Magia de Mexico City

Five days into Mexico City and I'm amazed at how quick my perspective has changed. I can still vaguely remember how I felt coming into the city on the bus. So excited and ready for the sensual cornucopia.

Now, it's as if loneliness is taking over and the city is merely a background noise that won't go away. Last night there was cackling woman's laughter all night in the room next to mine. I think I could hear two men grunting as if they were trying to speak but were too drunk. Eventually the laughter gave way to loud ooing and groaning as you might expect. I figured they'd at least be finished soon so that I could sleep. Such was not the case. After a brief quiet, the cackling came back along with the voice of a young child in the room with them.

Now, I feel just fried and not so excited about making my way out into the city today, but I will likely forge ahead anyway.

The Basilica de Guadalupe church, which is THE cathedral here in Mexico City, left me wanting. I really thought I might feel something sacred there. All I felt was a giant machine with gold boxes for you to put in your donations. They were even charging to use the toilet if you can imagine.

The whole place was fortified with two layers of 20ft high steel fence and tons of private security. Entering the huge complex felt like you were passing into some maximum security prison. To be honest, I felt the presence of the Great Spirit much stronger in the desert. I also felt less alone there.

Yesterday I made my way to Chapultepec park and a couple of art galleries. The Rufino Tamayo art museum is always pretty good, but usually conceptual work and a bit high-brow. My favorite is always the Museo de Arte Moderno. They had three exhibitions that were all excellent, but the artist that really grabbed me was a woman named Perla Krauze. Her grand installations were of objects found in a given locale, but mixed with sculpture, photography, video, and some sort of lucite or fiberglass objects in a way that created a new space that felt familiar but in no real direct way. It was as if the found objects somehow tied the abstract to the real.

I am already missing the way I felt in the desert, but perhaps a short siesta would improve my outlook. The sensual overload of Mexico City is definitely inspirational to me. The color, fragrance, cracks, soot, humanity, concrete and palpable chaotic energy send my spirit straight into an ecstatic orbital chipotle mess. I just wish I could turn it off at will, or at least turn it down long enough to sleep.

The people have mostly been kind to me other than a run-in with some fellows who looked like they ran the neighborhood I was walking through. And, there was a short stocky man who looked like a boxer. He was shoving my back to get into the metro car faster and I glared back at him with fire in my eyes. I'd had enough at that point. After I noticed how glassy and red his eyes were and that he didn't seem all the way there, along with the fact that he looked like a short boxer, I figured my health would be better served to let it go.

There was another larger fellow with him who put himself between the boxer and me. He started rubbing his head like a pet in order to try and calm him down. I guessing that I quite likely dodged a bullet there as he would have definitely smeared me into a greasy gringo wet spot had I challenged him.

There was soon another distraction in my field of vision. A little indian girl was sitting on the floor close to where I was standing. I wouldn't have even noticed her had the metro car not abruptly shifted and to get my balance, I almost stepped on the poor thing. She reached up with her hands to block my stepping on her.

Our eyes locked and I waited for her to ask me to buy some candy, a pen, or some other little trinket folks try to sell to passengers on the metro. She offered nothing. I waited for her to ask for something and again, nothing. She just looked up at me, then down to the floor where she crawled off between the forest of passenger legs. I noticed she'd pause every now and then looking side to side on the floor of the car. This isn't the first time I've seen this and I suppose she's looking for fallen coins on the floor? The other time I saw this same thing, there was an indian mother sitting on the floor with three small children and the children fanned out on hands and knees scouring the floor looking for something as well.

Another observation I've made is that you tend to harden your look a bit when you're in the big city. Maybe that's sort of a defense so that hopefully someone doesn't mess with you or at least thinks twice about it.

During the first couple of days in the city I noticed myself hardening my facial expression and body language. Because I was still in this more connected and peaceful frame of mind, I decided to just smile when I was interacting with someone.

The ticket girl in a booth, I'd make eye contact and smile. The girl I dropped off my laundry with I greeted warmly and again smiled. The response I got were hardened faces that completely transformed into lovely expressions of light. I even noticed a bit of sparkle in their eyes. And, this was from nothing more than smiling at another human being.

This doesn't always work of course. Had I tried that with the wasted boxing fellow on the train, I might have got an completely different response.

I'm beginning to get a bit of a routine already, so perhaps I should start moving again.

Off to get my laundry and get myself good and lost again. If all goes well, I hope to be on the move by later today. Likely on my way toward Coatepec in the state of Veracruz, but I won't know for sure until I get there.

Audio Phone Blog in Mexico City HERE

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