Angela and I had ridden bikes through the Polanco district of Mexico City on our way up to the Soumaya art museum. The bikes cost a few bucks and were a bargain considering you can hop on
and hop off at 100 locations around town. The Polanco district is a bit well-to-do. Young professionals were all over the streets. Businesses like General Motors and Nestle have corporate offices in tall office buildings that scream “this is an area where modern business gets done”. Kinda like a Chicago western burb…. But way more friendly to pedestrians.
The Soumaya Museum is an excellent stop and I recommend it to anyone who is spending a few days in town. We spent 2 hours there if I had to guess.
The business day was coming to an end and traffic had ticked up exceptionally by the time we exited the museum. Bikes? Well, those looked a lot less fun with 10x more people and cars running around. We decided to walk back to a church we had passed on the bikes on our way up to the museum.
2 blocks south of the museum… I was struck. Not by a car, but by my brain.
We were standing at the crosswalk at Avenue Ejercito Nacional Mexicano, a busy road that runs east and west. The traffic was getting heavier, so cars were sitting and waiting like we were. In front of me is a black Peugeot SUV. A very young girl in a car seat was sitting in the back smiling and had her head stretched up as she was talking to the driver of the vehicle. Her fixed attention forward led me to turn my eyes towards the driver as well, a young woman leaning forward, smiling and talking into the rearview mirror to the child. The windows were up and I could not hear them. But I could “hear” them. Mom, Daughter, laughing and talking.
V8 moment? Epiphany? I do not know how to describe it and I want to be careful not to romanticize a random moment with strangers. But, this little light bulb flash reminded me to open my eyes throughout the trip. I am here for the art, architecture, and food… But look at the people as well. See the people.
Throughout the next 3 days on Mexico City, whether we were sitting and eating or riding on a bus, I was watching interactions with as much appreciation as the scenery around us.
On the 45-minute bus ride to Teotihuacan we had lots of window time. The route to the ancient temples takes you through much more impoverished sections of the city that find everything built with mason block. It’s not pretty, but it’s functional. These industrial block houses stretch for miles and miles in all directions and run up the sides of mountains. If they were plastered and had nice windows… You would be overwhelmed by the beauty like a seaside town in Greece. But these are not beautiful and they remind you that the marvelous architecture and glass buildings of the inner city are a 180 degrees from the reality that most people live.
A municipal bus came up beside us and we were running the same speed for a few minutes. I could see 4 young men standing at the front of the bus holding onto the overhead support rails while their buddy was sitting and talking to them. They were all smiling and the one sitting looked to be leading the conversation. They were all looking at him with smiles and friendly faces. It reminded me of any random moment in my shop when 2 or 3 young men are in a circle and joking. Everyone was laughing, and working around young people, I know those facial expressions well.
The last one that stuck with me was the last day when we meandered through Almeda Central Park. I have mentioned the park before because we watched the dancers there. 
Angela and I sat down on a partially vacant park bench. We were sharing elote out of a styrofoam cup and watched the people go by. 15 feet down from us was a young man selling more elote (corn in a cup with mayo and spices). There are 20 vendors with open-air flat skillets full of hominy and corn steaming, ready for purchase from anyone along the walking paths. The 20-year old-ish man walked out into the path and started doing a little footwork to music that could be heard. It was a bit of a happy dance and it was not out of place after everything we had taken in at every other park in town. But, a few seconds after he started… a small child came bounding onto the path from behind the food cart. He waddled toward the man and attempted to join in and dance. I say bounding, but it was more like a baby’s first steps. You know, how kids walk bowlegged when they have a diaper on? This little guy was laughing and hobbling around to be part of the action with who I would assume was his father. Dad stopped, and tried to catch the groove from Jr. A young woman, sitting in a folding chair behind the food car held her hand to her mouth as she giggled at the two dancers. Dinner and a show… It made me smile.
There were countless other interactions I watched and I was hesitant to make this post only because it’s a bit presumptuous. Who am I to take these mental snapshots and paint a story from what I saw? I don’t have an answer.
One last story, and its different than the rest because it was a full verbal interaction. Our concierge at the hotel set us up with a valet driver to the airport on Sunday morning. It was early, but our driver, Armando, was talkative and spoke pretty good English. Probably the most English we spoke besides to ourselves in 3 days. Armando is 39 and has a 9-year-old daughter. He was happy he waited until 30 to have her because he felt like he could provide more for her. Before she was born, he worked at a resort in Puerta Vierta and thought he would be there for his career. He came back to Mexico City to live a life more suitable for having a family. I was reminded of my days living in Florida and working at a resort. I said “When you live near the beach, you never enjoy the beach” and he knew exactly what I meant. We had some common ground.
He asked if we had children, I said we had two (I did not want to share the dread of losing a child with him) and that they were both college-age. Our driver/Dad lamented that his daughter spends too much time on the phone. “She’s 9, but wants to be 15”. Every parent knows the feeling. Universal common ground.
Lastly, and this should be its own post, but I like to drag things out… The damn phone.
When we were watching the dancing in the park that I described in the previous post, I pulled my cell phone out and took a short video. After a few seconds, I realized that I was the only person doing this. I stopped recording and put the phone down. Later, I started looking around with my new awareness to see that the only people taking pictures or cell phone videos were the tourists. And, in the section of town were hanging out in, we were sometimes very alone in a sea of locals. I am not saying this in a way to sound scared… But it had me reconsidering the value of my hundreds of photos and videos. I want to share. I want to remember this trip and I want you to know that Mexico City is probably not what you think it is… But at some point… There is a line that I am approaching in my newfound self-awareness.
We have become the stereotypical Japanese tourist that have been made fun of since I was a little kid. Camera around the neck and taking pictures of everything.
I don’t carry a DSLR on vacations anymore. I try to take quick photos. Snap, and then put the phone back in my pocket. I have taken enough pictures over the years to know when something is a good grab. Too much sun or bad angles have me leaving my phone in my pocket. This trip had me taking some mediocre photos because I was trying to be extra quick and avoid the distraction that a phone is.
I think what I am trying to convey is that I want to distill the photos down. Take the atmosphere photos when necessary, snap a pic or two if something is super cool, but don’t dwell on getting the perfect grab at the Temple of the Moon when the 11am sun is beating down at the sky has a gray haze. Other people have gotten a better picture. Just enjoy the journey.
I loved these pictures that Ang I took on our last night at the Cacoa bar. These are more interesting than a pile of landscapes! This could also be a result of traveling by ourselves. I am not worried about capturing other peoples moments.
Oh, and we DO make photo albums on Google Photos. When my phone explodes or I decide to cancel my subscriptions… We have printed pictures to remind us of the journeys.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
I loved this trip in the fact that it took me to a place that made me initially uncomfortable, but ultimately opened up my mind to more global awareness. A friend sent me a message after I posted pictures on day one… “So, its not a failed NARCO State?” I sent back a quick LOL. I know that question came with a bit of pure curiosity because you don’t see this side of the world from our media. If you watch the news for any length of time in the US, you certainly get a different take on what life in Mexico is like.
Been to Mexico many times. I, like you , try to go local and stay away from all the tourist traps. The people are joyful and friendly if treated like anyone else. Good lesson there. Glad you 2 had fun. Travelling with friends and family is a good time, but sometimes ya gotta fly solo and just GET OUT THERE.