We managed to see entirely different parts of the city than in our last stopover two years ago. Instead of making me feel like I know the city more, it only deepens my impression that I don’t know the city at all.
We had a wonderful host in Cuajimalpas, an outlying district of DF. It was a week off for the pony, as we took public transportation around. It was an hour-long bus ride to the nearest Metro station each day, before squashing into the subway downtown. The bus was halting, but it was cool to see the scope of the city as we drove in. Our driver sideswiped another bus one day, prompting a lady passenger to scream at him, and another to scream at her to pipe down. The subway was packed solid during the middle hours of the day, but less so during what I would consider rush hour–early evening.
Parts of Mexico City seem to be decaying, while other parts are new and shiny. I think every single road in all of Mexico is under construction. At the same time, you have to watch your step on the sidewalk because you just might fall into an unmarked hole, or break your nose on some low-hanging ledge. Part of me thinks that Mexico City can’t possibly support the weight of its people, its pollution, its problems, and then the other part of me watches the millions of people doggedly surviving and thriving under such conditions and I’m convinced that Chilangos will take over the world. This is a tough city to relax in, to breathe in. But if you can do it, you’ll be rewarded with surprising moments of tranquility and beauty.
We were hoping to catch some excitement from this week’s presidential inauguration of Enrique Peña Nieto, but our own Enrique told us that the ceremonies are all held behind closed doors–no parade, no public address, nothing. We knew there would be some massive protests that I didn’t want to be around, so that was the day we headed for the hills–the enormous national park, Desierto de Los Leones. It’s filled with mountain bikers who kept coming close to running over our pack of five dogs, but nobody ever hollered at us to leash them. On the contrary, everyone was very courteous and despite the “PROHIBIDO ENTRAR CON MASCOTAS” signs, we met hundreds of very nice dogs. Milo was extremely happy.
All in all, as mellow a week as anyone has ever had in one of the craziest cities in the world. This week we’re feeling more inertia than ever, both because of our extraordinarily gracious host, but also because of the black hole effect of the city. It’s funny how some cities seem to be inescapable like that.
I took surprisingly few photos this week, mostly because I find Mexico City overwhelming and feel unable to capture it photographically. But here are some photos between this year and 2010. Enjoy.