We found a couple of buildings in Mexico City covered with hanging gardens. The perspective in this photo makes it look to me like rows of crops growing in a field…
But it’s actually hundreds of small succulents growing on the sides of a building. Here’s a wider view:
We decided to get out of our small town for a while, so we drove to Mexico City and spent ten days there. It’s a thoroughly modern, cosmopolitan city which also happens to have a lot of history visible at every turn.
We stayed on the 32nd floor of a high rise just a couple years old (it’s the red one):
Here’s a view of the sunrise from inside our apartment:
We were within walking distance of every amenity – multiple grocery stores, shopping malls, Starbucks, the Soumaya Museum of Art:
The Soumaya Museum of Art was funded by Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world. It contains art from around the world representing many genre’s and eras. We went back a second day because we didn’t get to see everything on our first visit.
We visited the National Anthropology Museum, the pyramids of the sun and moon at Teotihuacan, the basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and more. Sometimes we drove, sometimes we walked, and we rode the metro. Walking to the metro was a lot like walking on the Iron Horse trail to BART. Here’s a photo of the path:
Overall we had a great time, but as they say, “it’s a nice place to visit”. Even though it had everything you could possibly want, just as in any other large, cosmopolitan city around the world, it was a bit large and crowded and busy for me. That’s not to say we won’t visit again, but as for living, I’m enjoying our small town life for now.
As you drive through Mexico you will pass through many small towns where they specialize in a particular type of artisanship – woodworking, pottery, weaving, stone carvings, etc.
We read an article online about a town* known for making glass Christmas ornaments, painted by hand. It would normally be out of the way for us, but when we planned a trip to Mexico City it was right along our route. And the timing was good, since we were traveling in December. *Try to pronounce the name of the town: Tlalpujahua (Tlal-pu-ha-wa).
We were very impressed with the workmanship of the ornaments. And apparently many others are, too. The traffic getting into town was crazy. You don’t generally find traffic like this in the small towns. And then when we got into the main auditorium where the ornaments were being displayed and sold, it was difficult to walk through due to the large crowds.
This photo doesn’t give a complete sense of the crowds, but it is what the inside of the auditorium looked like.
Outside, additional small vendors were selling ornaments, as well as other crafts and foods:
No two ornaments are exactly alike, since they are hand painted. And if they don’t have exactly what you want, they’ll make what you want. Here are some samples:
Before continuing our journey to Mexico City we ate lunch at one of the stands in town. Tacos for both of us plus one soda to share cost about $3.80 US, including tip.
I have mentioned speed bumps before. They are used quite liberally here, and sometimes they just drive me crazy! From local neighborhoods where they are used to slow traffic instead of stop signs, to the highways where they are used to slow traffic as you approach small towns or hazardous intersections.
I will admit that generally they are very effective for their intended purpose. It’s just that they take some getting used to. For example, I would say that 95% of the speed bumps in the neighborhoods are not marked – no sign, no announcement painted on the road, and often no paint on the bumps themselves. On the highways, at best 50% are marked in some way.
Here’s a photo of one that does happen to be marked by a sign. Note a few things about the photo. First, the size of the speed bump on the sign – obviously it is exaggerated, but some actually are quite large. Second, can you actually see the speed bump on the road to the left of the sign? This is often how they appear on the road – very difficult to discern as you are driving along!
Our house is 0.6 miles from the highway. In that span, there are 11 speed bumps. That’s roughly one per every 100 yards. Here are two of them – a double one in the foreground and then a second one in the distance, just ahead of the pink house in the center:
Speed bumps are just one of the obstacles on the roadways. One thing I have learned is that whether you are taking a short drive through the neighborhood or a long drive to visit another part of the country, there’s no time for daydreaming or driving on “autopilot”. You have to be super alert at all times.
One of the creatures I don’t have much experience with in the US is scorpions. Now that we are living in Mexico’s high desert and in a location that’s very rural, we anticipate gaining more experience with them here.
