Mexico Notes, Part 1

With the blog down, I wasn't able to post from Mexico. It won't be the same now, but I want to write about some of the stuff I did.

1. Mexico is just a great place. The only country I've traveled in that compares in coolness is Thailand, and that's saying a lot given how much I love Thailand. The food is great, the people are super nice, and the weather is awesome. There really is nothing to complain about in Mexico, yet many do. I was talking to a friend of mine who was also down there and he told me about researchers he's known who study Mexico, yet all they do is bitch about Mexico City, Mexicans, and Mexico in general. Why? I suspect that a these people are comparing Mexico City to home. Mexico City isn't as cosmopolitan as Chicago or Cambridge or New York to them, so they don't like it. Of course, Mexico City is as cosmopolitan as those places, but when people see home as the gold standard, nothing will match up. The only thing about Mexico City I found unfortunate was the air quality, which is shockingly bad. And while Mexico has a lot of poverty, so do a lot of places and people who complain about having to see this need to understand their own role in perpetuating that poverty.

2. If you had asked me on New Year's Eve, 2005, what I would be doing exactly one year from then, I doubt that sitting in a living room in a Mexico City suburb listening to the Thirteenth Floor Elevators would have been my answer. One can never tell what kind of circumstances they will fall into if they are open to following whatever opportunities fall their way.

3. As I've mentioned before when writing about traveling, Coke outside of the US is awesome. Sadly, the greatness of this drink when made with sugar instead of corn syrup has reignited by caffeine addiction, but what are you going to do?

4. The food. My God, the food is great. Since I'm comparing Mexico to Thailand as my favorite countries, I guess Thai food is slightly more appealing to my tastes. But Mexican food is just awesome. I first visited Puebla, which is famous for mole poblano. This is good stuff, though the richness of the chocolate is a bit much for me to eat very often. But the tacos! Holy shit, the tacos! For about 40 cents, you can get a delicious taco from a street stand with beans or some kind of meat. On the side you usually can add some kind of green sauce and pickled carrots, peppers, and sometimes radishes. This super-basic food absolutely kicks ass. As do the enchiladas, the chilaquiles, and so much other food. Mexico City is also known for comida corrida, which is a big lunch meal, though eaten later in the afternoon than American lunches. It usually comes with a soup, some kind of pasta or rice, a choice of six or so entrees, and then a dessert. It's fine when done cheaply with a canned soup and a packaged dessert. But when it comes with a tasty homemade soup, pasta with a good sauce, and a flan, along with a well-made entree, well, that is just damned fine food. I had previously traveled in the North, where the food is pretty strong, but a bit bland. Mexico City's food though is just first-rate. The city is worth visiting for the food alone.

5. Certainly one of the most disturbing sites in the city is the site of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre. By the late 1960s, the revolutionary nature of the PRI was long-spent. The presidency of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz had no interest in tolerating dissent. Tlatelolco is surrounded by government housing complexes built in the 1950s and 60s for federal employees. Basically, they are US style housing projects placed in Mexico City. The government placed sharpshooters in some of these apartments and sent a large military presence into the area. On October 2, 1968, just before the city held the Olympics, the government ordered the army and sharpshooters to fire on the protestors, killing bewteen 200 and 300 protestors. There really isn't much there. It's a basic concrete plaza, though a obelisk has been erected with the names and ages of some of the dead. Today, the government has privatized the nearby housing and it was the only time in Mexico City that I got weird looks and felt uncomfortable. I am glad I wasn't there at night.

More tomorrow.