tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21784542224595031942024-02-07T18:33:32.813-08:00Big LandDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-80152082478826781912022-08-23T22:09:00.002-07:002022-08-23T22:26:40.191-07:00Poem 24: Cactus Flower <p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cactus Flower </span></span></p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">All that is left from my mother
A cactus flower
If there is a dignity to work
the labour of the mind
I do not know it
I know the rolling
desert hills and fields
of consciousness
Prick me
and I will bleed
green
over the desert floor
Tuscon, Arizona
2022</span><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">-- Eli Fox </span></div>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-4645760822113767062021-02-26T14:38:00.001-08:002021-03-04T17:10:26.032-08:00Poem 23: Abbotoir Abbot<p><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hang the Bastards
And let the bastards hang
In the wheat fields
City and country
Nation and badge
On your right hand
The customer is always
right handed
I am in Wisconsin
I am in a wheat field
I am smoking wheat
in the fields
of the time
of the war
The Nation I am
in the city
The city of time
Do you slaughter your horses
where you ride
Then I say,
Ride on,
Gallant of the knights,
Gallant of the nights,
Ride on,
onward</span><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">--Eli Fox </span></div>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-34117245735650050522021-02-26T14:31:00.005-08:002021-02-26T14:34:35.699-08:00Big Land Photo Portrait #1 - Alek in Richmond Hill <p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alek. Originally from Xinjiang, he now lives in a condo in Richmond Hill. Pictured here is the spot where he keeps potted plants and bikes he's collected to fix. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-n_a_366Y60dlZRNXlJiiFrqV9TL_ot-oyPW-RbLg44-PDCKY_OVmp3a0sJCuHRXezOk2wqN5kL20ymEDUxG8s7IIWgVrcMlbZM_mbuibBWTF-PEc1_fj9uY77-SKrRSD_HedGG2ksyI/s2048/img214redux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2038" data-original-width="2048" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-n_a_366Y60dlZRNXlJiiFrqV9TL_ot-oyPW-RbLg44-PDCKY_OVmp3a0sJCuHRXezOk2wqN5kL20ymEDUxG8s7IIWgVrcMlbZM_mbuibBWTF-PEc1_fj9uY77-SKrRSD_HedGG2ksyI/w640-h636/img214redux.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUruQFkgQwtngd-89OQHjFq13Oq9zIh99d_OYS2rIgLYOeQ5Cr20EMDq9W5otkY8r5e3TIxUf0LUV-NB5RX3beRhLKJ21EFByLtDr7VIgVE1-Q6GiA1eocndO_iM7-uf8RpZWjsmoJkYZD/s2048/img213redux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2038" data-original-width="2048" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUruQFkgQwtngd-89OQHjFq13Oq9zIh99d_OYS2rIgLYOeQ5Cr20EMDq9W5otkY8r5e3TIxUf0LUV-NB5RX3beRhLKJ21EFByLtDr7VIgVE1-Q6GiA1eocndO_iM7-uf8RpZWjsmoJkYZD/w640-h636/img213redux.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-81130941007784561222021-02-23T12:10:00.010-08:002021-02-26T14:32:50.568-08:00Big Land Film Review #1: Some thoughts on ‘Parlour Palm’ a short film by Rebeccah Love (Is capitalism going to take it's lithium today? And not in a coup) <br /><br /><br />Rebeccah Love’s new short film “Parlour Palm” follows the unravelling mental state of a main character with bipolar disorder (played by an electrifying Sarah Swire), who shares her domestic space with a concerned romantic partner (a part well played by Tyson Coady) who nevertheless has less and less time for her due to his own career and climbing the ladder at a law firm. Her condition worsens amid bleak environmental news and the pressure to have a child in an uncertain world.<div> <br />As a portrait of a manic episode it's masterful, and draws an effective parallel to the human race equally off it's meds, speeding through the ‘yellow lights’ (to quote her partner’s short-hand phrase for her increased velocity towards collapse) of changing climates and burning rainforests. But while the red lights of the ambulance at the film’s climax hopefully signal some form of help is on the way for the hurt character here, what constitutes help for our human global situation is a question we each need to answer for ourselves. Though the film suggests one particularly novel and incredibly bold answer, 'the asshole song', a wild, vulgar refrain born from the depths of the character's manic episode, and a moment of such searing intensity and originality that it moves the film from being simply a well-delivered biographic portrait or relationship psychodrama to an unsparing excoriation meant to shatter the bourgeoisie self-righteous obliviousness of our colonial, capitalist, white supremacist society. In the full grip of a manic episode she sings to her status and career obsessed boyfriend, “you're an asshole (and I'm an asshole too).”<div><br />Her lover, while perhaps reasonably patient and kind, is indeed a member of the wealthy privileged ruling class who are most complicit in holding up the status quo that continues to produce a world in a permanent state of collapse for everyone kept away from their enclaves of comfort. And the medication (lithium, or the element Elon Musk thinks is worth coup-ing Bolivia over) that might save her life will also make her more demure and palatable to her technocratic boyfriend who is a stand-in for society as a whole. The fact that she doesn't want to have a child enter this rigidly codified and commodified order is unsurprising.<br /><br /></div><div>The implication of her climactic (and climatic) ‘asshole song’ is that the holders of power in our society need the asshole song sung at them - the people at law firms, museums, corporations, universities, most landlords, bosses and managers, anyone with power over others, and all those who have stood to gain prestige as their institutions have tacitly held up a system that preys on the non-white and the poor and ravages the planet. And more importantly, like a person in the midst of a manic breakdown, they also ironically need the necessary sense of destabilization and self-erasure to throw off false notions of impropriety and “good health” to be able to sing it about themselves - as a beginning mea culpa and renunciation of their power, to heal themselves, others and the planet. That our society is run by those uncomfortable in seeing themselves, their positions, and their institutions as assholes is the truth hidden behind our bureaucratic and techno capitalist order which pushes those with mental illness to the fringes while denying that these power structures themselves suffer from any mania or psychopathy. <br /><br /></div><div>And none of this is to posit that the mentally ill are rarefied canaries in the capitalist coal mine, or to suggest that ‘only the mentally ill can truly express what's happening'; that suggestion is not at play in the film. The precise emotional tenor of the asshole song in the film may be precipitated by bipolar disorder, but it is an individual's unique human and artistic expression of a truth in plain view of us all. We should all join the character in singing it - can’t we each accept that the way we are living is unjust? And shouldn’t we each be allowed to breakdown, to be allowed to scream with horror at the world and the human soul? <br /><br /></div><div>While she is singing this song she stages a pantomime and breaks the fourth wall, asking us in her imagined audience if we think the world is beautiful. The humiliation of the character’s collapse singing this refrain and asking this question is also her most proudly unsparing moment of truth telling and emotional power - and in the case of this film, artistic triumph - for despite the danger an incredible truth has been sung. We must answer it, and work to break down the way things are.</div><div><br /></div><div>--David Stokes<br /><br /></div></div>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-61092230995008329392020-05-16T09:37:00.003-07:002020-05-16T09:49:43.058-07:00A note on the current situationWe see two desires: to return to normal and for normal to never be normal again.<br />
<br />
Perversely, the “new” normal as the old normal but with smart technocratic fixes to render it safe (contact tracing! Social distancing! Odd work hours!) - as if the most persuasive way to reify an already alienated-beyond-alienated existence is to make it as intolerable and inhuman as possible. We have been trapped in this normal for so long that even before the pandemic we could not imagine any alternative, seeing only (funhouse?) mirrors when looking for the way out. The normal we knew was never normal to begin with, but there was – and is - no other normal to turn or return to.<br />
<br />
These two desires were already there; the current situation just articulates them explicitly. We can’t find a way out, but there is also no way back in. We are left with survival and desire. But both are completely contingent on our ability to separate from the world, a world on which our survival is contingent. Everything is contingent and that contingency is in a constant state of anxiety, which shapes our desire. Do we desire to survive or survive to desire?<br />
<br />
And who is the “we” when there is no longer any “we”? Is what the newfangled quarantine man desires, to be “we”, when he desires to be anything but “we” so he may chortle at the “we” who suffer and not suffer himself? The quarantine man suffers to desire that he is not among us, does not share the fate of our survival, but that he may share in our desire. He cannot be human; he can only be normality desiring its personhood. Normal cannot survive, but its desire is all that will be left- and we are its living ruins.<br />
<br />
The new normal does not desire at all. It is neither new nor normal. It is the apocalypse and the failure of apocalypse. It is the cave in Egypt where Joseph fell asleep. And he could not dream, because he could read dreams. And what he read was nothing, nothing at all, but the light coming-to-be over the dust; still, all the same, and frightening. Fear alone will never still the waters unless you are a drowning man.<br />
<br />
--Eli FoxDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-45699289436309807622019-08-22T20:19:00.000-07:002019-09-07T01:02:29.328-07:00Poem 22: 'Select a dark night'Select a dark night and<br />
A single star<br />
Sit in your backyard<br />
Smoke cigarettes<br />
Dream of oriental carpets,<br />
Junk stores, mangy bears<br />
w blood-covered lips.<br />
Expect nothing from your life.<br />
Wander an empty courtyard.<br />
Wait in a deserted cafe.<br />
Lie down, looking at nothing, in bed.<br />
Hear your breath... for what?<br />
Stand alone, pacing.<br />
Be among worlds, amid glimmers.<br />
Find a black revolver<br />
In a big empty ballroom.<br />
Hide beneath a blanket<br />
Eating an onion.<br />
<br />
--David StokesDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-24228967853532467802019-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:002019-08-22T20:16:28.956-07:00Poem 21: American Wheels <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12pt;">I met David Berman in a dream last night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">He gave me a lift</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">and we went for a drink.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">We had a good conversation and got along well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">He said he could only stay for one more drink. He had to leave early</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">because he had a show the next day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">Afterwards I tried to explain to everyone</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">that I talked to David Berman,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">and we had become fast friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">But everyone told me he was dead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">I could no longer remember whether we talked</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">before or after he was dead,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">or anything else that he had said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">I think he drove a black Lincoln.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times;">--Eli Fox </span></div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-62947800359601602592019-07-29T09:14:00.000-07:002019-07-29T09:15:25.156-07:00Poem 20: Percy Allen Jackson<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Pictures at the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Old Timey gangbang</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">never come out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">so vividly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">As the forest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">in a phonograph</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">When we had trucks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">we would race them on rails</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">laughing hysterically</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">When we had caravans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">we would move like soldiers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">luscious and careful</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">They said there was sex in the desert</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif;">--Eli Fox</span></span>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-42849548808275589902019-07-26T16:38:00.003-07:002019-08-18T17:24:06.059-07:00Article 26: RAINBOW TO HUT SOLO Mexico Department<br />