So far, we have found 3 scorpions in our bedroom. Two were clinging to the wall; the third gave us our biggest surprise last night when we found it on our bed. Fortunately it was before we climbed into the bed!
In the US, Catholic traditions of All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day are mostly reflected culturally as Halloween. In Mexico, an American-style Halloween is not practiced. Instead, there is a multi-day celebration of the Day of the Dead, more closely reflecting the Catholic traditions of remembering those who have died before us.
During this time, people reflect on those who have passed, they visit the cemetery, bring flowers and other decorations to the cemetery, and set up “altars” in their homes and in public areas. Some of the altars are very elaborate. The photos below are of some of the public altars, along with one in a home. The drawings on the ground are made with flowers, sawdust, shredded paper, seeds, etc. We had a nice time visiting in our local town and the next town over.
We have been able to find pretty much everything we desire here. Some things are harder to find than others, but it’s usually available somewhere. As a last resort, there’s a Walmart about 20 miles away, and they generally have anything that we can’t find in the local markets.
Today we’re having a bunch of guests over and Maricela decided, “Let’s make ginger molasses cookies,” which is one of our favorites to make back at home. We searched high and low for the ingredients, but couldn’t find molasses, not even at Walmart.
We decided to carry on without the missing ingredient. Instead, we made sure to increase the amount of the other spices we were using, especially the ginger. Plus, we added some honey in place of the molasses, anticipating that the similarity in consistency would at least be a reasonable substitute for the moisture content and “stickiness” of the molasses.
The guests haven’t arrived yet, but it looks like our experiment was a success. Obviously they’re not the same without molasses, but they turned out really good!
I mentioned in an earlier post that some things shock our sense of “normal”. Here is a scene that amazes me.
Much of what gets accomplished here in Mexico is done with manual labor. That includes touching up the center paint lines that separate traffic.
These guys are walking down the center of the highway. There are no warning signs for motorists (other than the flag being carried by one of the members of the crew), no cones, no lane closures, no work trucks. The posted speed limit here is about 50 mph, but many people exceed that, of course. And note the blind curve in the distance…
The most common question we get from friends and family back home is in regard to how safe it is for us to be here.
The short answer is, if you are not involved with drugs or other illegal activities, you’re unlikely to encounter any heightened safety concerns compared with the US. After more than two months here, as far as we can tell there’s no heightened danger to us here.
Even in the US, people concerned about safety will avoid certain activities and neighborhoods. It’s the same here. We follow basic safety guidelines.
The biggest one is not traveling at night. That’s one of the most common travel tips you’ll read. For us, we haven’t heard of any specific dangers with traveling at night, it’s just common wisdom. However, one big reason for us to not travel at night has to do with another safety issue – the roads are in very bad condition in some areas. There are large potholes, crumbling sections of road, and roads that slump on the sides. Also, the infamous speed bumps. During daylight, these obstacles are generally visible, but it’s much more difficult to spot and avoid them at night, especially when we aren’t as familiar with the area.
Also keep in mind that when we are in our neighborhood, it’s a very small community. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, and people watch out for each other. Especially us, for now, since we’re still new here.
Before we came to Mexico, one of the concerns we read about was that interstate buses had stopped traveling through our state because of safety concerns they had experienced. I’m happy to report now that the buses are running again. I don’t know what changed, but I interpret it as a good sign.
The bottom line is, we take common-sense precautions as much as possible, and enjoy our life here.
People who know me know I love chocolate. In the US, I ate chocolate in one form or another every day.
In Mexico, chocolate is not as popular and thus not as available as it is in the US. When it is available, the quality and richness usually don’t compare with what’s available in the US. We had a chocolate birthday cake recently – the cake itself had so little cocoa in it that it was barely distinguishable in color and taste from the vanilla cake next to it. And the frosting, although it was brown, didn’t taste much like much besides sugar. Chocolate just isn’t what people crave here.
