Mexico City April 2024

We returned to Mexico because it was a refreshing experience. Mexico has much more variety than we give it credit for in the US. The stereotype for my generation was the sombrero and desert or the beaches in Acapulco. Now I'm finding that there are so many options. We tried to stay away from the tourist spots. This visit I'm 600 straight days into learning Spanish, so I'm definitely twice as ready to speak and listen.

Mexico is both a big country and varied in climate, geology and cultures. We are travelers who like a bit of adventure beyond tourist resorts. We like our luxury but we also want to experience the cultural of our locale. We will spend money on exciting things but save a lot of money by foregoing what may be usual. This trip we didn't have enough researched ahead of time. We were surprised by the water shortage a month ahead and afterwards found out about the volcano erupting in February, 2024.

The luxuries we enjoyed were good food out at restaurants all the time - no cooking. We enjoyed a hot springs for a day, but not the massage we planned but never did. This time I was able to do more. I did not have altitude sickness. But we did notice that the altitude took its' toll. We were tired. We walked to the elevator and were out of breath.

Our return

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Crazy bears.
In Mexico City as we approached the Monument to the Revolution tower we saw a group of motorcyclists. They had on vests with gang colors. The gangs name was in English "angry bears". It seemed like a Disney name for a gang. They seemed friendly but I didn't approach them for a photo. They did not ride Harleys. One of them was a prospect.

Child labor at 9:30 at night.
- we were seated at an outdoor restaurant late one night when a 4 or 5 year old approached us with a basket of flowers. Then I noticed a few steps behind him was his older sister selling something else. As I was processing all this in my head I saw their mother pushing a baby carriage. I can't imagine what they are thinking. What time do they get up? What is their routine? Where is the father(s)?

Respecting the Culture

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We have had wonderful experiences here in Ciudad de Mexico. We had a long conversation at the local bakery with a woman practicing her English and we practiced our Spanish. She has a daughter living in NYC who works long hours. Sounded like she missed her daughter. She reached out to us. It was a wonderful meeting for us all. This is what makes travel beautiful.

We also met a French guy living in Mexico. He was our waiter at a pizza place called Mezza Mezza in the San Rafael neighborhood. So, to recap, we met a Spanish speaking French man serving Italian pizzas.

. We had two desperate poor people approach us while we were eating dinner there. One was playing a recorder accompanied by music BLARING from a speaker he carried. That was really annoying. Times are hard en la ciudad

Jazz Music Scene

We booked tickets to the Polanco jazz festival. It turns out Polanco is a very ritzy neighborhood in Mexico City. We were impressed.

We made the long trip to Mexico City. The flight took off for Chicago at 6am so we didn't get much sleep Friday night. We have returned to the same AirBnB we enjoyed last time. it's familiar ground. We know the security staff. We know the restaurants in the area. We know how far we are from various activities. We had dinner at the corner restaurant which is not cheap but the food is varied and good quality. I had a beer which induced a nap later. This meal was about 2 in the afternoon. I'm getting to practice the Spanish I've been learning for about 600 days straight. I've built up some vocabulary and am familiar with verb conjugations.

We've watched some Mexican TV which has some interesting political ads. Then there was an animated children's show from China. I didn't realize until the credits came on in Chinese.

Everything went very smoothly on the travel here. From the air we saw how decimated the farmland is from the drought they're having in Mexico City. All the land for miles is brown and clearly at one point it was agricultural land

Karen and I had interesting communication issues. We both thot the other wanted to go out and do something tonight but we both really wanted to stay home. It took effort in this tired state to reach that conclusion. We''re tired.

Our plane ride home next Sunday will be a direct flight - 4 1/2 hours. I always try to get a good rate within reason. I don't like to have a long layover. On the way here our layover was only 2 hours. With the time change it added two hours. Total travel time was only 8 hours.

I almost cancelled this trip because of the severe drought here. So far, I'm glad I didn't. They have water shipped in and there is also a pipeline.

During the second flight our family separated. The old lady I sat next to had been living in Chicago for decades, but she was going home to visit Mexico for a month or so. Almost immediately in the conversation she said that Black people are lazy. That pretty much ended our conversation. She didn't realize my family is Black. She didn't understand English enough for me to inform her of her mistake

I have a problem with immigrants for this reason. Many of them are racist. That's one of the problems. Most other problems I can get over. Another primary problem is that they like a "strong" leader which would imply that a lot of them like Trump because he is perceived as "strong".