<br />
calistenia<br />
moral, lobotomías,<br />
curo de sueño, orgasmos por teléfono,<br />
arcoiris portátiles....<br />
-- Octavio Paz, "Augurios"<br />
<br />
One night, while living with my girlfriend in Mexico City, I had a dream. I do not remember the particular circumstances in the dream but when I woke up I remembered that in my dream a series of words had appeared to me. This was the first time I'd ever dreamt words, so I took note of them as I woke up. I turned to my girlfriend who was in the bed beside me waking up along with me, and I told her the words:<br />
<br />
RAINBOW TO HUT SOLO.<br />
<br />
Such strange words. I wondered what they meant or if they would signify something, for I had a strange sense that they were prophetic words. For some reason I felt they were words connected to a message from God. I told my girlfriend that maybe that day I would see a rainbow. And all day I scanned the skies, but come afternoon I had seen nothing. It started to rain at around 4pm, as it often does in Mexico City in the spring, and I thought sure enough now I would see one.<br />
<br />
But after the rain storm, as we were walking back to her place, I still had not seen one. When we got home, she and I went to the roof of her building, where the cages for the laundry were and where there was a beautiful panoramic view of the city and of the sky. There was a golden patch of sunlight emerging from the clouds, yet alas despite my mad hope, no rainbow appeared. I lingered up there for a while, looking and waiting, till I returned to her room.<br />
<br />
Eventually, after driving her crazy since I was repeating the ridiculous words RAINBOW TO HUT SOLO RAINBOW TO HUT SOLO and pacing around the room, I went back down to the street, determined to heed the call of these mysterious words.<br />
<br />
I looked at the sky again for about 20 minutes but saw nothing. It was beginning to get dark and I knew that time was running out to see a rainbow. So I thought again about what the words meant. There was a newspaper vendors stall up the street so I thought perhaps that was the 'hut' portion of the message. I examined the entirety of the now shuttered stall but could find no clue for what to do next. So I just stood there looking at the sky. Indeed I remained fixated on the sky, not looking at my phone or replying to the messages from my girlfriend asking me when I'd be back. But all I saw was the sky become darker.<br />
<br />
When I had truly run out of any hope, I looked down at the street dejectedly. Some force or God had told me to spend all day looking for a rainbow and I truly believed that I would see one, but now I felt foolish and empty. That's when I noticed there was a parking attendants hut across the street, in front of the fence of a building. And I looked again and noticed there was another parking hut only 20 feet from the first one. TOO HUT meant TWO HUT?<br />
<br />
I crossed the street and to my amazement I saw that each parking hut had the words SOLO on them. ("estacionamiento solo para residentes"). I felt a chill run through me and I knew this was the place I needed to be. I began looking at the sky again, sure I would see my rainbow.<br />
<br />
But no rainbow appeared, only a darkening sky lit with the last glow of the day, a velvety grey and purple. I thought that perhaps this message in my dream, which I was certain was a message from God, was empty. I despaired of ever believing in it, it just seemed so stupid, here I was hoping at dusk to see a rainbow because of a set of impossibly dumb words in a dream. I think I said something stupid to myself like if I see that rainbow I'll know forever God proof of your existence, and I thought of all the silly and intensely private reasons for why we either believe in god or not.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I looked again at the sky and saw nothing. I felt ridiculous. To have both totally but also jokingly place my faith on such a thing, to have spent hours under the spell of some stupid words. I stopped looking at the sky. Standing alone between the two huts, I took my first steps towards home, as a woman walked by, and as she passed I saw in the middle of her fabric grocery bag a single iron-on patch: of a rainbow.<br />
<br />
(This occured in April 2017, in Colonia Napoles, on Calle Nuevo York, CDMX, Mexico)<br />
<br />
--David StokesDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-29825047906859951822019-07-16T16:00:00.004-07:002019-07-29T09:12:51.307-07:00Poem 19: Heavy Bats (for Taylor)<div class="mail-message expanded" id="m6330045475275488458">
<div class="mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images " style="margin: 16px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 328px;">
<div class="clear">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Spit in my mouth</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Spit on my grave</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Spit on the lout</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">who shares all our loves' name</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">-- Eli Fox </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="mail-message-footer spacer collapsible" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; height: 0px;">
</div>
</div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-13428118500409477202019-02-17T20:52:00.000-08:002019-02-17T20:52:57.419-08:00Poem 18: I put the mysterious compass on the table...<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I put the mysterous compass on the table </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">the needles were spinning rapidly in both </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">directions</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">because the universe is lost, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">the universe hit its head</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />and falls whistling through<br />white hot stars, blind<br />stars, people, and animals,<br />all bang their heads<br />statues of saints slip off the back<br />of flatbed trucks, tumble endlessly<br />into the void, they fall frozen in<br />their tears and prayer-clasped hands<br />flesh too falls from me, i am ashed out<br />and dissolved with a whirling spoon<br />into some black vinegar, put into a vial<br />a man keeps in his coatpocket, he looks down<br />drunk, desperate, scratches indecepherable<br />lines on the muck with a stick<br />and has no idea where to go,<br />for the vital human compass, the heart,<br />with its arterial concert, and small<br />understanding, is pulsing, spinning,<br />forever lost in its slow self loathing<br />and well-regulated movement</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">--David Stokes</span>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-31848148438559045232019-02-01T08:51:00.070-08:002022-12-02T11:21:59.543-08:00Big Land City Guide: Mexico City <br />
<i>This post is dedicated to the Virgen de Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico City, who prays over all souls in D.F. -- </i><i>Originally written and published 2019. All photos by me. </i><div><i><br /></i><div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYDsnib9kg08zKCzlH7gEObyZNMlLGr7Z2hyphenhyphenkEXs_JH_Qrom06jPtLlV1JbndyMDWMeKqwQ4Mcy0-98iDfOtFzCclBpHedo9wMQz9csOvtXajJq_lFS-HsIV5bql0KhxjHugf-20GnsUE/s1080/Screenshot_20210616-222818_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1080" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYDsnib9kg08zKCzlH7gEObyZNMlLGr7Z2hyphenhyphenkEXs_JH_Qrom06jPtLlV1JbndyMDWMeKqwQ4Mcy0-98iDfOtFzCclBpHedo9wMQz9csOvtXajJq_lFS-HsIV5bql0KhxjHugf-20GnsUE/w640-h430/Screenshot_20210616-222818_Instagram.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A man makes a broom on the street - a typical example of the local skill and casual elegance found everywhere in Mexico City</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Mexico City is a stunning city. For the last four years I have lived in the city during the fall and winter months and I am proud to be an honorary <i>chilango. </i>I have written this visitors guide to the city in the hopes that it is a simple and honest account of basic things you should know to make your trip to Mexico City better, and also allow you to begin to really explore this magnificent city. Since my personal interests are centered on the humble, simple, and traditional, as well as the beautiful and the quirky (and I think that all these qualities are allied together in Mexico in a powerful, unique and ingenious way), what I most hope to impart are useful ideas about discovering and championing normal Mexican life, rather than highlighting trendy areas or typical tourist guide things. </div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8p2GKy4ZhrKFpAmLqauv3ZIMrdkub2KAQu0UugVllX2Wl7ywSQQYxXIzYcm3GDm952ZJ0pL4Dza4B9RV1EI3Ie8HM7eBW70hKKYUGS4WRDVximMjzxmqbANOmz_EuWZ5N2ufoW686uL_mwD7euvWgMceL0QiSzbzCiKBoF7qoHFPQrsANi550AvwjOQ=s1387" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8p2GKy4ZhrKFpAmLqauv3ZIMrdkub2KAQu0UugVllX2Wl7ywSQQYxXIzYcm3GDm952ZJ0pL4Dza4B9RV1EI3Ie8HM7eBW70hKKYUGS4WRDVximMjzxmqbANOmz_EuWZ5N2ufoW686uL_mwD7euvWgMceL0QiSzbzCiKBoF7qoHFPQrsANi550AvwjOQ=w498-h640" width="498" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look out for this unique but also inviting and comfortable chair sculpture by Alejandro Colunga in the Plaza de Santo Domingo, a nice place to sit and read a book</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig9Lm_yqo3pTuwNQtIJ3qwLqJNuMPK5pS5lhKzfwPFlpart01x8vYJ985v2G4kS9dVGxODQGo0IdcyxO9huc-FPMZfAYEiCmelrco6SeZrjAX7LXBJZsuGwDnx9jkFLfU-RNVdBsXGq_irFtyQcaP_Yrz2zs3x9VayLfGm39DmDrIiLaxdwSAgdGbuag=s3200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEig9Lm_yqo3pTuwNQtIJ3qwLqJNuMPK5pS5lhKzfwPFlpart01x8vYJ985v2G4kS9dVGxODQGo0IdcyxO9huc-FPMZfAYEiCmelrco6SeZrjAX7LXBJZsuGwDnx9jkFLfU-RNVdBsXGq_irFtyQcaP_Yrz2zs3x9VayLfGm39DmDrIiLaxdwSAgdGbuag=w400-h296" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vendor at a tiangis selling various moles, a savory sauce typically made with both chocolate and chiles, a quirky and genius combination of two divine gifts to the world from the Mexican people </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>Note on some language stuff: Mexico City is still often called <i>DF</i> - Distrito Federal, or Federal District - by the locals although <i>CDMX</i> is the new official short-form; when I arrived it was called DF and the name has stuck for me and for many others. But expect to have a lot of people here refer to the city as either DF or CDMX in conversation rather than the full name, Ciudad de Mexico. Even if you don't know much Spanish (fewer people in the city know English than a tourist might initially hope for) the people are so kind and so accustomed to visitors that only a very basic knowledge is needed to feel like you can get by in the city. </div><div><div>
