Mexico, Districto Federal

We left Oaxaca on a midnight bus, eating our last Oaxacan tortas and tlayudas (enormous corn tortillas smothered in beans, avocado and quesillo) at a cart in the park where once there was the Feria de Mezcal. Our bus traveled by the highway all the way to Mexico City, arriving to a freezing cold, wet night in the enormous bus terminal around 5-30AM. We walked through a small market to the metro, and caught a train heading to the home of Carlos, our Couchsurfing partner in Mexico City.

Carlos lives on a quiet dead-end street with a gate at the end, in a brightly painted, pre-WW1 house with his parents and sister. As we waited for the family to wake up, Cat and I talked about what we wanted to see and do in Mexico City, starting with visiting the Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo was born, painted and lived with Diego Rivera. As we talked travel, the doorway to the house opened and Carlos, a tall DF´er in an Ed Hardy T-shirt, stepped out to go for a walk. Our introduction was, ¨Cool, come on in...¨ and we gladly dropped our bags on the floor, before sacking out on the sofas as promised. I woke up three hours later to Catherine astounding Carlos´s mother with her Spanish. I was in no condition to add my own commentary, and groggily attempted to get out of the sofa where I had created my nest.

But all the same, several showers, papaya, yogurt and granola breakfasts, and well-wishing to the family later, Cat and I were off to explore. Our first stop via metro was the Casa Azul, in the former town and current sprawl of Coyoacan (coyote). Our walk through Coyoacan took us through shady neighborhoods with private courtyards on every house, and an overall impression of wealthy people guarding themselves in the friendliest way possible. . . By building walls.

The museum and former residence of Frida was amazing, with her studio, kitchen and bedroom preserved as she lived in them, and artifacts on display including several of her chest braces, decorated as if by a child with autographs, portraits and well-wishing. Another part of her house was devoted to a gallery of her works, which included interesting portraits that were unfinished, as well as a gallery to Diego Rivera, with one of his final paintings, done while he was dying of cancer in Acapulco, inscribed with an epitaph to the deceased Frida that read, Älthough you have been ashes for the past two years, you live on in my heart.¨

A touching end to a stormy relationship.

After the Casa Azul, we debated finding the museum of pre-Colombian artifacts assembled by Diego, but opted out when realizing how far things are from each other. Plus we had the zocalo of Coyoacan to explore, some more market food to purchase, and a bandaid for my foot (stupid huaraches!). In the park the flavor of summer was abundant with highschoolers getting temporary tattoos and a drunken local official attempting to extort bribes from the tattoo artists to continue their clandestine operations. . . Failed, by the way. He was too drunk.

After the park we were both feeling pretty fried so what did we do but go to the Zocalo (official) to witness the ceremony at the end of the day, where easily eighty to a hundred Mexican military do a procession to the center of the park and lower the flag of Mexico from its position, then carry the whole thing out. This was amazing and occupied us for several minutes, after which we went to see the foundations of the ruined Pyramids of Tenochtitlan, the only reminder, besides the wildly canting buildings and cracking edifices of modern-Mexico City, that the entire city was formerly lake Texcoco, site of the city state Tenochtitlan. We walked around the neighborhood of the Zocalo, admiring the many wrecked buildings and reserving a hostal for our final night in Mexico, with a shuttle early early early to the airport on Saturday morning.

Now, we are heading back to the house of Carlos to find out what is his will, to see if he is interested in going out to eat, cook, or something of the sort, and then, who knows... We are dog tired, and sad that we have to cram it all into a few short days.

Best wishes!
Brian and Catherine