The white appearing actors in the TV shows are central where the darker skinned actors seem to be there for "diversity". It's interesting to see it so clearly. I've seen it in the US, but it wasn't as obvious to me. The white appearing actors are really light with a lot a blond hair and very light skin

Above is one of our favorite local restaurants. We would see groups of men dressed in suits come in and couples and some families. The food and drinks are often available 24 hours. I could not identify any other foreigners. The food was excellent and well-priced. The service is good even if you don't speak the language.

Below is a grocery store that reminded me of an institution more than a locally owned store. It may have been owned by Walmart. One visit there we saw a transaction between a cashier and an Asian Indian man. The cashier was counting out a large amount of money which was about 2400 pesos. I thought it might be his paycheck. Several of his friends waited while this transaction took place. 2400 pesos would be about $300. I wondered if that was a weeks pay. I was surprised that an Asian Indian man would work there. I couldn't figure any other possibilities.

Above is a little bakery on the corner of our block. They served great coffee and pastries. We went there regularly. They had a window so that you could view the kitchen. We had a chance encounter with a local woman. She spoke some English. We spoke some Spanish. Her daughter is working long hours in NYC. I could tell she really missed her daughter. Her daughter wanted her to learn more English.

Puebla

We went to Puebla because we wanted to pass the volcano, but Puebla is a charming homey little town worth visiting in its' own right.

These two pictures show the HOT SPRINGS located within the city limits. Entrance is $8 for adults. Many locals have memberships. You have to pay for parking. Of course we Ubered. We didn't taste any chlorine or salt in the water, but definitely smelled the sulphur from the hot spring. You could see a mist on the top of the water. When we got out the air was colder. The air temperature that day was 79 degrees.

So many Asian Indians, other Asian, Jewish people even. I was amazed at how many Asians were in Mexico City, even Puebla. We saw signs of Jewish people there as well, but very few Black people. There was an apartment down the hall that had a constant group of 4 or more Asian men playing cards around their dining room table with the door open. We saw an Indian Asian man conducting a transaction of about 2400 pesos which is about $300. I figured he was cashing his check. If he worked 40 hours, he was making about $7 an hour. Do you think he worked more?

Sun Factor

The sun is intense here even if it is not hot all the time. The temperatures range from a daily high of about 75 degrees Fahrenheit to a low in the mid 50s. The intensity of the sun is strong because of the proximity to the equator. So it's nice to have the constant cloud cover of the threatening rains. We're much closer to the equator, say at the range of Haiti or Puerto Rico, but the 7500 foot elevation tempers that full sun feel. If there is no cloud cover the sun quickly becomes intense.

Pandemic Pandemonium

For two and a half years I've mostly existed inside my apartment. I'm a social person and my perspective is now very different. I have been afraid and pandemic fear is what drives my isolation. Planning and undertaking this overseas trip has been a challenge. Even as the time of departure approached it was almost unbelievable. I wasn't excited like I used to be. Fear took a lot of that away. I am out of the habit of travel. Travel seemed like just a lot of work. Fear drove me to over plan this trip. We did lots of research on every aspect - with reading blogs and watching YouTubes. Now I've got the chance to regain that enjoyment of the adventure. I want to enjoy the serendipity again. I want to enjoy meeting people and seeing new places and exploring cultures. We have so much planned but I don't want it to be all busy. This is also a special kind of downtime.

I've also learned something about myself in this pandemic. And I've changed. I'm examining what motivates me now. My fundamental perspective has changed. Before I was fearless. My often shared quote was /a little sarcastically/ "what could possibly go wrong?". I would then laugh. Now I'm better at imagining what could go wrong. I worry now like no other time. I really want the old me back. I don't know if that is possible. My core has changed or adapted. I didn't know such a change was possible. I wasn't trying to change.

Travel at this time

I don't mean to have a bad Altitude, but...

it's worth mentioning the altitude again. 7500 feet of altitude has less oxygen. It took me three days to adjust in the most basic way. I have not had this much trouble in previous high altitude environments, but I wasn't 65 then either. After three days I feel good but now I've got to get back in shape. I don't have a bike to ride so the last day or so I take the stairs up five flights to get exercise. We walk a lot in the city too. After a little bit of exercise I'm pretty winded.