anika in mexico

The dogs are still barking. I’d say barking again, but I doubt that they’ve really let up much at all since last night. They must never get any attention.

So I wasn’t sure how the turibus thing would go. I was a little nervous, but just not trying to think about it. I thought I would have to catch one bus to the Auditorio, then get the turibus and it just seemed somewhat complicated. Turns out there was a turibus station about a 10 minute walk from my place that Sigrid told me about. To make matters even better, she told Reyna to tell me how to go, but instead, Reyna had her son walk with me.

I was really grateful for that and it definitely made things easier. That’s the one thing about this place, and I’m not sure if it’s just this neighborhood, but the streets are a bit like a maze, and most often they are not labelled, so sometimes I’m not quite sure where I am. I got really turned around the other day when I walked towards Siggy’s place, eventually realizing my mistake, but yeah, it’s confusing, so I was glad Leonardo walked with me.

He told me that I might have to wait 15-20 minutes, but one came along almost immediately. At first the guy on the bus told me in Spanish that there were no seats upstairs, and I gave him a blank look and eventually exclaimed (after a ridiculously silly long pause), “no comprendo!!” I don’t even know if that was an appropriate response, and something tells me it wasn’t because he immediately broke into very good English to give me the message, and I said that it was no problem, so I got on board, got my ticket, and took a seat near 3 cute Italian guys on the lower level of the double decker bus.

I really loved the ride, and after a few stops, enough people had gotten off that I could change seats and go to the top deck. After completing the turibus loop, I’m still not totally oriented, but I think it was helpful to get a sense for all the different neighborhoods, and it was such a nice day to see the city.

I hopped off at the monument to Benito Juarez, which was a short walk from the Zocalo. The streets were really crowded, but I felt very safe. I eventually located a public W/C. I was getting hungry, but everything on the street looked a litte sketchy, and I just couldn’t decide on a place, so I just wandered around a bit until I got to the Zocalo.

I didn’t go into the Cathedral (not exactly sure why not), but I walked around the perimeter a bit. There were tons of little vendors to the right of the Cathedral and so I strolled around, checking out all the random things you could purchase, everything from Lucha Libre masks to noise makers or something colorful and ceramic to hang on a wall or catch dust on shelf. There were a lot of the same goods that I saw at Coyacan, but the one thing that caught my attention were the “cleansings” you could get. I don’t really know the details, but from observation, it looks like a “medicine man” or something has a bunch of sage that is smoking (it really smelled good especially when compared to some of the other odors you can experience in the city) and he fans it all around you with a bunch of herbs or feathers. Another similar service had the practitioner playing a flute and making other sounds in your energy field, I only guess it’s also some kind of cleansing.

I meandered around the back of the Cathedral, and then I saw a street vendor that didn’t gross me out selling cubed fresh fruit. I got papaya, sandia (watermelon) and coconut. There were other options I could have gotten including cucumber carrot and a few un-identifiable fruits or veggies. You can get it with chile and lime over top, but I just wanted it plain. It was really tasty and refreshing, and I’m glad I got it. I really hope I don’t pay for it later. Hehe.

I found a stoop to sit on and eat my fruit. It was near an area where there was a mass of police gathered. The perimeter of the entire Zocalo seemed to be swarming with la policia, if you can swarm without actually moving. They were hanging out everywhere. I wonder if there was something going on that would call for such a presence of force, but I’m not sure. I saw another “swarm” of them on the way back on the turibus. They were on the side of the Reforma, just standing around, supposedly vigilant.

As I was sitting, I checked my phone for the time and saw that Sigs had texted me to see how things were going. I told her that things were going great and where I was, and she responded with a suggestion for a place to eat: Cafe Tacuba. I went, and when I was inside I recognized it as the place where I’d eaten before that I absolutely adored. The interior is lively and colorful with painted murals, beautiful tiles, stained glass windows, and a fun band that wanders the restaurant serenadinng everyone. I’d really like to go back with my “good” camera and take some photos with my 50mm lens that does a good job in low light conditions.