<br />
<b><br /></b></div><div><b>Snapshot of Mexico City </b><br />
<br />
Mexico's capital is a city of immense energy and a crumbling glamour. Everywhere endless varieties of things are for sale under little stalls (<i>puestos</i>), marching bands wander past even on little residential streets, clowns and fire-breathers stand at street corners, twisting jacaranda trees bloom purple and rain down their confetti of lavender flowers all over parked old Volkswagen Beetles and Mexico City's strangely earthquake-creased sidewalks. Most of the buildings are covered with cracks delightful and worrisome and you can see the volcano Popocatépetl, to the southeast of the city, endlessly breathing out a silhouette of ash.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everywhere in DF you will feel the differences between the rich, the middle class, and the poor - the indigenous and the colonial - who despite living in very different circumstances, rub shoulders with each other in the city centre. The city constantly brings together different identities and possibilities, where tradition and culture are possessed by the poor and the wealthy alike, mixing moods into new and interesting arrangements. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ioice_IssP6JtL3HSEFGeAte1A456OQ4REtE1EIqjtQjSD8DvgioanD5NXj_Kn1oOO6YuUy9gzc1pxl3nzwK1ZicEQspco-blhz82tAwh4P70fO5akzdkOnT5vnhRYF1JhjbTKmL-dky/s1111/Screenshot_20210616-225602_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ioice_IssP6JtL3HSEFGeAte1A456OQ4REtE1EIqjtQjSD8DvgioanD5NXj_Kn1oOO6YuUy9gzc1pxl3nzwK1ZicEQspco-blhz82tAwh4P70fO5akzdkOnT5vnhRYF1JhjbTKmL-dky/w389-h400/Screenshot_20210616-225602_Instagram.jpg" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A juggler performs during a stoplight in Napoles</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div> <br />
And while Mexico City in total is a huge sprawling megalopolis with probably close to 21 million people (making it the tenth largest metro area by population in the world), the city that people visit is merely the inner hub of that huge wheel. So despite a reputation as one of the world's biggest cities, this inner hub of Mexico City isn't really so crowded or overwhelming. In many ways it is quite disconnected from the other vastly less privileged outer ring of the city. In fact it's very often easier for tourists to go from Mexico City to a whole other touristy town than it is for locals to commute from the less wealthy areas to the centre. This hub city encompasses all the quote-unquote 'nice parts' of town, like those we visit in any place we go as tourists or middle class visitors. And this inner hub is very safe, and absolutely overflowing with incredible trees, parks, museums, and pretty buildings - and it's deeply unfortunate and unjust that few of any of those amenities exist in the less privileged areas due to huge inequalities. The hyper-touristification and resulting gentrification of this wealthy and colonial central city is certainly a topic of much conversation among Mexico City residents. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytVs4LVtYK3e3vcByRJadSavGI5TwdzIyJf-GNht2nMBqoro3sMnz7mAxJMZcDcf4_JWmwm8F5e4QPfHyThrX-AsugVIaluij4np4LZ0lnU2mmImOCO_7P2kxeWT1-_VxbK2TFL9ZlAZrfaALQZwzWtNGtuot9jnQJXbWUWHWZOc_U_R1X4B2XfHU9w/s932/FB_IMG_1667930540018.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="828" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytVs4LVtYK3e3vcByRJadSavGI5TwdzIyJf-GNht2nMBqoro3sMnz7mAxJMZcDcf4_JWmwm8F5e4QPfHyThrX-AsugVIaluij4np4LZ0lnU2mmImOCO_7P2kxeWT1-_VxbK2TFL9ZlAZrfaALQZwzWtNGtuot9jnQJXbWUWHWZOc_U_R1X4B2XfHU9w/s320/FB_IMG_1667930540018.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>So despite mixing the rich and poor on a daily basis, much of central Mexico City is a sort of bubble kept alive by favoring this sector of the city. This is not to say that the outer areas are uninteresting or unworthy of attention; just that few visitors - and often many locals - ever see them, and that's totally by design of the city government which has underinvested in them for decades. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are vast parts of the city that still do not have running water, a fact that most visitors and middle class Mexicans don't need to engage with on a daily basis. But despite the challenges, the outer areas are beautiful and interesting too. I had the pleasure of living for four months in Ajusco - a part of DF but out of the city centre by about an hour and a half of public transit, part of it up dense, urban mountain roads, though not really that deep into the megacity to be honest - and I found life there to be very nice. I paid about $10 CAD a week for a bare bones room; the bathroom was a nearby outhouse, and an additional building held a wonderfully efficient solar shower. The view over the city was incredible. And I could go to the city centre if I wanted, or take a bus by my house to a beautiful rural town (Santo Tomas de Ajusco) about 20 minutes further up the mountain, for hiking and horseback riding. In fact, if you love nature I highly encourage you to go to Ajusco - the pinnacle of the Ajusco mountain is actually higher up than Mt Fuji, and is a lovely hike. Being set amid mountains, Mexico City is one of the cities with the the most stunning natural areas right at its doorstep. [ click this link to read a great New York Times article about this: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/travel/06Explorer-MexicoCity.html?searchResultPosition=3">"Mexico City: Hiking Mecca?"</a> ] </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj89gsUTEN_ht4bwPxpIUGVT4jQ8P1NO7eExS_YPazSdpXdYYEs6IlNA9Fknmw4uciEUjfcJRU8SpE0rw4ZSU4Mox4qQfLOXvVsg5Dl5bSL-ti3ZyVDzJ9YsayFoYH0oKAIYAlu_5AphnG5c5WxH0pQ4k7e1OJf5lcq8DqTGWqulMd7Hh_EPzm0z2vq2w=s1080" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1080" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj89gsUTEN_ht4bwPxpIUGVT4jQ8P1NO7eExS_YPazSdpXdYYEs6IlNA9Fknmw4uciEUjfcJRU8SpE0rw4ZSU4Mox4qQfLOXvVsg5Dl5bSL-ti3ZyVDzJ9YsayFoYH0oKAIYAlu_5AphnG5c5WxH0pQ4k7e1OJf5lcq8DqTGWqulMd7Hh_EPzm0z2vq2w=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My simple room in Ajusco.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRldA5jtAD1jQVsq2gRS9DwlXL4B8y8RwCL5VUdLA-JJdr4znDec4ECWBMxUePc802G3fVLEjeiKpRkePBZjcU1rAyO4DY7QqNWQr-5uOQxpMRhJr-pwQqI8pyL9Fr6qEaVQpT3taN7bNsdjphpyxWW9fWdRGRopqtsIjJ23YGU4h_DpILtsHfEsgZvg=s3200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRldA5jtAD1jQVsq2gRS9DwlXL4B8y8RwCL5VUdLA-JJdr4znDec4ECWBMxUePc802G3fVLEjeiKpRkePBZjcU1rAyO4DY7QqNWQr-5uOQxpMRhJr-pwQqI8pyL9Fr6qEaVQpT3taN7bNsdjphpyxWW9fWdRGRopqtsIjJ23YGU4h_DpILtsHfEsgZvg=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great views of the city from my room in Ajusco </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4DRgvCpw6cwrx8F5cWXFA4-ca_yNhjk3Ni_FBDHPA9WitZEZ2ofd93dNp0YRq0VIRTWgON6puG5DjLazC4Bd3pBTfCgZC3CcVfsd3gFOwapclNAcNnYgw4ECgcJln8vJl-QTVjpfo_3WnGeyJYgYIv1aPbVtyk1D4sJOQVpr0_gFyGKlFBTb_POeNA=s3200" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH4DRgvCpw6cwrx8F5cWXFA4-ca_yNhjk3Ni_FBDHPA9WitZEZ2ofd93dNp0YRq0VIRTWgON6puG5DjLazC4Bd3pBTfCgZC3CcVfsd3gFOwapclNAcNnYgw4ECgcJln8vJl-QTVjpfo_3WnGeyJYgYIv1aPbVtyk1D4sJOQVpr0_gFyGKlFBTb_POeNA=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the rest of the city below </td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoCeDcPPWmDUHbF0lwQ4MCn1zBKvcgSaPPNi3_9TJ-iujLs03M1kK4L-AqtUkOCAE087cqPkNsae-M9BUa7ew_W05kHq311JEbcqVn-sslIlKHiguPk4xAm85H2O7X6m9NJmXL1XPlzvy8sGzP8dYFlbBlNbWhmVJ5tBawvv0pH8AS76IoJhyzo9pPBw=s3200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoCeDcPPWmDUHbF0lwQ4MCn1zBKvcgSaPPNi3_9TJ-iujLs03M1kK4L-AqtUkOCAE087cqPkNsae-M9BUa7ew_W05kHq311JEbcqVn-sslIlKHiguPk4xAm85H2O7X6m9NJmXL1XPlzvy8sGzP8dYFlbBlNbWhmVJ5tBawvv0pH8AS76IoJhyzo9pPBw=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puppy friends in Ajusco</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Just a bit further up the mountain and you are in wilderness basically... pretty incredible.... behind the mountain is the city... <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYM2K_YCX6FVa0HpA85_4tZTCZth9rYnEa-BXFXXUleJjm1eJoD2PPtO41aLtULb2fp5fYyo7nb33xmdmg2z1Tv5znbdvRFVpCeZITD5MzMjWOBMBEHCQnNDzKM169P2u78zrdalO_7X2HuV4Jj1za4VMDH9wl4cHXTmhATPGWqRy_sJs8-ypV3L8uew=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYM2K_YCX6FVa0HpA85_4tZTCZth9rYnEa-BXFXXUleJjm1eJoD2PPtO41aLtULb2fp5fYyo7nb33xmdmg2z1Tv5znbdvRFVpCeZITD5MzMjWOBMBEHCQnNDzKM169P2u78zrdalO_7X2HuV4Jj1za4VMDH9wl4cHXTmhATPGWqRy_sJs8-ypV3L8uew=w400-h296" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsZheG4WeeuaczQvFMm5Qo_qXSimr0QOf-xctHdsZivANJX4KLhfd0eQoN3CrE2SrxDMH_L6INM1ozTwsPqyPLLFF_PKsatTGYhZghPGM8mg2ZAAdNNl-ZfZnBceeH9nqVzAnTHW0AIVluIaYCuz3F1DClvwMU-PLhL9BQftqbRTr4DyCuHvxYf-c0Lg=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsZheG4WeeuaczQvFMm5Qo_qXSimr0QOf-xctHdsZivANJX4KLhfd0eQoN3CrE2SrxDMH_L6INM1ozTwsPqyPLLFF_PKsatTGYhZghPGM8mg2ZAAdNNl-ZfZnBceeH9nqVzAnTHW0AIVluIaYCuz3F1DClvwMU-PLhL9BQftqbRTr4DyCuHvxYf-c0Lg=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK7SmcDXFa9ulnArHkDbxcu68qNjFQvx5eCiyBCGBbcKs6n7xFtiPsvgdk2mJ2jeojpU0UXKmX1hFCxZlorVVOGFRGE5UGjPBLlz5D-0dUP3QK3_xBccRw6KBjdO4t9VNBd90lKS1--IdUFkxyJKqVeG4UDFyBA0m9A8MfiJQf2sjoRkkZZ6JvtU9Juw=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK7SmcDXFa9ulnArHkDbxcu68qNjFQvx5eCiyBCGBbcKs6n7xFtiPsvgdk2mJ2jeojpU0UXKmX1hFCxZlorVVOGFRGE5UGjPBLlz5D-0dUP3QK3_xBccRw6KBjdO4t9VNBd90lKS1--IdUFkxyJKqVeG4UDFyBA0m9A8MfiJQf2sjoRkkZZ6JvtU9Juw=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCxFABsHwGNY5Bbjo-dtvHkFzUHHeWYlk_O3IgeF_gIxTJfP7V-2uFcqdcVExX0nK-e6cr5y9TQv4IkzBEc0WO8PpJZITWR4icXzrkGWQoU0JtLorUi3BhyRQN5P9HQAxILothD4jiBrPW6P__GkqVt9xnSpRBzulqprMmwhJ5LbY-JtxRcQFkD430BQ=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCxFABsHwGNY5Bbjo-dtvHkFzUHHeWYlk_O3IgeF_gIxTJfP7V-2uFcqdcVExX0nK-e6cr5y9TQv4IkzBEc0WO8PpJZITWR4icXzrkGWQoU0JtLorUi3BhyRQN5P9HQAxILothD4jiBrPW6P__GkqVt9xnSpRBzulqprMmwhJ5LbY-JtxRcQFkD430BQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoZiAVB2z6n-U4TArB4SN8_jV5KQE4-5l_xzj4iZI3MtiTCw0xhoWC9HwzI0lASIp1q-uWXoo7QQf7KWkcQvY6J7PwL0CLY_otdi6F1Nxqb-eWVGYrD78BOKZ-EQe2Kxfu8d6FrNdFd_AHY-jT3njGQbqeRVcVuuGPhEAiy_hmDhQhAX4hAKpge7CrzA=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoZiAVB2z6n-U4TArB4SN8_jV5KQE4-5l_xzj4iZI3MtiTCw0xhoWC9HwzI0lASIp1q-uWXoo7QQf7KWkcQvY6J7PwL0CLY_otdi6F1Nxqb-eWVGYrD78BOKZ-EQe2Kxfu8d6FrNdFd_AHY-jT3njGQbqeRVcVuuGPhEAiy_hmDhQhAX4hAKpge7CrzA=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH16Kgz0DVaK-5fNaZI5KPyp4wVipPGSxGYYeCEx58OFXm3wRew_kcuoKsqra9hMyaKFk1DWv9wrORvUgrJr-DOapTSovmpQUZe_RpclCVseNzZrdux4qHQ0-Nz6jr_os-YtOnRw3qL0sbpTX_ES3WCiTYZGjF3Caj7yuWqi7LkciQsxF6f_1PssOVFQ=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjH16Kgz0DVaK-5fNaZI5KPyp4wVipPGSxGYYeCEx58OFXm3wRew_kcuoKsqra9hMyaKFk1DWv9wrORvUgrJr-DOapTSovmpQUZe_RpclCVseNzZrdux4qHQ0-Nz6jr_os-YtOnRw3qL0sbpTX_ES3WCiTYZGjF3Caj7yuWqi7LkciQsxF6f_1PssOVFQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZrcy7-dEMxv8wjbFfJEqutq6V-RBNUTcd49SXZecaioazSnJWUfBvldQtJf6fM3GpDJ5aVU-_pa9RIIPScf7is7zdEfEJL0i2TPtlFcx62UWUw6evpy7Jn80hy04UsOWXJFND-Eq4qWa-dnEh1LauSMjtdiqRzGw_5de296OjWn1NnC6ZGD1jfOcOUQ=s3200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2368" data-original-width="3200" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZrcy7-dEMxv8wjbFfJEqutq6V-RBNUTcd49SXZecaioazSnJWUfBvldQtJf6fM3GpDJ5aVU-_pa9RIIPScf7is7zdEfEJL0i2TPtlFcx62UWUw6evpy7Jn80hy04UsOWXJFND-Eq4qWa-dnEh1LauSMjtdiqRzGw_5de296OjWn1NnC6ZGD1jfOcOUQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>DF is beautiful and spiritual, but definitely not the easiest place in the world to live, and I think a lot of foreigners who might otherwise be charmed by it's art galleries and historic buildings would find it hard to settle down. The city is also really challenging for the elderly and anyone dealing with mobility issues.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFS602nhl2E0ta_rKdkDK4px-KuTPuYshDt7z3nqeX0-wECz6Zj89GHh6RG0_IdbCNOPYnuLFcHbPc8XecKIXZEXR5eUwRHPdZ3bjqFyOmAWMm5wnB7vBX6xgzV9liWIpsb4LQWYfcHb0d/s1129/Screenshot_20210616-234759_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFS602nhl2E0ta_rKdkDK4px-KuTPuYshDt7z3nqeX0-wECz6Zj89GHh6RG0_IdbCNOPYnuLFcHbPc8XecKIXZEXR5eUwRHPdZ3bjqFyOmAWMm5wnB7vBX6xgzV9liWIpsb4LQWYfcHb0d/w383-h400/Screenshot_20210616-234759_Instagram.jpg" width="383" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clown encountering and successfully navigating one of the many random barriers that makes mobility an issue in the city </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Many of the following tips - or rules as I'm referring to them (because they are my rules for myself here) - have to do with making some of the chaotic aspects of the city easier to manage. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If you are only coming here for a few days and are going to be basically exclusively hanging out in wealthy and somewhat touristy areas like Polanco and Condesa, then you may not even feel much of the need for any of these tips, </b>and my advice may come across just as typical gringo worries. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">But for anyone who really wants to explore off the tourist path and go to fascinating neighborhoods like Tlalpan, Ajusco, Neza, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14/world/americas/mexico-city-iztapalapa-murals.html?searchResultPosition=6" target="_blank">Iztapalapa [ interesting NYT article here ]</a>, Tepito, among many others, and make themselves at home in this most varied and fascinating place, will be well served by these simple pieces of basic advice. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">A</span>nyone who stays here long enough soon finds their own way of surviving and thriving in D.F. </div><div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Rule #1: Always carry extra toilet paper and always carry an emergency 10 peso to access the bathroom</b><br />
