Mexico #1

Hello from DF, Mexico's Federal District and the equivalent of DC in the United States. Patrick and I have arrived without any real incidents--though it was pretty hard to sleep last night, what with the handful of mosquitoes buzzing around (I hope we can buy a net today) and all the noisy neighbors in the hostel. The owners of the hostel are really nice, though, and they moved us. Most of the beds in the hostel are sort of dorm-style, where you share a room with random other travelers (can be a fun social experience). We had a private room last night, but the walls are paper-thin. Knowing that we are going to be here for a while, and that it is a work trip for Patrick versus a pure vacation, they offered us a private "room" downstairs. It turns out that we will have the whole floor to ourselves; it used to be a cafe, but there wasn't enough foot traffic to support it. We'll still have to go upstairs to shower, but look how many couches we have!

Today's highlight was our walk to Chapultepec Park. We were going to go the Museo Rufino Tamayo (contemporary art), but the way was blocked by a parade of PRDistas, the party of Lopez Obrador, who lost the Mexican presidential election by a very small and contested margin. It was hard to tell whether they're still protesting the election, just having a parade, or what. There were lots of flags. Anyway, we changed our plans and headed to the national history museum at el Castillo de Chapultepec (castle). "Chapultepec" means Hill of Grasshoppers in Nahuatl (an indigenous Mexican language).


The castle grounds were absolutely beautiful. We envisioned a lovely wedding there, but they probably don't rent it out since it is part of "our shared Mexican patrimony," or something like that. There are so many wonderful spaces, though; marbled patios, sculpted courtyard gardens, tiered staircases ...

It's easy to see how in a world like this, Alice could have dreamt up Wonderland. Apart from the grounds, there were several rooms preserved from the past; the castle was a residence for Maximilian and Carlota (Hapsburgs called on by the French to rule Mexico in 1864) and later, Porfirio Diaz. My favorite parts were the elevator (wow! who knew they had those back then) and the bathroom, with beautiful tiles that showed a strong Chinese influence (chrysanthemums, etc.).

Besides the glitzy look-at-the-castle bits, the museum also had several exhibits reviewing key moments in Mexican history, from pre-Colombian times to the Porfiriato, the dictatorship that resulted in Mexican modernization. I learned some things from the displays, but as usual, I loved the art most of all.

There was a heart-stopping mural by Siquieros, which wrapped around walls arranged in a trapezoid to almost completely surround you. I can't wait to go the Palacio de Bellas Artes again, where there are more of his murals. His painting is, for me, infinitely more powerful than Diego Rivera's, especially if you compare their most overtly political works. There was also a surprise jewel, by a painter I'd never heard of. I haven't quite figured out how to read Llegada de los generales Zapata y Villa a Palacio Nacional, by Canadian Arnold Belkin. But I love his way of painting time into this basically two-dimensional medium. This image isn't very good (one problem is that it's been flipped horizontally), but it's the best I could get.

I am now completely exhausted and hoping for a nap before we go party tonight. Oh, and I haven't even gotten to write about the squirrels. Next time.

Hasta luego.