Scrapbook: A Month in Mexico City
/Travel often involves skimming the surface. But the richness of culture lies in its depths, and you can only get that when you slow travel down. Hang with me in Mexico City, where I’m taking classes towards my eventual goal of Spanish fluency, and exploring the hidden corners of one of the world’s oldest and largest cities. And we’ll also go on a few interesting weekend jaunts nearby.
My journey toward Spanish fluency has brought me to Mexico City, where I’ll be taking classes and working remotely for the next month. The hourlong commute to school takes in a walk through some of the toniest real estate in the city (Polanco), to catch a bus that glides along one of the world’s grand avenues (Reforma), and through an enormous public park filled with museums and art (Chapultepec), transferring to another bus packed with commuters during the rush hour (the buses are modern, efficient, and there’s a women-only section).
When in Roma: On a sleepy Sunday, this gentrified barrio in Mexico City nevertheless retains the decayed splendor of an earlier century, with families heading to church to have their religious statues blessed, lines out the door to bakeries such as the Panadería Rosetta, and everyone everywhere eating tamales, the traditional dish of el Día de la Candelaria.
The pace slows in San Miguel de Allende, a four-hour bus ride from the bustle of Mexico City, in the state of Querétaro. Undiscovered it is not—especially by American and Canadian retirees who make up about 10 percent of the year-round population—but it’s nevertheless easy to succumb to the colonial town’s aesthetic and cultural charms, and even easier when dear friends cosset you in their lovely home. Gracias por invitarnos, Laura y John!
el 14 de febrero: Sending you amor y amistad desde la Ciudad de México!
You may be familiar with the butterfly effect—the concept that small things (such as the flap of a butterfly’s wings) can have a non-linear effect on a complex system.
And what if a million butterflies flap their wings? Es mágico, realmente. Every year countless monarch butterflies migrate some 3,000 miles from Canada and the US to the California coast and central Mexico to clump and roost on the trunks of oyamel fir trees before heading back in a cycle that can last four generations.
While monarch butterflies aren’t endangered, the subspecies that undertakes this remarkable migration is threatened by climate change, deforestation, and loss of habitat. In the Mexican state of Michoacán just last month, two butterfly activists who worked at a reserve protecting pine and fir forests from illegal logging were found dead days apart.
In the neighboring state of Mexico, the ecological park of Corral de Piedra, owned by the community of Amanalco, is a sanctuary for one colony of the famed butterflies.
Guides such as Jose Manuel take small groups hiking on paths, taking care to not disturb the colony—watching where they step, not wearing perfumes, keeping to a respectful distance of the trees where they roost, and lowering voices.
Butterflies are associated with rebirth and represent the soul for many cultures. As a trained journalist I can’t speak to the truth of that, but I can say that to walk through a kaleidoscope of butterflies, to hear and feel and see the slap and whoosh and flutter of thousands of wings inspires wonder and care for nature, and curiosity for what lies beyond our understanding.
Viva la Revolución: In an interesting historical twist, a massive structure initiated during the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz but never finished because the Mexican Revolution broke out (in 1910) ended up becoming a monument to the heroes of that revolution.
In the up-and-coming colonia of Tabacalera, the Monumento a la Revolución looms with the heft and ambition of the Porfiriato, but later architects reimagined and humanized the space. Within its columns are interred the remains of revolutionaries; a museum and exhibits narrate history; and a sleek glass elevator takes visitors up to some of the best views of the city. And of course there’s the requisite café and gift shop. I wonder what Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, whose images are stamped on coffee mugs and T-shirts, would think? Mexico City.
Weekend road trip to Tepoztlán and Cuernavaca in the Mexican state of Morelos. It was Carnaval, so it was hard to avoid the crowds, but by setting out early for the town’s famous hike up Tepozteco mountain, we managed to beat both the heat and the muchedumbre. The reward at the end of a steep and uneven trail that climbs 595 meters along two kilometers was not only a 360-degree view of the entire valley but the chance to poke around a 13th-century Aztec temple dedicated to Tepoztēcatl, the god of pulque, an alcoholic drink—currently experiencing a renaissance, though it’s an acquired taste—made from the sap of the agave plant.