<br />
Using the bathroom in Mexico City can be tough because many bathrooms are a bit rough. The thing is that you will most likely be using the bathrooms here a lot, because of the relatively high rate of food poisoning. This is likely a fact of life for many foreigners in Mexico, and in my experience it is the worst aspect of my otherwise charmed life here in Mexico. There's a hilarious Guardian article <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/12/tour-mexico-city-quirky-toilets" target="_blank">("Using public toilets all over Mexico City completely changed the way I viewed it")</a> about this, and I remember reading it before I came and thinking that it was pretty quirky and odd; now, it's all too real, and like reading a page from my own autobiography. <br />
<br />
Typically you need to pay between 4 and 7 pesos to enter a public bathroom; though bathrooms for paying customers in restaurants are free. An attendant will usually hand you a comically small amount of toilet paper. Somehow many people are getting by with what seems like 3 to 4 sheets of paper. But believe me you'll be happy you brought extra. Or, let's say you are visiting a public library or museum, and you go to the bathroom, only to realize while you're in the stall that it doesn't have any paper. Many public buildings often don't have TP or even, sadly, soap (special shout out to the otherwise amazing Biblioteca de Mexico). This is why you need to always have your own TP. And never spend your emergency bathroom 10 pesos. Due to the large denomination bills in Mexico, you will always be running out of change and No matter how much you want to use that 10 pesos, you will need it. Some washrooms don't have an attendant but a turnstile that requires change; another reason to always have some emergency change. Don't be surprised if a toilet doesn't have a seat; in this case you just sit on the ceramic part and it's just as nice really as a toilet with a seat. These are more common in bus stations and the busiest public baños.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Rule #2: Throw toilet paper into the 'basura', not the toilet; and while not that common, don't be surprised if a toilet has no water to flush</b><br />
<br />
The plumbing in Mexico City (and the rest of Mexico) isn't very robust. Hence it's common practice to throw your used TP into a wastebasket beside the toilet. The women of Mexico have (mostly) mastered the art of throwing their TP used-side down. The men not so much. If a toilet doesn't flush when you press the lever that usually means that they are flushing it by pouring a bucket into the bowl. Ask for water. Often you will wash your hands using water from a bucket too. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Rule #3: Don't eat the street food? Probably don't eat most of the street food unless you know what you are doing </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Lots of people are worried about the crime in Mexico before they visit. You shouldn't be. But realistically I think visitors should be more worried about food poisoning. This is a more common terror, and it makes Mexico sometimes a land where you live in fear, desperately hoping that that last bite doesn't bring you great agony and destroy your plans for the week. Nothing has caused me more discomfort and despair in Mexico than the food poisoing, which seems in my experience to be an ailment particular to DF (perhaps some aspect of the water supply?) since I've very rarely gotten it elsewhere in Mexico.<br />
<br />
The street food is everywhere and looks amazing. I've had delicious, utterly tasty street food. Mexico has the most amazing street food of any place I've been. But regardless of whether I tried to eat it all the time to acclimatize myself to it, or avoided it save for very infrequent, oh-just-this-once nibblings, both strategies have led to terrible food poisoning on occasion - and more frequently here in DF than anywhere else in the world for me, or in the rest of Mexico. <br />
<br />
If you are here for only a short time and illness would totally ruin your stay, then don't eat the street food at all. It's as simple as that. There are so many other things to see and do it would a terrible shame to have this one - admittedly amazing - aspect make you lose out on experiencing so much other incredible things. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you do decide to partake, all the normal advice you hear, like how you should only eat at a busy place, and make sure you can see how the food is being prepared and handled, applies, though again be very careful and you are truly better off to avoid it altogether unless you have a guide. I have gotten the most sick from street food, but I've also gotten sick from food from restaurants that offered food prepared not much differently than street food. I've never been sick from any homemade food or food someone has served me in their house. And most of the food that has made me sick has come from places and dishes that weren't truly exceptional looking or tasting; generally the first bite wasn't amazing and I should have just stopped. But one or two times my food poisoning has come from delicious food. And another word of warning: don't think that just because you are eating in an American chain restaurant that you won't get food poisoning. So many friends I know have gotten terribly sick from McDonalds, after they have declined to eat the food from restaurants I have vouched for. <br />
<br />
The food poisoning I've had usually has an onset of 2 to 5 hours after the meal. 10 hours after a meal without any effects and I think you are in the clear. I've so far only gotten sick from food with meat in it. The illness is characterized for me by intense abdominal pain and vomiting and diarrhea. The intense pain and repeated vomiting usually passes after one very painful utterly delirious day or night. However, almost worse (and much more disruptive to your life) is the lingering problem of intermittent diarrhea and abdominal pain that can continue for 1 to 3 weeks. This makes even quick trips to the grocery store an exercise in worry, pain, and deep embarrassment. I think it's reasonable to pack a pair of adult diapers. I also always have a plastic bag in my knapsack, in case of sudden vomiting. My Mexican girlfriend laughs at me for this but I don't care. If I am in the midst of the lingering effects of food poisoning and still trying to live my life, I'd rather wear a diaper than have an accident on a public bus. While assuredly many Mexicans also get food poisoning, this does seem to be an aspect of life for a foreigner that is not quite understood by the average local.<br />
<br />Absolutely avoid any risky food if you have any travel plans (bus, plane) in the next day. You do not want to get on a plane or a bus and discover you have diarrhea while on a bumpy 9 hour bus ride in a bus that doesn't have a bathroom and is careening around mountain roads at night in Guerrero. <br />
<br />
So basically, admire the street food. Be envious of the street food. But really, some of it is for Mexicans whose bodies are used to the local microflora. My best advice if you are here for a short time and really want to try some street food is to go on a guided food tour with a knowledgeable guide who can help you find and try delicious stuff safely. Because you do need to try a pambazo. <br />
<br />Some things that I think are pretty safe are fruit cut-up on the street, where you can see the guy wearing gloves and using a clean-looking knife and cutting board to cut up watermelon or oranges or jicama, etc. Also I've never been sick from orange juice freshly pressed in front of me on the street. The abundance of fruit-based street food is amazing and I tend to stick to this much safer type of street food. Also the hot early morning beverages like 'atole' and the breakfast foods like churros and the chilaquiles seem to be pretty safe. And the elotes, esquites, and the sweets too.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvjMeewtfw0-pdGGzevioKNLAc12ikTG598XlsWhFfyrBpCSRWqowuq4nVPhvQvSoFPcKZ9_dRx7G8Eg3d6rtxPDikp5Mc-peZhqYwK-NXAgfup_U_lQn35WQd_K4VEZl-umOXz4d8q3J/s1116/Screenshot_20210616-231556_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvjMeewtfw0-pdGGzevioKNLAc12ikTG598XlsWhFfyrBpCSRWqowuq4nVPhvQvSoFPcKZ9_dRx7G8Eg3d6rtxPDikp5Mc-peZhqYwK-NXAgfup_U_lQn35WQd_K4VEZl-umOXz4d8q3J/w388-h400/Screenshot_20210616-231556_Instagram.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A man in his street-side puesto selling esquites - a cup of corn with broth, mayonnaise, lime, cheese and seasoning - in my experience one of the safest street foods - and one of the most delicious and quinessentially Mexican</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh685zsTXG9aNnSoC6atNmwQGVBh0GdHpYAIQxi1ABNWd1k1mgRaoW8KOFmrShw0-1R7oc79GTusLXhXcODtPJ-JANQfQqgW2Prmc84UskrisMQ0ZoyWn9T0fBdO3FP91rUzn-fflrw4wXj/s1387/Screenshot_20210617-002105_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh685zsTXG9aNnSoC6atNmwQGVBh0GdHpYAIQxi1ABNWd1k1mgRaoW8KOFmrShw0-1R7oc79GTusLXhXcODtPJ-JANQfQqgW2Prmc84UskrisMQ0ZoyWn9T0fBdO3FP91rUzn-fflrw4wXj/w311-h400/Screenshot_20210617-002105_Instagram.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sauted huauzontle quesadilla - huauzontle is a plant native to Mexico and something you will likely only get to try here - perhaps an acquired taste, it shares something flavour-wise with bitter greens like the Italian rapini - vegetarian foods like this are in my opinion some of the safest bets for visitors </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsK6IcazeGMZ3-CNqV1XaunUJ6zFjH3fabgIA0YOUMgyqxT3zPLBiW4QZagWaIJxo6HwiV2nV-pIOZmQCV2aQBFGXpGG3l1w1YLiBMAp6N9mfdAEQdlqmoThKTu06MR-86WEBQath0D-4g4Ty_zyz-14EzdebOhUUxMjpuY0MUsr0VCgQNnOMjMAgMIw=s3200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3200" data-original-width="2368" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsK6IcazeGMZ3-CNqV1XaunUJ6zFjH3fabgIA0YOUMgyqxT3zPLBiW4QZagWaIJxo6HwiV2nV-pIOZmQCV2aQBFGXpGG3l1w1YLiBMAp6N9mfdAEQdlqmoThKTu06MR-86WEBQath0D-4g4Ty_zyz-14EzdebOhUUxMjpuY0MUsr0VCgQNnOMjMAgMIw=w296-h400" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cricket snacks, chapulines. The typical tourist guides do tell you to try these for the novelty of it. But they really are delicious. About 10 to 20 pesos for a bag. They are not particularly common in Mexico City. Whereas the salted peanuts in bag to the right are available at seemingly every bar.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br />
<b>Rule #4: Pay attention: keep one eye on the uneven ground; keep another looking for low hanging wires and other things</b><br />
