in there, and after looking at dozens of shops and alebrijes, we took at least half an hour to find the shop that had the one we liked best! After we made our purchase (thanks very much to Aji's bargaining skills), we decided it was time for a snack of quesadillas (with tortillas made by hand just next to our table) and agua fresca. An excellent end to an excellent day and a fun-filled week of tourism!