Hurray! I'm not dead. Aren't you lucky? The 'dangers' of Mexico, I'm pleased to report, are all hype (provided you are careful with taxis and have some common sense [oh no. I'm screwed!]). The biggest problem here is that virtually nobody speaks English. Tour guides do, and some people in hotels do. I've only met about 4 people who speak English fluently. Mostly the small handful speak English about as well as I speak Italian. That's right. Not very well at all. So it's been a big culture shock. I thought that my knowledge of Italian would be a little more useful than it has been so far, but it helps in recognising grammatical patterns. Probably by the time I leave I should be okay...
Mexico City is a warm cacophony of sights and sounds, the streets are lined with small stores and markets, people shouting and latin music pumping. Occasionally you walk past a store with English pop, but these stores clearly cater for tourists. I haven't really been accosted much, thank god for that wedding band I bought!! There are a lot of beggars and buskers about, some are horribly crippled and it is heart wrenching to see, but unfortunately you have to keep walking.
My first day here I just wandered around Centro Historico and Alameda Central, a central part of downtown Mexico. Central to this is Lo Zocalo, a great plaza bordered by the Catedral Metropolitana (oldest and largest cathedral in Latin America), the Palacio Nacional (residence of the Mexican president and government) and off to the side, the Templo Mayor. This is the ruins of the main temple of the ancient Aztec civilisation turned into a museum, which is fantastic to see. This temple was dedicated to Aztec cult of death, which meant most of the sacrifices were carried out here (as many as 10 000 at a time!). It houses ancient relics, including a wall of stone skulls and a stone disk depicting the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui who was decapitated and dismembered by her brother in his quest to be become 'top god'.
I wandered around the streets for a couple of hours, looking for something to eat and absolutely struggling because I couldn't recognise anything, or they asked me questions and I had NO idea what they were saying. Although far from rude, most people aren't entirely helpful. When they realise from your spluttering of massacred Spanish that you can't speak their language, they essentially just look at you. Not in pity or frustration, just looking. Eventually I found somewhere that gave me the time to flick through my phrase book and I was able to order a meal. Note to self: Learn some freaking Spanish!
I wandered around Alameda Central, which is a beautiful park with a plethora of trees and greenery, which is quite a nice break from the reasonably dirty interior of Centro Historico.
As I don't know anybody here, as soon as dusk hits I head inside, which is probably best because I have so much work to do it's not funny!
Today I was the ultimate tourist - I boarded the 'Turibus'. For $10, they drive you all around the city. There are 24 different stops where you can get off and get snap-happy. Buses come along every half hour, so you're never stranded anyway, and they even run until 9pm!
It was wonderful to get out of the city centre and see more of the city, and it was even better to do it in such a time effective way. Still, I only met a few people who could speak English - most tourists are Mexican or German. We entered into an area called 'Condesa', which was an array of tree-lined streets with an ambience not dissimilar to Lygon St in North Carlton. Restaurants galore, wider streets and trees, trees, trees. I got off at this stop and had a little look around. The residences had that beautifully dilapidated sense of history to them, amid the faded bright colours and peeling layers of paint. Pot plants were strewn from balcony to balcony and washing hung from time to time.
Throughout the tour I saw a lot of statues and ancient Aztec sculptures, too numerous and probably superfluous to mention. Right now I'm sitting in my room, hurriedly attempting to update and get facebook to upload my freaking photos!
Hope you are all well, I have tonnes of work to do!!
Mwah!
Mexico photos
Mexico photos2
