¡Adiós CDMX!

Before spending time in Mexico City, my knowledge of Mexican culture was very limited.  My perception of Mexico came from the news and visits to border cities like Tijuana and Juarez, or resort towns like Cozumel, Cancun, and Cabo San Lucas.  While these towns are certainly colorful and offer great bargains, fun and magnificent beaches, they can be loud, almost assaulting to the senses, and just outside the resort fences, and just behind the bright lights and music in restaurants, bars, and markets, most visitors know there are tired, dull streets where many families live in poverty.  Just outside main tourist areas in some towns can also be very risky, even dangerous we hear. Vacation spots and news can easily flaw a person’s perception and openness to understanding and appreciating the heart of the country or other parts of the country.

Stan and I are quite comfortable and happy in CDMX (Cuidad de Mexico) but I don’t intend to imply that there are no dated, dusty or risky areas here.  There are, perhaps, far too many.  While it is impossible to have intimate knowledge of this city in just three weeks, I find this city a wonderful, sophisticated, fast-moving one, rich in history, culture, friendly people, and spectacular architecture.  No one has to walk far to find a green space, a playground, a beautiful fountain, well-kept monuments, sculptures, or a museum.  Most are free for all to enjoy.

Mexico City seems populated with people who take great pride in their culture.  Steeped in treasured traditions, music, and dance from ancient indigenous ancestors, Mexican culture is also flavored with Catholicism, art, and language from their Spanish roots.  In a capsule, Mexico City is a richly colorful, historic, and beautiful place that genuinely welcomes visitors with endearing hospitality.

The Spanish language we hear in Mexico City is very much like the Spanish we heard spoken in southern Spain.  It is enunciated clearly and distinctly but delivered at a little slower pace than in other places.   Although delivered more slowly, we don’t understand immediately when a native speaks.  As when we purchase tacos, the vendor will tell us the pricio.  Stan and I look at each other blankly and slowly repeat the words to each other until they will register a few moments earlier as cincuenta pesos, for example.  Ahhh, we finally think, ah,  fifty pesos.

And these people work!  Observing professionals in their business suits striding down the street going to and from work and then gazing at people manning food carts and cooking meats and chopping vegetables for tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and dishes I have not tasted yet, I see very hard-working people.  In particular, the street vendors are an especially diligent bunch.  On nearly every busy side street from well before dawn to late at night, these vendors are busy.  Each day, they set up, cook, sell, serve, close up, and end the day scrubbing the street when they close shop.  The street vendors probably put in far more hours than those in the middle of the work-centric culture in our own country.  Work is important here; religion is important.  Visitors to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe, for example, take seriously their purchases of religious souvenirs and artifacts to adorn the shrine that can be found in almost every Mexican family home.  Latino worshipers enter the cathedral reverently and bend their knees in prayer and supplication.  Even small children in the family are taught to kneel and pray long before they know they may be speaking with God.

What a sweet culture!  People we meet on the street, at food carts, in stores, in restaurants, and on buses are enormously kind and courteous.  Good manners and yielding at every opportunity is the norm.  Except in the metros at 5 pm (which can be every man for himself), it is as if people say, “Be my guest!”  Otherwise, there is no pushing and shoving, or no one trying to outdo one another.   People stand in line at a taco stand; they stand in a single line at a bus stop and wait their turn to board even on peak times like on Sundays when service is limited.

In summary, preconceived notions are often simply wrong and they can be a barrier to new joys, new ideas, and new things. Imagine what we would have missed had we let our early notions about Mexico and Mexico City make us think a visit here was not a priority.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and in truth, I was thrilled with the place and could easily live here.  We are off once again, though.  The next stop is Lautoka, Fiji, but only for a few days while en route to Tasmania.  I expect both destinations to be knock-your sox- off amazing and nothing like we’ve ever seen before.