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.
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| A mural depicting the humanities and sciences |
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| 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...
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| 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!
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| Some more alebrijes in a different exhibit |
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| 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!
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...
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!
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