March
31, 2006, Mexico City, 7:50 am
Hello from Mexico City – First Impressions
After a few very hectic days before my departure I got up at 4:30
am yesterday and my husband drove me to the airport. Since my flight
was with Delta Airlines and had a stopover in Atlanta, I had to
go through US immigration, as always an interesting experience.
The whole procedure took me about 45 minutes, but finally I was
through. Then it was off onto the bus to get to the departure terminal.
Our flight was scheduled to depart at 8:20 and sure enough, at about
7:20 there was an announcement that the “rudder control switch”
was loose and that maintenance would have to be called in. The ground
personnel indicated that they were still trying to get us off the
ground in the same plane, but it could take a while.
I was starting to get a little concerned since I would have less
than an hour in Atlanta before my connection flight would leave
for Mexico City. Well, the maintenance crew came in and with about
a 40 minute delay we got off the ground in Toronto after being reassured
that we should still be able to make our connection flights and
that time would be made up in the air.
Mexico City and the Alameda Central from the air
Approaching Atlanta I noticed that this city must obviously be
undergoing a lot of growth: new subdivisions are being built everywhere
in the forested areas, many of them quite large with a lot of space
between neighbouring homes. The soil in Atlanta is orange-red, so
looking at it from the plane you see this colourful tapestry of
green (forest), grey (roads, buildings) and reddish hues with a
relatively small cluster of skyscrapers announcing downtown.
I always like to look at different cities from the air since even
a first glance gives you a really good idea what’s going on
with a place. Ground personnel were already waiting at our arrival
in Atlanta and were directing us to our connecting flights. I had
to move from terminal B to terminal E, so I caught an underground
train that connects the various terminals at this airport. When
I got to my gate I walked right into the plane as the flight was
boarding already.
With a sigh of relief I plunked myself down in my window seat and
started to relax, sure that I would be able to make it into Mexico
City on time after all. As time went on, I started chatting with
the young lady beside me, who lives in Minnesota and was flying
on from Mexico City to Mérida on the Yucatan Peninsula. She
said that she was visiting friends who had retired early in Mérida and are having a great time. They lost their jobs with the local
Minnesota state government in their late to mid-fifties and started
researching the possibility of retiring outside of the US and finally
settled on Mérida where they are apparently really enjoying
themselves. They have learned Spanish and are very well integrated
in the local expatriate community as well as with Mexican locals.
My conversation partner promised to link me up with her friends
so I’d be able to do an interview with them about their retirement
lifestyle in Mexico.
Market scene in Mexico City
Our approach to Mexico City was quite a contrast to approaching
Atlanta. In Atlanta the air had been clear, there were lots of forests
and greenery and houses were spaced far apart. The sky over Mexico
City on the other hand was extremely hazy. As it is currently the
largest city in the world with a population of about 25 million,
its dimensions are huge, and houses and buildings are built very
close together. I saw a series of office towers in the downtown
areas and many of the residential areas had high rises as well.
Finally we landed, right on time, and we passed through immigration
very quickly and by the time my passport and immigration forms were
checked, my suitcase was already rolling around on the baggage carousel.
I don’t think I have ever seen such efficiency at any large
airport – quite surprising. I came out of the exit where a
lot of people were already waiting to pick up their loved ones.
Vanessa, my co-worker and local Mexican expert, was nowhere to be
seen. I waited about 15 minutes, exchanged some Canadian dollars
into Pesos, and just a little later I saw her walking towards me.
There was a second exit where she, her dad and her mom-in-law had
already been waiting for me. Vanessa has already been in town since
last Saturday to visit her family and it was great to meet her father
and mother-in-law.
Entrance to the Jardin Centenario in Coyoacán, Mexico City
After a brief walk through a large airport hall, her mom-in-law
departed and the 3 of us started our explorations of Mexico City.
We drove through the southern part of the city that is relatively
modern and was built around the 1950s. Cars are also up-to-date
models with surprisingly many European cars such as Renaults, Seats
and Alfa Romeos. Our first stop was at a local market (called a
“tianguis”) where market day is held once a week by
merchants who move around from town to town. Fruits, vegetables,
meat, clothing, arts and crafts were on sale in portable stalls
and we settled in for our first meal. I had a quesadilla de
flor de calabaza (quesadilla with cheese and pumpkin flower
- just scrumptious).
On our walk around, Vanessa started explaining the various vegetables
and fruits, many of which I had never seen. For dessert we had a
“nieve” which is kind of similar to gelato (not cream-based)
and very delicious. I had 3 flavours in my cup: queso (cheese),
mamey (a tropical fruit) and beso de angel (the
“kiss of the angel” flavour which includes strawberries
and a whole bunch of other mixtures).
Colourful and irresistible street food everywhere.....
From there we went on to drop off my luggage and pick up Vanessa’s
mom and then we drove through the historic area of Coyoacán,
an area with tree-lined streets, museums, art galleries and cobble-stone
pavement. Coyoacán is called “the place of the coyotes”
and sure enough, one of the central attractions is a fountain featuring
two coyotes in the beautiful Jardín Centenario. We also visited
the charming Iglesia de Santa Caterina and Vanessa pointed out all
the various shrines inside the church where people had left golden
hearts and little trinkets, all evidence of miracles caused by the
Virgen de Guadelupe.
We walked through the entire Coyoacán Area and right next
to the church we saw local Indian women selling little dolls, we
saw an organ player, many different stalls were selling Mexican
delicacies and sweets. Young people were sitting down chatting,
couples were flirting, children were playing.
Iglesia de Santa Caterina
Vanessa and I walked through a few local markets, some of them
selling fruits, vegetables and meat, others selling handicrafts,
arts and paintings. Altogether this was an extremely lively and
colourful scene. I ended up buying a few small hand-painted brightly
coloured pictures in yellow, purple and green frames that I found
very charming.
Then we reconnected with Vanessa’s parents and had dinner
in a restaurant overlooking the main square of Coyoacán.
The restaurant called Sanborns was housed in a historic building
and beautifully decorated. I had a tortilla soup and a spinach salad.
Vanessa had warned me earlier that salads can be a bit dicey from
a hygienic point of view, so I thought that since this was a pretty
high class establishment, here is my opportunity to eat some greens
without invoking the Revenge of Moctezuma. Vanessa had some interesting
local delicacies: cows feet. I am not normally one for eating a
lot of meat, particularly anything that comes from strange body
parts, but I gave it a try: the meat had a gelatine-like consistency,
but was actually very tasty.
We had a lovely conversation, and drove back to the apartment.
By about 9:30 I was completely wiped and crashed into my bed. But
my first day in Mexico was the perfect initiation to more adventures
to come...
Useful Books:
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Hello from Mexico City - First impressions
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Helpful links:
Mexico
Tourism Information
State
of Morelos Tourism Organization
Official
website of the City of Cuernavaca tourism
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