<br />
Due to decades of earthquakes, their huge trees, and a general lack of maintenance, Mexico City's sideways are incredibly cracked, creased, upheaved, and riddled with holes. Even in fancy neighborhoods the ground is uneven and you'll need to keep an eye on making sure you don't trip or fall into a hole. Mexico City also has a lot of hanging wires to watch out for, as well as lots of low hanging roofs, especially of street stalls - puestos. If you don't pay attention - such as walking while staring at your phone - you will soon enough walk into a wire, a hole, or the edge of a puesto. <br />
<br />
<b>Rule #5: Be mindful of pickpockets</b><br />
<br />I don't think you need to be worried about crime very much in Mexico City, with the exception of random pickpocketing in busy locations. I've never been pickpocketed but my friend who had just arrived to see me had his phone stolen on the second day. We were walking in the historic center, a few blocks north of the zocalo, and the sidewalks were crowded. At a street corner while waiting for the light to change a group of short women suddenly mobbed around my friend and then dispersed. His phone was gone with them, lifted from his pants pocket. After that experience and others like it happening to people I know here, to avoid pickpockets I tend to stand directly on the curb at busy streetcorners, walk relatively fast through very busy streets, and I have also attached zippers to my pants pockets, though a safety pin works too. The historic centre and on buses are the places you need to be most mindful of this. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Rule #6: Avoid Travelling on Public Transit at Rush Hour - depending on your level of comfort with crowded areas </b><br />
<br />
Mexico City has a very extensive network of buses and subways, and they are incredibly cheap to use - only 6 pesos per ride. But they are crowded. At rush hours (8-10am; 4-7pm) so crowded that you may get carried into a bus or subway by a mass of people pushing and shoving behind you. This becomes especially intense and dangerous the further you are from the wealthy centre of the city; outlying subway stations often have people so packed together that you move as a herd, and will be unable to move forward or back or get out of the crush. My bag was once stripped off my back by the force of the crowd in this manner, and my coat too, which ended up on the subway tracks. But the buses and subways are pretty chill at off peak hours. At all times people go up and down the subways and try to sell stuff, including beggars who often seem to be in serious states of distress. Be generous with your money. <br />
<br />
Outside of rush hours the buses and subways are quite manageable and usually very fast and a fun experience. <br />
<br />
Also note that the metro buses and the subways have special cars at the front of the vehicle exclusively for the use of women, the elderly, the disabled, and children. Often there is a barrier guarded by a police officer making sure only eligible passengers get on, and these cars are often painted pink. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ao4CeViZ8Pv4i90UuqNi5DJhHaDO3lCVkO5af04mcWJomflokbJ3xOcTglWxFC8U8WChIcW8vb9LpD5YYae-hPjmaK4SGVWwLoEY65D0azz5zZf887GaFSS2HGWgdx11QGfQGhrQzlUi/s1112/Screenshot_20210616-225347_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ao4CeViZ8Pv4i90UuqNi5DJhHaDO3lCVkO5af04mcWJomflokbJ3xOcTglWxFC8U8WChIcW8vb9LpD5YYae-hPjmaK4SGVWwLoEY65D0azz5zZf887GaFSS2HGWgdx11QGfQGhrQzlUi/w389-h400/Screenshot_20210616-225347_Instagram.jpg" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman carries a sculpture of Saint Jude - patron saint of lost causes, 'the saint you call upon when all else fails' - on a packed subway car </td></tr></tbody></table><div> <br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Rule #7: Bring a small umbrella</b><br />
<br />
When it rains in Mexico City (usually in the afternoon, between 3 and 7) it really rains. Sometimes it hails, and a hailstorm here can last for 20-30 minutes.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PqjMHoPwphKR2lH-OqXCUsbCbn0fHAPYFmNGYTXpnwnh6_iYciJY-VIUq1aU8naivA9-QLH4pqIetpQHglglZZrDXqIS03GCC4S08R1gK_n5Oqx9kvXGFeM7uFjOWKO7jst4jsXX5O5o/s1078/Screenshot_20210616-225432_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1042" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PqjMHoPwphKR2lH-OqXCUsbCbn0fHAPYFmNGYTXpnwnh6_iYciJY-VIUq1aU8naivA9-QLH4pqIetpQHglglZZrDXqIS03GCC4S08R1gK_n5Oqx9kvXGFeM7uFjOWKO7jst4jsXX5O5o/w386-h400/Screenshot_20210616-225432_Instagram.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street performers near the zocalo after a rain storm</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br />
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Where to Stay </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I've stayed at a bunch of places all over the city. But perhaps my favourite neighborhood is Escandón. It's close to the trendy neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma but distinct from them and less busy and generally feels more down to earth to me. There are lots of cool apartments here, including some in 'vecindades', a characteristic and historical type of Mexican communal housing complex found all throughout the city.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgispzOxS0b54twiV3RYMa1Gok2iuwdUo0_uSxTrL1V29BOluwIzGtSa8pnWGUXB2ZBcPeAvso4Rr6eRQtun2R8WZnlFnjotXOBtaqQTqrh4je1tKAs9G9dzVKV-zQbpVwYsC1xWiMipGOl/s1122/Screenshot_20210616-231634_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgispzOxS0b54twiV3RYMa1Gok2iuwdUo0_uSxTrL1V29BOluwIzGtSa8pnWGUXB2ZBcPeAvso4Rr6eRQtun2R8WZnlFnjotXOBtaqQTqrh4je1tKAs9G9dzVKV-zQbpVwYsC1xWiMipGOl/w385-h400/Screenshot_20210616-231634_Instagram.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A man works on painting a mural in a park in Escandón </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br />San Rafael is a hidden jem of a neighborhood, still very central but for the most part outside of the notice of many tourist hipsters. It's full of beautiful old crumbling buildings and families sitting outside their apartments. I was given a very lovely tour of this neighborhood by Nat, a friend of my girlfriend, who pointed out the cinema where her brother was almost born, and since he was almost born in a cinema (and his mother went to the movies almost everyday when she was pregnant with him) he is called 'cinema man' by people in the neighborhood. This area is filled with beautiful stories. Check out the restaurant 'El Chivito' here for classic old school Mexican food.<br />
<br />
Napoles is a nice neighborhood and where I've lived for longest. It's very charming and has a good mix of quiet and stuff to do. It's not really a particularly hip neighborhood but it's very central. Also I think it's epic that in this neighborhood there's a giant bullfighting ring, the second largest in the whole world I believe, in the midst of this rather sedate hood. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt6nkPjENO2wtZLXwq9UFq9YYnOy9K28chx-TFgJ_TBriHCsn62Bmy3l8s-C8TOE918i96tlPBnEJzLf19JvnbjrXHxmvw9cB2LQDBRIm4-mvrAErMXLnEmMB8hDe1UOoUZCDx-iy3Iwtl-zSlupYk7DwHafpqkNZ-DnUghHSh9AOk_zLX3KEiUwCaVA=s1293" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt6nkPjENO2wtZLXwq9UFq9YYnOy9K28chx-TFgJ_TBriHCsn62Bmy3l8s-C8TOE918i96tlPBnEJzLf19JvnbjrXHxmvw9cB2LQDBRIm4-mvrAErMXLnEmMB8hDe1UOoUZCDx-iy3Iwtl-zSlupYk7DwHafpqkNZ-DnUghHSh9AOk_zLX3KEiUwCaVA=s320" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quirky and cool clock in a Napoles park</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Narvarte is a very pleasant neighhorhood of mostly low apartment buildings. Definitely some nice restaurants and cafes. Pretty quiet area. </div><div>
<br />
Portales is not a popular or particularly central neighborhood but it's very lovely and quiet. It's on two subway lines and it's close to Coyoacán. Really like this area.<br />
<br />
The Zona Rosa has a lot of hotels and it's the city's de facto Gay Village and very much a place to party, though very loud at night.<br />
<br />
Other places that are cool: Condesa, Roma, Juarez, Polanco, the Centro, among many others. Ajusco and Tlalpan and Xochimilco are very cool if you're more adventurous, and you want to live closer to some nature areas.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUcV2ejyaZKK3Ew4TkwZRMb8fAz79eCOLBhVXIF5AeIMY5pAoUDEOBT7X2vNGYkMxCfVRCBQPLbeUIxc6Gim1aymV7X45TL8SZraMtyZ5bkr8tePCcfOitfxcVWTO7qQX77r4ZeYqGZXfybWBrBsCcs4iESFkHnqNYbGMRm_S_6C3Etxa876EGxVaDJw=s1112" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUcV2ejyaZKK3Ew4TkwZRMb8fAz79eCOLBhVXIF5AeIMY5pAoUDEOBT7X2vNGYkMxCfVRCBQPLbeUIxc6Gim1aymV7X45TL8SZraMtyZ5bkr8tePCcfOitfxcVWTO7qQX77r4ZeYqGZXfybWBrBsCcs4iESFkHnqNYbGMRm_S_6C3Etxa876EGxVaDJw=w622-h640" width="622" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical scene in a park - Mexicans absolutely love dogs</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSgmito0IhpFKhSxjvUyZy7C7DKz7Tn-IcqeG0lc_0ktFB34x03kI4erePFVwdOU67ed0vSRNGqFCchkHeZe97wxj0_PwD_b5-oujnRYRvTwFrl-0MuUvhF3udBT9vqhyEz32bJyvOs60-t65GwpcFVZKjJVWBZO_ATs8ThCm0dTmhnIJoeadYWiyuvg=s1115" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSgmito0IhpFKhSxjvUyZy7C7DKz7Tn-IcqeG0lc_0ktFB34x03kI4erePFVwdOU67ed0vSRNGqFCchkHeZe97wxj0_PwD_b5-oujnRYRvTwFrl-0MuUvhF3udBT9vqhyEz32bJyvOs60-t65GwpcFVZKjJVWBZO_ATs8ThCm0dTmhnIJoeadYWiyuvg=w621-h640" width="621" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman selling little lamps by the subway in Napoles</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <br />
<br />
<b>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b><br />
<br />
<b>Note on Earthquakes </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Mexico City sits near a fault line and most of it's central downtown areas are built on top of very soggy soil that increases the amount of energy transferred into buildings during earthquakes. The famous 1985 earthquake killed untold thousands. Thankfully, after that disaster, the city is one of only two major cities in the world to have installed an earthquake early warning system. The alarms will go off if an earthquake's seismic wave is heading towards the city. When an alarm goes off you have between 20 and 60 seconds to get out of your building and find safety in the street. The alarm is a loud tone followed by the words 'Alerta Sismica Alerta Sismica'. <br />
<br />
In general, for people who want to avoid earthquakes at all costs, the buildings built on hillsides and on rocky highland and volcanic soils tend to be barely affected (many of these areas are to the south of the city). The worst affected areas are those near the old city, Centro, Roma, Condesa, and others, which were built on the old lakebed. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3unfYt3A7ZAfF7Z10KIyoiXO2GUQ5Mlej0KFACcJY5pL6TnCDwpTPJRt7fC6FLuwCBnGhGT6QlVXxFjXmT6RW8YuBpfxdXDOfBEYDgNeedkmH5ch15eb1pTq19GdSgi4MwL1izHotgGC/s1118/Screenshot_20210616-225140_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3unfYt3A7ZAfF7Z10KIyoiXO2GUQ5Mlej0KFACcJY5pL6TnCDwpTPJRt7fC6FLuwCBnGhGT6QlVXxFjXmT6RW8YuBpfxdXDOfBEYDgNeedkmH5ch15eb1pTq19GdSgi4MwL1izHotgGC/w618-h640/Screenshot_20210616-225140_Instagram.jpg" width="618" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A large example of Mexico City's plentiful and beautiful public art, this piece is in the south of the city - note the ground here, made of volcanic rock, makes it far less prone to damage from earthquakes </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKQh9miwabl4Jozw5ar-FAYuy8Ng7mAchPvlkkPzcJEo8eEK4I51ibWl5zY9sf6_dcCVCMLdM_RWrPL_zVegTbMvvcht7P5tRqb8jc1mm7v2dmuP9JZrzMJ0H0NlJ-UUKxgB6FeMADpy_/s2048/20181026_080631.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKQh9miwabl4Jozw5ar-FAYuy8Ng7mAchPvlkkPzcJEo8eEK4I51ibWl5zY9sf6_dcCVCMLdM_RWrPL_zVegTbMvvcht7P5tRqb8jc1mm7v2dmuP9JZrzMJ0H0NlJ-UUKxgB6FeMADpy_/w300-h400/20181026_080631.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damage from earthquakes can be seen on many buildings and often remains unrepaired for considerable time, such as on this church near Roma Sur, not currently in use, which was damaged about half a year ago before the photo was taken, in a relatively minor tremor <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <b>Note on Police Corruption and Bribes</b></div><div>
