Photos from yesterday

[sabotabby]

It looks like a glorious morning. Having gone almost 24 hours without sleep, I crashed hard last night and slept in through breakfast. Which is too bad, because the dregs smell wonderful. We ended up at the Spanish Cultural Centre, which had a striking display of disturbing photography from various Latin American countries, and a hipster techno bar on the top floor. I was able to function for a short time owing to coca tea, which is a wonderful thing that I wish weren't illegal in Canada. I bet I could kick caffeine if I just had coca tea.

I am quite easy to please, accommodation-wise. Give me a hot shower in the morning and coffee, and I can survive anything. Hot shower has been accomplished, albeit not without some guilt. There's a water shortage in Mexico City. At the Casa, we are lucky to have filtered drinking water available in the guest kitchen, but there are reminders everywhere to use water sparingly. You're not allowed to put toilet paper in the toilet, which is a bit gross, and doing dishes is an interesting process.





This is the Casa meditation room and library.



It was once the studio of muralist José Clemente Orozco, and so it was designed to let in as much light as possible.

Among my dorm-mates are a refugee from Iran who is being resettled in Mexico, a DJ, a grad student studying Mexican science fiction, two psychology undergrads, a Spanish teacher from North Carolina, and a constant stream of people, all of whom seem more interesting than me. Everyone is incredibly friendly, even where there are language barriers.





I couldn't resist snapping a few photos outside the punk market.



La Jornada is the largest left-wing newspaper in Mexico; sort of the equivalent of The Guardian, but with more consistent politics. There's also a proliferation of smaller newspapers and newsletters, as well as political posters pretty much everywhere you look.





This is a huge bakery that's a veritable palace of delicious. The food in general is blowing my mind here. The smells from the street are mouthwatering.

Fortunately, navigating the street requires continuous feats of athletic prowess. The sidewalks are cracked, with high rises that necessitate careful attention and frequent jumping, lest you fall. The stoplights, apparently, are "suggestions," so there is also quite a bit of running too.

Okay, time to locate some coffee or coca before I pass out.

Comments

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

Tell me more about this coca tea...Also why is it illegal here? Is it too full of awesome?

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

I'd guess because the coca plant is generally used to make cocaine.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Coca tea is totally normal in the Cusco region of Peru. It helps with altitude sickness. I really don't know why it would be illegal. It's a very mild stimulant.

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

Your description of La Jornada is overly generous to The Guardian. Reading it was one of the highlights of being in Mexico (and also, paradoxically, a low point, as its articles had a way of making obvious the social disparities from which I, a privileged gabacho tourist, benefited on a daily basis, for an example of which, see this entry--the stat on per capita income in Oaxaca came from La Jornada).

(It's a sign of how much my life has changed in the last 5 years that the riff on the "average child" in that entry now reminds me of the fractional child from The Phantom Tollbooth, or, as [daughter] calls it, "Tock and Milo".)

[snarkitysnarks.livejournal.com]

grad student studying Mexican science fiction

They all sound like really interesting people but I think I particularly want a conversation with this person.

Sounds aaawesome. Too bad about your cocaine drink. a-lolololol

[seaya.livejournal.com]

The toilet paper thing is pretty damn universal anywhere that isn't Western Europe, U.S., or Canada. It doesn't have to do with a water shortage, but rather with the pipes. Usually the small can has a foot pedal, so it should be minimally gross.