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Mexico City, day one and two.
We landed yesterday about 3pm. A lot of walking is standard operating procedure in Benito Juarez International Airport. Eventually we found the shuttle to our hotel. We booked one near the airport. That may sound crazy but for Mexico City this is SO convenient.
Here is a lesson in acoustics: Our room has a solid wall of glass that faces the airport. One foot beyond is another solid wall of glass. Besides one of the busiest airports outside our window is a ten lane highway that is a 24 hour rush hour. We don’t hear ANYTHING thanks to 2 sheets of glass and a one foot air space.
The other convenient thing is the entrance to the subway is 1/2 block from the hotel. Exercising our convenience, we took off for the main cathedral in theZocalo via the subway. We must have looked lost because at least three people asked if we needed help; one lady that actually said it in English, one that showed us the subway routes on his I-phone and an older Mexican man with a “Kegger Fraternity” T-shirt. We didn’t get lost but they did give us a sense of security.
The cathedral/Basilica was, of course, splendid. There was also a huge protest/sit-in/camp-in going on in the plaza of the zocalo. It’s the teachers of Oaxaca still trying to get fair pay and a bit of respect. It will probably be a tent city for some time to come.
Today we felt like pros of the Mexican subway. Lord knows how many kilometers we put on today. We found the market for witches, shamans and curenderos, otherwise known as Mercado Sonora. We managed a few pictures and minutes of video before we were busted by the “Union”. Evidently you need permission to video or photograph anything in the market. We went to the administration office, talked to “la jefa” who then called some other office. I talked to someone else on the phone and told him how important I am, gave a blood sample and eventually was given a guide through the market. The red tape was stupid yet gave us access to a wide variety of animal skins and skeletons, herbs, plants and other curing agents as well as a couple of curanderos and Sharon’s first limpia; got it on video and she seems surprisingly… cured.
We made our way toward the zocalo again. It’s just too cool and vibrant with the buzz of life. We stopped to watch a couple of clowns perform when we, especially Sharon, became a part of their act. Sharon is now admired by clowns throughout Mexico as “La Gringa” who kisses a clown on the neck. I see them lining up outside our two sheets of glass and one foot of air space.
Do you get the imagery? A line of clowns: cherry red noses, big ol’ shoes, sad faces outside our window chanting in unison, “La gringa! La gringa! Por favor, besa mi mucho.” She left them so sad and wanton.
We escaped to the Basillica across the street. I met a curandero that performed street limpias. Interesting fellow that had a strong belief in the power of peyote and mushrooms. For some reason we got along very well.
We made it back to the hotel and realized the above events took about 10 hours. Lots of freaky video and adventures on the subway. We had a shot of Reserva de la Familia Anejo with dinner and all is well. Very, very well.