Cuernavaca has been a summer escape for residents of Mexico City dating back to the time of the Aztec emperors. One of the oldest non-church buildings is here, built by conquistador Hernán Cortés over the ruins of an Aztec site in 1523. El Palacio de Cortés is now a museum and contains a Diego Rivera mural but parts of the castle are off-limits, having been damaged by an earthquake in 2017.
I’ve had more work than I expected while here in Mexico City, which is of course a good problem to have. So while I’m not exploring the city as much as I’d like, I am discovering some great coffee shops with good WiFi. Si estás cerca, búscame!
This is one of the many benefits of slowing travel down; this compelling museum is often overlooked (it’s a little off the beaten path) or combined in a rushed day tour with several other Diego/Frida sites. But it shines when you can leisurely wander its salas, ask questions of a docent, or jump on a guided tour.
And later go for a lingering lunch to discuss the experience over tacos and limonadas with old and new friends.
Museo Anahuacalli, Coyoacán, Mexico City.
There are so many hidden rincones in this city, including Azcapotzalco, a municipality that in pre-Hispanic times was the seat of the Tepanec Empire until it was overtaken by the Aztec Empire. While Spanish colonization and urbanization swallowed up most physical evidence, cultural vestiges remain in the tiangis, (street markets) and in the names of the barrios which have both Christian and indigenous names. A tour with architectural historian Gerardo Hernández of Ciudad y Patrimonio unlocks the neighborhood’s secrets, in which red ants, dueling tribes, cathedrals and cloisters, artists, and ice cream all play a part. Mexico City.
Travel often involves skimming the surface. But the richness of culture lies in its depths, and you can only get that when you slow travel down. Even in the heart of Mexico City’s touristy Centro Histórico, it’s possible to take the path less trodden. To lunch at a restaurant in continuous operation for more than 100 years. To check out a temporary exhibit of “los grandes maestros de los artes populares,” housed in an 18th-century Baroque palatial residence. And to investigate a gargantuan emporium dedicated to pastry for clues to the Mexican addiction to carbs and sugar.
Último día de la escuela: Mastering a new language is neither a rapid nor linear process. Fluency can seem elusive despite embedding in Mexico City for a month and taking classes daily. (Work projects prevented it from being a full immersion.) But it remains the most personally gratifying challenge I’ve taken up in the last year, providing focus, fun, friends, and even a second family. Gracias a mis profesores y mis amigos en la escuela Lengua y Cultura, especialmente a Laura, Daniel, Itz, Yamel, Marco, Julieta, Christine, Luke, Hannah, y Michael.
Mi barrio: Polanco is sometimes called the Beverly Hills of Mexico for its ritzy boutiques, high-end shopping malls, skincare and cosmetic surgery centers, Michelin-star restaurants, and concentrations of embassies and diplomatic missions. But there are also world-class museums, restored or converted mid-century neo-Baroque mansions, tidy pocket parks, tree-lined paths, and a range of indoor/outdoor restaurants and cafés that spill out in a friendly manner onto the sidewalks. Muy agradable. Mexico City.
Purple power: When I arrived in Mexico City five weeks ago, the buds on the ubiquitous jacaranda trees were just appearing. As I get ready to leave this complex and creative city, the pale wisps have exploded into a violet riot. I spent my last day chasing the color purple in the city’s oldest municipal park (Alameda) and along its grandest avenue (Reforma). Viva México!
Agradezco a las muchísimas personas que han compartido su amistad, tiempo, comida, conocimiento, y sugerencias conmigo. A mis profesores de español que me han ayudado pacientemente con esta lengua tan hermosa.
Y finalmente mil gracias to college friend Eileen, who not only let me crash at her casa for more than a month, but joined me on weekend jaunts, answered mis preguntas (she’s a PhD in Latin American lit and lang), and often cooked us dinner! No tengo suficientes palabras!
Photos © Norie Quintos.