Mexico D.F.

Here is the long overdue blog update related to my travels last week:

On Tuesday morning we left from the Ibero in a bus packed with all 20 Intercambio students and all our bags. After about a two-hour ride we arrived at in Teotihuacan, which was to be our first stop of our three-day educational trip to Mexico City. Teotihucan is the famous location of the two huge ancient pyramid ruins in Mexico. The pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon are the biggest structures of the site. After a long tour of the surrounding structures and ancient remains, we climbed all the way to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. It was a tough climb, but the view from the top was spectacular. (if you want to learn more about Teotihuacan visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan)
The next stop on our culturally enriching adventure was the Basilica de la Guadalupe. We toured the interior of the original church commissioned by Juan Diego after his infamous encounter with the virgin of Guadalupe. Juxtaposed to the leaning remains of the beautiful old church is the new basilica in which you can view the original image of Guadalupe herself. The stark differences between the two churches built so close together is a bit disorienting. But it cannot be denied that both churches are exquisite. The original Basilica is so tilted that it looks as if a bit of thunder and some heavy rain might topple it over. The inside was full of scaffolding and sheets as we arrived during what must have been an intense interior renovation. By sheer luck we happened to be visiting the churches on the 2nd of February, which is the day that everyone who received a baby in the rosca cake last month brings baby Jesus dolls to the church. Everyone was carrying baskets with little dolls, or some with larger almost life-sized baby Jesus’. Last stop of the day was our hotel room to get some rest for the another day of educational adventures planned for Wednesday.
With Wednesday began a rain storm that didn’t let up for the rest of our trip. We trudged through the pouring rain to get to the Metro station, only to be nearly suffocated to death in the packed cars. Only half of us made it on the first train that passed because it was so full. The rest of us caught the next train just barely. I was wedged in between everyone and didn’t have anything to hang onto, and almost fell once had it not been for a guy next to me who reached out to grab my wrist. We all managed to escape the packed trains and emerge once again into the rainy world above. The first museum that we went to was the Trotsky museum. The museum is located in the house in which Trotsky took refuge to escape persecution by Stalin during the revolution in Russia. The museum included many photos and manuscripts, which documented the life and eventual assassination of Leon Trotsky. We even got a tour of the house. In the bedroom you can still see all the bullet holes in the walls, which remain as evidence of the first assassination attempt against Trotsky. Next we went to the Museum of Frida Kahlo. Unfortunately due to all the rain electricity was out in the whole area of the city in which both museums were located. Because of this we were unable to see some of the galleries of pictures of Frida. However it was worth it to tour the house and see her beautiful canopy bed with the mirror above. Also to see the many casts which Frida endured throughout her life of considerable suffering. The house itself is also very beautiful, painted bright blue with red trim around all windows and doors. After the Frida Musuem we took the metro again to get the zocalo of Mexico City. I honestly thought I was going to get trampled to death in the metro. It was so packed because of all the people trying to evade the rain that I could barely breath. Getting off was even harder than getting on. There was a very large man with an enormous belly standing in the train doors. I nearly didn’t make it out, but I managed to squeeze through. I’m so glad there are no Metros in Puebla. In the centro we visited another church and walked around the central plaza. We tried to get into the Palacio to see some of Diego Rivero’s murals, but it was closed for renovations and we were turned away. Kristina, Ruthanne and I left the rest of the group to do a bit more exploring in the centro. We went to a really cool used bookstore and I bought a copy of Robin Hood in Spanish. Then as were walking out this guy who had been in the shop when we were, handed me a book of short stories and poems by Mexican authors. He gave it to us as a gift. After the bookstore we decided to meet up with the others again at the Museum of Bellas Artes. Just as we were about to go inside a group of three Mexican girls stopped us and asked if they could interview us for a homework project for their English class. They videotaped us and asked us lots of questions in English about how we liked Mexico and what the United States is like. It was fun, and all three of the girls were really nice. I guess our English testimonials will appear in some classroom presentation in Mexico City. In the museum to Bellas Artes we finally got to see some murals de Diego Rivera. It was spectacular. Diego Rivera painted a mural in New York City for a commission, but it was destroyed because of its politically controversial material. Rivera recreated this same mural on the wall within the Museum de Bellas Artes. There are so many dimensions to the mural that it is impossible to take it all in. Rivera’s murals express so much social criticism and political indictment that it is hard to understand every dimension of his message. After Bellas Artes we walked back to the hotel to rest our feet after a long day of walking around. Then later that night Yessenia and I went Salsa dancing in a place called Mambo Café. It was really fun, but I was exhausted by the time we left around two. The taxi driver tried to make us pay 200 pesos (approx 18 dollars) to get back to our hotel, which was about 10 min away. So we bailed and hailed another cab and only paid 50 pesos. I guess the taxi driver thought we were gullible gringas who wouldn’t realize we were getting ripped off.
On the last day of the Mexico City trip we visited the Museum of Anthropology. The museum was huge! We spent nearly three hours touring the galleries of ancient statues and artifacts. There was so much to see that we could have been there for at least three more hours and not have been able to see everything. Much of what we got to see was found in and around the pyramids of Teotihuacan. I can’t even begin to describe all the intricate sculptures. It was almost too much to take in all at once, and extremely exhausting. The Museum of Anthropology marked the end of our class trip and we were released to do whatever we wanted until class again on Monday morning. Several students decided to stay in Mexico City for the weekend, while others headed to Guadalajara. Kristina and I made plans to visit the city of San Miguel de Allende located about 4 hours north of Mexico City.

Stay tuned for a details on the trip to San Miguel…