Mexico City (Part I, July 2008)

We drove down to Mexico City, where I am on sabbatical at the Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico -- as opposed to University of Namibia, or Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Argentina, which are also UNAMs). Heidi conveniently is in the Foreign Service and has a job at the US Embassy in Mexico. I joined Heidi and Piper near the Tex-Mex border; they had driven from Washington DC, where she'd been in training for the last year learning Spanish and diplomacy.

These pictures are from the first couple months in Mexico. There are some key things missing -- mostly the densely packed city itself -- which I have spent plenty of time in but will just have to wait until next time for more photos.

Also, I should note several observations:

In Mexico, it's not a racial slur to call someone 'a Mexican.'
You can't really say you're 'American', because of course the Mexicans are too. One of their national soccer teams is 'Club America.'
Also, you can't be totally unambiguous saying you're from The United States (los estados unidos) because the offical name of the country here is The United States of Mexico (los estados unidos de Mexico).
As far as culinary stereotypes, one only occasionally sees margaritas or guacamole, and never once have I seen a burrito. (One time I saw a 'burrita,' but didn't get to investigate.) However: everyone drinks Corona, often with salt and lime, including the US Ambassador to Mexico, who happens to be married to the Mexico's richest woman, heiress to the Corona empire. Mariachi bands are quite prevalent, especially in the fancy Mexican restaurants.
There's lots of mangos, tamarind, jicama, and chamoy, a mysterious red salt/sweet/spice powder that seems to go into everything (milk shakes, chips, fruits, cervezas, etc.).
The informal economy is huge. Parking lots are filled with dudes with baseball caps and whistles, using fancy arm signals to tell you where to park. You tip them a few pesos for their work. Then someone else may come and put cardboard over your car to prevent it from heating up -- for a few pesos, he'll remove it when you're ready to leave.
Yes, it's Mexico, but no one wears shorts. Never. Not on the street, not at the mall, not at the park. It's just like Paris or any other civilized locale: long pants all the time. Which is actually OK here: the weather in the city is mostly cool and rainy -- it's not Cancun.
At the markets, every kind of fruit and vegetable exists. There are dozens of fruits that are here that don't even have names in English: cactus parts, some things that looks like cherries, a lot of yellow tropical-tasting sweet fruits, some soft brown ones with orange interiors, many different kinds of mangoes, kiwis, and bananas -- all sorts... except for one fruit that is 100% missing from the entire country, and that is the lemon. Limes are everywhere, and there is even a word for lemon (lime = limon, and lemon = lima). The Mexicans insist that a lemon is really the same as a lime, just yellow. My Spanish teacher tells me that lemons are available around christmas time, and claims that they just don't grow well in the rest of the year. There's got to be more to the story than that, but, but...!
Even in Mexico City, there are essentially no tourists. English is spoken very rarely, and although a lot of educated people speak English, very few random people on the street do. I hear English very rarely, which is great.
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Driving Down

Mexico City, D. F.

Xochimilco (Boats)

Cicloton (Circum-D.F. Bicycle Ride, with Medical Detour)

Cocoyac (Resort with Pool)

Teotihuacan (Pyramids)

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Henry Throop
Last modified Sat Aug 16 22:15:35 2008

Mexico City (Part I, July 2008)

Driving Down

Mexico City, D. F.

Xochimilco (Boats)

Cicloton (Circum-D.F. Bicycle Ride, with Medical Detour)

Cocoyac (Resort with Pool)

Teotihuacan (Pyramids)