I thought I ordered the quesadillas, but they brought me the chicken tacos, which were ok, but I think I would have prefered the quesadillas. I also got a beer (Victoria), some flan that tasted more like alcohol than sugar, and a cappucino which practically seared off the tip of my tongue. The beer was good though. I guess from that experience, it seems like I couldn’t recommend the food, but like I said, the atmosphere was really great, and I remember the food being really good the last time I went 8 years ago, plus the tacos were good, just not what I was expecting.

Despues de la Cafe Tacuba, I returned to the Zocalo to await the Turibus that would take me back home. I had to wait about a half an hour, even though 2 turibuses came and went in that time. When it was my turn, I was lucky enough to get a seat right away on the top level.

They have these signs in front of all the seats on the top level that warn you to watch your head when there trees around, that they might hit you and break your head or something. At first I just thought it was a cute sign and I took a photo of it, but then I found out that it’s there for a reason. I got smacked right in the face by some pliable small branches which left my lower lip throbbing, but at least it wasn’t bloody. You’d think I would have learned my lesson, right? Well I did for a while, deftly dodging branches and leaves when I saw them coming, but then the one moment I stopped paying attention to change my camera battery, whop!, I got knocked again, this time on the side of my head. It didn’t really hurt that time, but it was very localized. Not really even sure what hit me. The guy behind me even asked if I was ok, to which I said I was fine. The people around me were all in the same boat, so we were very sympathetic to one another.

Now that I write about my day, it doesn’t seem very eventful. Perhaps it wasn’t. I didn’t go to a museum, or really visit a monument or anything. I didn’t meet anyone, and nothing strange or incredible or coincidental happened. Sometimes I feel like something more remarkable should come from an excursion like I had, but it was a really good day. I feel very content with my mild adventure. My one success was that I purchased a little sieve for my sink in the bathroom. I nearly dropped my bottle of eye drops down the sink this morning, and realized that a sieve would be good to have. And then i saw a street vendor selling them, laid out on a blanket on the street. I paid 50 cents for it. Not sure if I was ripped off, but it didn’t seem like too much to me.

One interesting thing I saw, when I was walking back up the street from Cafe Tacuba to the Zocalo, was when all the street vendors quickly started to pack up their stuff as a warning whistle rang out. Some quickly folded up their displays, or started chucking stuff in a bag, or simply gathering the edges of the carefully arranged blankets together that had been laid out on the sidewalk to form a bundle that was easy to tote away if needed. A police car with lights and sirens blazing passed by half a block up, but didn’t turn down the road, so everyone eased up when it was gone, but were still watchful.

On the turibus it started to drizzle a little bit, but I was enjoying the view so much I just stayed unit we finally arrived at my stop. I walked home quite easily. As several cars passed, I noticed that they were making an odd sound, like a little chirp. After this happened a few times, I finally saw what it was: a guy making kissy noises at me. And not just one guy. It happened about 10 times on the walk home, which really isn’t very far. A bus driver even did it, and then after he’d passed, stuck his hand out to wave at me. A couple of fellows in a truck were very dedicated in their admiration, honking their horns, and calling out compliments. Perhaps it’s best that I couldn’t really understand everything they said.

It was just funny when I discovered what was happening, and I think it must just become a reflex for these guys since so many of them do it. Really they don’t have too much time to react, as they are flying by a girl on the sidewalk in their vehicle of choice. Siggy actually had mentioned that it happens all the time, but I guess I didn’t really experience it for myself until today.

I had dinner and watched some t.v. with Sigrid in the evening. I really don’t like t.v. Even in Mexico. It’s harder to watch with Sigrid because she can’t see so well, so if it’s not clear what’s going on based on dialogue, or if the visuals are too chaotic, she’s not interested in it. So we watched some bits and pieces of a few shows/movies before I decided to call it a night and go to bed.

Then I watched “Tired of Kissing Frogs” on my laptop which was much more interesting. In fact, it was a really cute movie. A bit over the top perhaps, but maybe that’s not surprising since it’s a Mexican film, but definitely endearing.