Most grocery shopping occurs in small specialty shops – the butcher for meat, tortilleria for tortillas, vegetable shop for fruits and vegetables, etc. These shops only sell the items their shop specializes in. There’s no large grocery store comparable to what you’d find in the US where you can purchase everything in one trip. Consequently, there’s no candy aisle or checkstand overflowing with 50 different candy bar options.
That’s not to say there are zero options. There are general stores and “convenience” type of stores, most of which will have a small selection, such as Hershey bars and M&M’s. You just have to be more intentional and search for it, because it’s not in your face everywhere. Note that a small candy bar costs the equivalent of about 75 cents, while a Mexican sweetbread costs about 25 cents; most locals would prefer a sweetbread.
When you do find American brands of chocolate, it’s packaged for the Mexican market. Not only for language, but the sizes are also different.
All of that to say that here in Mexico I have had to break my chocolate habit. I’m fine with that as I was planning to make the effort to eat more healthfully here. I usually give in once every couple of weeks and buy a small candy bar.
Here’s a photo of a Snickers bar. You may have seen this in the US, where on the back side of the wrapper they put a word besides “Snickers”. This one says “chiflada”, or “crazy”.
(The part at the top of the wrapper says, “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry.”)
It’s very common to see a goat herder along the side of the highway with a small herd of goats, maybe 30 or so. I don’t know anything about goat herding, but the small size of the herds surprises me; that is, how is it financially viable to employ someone to care for such a small number of goats every day?
The herd in this photo is larger than most that we see. I’d say this is 2-3 times the average, and it’s possible they had two goat herders watching over them. They need to keep a close watch on them because they venture right to the edge of the highway. Rarely is there a fence between the fields and the highway.
When I look around where we live, I see lots of gently rolling hills…
The next photo is of a nearby “mountain”, but it really isn’t much. Our house is near where the photo was taken, and we walked from the house to a point more than halfway to the peak of the mountain. It only took us two hours at a leisurely pace. However (keep reading below)…
Recently, however, I looked up our town online to learn more about it. Geographically we’re located on the altiplano and one thing that surprised me is that we’re at an altitude of over 6,000 feet! That’s higher than Denver, Colorado.
When we’ve visited Denver, the altitude has a big effect on me – headaches, shortness of breath, etc. When in Denver, you look around and you can see mountain peaks everywhere, and you are always aware that it’s very different from California. But here I’ve never noticed such signs, and it doesn’t “feel” that different from California.
Why don’t I feel the high altitude here? Does it all come down to perception vs. reality? Does the apparent visual similarity to California signal my brain to override the fact that we are actually in a very different place here? I find these questions interesting.
This morning we took Sasha for a walk among the cornfields. The rains have stopped for the most part, but there are still some wet areas.
What could be more fun than walking through the swampy areas? Rolling in them and getting covered with mud. Especially when you were just given a bath two days ago!
Even at 13+ years old and after two hours of exploring, she still has lots of energy! Look at her running down that path.
I have lived all my life in typical American suburbs in California. This is a state where everything is highly regulated; building standards in particular come under a lot of scrutiny, since we are prone to earthquakes, fires, and in some cases floods. The state and local governments apply a lot of requirements in order to keep buildings as safe as possible.
Where and how we grow up generally determines what we define as “normal”. When we experience another culture or another way of life, whether inside or outside the US, some things don’t fit our definition of the “normal” way of doing things, and may surprise us. I will admit that some things in Mexico surprise me and my sense of normal.
Here’s a photo of the “electrical panel” at our house, along with a nearby light switch / outlet. In the old days, it only powered a few light bulbs. Now it also powers a refrigerator, washing machine, blender, and a couple of power tools on occasion. So far it continues to hold up!
We went to the neighborhood market this morning and I took this photo on the way back. A couple of people in town have goats – this guy has more than most people do (they’re not all in the photo). A few have pigs or cows or chickens. In general, the neighborhood is very quiet. As you walk through town, you may see more animals than people.