<b><br /></b>
If you do anything at all out of the ordinary in your environment you might have trouble with the police. The police once gave me trouble one night in one of the fanciest and wealthiest neighborhoods, Condesa. If you see them touching their handcuffs on their belt it's apparently a sign that you may need to bribe them. Just give them your money. There is however a tourist police phone line that can assist you; I suggest you look it up and have it ready to go on your phone. Pay attention to the faces and names of the police officers who bother you. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Note on Sexism and Street Harassment </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
An unfortunate reality of life in DF is the behavior of many men in the city towards women. Leering and wolf whistling is common. I have seen many a taxi cab driver slow my ride down just so he can keep ogling a woman on the street. Some men go further and either grope women while in the perennially crowded buses or daytime streets. My girlfriend chooses to avoid wearing skirts or revealing clothing in the city due to all these behaviors. Obviously people who do wear those clothes are not looking for those behaviors or responsible in any way for them. But this is just a head's up about the situation here.<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Note on D.F. Fashion </b><br />
<b><br /></b>It's my personal observation that nobody but tourists wear shorts in DF, but otherwise the city is very diverse in it's style. Here's some stream of consciousness description of fashion I noted in a short stretch of my day: A guy passes on a motorbike with a t-shirt that says A.C.I.D. Many diverse cholo-inspired looks, here's one cute cholo guy wearing a paisely patterned sweater and a purple ska plaid hat. A man in a t-shirt that reads BLACK and has small text in English explaining the virtues of the color, how it signifies night and mourning and hiddenness and the powerful obscurity of feelings. A guy on the subway is wearing totally normal clothing except for one hand is in a black glove covered with large silver spikes. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say you can get away with wearing any combination of patterns and fabrics and logos on your clothes and look stylish and not out of place. But don't wear shorts.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Observation on Love in DF (i.e. PDA) </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Everyone, young, and especially, old, couples make out in public in DF. Be ready to see teenagers making out, young couples making out, and again, especially, older couples, making out, on buses, in parks, in the subway, etc. It's a lovely sight and I hope you get into the spirit of this when you visit with someone you love.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Note on People and Children Who Come Into Restaurants and Try and Sell You Stuff </b><br />
<br />
Most likely this happens all over the world, but in DF it's very common and don't be surprised if a very young child comes up to your table at a restaurant, even very late at night, and wants to sell you some candy, galetas, or other sweets. D.F. is also a city where if you want to buy a cigarette you may find yourself buying one from a child. <br />
<br />
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFbuVaOTIMUdLxdjYiCTV8ZgSVawJeNvGUnyjW-lLgqAk8qB50x_OfLFz3YRHHtEAVTNX2Hoa1f_Kw7onmbexHp1uwkTYKhjEsuj7xZ2Urkf-4gzNsrdRWlI8r2Lm2i9eyHqOXSGsqP9i/s1600/20180304_154642.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFbuVaOTIMUdLxdjYiCTV8ZgSVawJeNvGUnyjW-lLgqAk8qB50x_OfLFz3YRHHtEAVTNX2Hoa1f_Kw7onmbexHp1uwkTYKhjEsuj7xZ2Urkf-4gzNsrdRWlI8r2Lm2i9eyHqOXSGsqP9i/s640/20180304_154642.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An organ grinder across from the Alameda </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />
<br />
<b>A Few of My Favorite Things To Do In DF</b><br />
<br />
1. One of my favorite things to do here is to go for a walk quite early in the morning, as Mexico City is a morning city, indeed a giantess awakening from 5am to 11am, and there are stunning views of the sun rising behind the volcano Popocatépetl and lots of street vendors selling delicious atole from metal carts and young boys selling churros from baskets. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'd say that walking through the city at any time of the day is my number one recommendation for what to do. My favourite aspects of Mexico City are seeing the unpretentious beauty of people going about their day, often carrying on trades and traditions from generations ago. In the Centro look out for the organ grinders in their distinctive tan uniforms, or listen for the many different sounds that the local vendors make as they go around a neighborhood and ply their trade - such as the haunting, ear-piercing whistle of a camote cart (you really must try a warm camote fresh from the cart, covered in sweetened condensed milk). </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6KAIaOkHHZkLH70IjI4Vquf6MaUmm4jGi4_D2YnfqAtyaigKVzLLlgwpQLTmhyphenhyphenU3GcwTZicIf1J0AL7TNj4cJE1lSyMOfXTPrXNw8Zge3zNjhqYjDnZVgjsye9R3VoLYjnyGGtD__5Dj/s1109/Screenshot_20210616-231142_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6KAIaOkHHZkLH70IjI4Vquf6MaUmm4jGi4_D2YnfqAtyaigKVzLLlgwpQLTmhyphenhyphenU3GcwTZicIf1J0AL7TNj4cJE1lSyMOfXTPrXNw8Zge3zNjhqYjDnZVgjsye9R3VoLYjnyGGtD__5Dj/w390-h400/Screenshot_20210616-231142_Instagram.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A camote cart - resembling a locomotive and with the most distinctive and ear-piercing whistle, this is mobile street food at its most charming and delicious </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>
2. Xochimilco (pronounced like 'Sochi - milco') is one of the coolest places on the planet and you must check it out if you are in DF. Everyone needs to try the colorful trajinero boat trips through Xochimilco, but I also recommend the parts of this area that you can access via bridges (such as here: https://goo.gl/maps/hP2qcHkEpwVNHpCS7 and then past where the google map shows, the satellite view is useful) and absolutely cool is one of the many remaining hand-ferries (elsewhere in Mexico I've heard these called 'un chalán'<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px;">) </span>that you can take across the canals for a few pesos (there's a cool one here: https://goo.gl/maps/6ST2wzxMiLemkZPNA ). There are many tour guides who can help you discover the living human and ecological miracle that is Xochimilco. This is what the majority of what we call 'Mexico City' looked like before the Spaniards - and this way of life will certainly outlast our current, environmentally destructive, culture. </div><div><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLsalyYqYXMZRrtQJrtaQYYzOHCPPNnEr96r5Vqmoq5YzJYLv1PPyc5OM5GYKVfmaoS7t7z_hy7kGvE48fabwuj6PPWL1Za1UsRGZbf15XTltxSOO7hGmN5PSNN-fUiw8vVrKHvFEFqFq/s1109/Screenshot_20210616-231319_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLsalyYqYXMZRrtQJrtaQYYzOHCPPNnEr96r5Vqmoq5YzJYLv1PPyc5OM5GYKVfmaoS7t7z_hy7kGvE48fabwuj6PPWL1Za1UsRGZbf15XTltxSOO7hGmN5PSNN-fUiw8vVrKHvFEFqFq/w195-h200/Screenshot_20210616-231319_Instagram.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDml1pFni5A7vtfDqM4dflkeRhJqmqXzTU-vCj2kMzni_mS67M8FtbvSyXdMBfLNAHe3ld5KVYweWilF4D1_2E0sUPOPWvbJTDbTTwiNUTckhvsQhJP25oA8lvqkveBozx8Ee2fnb2MTK/s1120/Screenshot_20210616-231302_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDml1pFni5A7vtfDqM4dflkeRhJqmqXzTU-vCj2kMzni_mS67M8FtbvSyXdMBfLNAHe3ld5KVYweWilF4D1_2E0sUPOPWvbJTDbTTwiNUTckhvsQhJP25oA8lvqkveBozx8Ee2fnb2MTK/w386-h400/Screenshot_20210616-231302_Instagram.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">typical scenes in the sublime and less well known parts of Xochimilco - it's hard to believe this ancient world survives in the middle of the modern city</td></tr></tbody></table><div> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUM9vBlg3EwIS_BF2ucivUaFcdFsqrocj5hBvN_zZ07Z052WV6SFCAT4no9Hd4XVaQ5kYA6zhk2TgSmUeYzAAHrf04vwuoOgNa_eDfR4OR4I1DVForavW0DTHcaVxXgE8qoYvec6VJWGF/s1115/Screenshot_20210616-231232_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUM9vBlg3EwIS_BF2ucivUaFcdFsqrocj5hBvN_zZ07Z052WV6SFCAT4no9Hd4XVaQ5kYA6zhk2TgSmUeYzAAHrf04vwuoOgNa_eDfR4OR4I1DVForavW0DTHcaVxXgE8qoYvec6VJWGF/s320/Screenshot_20210616-231232_Instagram.jpg" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucK-BRbxdIa0-i71WMs31HRx8lT_hXx_nfyJyIe90-_UrHq-bwEmhdLxEntzISMPQHGkp4NP0m5G77bf0gYg5j75R21SmH6FI_HBTeekO-n6TRoEjKb__VZ-v1Zs1iJysvVpP774f44En/s1121/Screenshot_20210616-231247_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4nHMvJYYMX6CWScciOOEqTy8GFbXQUNeGfpmbcWKRiSgc8M3Gs9RAmdpxyo-VzGw0aHhSoWgG_eCUpyqRT9WSAiXQGg8AbvpRbF8a47rN4zLIkyiga3IiK00EABhEa7LGjrjB8jKF974/s1110/Screenshot_20210616-231212_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1080" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4nHMvJYYMX6CWScciOOEqTy8GFbXQUNeGfpmbcWKRiSgc8M3Gs9RAmdpxyo-VzGw0aHhSoWgG_eCUpyqRT9WSAiXQGg8AbvpRbF8a47rN4zLIkyiga3IiK00EABhEa7LGjrjB8jKF974/w265-h273/Screenshot_20210616-231212_Instagram.jpg" width="265" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucK-BRbxdIa0-i71WMs31HRx8lT_hXx_nfyJyIe90-_UrHq-bwEmhdLxEntzISMPQHGkp4NP0m5G77bf0gYg5j75R21SmH6FI_HBTeekO-n6TRoEjKb__VZ-v1Zs1iJysvVpP774f44En/s320/Screenshot_20210616-231247_Instagram.jpg" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucK-BRbxdIa0-i71WMs31HRx8lT_hXx_nfyJyIe90-_UrHq-bwEmhdLxEntzISMPQHGkp4NP0m5G77bf0gYg5j75R21SmH6FI_HBTeekO-n6TRoEjKb__VZ-v1Zs1iJysvVpP774f44En/s1121/Screenshot_20210616-231247_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cf-a_h5aQ4J9t34qN2f_t_09t1JLNwbIIvo2yRc69IHhyM4us4dQHGheCNJQNagb_MTbswXAeR37cGmSSAQpwz1MFnIdBoWQpllrlGCzxdpsgu1cC4j33n9wTyAcviE4Yw3WN7djP24w/s966/chalan.PNG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="966" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cf-a_h5aQ4J9t34qN2f_t_09t1JLNwbIIvo2yRc69IHhyM4us4dQHGheCNJQNagb_MTbswXAeR37cGmSSAQpwz1MFnIdBoWQpllrlGCzxdpsgu1cC4j33n9wTyAcviE4Yw3WN7djP24w/s320/chalan.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dotted line indicated here is passable via a hand ferry - a beautiful tradition with a pragmatic function that exemplifies the power of Xochimilco </td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>3. The Biblioteca de Mexico and the surrounding parks/squares and streets are some of my favourite in the city. This beautiful library in an old colonial building is one of the most stunning and perfect places to spend an afternoon. The library houses the personal book collections of many of Mexico's greatest writers and poets. Just outside the library is a beautiful park filled with food stalls, and you can have an amazing pambazo (a crema, lettuce, and potato sandwhich with an achiote sauce on the bread) here. You really need to have a pambazo in Mexico City, they are addictive. Many of the settings in Roberto Bolaño's 'Savage Detectives' are modelled after places nearby this area. Check out the Cerveceria Vizcaya for a very interesting drinking establishment (thanks to Hamish for showing me this place!). </div><div><br /></div><div>Another item for those interested in books and the printed word is to visit the Plaza de Santo Domingo, near the location of the first printing press in the Americas, and still to this day home to a series of stalls run by public scribes and printers operating their small hand-set presses out in the square.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1080" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaGOwQBsct92bYUior8SIDJvecP76H_M9VjzJUAFg-7yrLqK9-U1bBgMJEhg4rrFMl_eghVNZ17tpifXLx7gtjrU77rrqFVZTCjouz5MFszf_FUcRCMc_L03HPMkZrCkO2IIteWSYUNLa/w264-h276/Screenshot_20210616-231513_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="264" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A man using hand-set type to print cards and stationary, working out of a little stall in the Plaza de Santo Domingo, near the location of the very first printing press in the Americas </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnmjeBu3jNTQOvef9mZUWFkNgnRbckAHJxlNw_yurRLmD-_nd7mePOAXOvCOX5KK_bC0TisSMxIBPYG2-1QTPVN7XxpDX45NDOFVjtdjbYhHm8_ucX5YR5azxLiNY3f9fDhoRhZ5xZ5Ou/s1121/Screenshot_20210616-230814_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1080" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnmjeBu3jNTQOvef9mZUWFkNgnRbckAHJxlNw_yurRLmD-_nd7mePOAXOvCOX5KK_bC0TisSMxIBPYG2-1QTPVN7XxpDX45NDOFVjtdjbYhHm8_ucX5YR5azxLiNY3f9fDhoRhZ5xZ5Ou/w263-h273/Screenshot_20210616-230814_Instagram.jpg" width="263" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaGOwQBsct92bYUior8SIDJvecP76H_M9VjzJUAFg-7yrLqK9-U1bBgMJEhg4rrFMl_eghVNZ17tpifXLx7gtjrU77rrqFVZTCjouz5MFszf_FUcRCMc_L03HPMkZrCkO2IIteWSYUNLa/s1129/Screenshot_20210616-231513_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
4. One fun thing to look out for in Mexico City is to look out for and stop and reflect by the countless little shrines to saints and Jesus placed everywhere all over DF. They all seem to tell a sort of story. One of my absolute favorites of these is 'the Virgin of the Metro'. The story here is this: a subway worker’s child noticed that a water stain on the floor of Mexico City’s bustling Hidalgo Metro station bore a miraculous likeness to the nation’s most powerful religious symbol, the beloved Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. Thousands of Mexico’s faithful then flocked to see the subway tile, jostling with millions of commuters in the modern fluorescence of the downtown station to offer roses and coins, rub the stain for blessings or kneel, gape and weep over it in awe. The scene confounded subway officials, who hired 25 guards to control the crowds, fenced off the spot and pasted up displays declaring, “It is not a miracle.” The portion of the tile with the apparation has since been removed from the floor of the subway and now stands outside in a special shrine.<br />
<br />
5. Renting a bicycle with the EcoBici stands all throughout the city is a great way to get around on these cute little red bikes. Also very fun is renting one of the cute little blue and white motor scooters scattered throughout the city through the Econduce app.<br />
<br />
6. The Templo Mayor museum and pyramid is a must see. It's right beside the Zocalo and the main cathedral. It is full of amazing pre-Columbian art from that exact site the museum is built on. Go on a rainy afternoon and it's hella dramatic to see the various huge statutes of powerful and fearsome gods as it thunders and rains over the skyline of the city. Look out for the wall made of skulls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGf1GwjNDo5NsNFW5dRpHwvUwJeJC7yQg5zyq6eAfi8xMd8QMs1ORNUBdQyYkMN5yytklUOkIcQPZ5WlziCodEbLcq_bz3yuzINhQjfEx4CYkhSe2aiC9bl666ZJp9czUsCI6A4G3biNv/s1106/Screenshot_20210617-013438_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGf1GwjNDo5NsNFW5dRpHwvUwJeJC7yQg5zyq6eAfi8xMd8QMs1ORNUBdQyYkMN5yytklUOkIcQPZ5WlziCodEbLcq_bz3yuzINhQjfEx4CYkhSe2aiC9bl666ZJp9czUsCI6A4G3biNv/w390-h400/Screenshot_20210617-013438_Instagram.jpg" width="390" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHn1_HIcCINSnCRNfTl8aUXeXscndgQv0GdJvD0tZ6rdZqKx5NTTsznBAHxap-IKPayZe2HpVL3SGKHV-sS8w65CfZboWga0eAkM0qiz6ahJ4Kq1eSWa3A9HV5eKeszp80vvTDXA2Fs_Q/s1116/Screenshot_20210617-013411_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHn1_HIcCINSnCRNfTl8aUXeXscndgQv0GdJvD0tZ6rdZqKx5NTTsznBAHxap-IKPayZe2HpVL3SGKHV-sS8w65CfZboWga0eAkM0qiz6ahJ4Kq1eSWa3A9HV5eKeszp80vvTDXA2Fs_Q/s320/Screenshot_20210617-013411_Instagram.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br />
<br />7. Party anywhere - but especially try to go to a party with locals who appreciate Mexican banda or ranchera music, the musical heart and soul of the country, often enjoyed (sung along to!) till the wee hours of the morning. And go visit the Plaza Garibaldi to hear and see the roaming mariachi bands, hirable by the song for a fee. <br />
<br />
8. Check out the amazing Mexican art scene. Jumex is a good place to start, but there are a million galleries and museums. MUAC, Estanquillo, Labor, Casa Barragán, Bellas Artes obviously, the Anthropology museum (check out the live outdoor performance of the Danza de los Voladores here, an incredible display of acrobatics and tradition and sheer bravery and skill), the Toy Museum - and definitely my favorite museum - the Museo de Arte Popular: the works inside represent traditional artforms still being made in communities across Mexico. There's a million art-related things to recommend - this city has art in every possible place. Check out the amazing murals by Diego Rivera's students in the Mercado Abelardo L. Rodriguez, pictured below. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogBPwC4-BEu4wtXgW2nK1CgAXmxaqaHXsQj5AAjwweEkRBbxf_bQ0zB9fM2IuF8NksxUOIyhMseniq69XJ6ZjLuYadDGsqNHUwvSuZWAt5X8JeybjoJWOEMKT7W_kBUaimBgGd_GBZ-LN/s1080/Screenshot_20210617-013752_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6kc9cFPOm3jOuaJzYei1iVGZEyBWmwsebXoKxAWqKpu13rerD5WAZqgqRzPK8eNfY3BZUiTbqjAzCrunwlPU1IVq3AmFTFl2RIrMz8-sHAZWRGkYmEkZspE5f8P2mbOaGHoh6JB7va4V/s1080/Screenshot_20210617-013719_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1080" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6kc9cFPOm3jOuaJzYei1iVGZEyBWmwsebXoKxAWqKpu13rerD5WAZqgqRzPK8eNfY3BZUiTbqjAzCrunwlPU1IVq3AmFTFl2RIrMz8-sHAZWRGkYmEkZspE5f8P2mbOaGHoh6JB7va4V/w366-h289/Screenshot_20210617-013719_Instagram.jpg" width="366" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogBPwC4-BEu4wtXgW2nK1CgAXmxaqaHXsQj5AAjwweEkRBbxf_bQ0zB9fM2IuF8NksxUOIyhMseniq69XJ6ZjLuYadDGsqNHUwvSuZWAt5X8JeybjoJWOEMKT7W_kBUaimBgGd_GBZ-LN/s1080/Screenshot_20210617-013752_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="1080" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogBPwC4-BEu4wtXgW2nK1CgAXmxaqaHXsQj5AAjwweEkRBbxf_bQ0zB9fM2IuF8NksxUOIyhMseniq69XJ6ZjLuYadDGsqNHUwvSuZWAt5X8JeybjoJWOEMKT7W_kBUaimBgGd_GBZ-LN/w237-h187/Screenshot_20210617-013752_Instagram.jpg" width="237" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogBPwC4-BEu4wtXgW2nK1CgAXmxaqaHXsQj5AAjwweEkRBbxf_bQ0zB9fM2IuF8NksxUOIyhMseniq69XJ6ZjLuYadDGsqNHUwvSuZWAt5X8JeybjoJWOEMKT7W_kBUaimBgGd_GBZ-LN/s1080/Screenshot_20210617-013752_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogBPwC4-BEu4wtXgW2nK1CgAXmxaqaHXsQj5AAjwweEkRBbxf_bQ0zB9fM2IuF8NksxUOIyhMseniq69XJ6ZjLuYadDGsqNHUwvSuZWAt5X8JeybjoJWOEMKT7W_kBUaimBgGd_GBZ-LN/s1080/Screenshot_20210617-013752_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggltDa6EBr6st6mrCacWyDXmO6K7TqWmhpLLiebXqehYDWWffZPq811FExv8KNQc-PLBkTiLqplrcFadzNFUReKB3Gqb3JeiTEjPsXkmIo4COkhreYwycpmFk5kLJ7zs4TM-aIq0N19Kge/s1080/Screenshot_20210616-231129_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1080" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggltDa6EBr6st6mrCacWyDXmO6K7TqWmhpLLiebXqehYDWWffZPq811FExv8KNQc-PLBkTiLqplrcFadzNFUReKB3Gqb3JeiTEjPsXkmIo4COkhreYwycpmFk5kLJ7zs4TM-aIq0N19Kge/w400-h245/Screenshot_20210616-231129_Instagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I would be remiss to not mention the incredible performing arts tradition so easily enjoyed in Mexico City - here a group of dancers performs for free on a stage in a park amid a Sunday tiangis </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br />
<br />
9. You need to check out the "witchcraft" (ie Santa Muerta) market the Mercado de Sonora. Also, nearby in Tepito there's a really intense shrine to Santa Muerta made with a real human body whose hair seems to still be growing. There's runes on the ground and the scene is very interesting, spiritual, and enlightening. Also essential is the nearby Sunday tiangis market in the Lagunilla neighborhood full of quirky antiques and cool junk. You can still buy Posada prints here, and retablo paintings. And the gallery Eugenio is an amazing store here that specializes in selling traditional masks (note that they are closed on Sunday, the day of the tiangis). Make sure you go all the way into the back of the store. It is incredible.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4NcI8vWsK5I4-EdofdLWlpbLCoOIWoOgK9XiRvav45BCtWBppujhOhIV_dxycrNb3bJPsqrL79a_N2AoDj41-N9OJzpzh1tJrYgBANDp5tfA8vwihfXkymaKkX_gDk2Nf8tIG8LFXOfD/s1124/Screenshot_20210616-230840_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4NcI8vWsK5I4-EdofdLWlpbLCoOIWoOgK9XiRvav45BCtWBppujhOhIV_dxycrNb3bJPsqrL79a_N2AoDj41-N9OJzpzh1tJrYgBANDp5tfA8vwihfXkymaKkX_gDk2Nf8tIG8LFXOfD/w384-h400/Screenshot_20210616-230840_Instagram.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scenes from the Sunday morning tiangis in Lagunilla </td></tr></tbody></table><div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfeITfLtKy_JTu_CPnbHwJoes858x68q9VfwufJORHfXPihm8L6Q-SJLMSpTzHN3H1HncTGVkY8kswNxP9ty9irM5otKHlloYzkhfDAkoWYt9OP0aDBGEoIP3pUcnm3m5h0BtCymxB-DZ/s1120/Screenshot_20210616-230925_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfeITfLtKy_JTu_CPnbHwJoes858x68q9VfwufJORHfXPihm8L6Q-SJLMSpTzHN3H1HncTGVkY8kswNxP9ty9irM5otKHlloYzkhfDAkoWYt9OP0aDBGEoIP3pUcnm3m5h0BtCymxB-DZ/w193-h200/Screenshot_20210616-230925_Instagram.jpg" width="193" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhph3RmgGsl7uHls-E3CFONFQ_vk52b58qjSeA0XWUO4Mz1yW33DveqMFSFmapvtwwJPaglmR0Mrl4S_dOy3ih7gjR9nM9KFYo2jcLTnG08ni2YrspcF5zIL-7J1TGbkEVINo-ONZFYBknl/s1119/Screenshot_20210616-230956_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhph3RmgGsl7uHls-E3CFONFQ_vk52b58qjSeA0XWUO4Mz1yW33DveqMFSFmapvtwwJPaglmR0Mrl4S_dOy3ih7gjR9nM9KFYo2jcLTnG08ni2YrspcF5zIL-7J1TGbkEVINo-ONZFYBknl/w193-h200/Screenshot_20210616-230956_Instagram.jpg" width="193" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FZ50QJkh544pBDv6Ml1jkQfm9pkeGsjwhFWbpMnMsdfoNgpvMHWbOP0fKiA7WTAYe1L34LPN9i-bkcL4PhHVotRkWH6IDcyBItBbNQ4dCwEUyvPg28xMaj3Gwq_LTJStZYOMRGD07q-k/s1121/Screenshot_20210616-231021_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FZ50QJkh544pBDv6Ml1jkQfm9pkeGsjwhFWbpMnMsdfoNgpvMHWbOP0fKiA7WTAYe1L34LPN9i-bkcL4PhHVotRkWH6IDcyBItBbNQ4dCwEUyvPg28xMaj3Gwq_LTJStZYOMRGD07q-k/w193-h200/Screenshot_20210616-231021_Instagram.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3hulGUdyn3PnVfYyM-480dAiFEdUTVtJcoAzqrYNSKzVKaMNp3u6esQRK-CjFlwPKnmBOU_RrloaSOVsSIFT6JT-SvA2oj_dYHBYZYk6aRd_iju8wS64rb9qmTBbN0GKDUorZVZ0Twtl/s1113/Screenshot_20210616-231036_Instagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1113" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3hulGUdyn3PnVfYyM-480dAiFEdUTVtJcoAzqrYNSKzVKaMNp3u6esQRK-CjFlwPKnmBOU_RrloaSOVsSIFT6JT-SvA2oj_dYHBYZYk6aRd_iju8wS64rb9qmTBbN0GKDUorZVZ0Twtl/s320/Screenshot_20210616-231036_Instagram.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F6P6rYpk3XnwkuLS-AH0arlRqsgb_weeEjARoOu4JUdlCnCJ2n8VTkLspiRNHZsBEwgAw_tmo2o11_JLwb4L4_3FTJadi5W-HPW-XWiRAogkBTDILLk28CSKQlDg7EPBZQhSeERAXxn_/s1110/Screenshot_20210616-231058_Instagram.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F6P6rYpk3XnwkuLS-AH0arlRqsgb_weeEjARoOu4JUdlCnCJ2n8VTkLspiRNHZsBEwgAw_tmo2o11_JLwb4L4_3FTJadi5W-HPW-XWiRAogkBTDILLk28CSKQlDg7EPBZQhSeERAXxn_/w194-h200/Screenshot_20210616-231058_Instagram.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br /><b>Some favourite restaurants in Mexico City</b><br />
<br /><br />
#1: "<b>Tortas Al Fuego</b>" (aka 'the Sonora place') - absolutely the number 1 spot in the city for me<br />
Open 24 hours (!!!) <br />
Located beside Metrobus Sonora<br />
<br />
I've never had the tortas here and the name of the restaurant is a bit of a misnomer, since they have a tonne of food options and everything is amazing and the prices are the best in the city. My girlfriend and I have eaten here countless times and it is our favorite place in the city. It's not fancy but it's very clean and the service is good and we usually sit upstairs by the window so don't steal our spot! It's also open 24 hours!<br />
<br />
Try an agua de fresa as your drink, the tortilla soup or the chicken soup or the frijoles charros (all are amazing with a bit of lime, really I would often come here and just order like 4 soups as my dinner...this place has mastered these soups), the enchiladas verde or mole (these are served only until 8pm), the costanza de res (a steak, and a bargain at 55 pesos, with chilaquiles! also served only till 8pm), the alambres, and the 33 peso order of 5 tacos al pastor (notice the enormous trumpo of meat roasting outside). These tacos are definitely the cheapest good quality tacos in Mexico. They are iconic tacos and all other tacos you have will be measured against these ones.<br />
<br />
The seafood options at the restaurant are really good though not as consistent, and sometimes a little bit bad. I like the ceviche de camaron. Everything here is a bargain.<br />
<br />
Pro tip: the sidewalk outside the restaurant has these Mexican pinball gambling games, and somehow, miraculously, they actually pay out serious money... I once put in a 5 peso coin, totally randomly played the pinball and just hit buttons blindly, and the machine began to spit out almost 100 pesos worth of coins! A machine started giving me free money, on the street, in Mexico. I couldn't believe it. That 100 pesos buys a lot of food at Tortas al Fuego. Try your luck.<br />
<br />
#1b: <b>Taqueria Orinoco, </b>in Roma<br />
A really cool and classic place for tacos and amazing soups. I really like the frijoles charros soup here. And the chicaron taco. Amazing salsas on the side.<br />
<br />
#2: <b>Potzollcalli</b><br />
Various locations<br />
<br />
I've only had one thing here but it's so good. It's the pozole de Jalisco (Rojo), a truly delicious soup, that also comes in a delicious chilangro verde option. The best part: it's already a good deal at 100 pesos, but on Thursdays this soup is 2 for 1. There's a knack though to getting the full extent of the flavor of this soup, which is sort of the Mexican cousin to Vietnamese pho, which also is all about how you garnish and accrutrament it.<br />
<br />
First is too add lots of the onion, radish, lettuce, and lime that they bring each order with on a platter. Then crumble up the chicaron and avocado they bring. Then add the salsa de ajo (the salsa with burnt garlic in it). Then enjoy that perfect soup.<br />
<br />
I have no idea if anything else here is any good. One time I had a milkshake here and it was pretty bad. Also the cakes here look really good and they display them like treasures in a glass fridge near the entrance, but whenever I've had them I've been disappointed.<br />
<br />
#3: <b>El Turix</b>, in Polanco;<br />
<b>Cobá</b>, in Napoles<br />
<br />
Two different options for amazing Yucatan food.<br />
<br />
El Turix is a hole in the wall in Polanco, and it may be the only hole in the wall in tony Polanco. Certainly it's the only cheap food I've ever had in that neighborhood, and it's the only iconic restaurant there. You absolutely must go to this restaurant if you are in Polanco, it's an essential stop.<br />
<br />
Coba is a local chain I think and doesn't have the absolutely realness or food quality of El Turix, but the food is pretty good, and they do have more variety. And tables. It's a comfy, cute and casual spot that's always empty. Try a panucho de cochinita, or a panucho de lomitas, which are both really tasty. For fun you can try the panucho of shark, 'cazon', which sounds more exciting than it tastes, since it just tastes like any white fish. Cobá has a 2 for 1 tacos and panuchos deal on Mondays all day. That's the day to go.<br />
<br />
#4: <b>Mercado de San Pedro de los Pinos</b><br />
<br />
The stall here with the green chairs is great. It's across from a candy merchant. The only mercado stall I trust for this type of food. Try the tacos de bistec con queso. Or the pambazo de papas con toda (lettuce, onion, and cremá). There's another stall here with a great flan, and another stall with great seafood. Everything else is sorta ok but not nearly as good as the stall with green high top chairs.<br />
<br />
I will also here make a special shout out to the pambazo. Try a pambazo. I didn't fall in love on my first pambazo. But I am now in love with pambazos. It will happen.<br />
<br />
#5: <b>Dhaka Biriyani </b><br />
Calle Kansas 13, Naples, 03810 Mexico City: Closes 9PM<br />
<br />
This place is amazing. By far the best Bangledeshi / Indian food I've had in Mexico City. Truly a great restaurant. The prices are fair and reasonable and the portions are very satisfying. The flavors are totally perfect. And the guys who run the restaurant are very nice. I really recommend this place! Can not wait to go back!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
#6: <b>Ka Won Seng Jia Wang Cheng </b></div>
<div>
<b>and Yi Pin Ju</b><br />
<br />
These are the two best Chinese restuarants that I've tried in DF. They are very good. Just make sure you ask the waiter if the meat has bones or not (one thing I ordered was mostly bone : ( the word for bone is hueso). But absolutely amazing food. Avoid going to most Chinese places in DF, and especially avoid the buffet Chinese places. At Yi Pin Ju you can pay with Visa, but only cash at Ka Won Seng.<br />
<br />
#7: T<b>he various fruit stalls and carts around the city</b><br />
<br />
#8: Tiangias Nuevo York for the mixcote. Try mixcote tacos if you can!<br />
<br />
#9: <b>Ojo de Agua </b><br />
Various locations<br />
<br />
A popular and very posh looking chain with very good juices. My favourite was the agua horchata de coco.<br />
<br />
#10: <b>Pasteleria Alcazar Quintana Roo</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
A comfortable and very simple coffee shop chain in the city. Good coffee, cheap, and elegant surroundings.<br />
<br />
#11: <b>La Mascota </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This is a bar (a cantina) where they serve botanas - little snacks or small meals - free with your order of beer. The beer is about 70 pesos which is about 50 pesos more than usual but they will serve you tacos or carnitas or stranger offerings of your choice from the daily menu, like pigs feet or soup oxtail soup. A very charming and old world sort of place. Anthony Bourdain came here. You can also pay by Visa. Musicians will come in and out and there's lots of singing.<br />
<br />
#12: <b>Cantina la potosina</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Another cantina, this one doesnt serve botanas (they will give you peanuts though). Just a very old school and charming spot to have a beer, definitely few tourists come by here. Check out the dueling statues on the corner by the bar: Jesus on one side of the street, Santa Muerta on the other.<br />
<br />
#13: <b>Pulqueria La Pirata; </b><br />
<b>Pulqueria La Paloma Azul; </b><br />
<b>Pulqueria Los Insurgentes </b><br />
<br />
Three great spots to try pulque, a classic Mexican drink made of fermented agave. The plain version sorta tastes like yogurt, spit, and semen. It's good. But the fruit flavored ones taste like fruit and yogurt. Also good, most people like it like this. Mildly alcoholic. The first two places are the old school type of pulqueria. The last one is a trendy cool pulqueria. But all of them serve the pulque the classic and only way: ladled out of a barrel. Pulquerias usually have poems on the walls outside or inside describing the beauty of being drunk from pulque. A good article on that here: <a href="https://degustosyplaceres.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/dichos-y-refranes-de-borrachos-cantinas-y-pulqueria/">https://degustosyplaceres.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/dichos-y-refranes-de-borrachos-cantinas-y-pulqueria/</a><br />
<br />
#14: <b>Marisqueria La Glorieta</b><br />
The very very first restaurant I ever ate at in Mexico. I had the very tasty stuffed chile, and a parsely taco. The parsely taco had crispy almost-burnt parsely. It was delicious and I've never seen it anywhere else and I often go back for it. They serve a really tasty crab-and-mayo dip here with crackers before your meal.<br />
<br />
#15: <b>El Huequito </b><br />
A good chain that specializes in tacos al pastor though everything is good. There is some evidence that this chain's original location was the first to actually create the al pastor style.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyN2oUWXzvlA1NpBbPtgVl7B8SkoH6lbp78d0p8RnU_l_dGq0ec8ULAbDCXHR0Wv1xXAKUJyBlqcoaWL-MZ4xjagZ8hQN3OFNJorDYS87CGviKNomuD6j4R_yCM4bEMl6cmFKcOd4hNQg/s1600/20181029_202911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyN2oUWXzvlA1NpBbPtgVl7B8SkoH6lbp78d0p8RnU_l_dGq0ec8ULAbDCXHR0Wv1xXAKUJyBlqcoaWL-MZ4xjagZ8hQN3OFNJorDYS87CGviKNomuD6j4R_yCM4bEMl6cmFKcOd4hNQg/s640/20181029_202911.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the ubiquitous pinball-esque gambling machines in DF - I wish you the best of luck in Mexico City! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /><br /><br />
<br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0ADYrdCVUGC7hAPoHqKkYsphuIj9MtpjHA5bpPbMKdP69e1fvwblnm8TsGkqVh8rvEUPU8NYObRBagTxkCMmazSuzpQTO-X0VoxHzTbETc-GwgkHb-sTd-nu9mY115UUl6ObAamlbs9f7aSYiqxf9ax65EpMdsro_1hqTFX8zZBqAvuotZMyFqJnFFQ=s1080" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1080" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0ADYrdCVUGC7hAPoHqKkYsphuIj9MtpjHA5bpPbMKdP69e1fvwblnm8TsGkqVh8rvEUPU8NYObRBagTxkCMmazSuzpQTO-X0VoxHzTbETc-GwgkHb-sTd-nu9mY115UUl6ObAamlbs9f7aSYiqxf9ax65EpMdsro_1hqTFX8zZBqAvuotZMyFqJnFFQ=w640-h376" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A salute to these young men, thank you for taking care of this marvelous city</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-85211934403213650932019-01-24T21:18:00.001-08:002021-06-14T14:53:13.258-07:00Poem 17: The Gravy Tanker Disaster The sky was becoming foggy<br />
But certain names were becoming luminous -<br />
<br />
Politicians and literati<br />
Were sizzling steaks.<br />
<br />
The gentle ones were bleating<br />
The fat one's bellowed<br />
The thin ones screaming<br />
They were all so tender and juicy.<br />
<br />
The ether crackled with messages -<br />
A host of commonplaces were transmitted<br />
To the end of the world at the speed of light:<br />
Steak for sale! Good blood-red steak! <br />
<br />
He looked at me with the eyes of a stranger.<br />
A stranger with a fork<br />
was stumbling over what he had just created:<br />
The locomotive of thought had derailed.<br />
Spilling everywhere burning<br />
Twisted rubble of the intelligible.<br />
And the people all ran down to the hot ashes<br />
of Culture<br />
To cook the perfect steak<br />
<br />
--David StokesDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-26028922711287936372019-01-22T12:15:00.002-08:002022-12-02T10:53:19.241-08:00Poem 16: Cancun Mechanical <br />
<div>
<div>
A man with a Metallica tattoo</div>
<div>
a sculptor’s daughter</div>
<div>
and a ballerina who broke her foot</div>
<div>
on the first day of the job</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
the muslim pilot</div>
<div>
is kissing a detective’s wife</div>
<div>
while driving the plane</div>
<div>
as the co-pilot sits in the bathroom</div>
<div>
no one else has noticed a thing</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can hear Eminem</div>
<div>
on the night bus home</div>
<div>
on a poor man’s headphones</div>
<div>
“it’s not so bad,</div>
<div>
it’s not so bad”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It’s not so bad.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
--Raphael C. Watkins</div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-62166341814546754232018-12-23T22:43:00.000-08:002019-07-29T09:17:37.461-07:00Poem 15: The Chain <span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: large;">Only the dead die alone,</span><br />
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">riding an ass to Athabasca</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Acid rain, acid snow,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">acid tongues</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Got these shackles on my feet</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">like pigeons </span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the language beyond language</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I do not know</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Golden chains of love</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">bind me to a dead and dying world</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">free me</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">and I will spire</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">like the sun</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">or the swallow in its womb,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">womb and word</span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">-- Eli Fox</span></div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-44890019096081407762018-03-05T11:06:00.001-08:002018-03-05T11:06:51.042-08:00Article 25: The Putin Anecdote Recently, I was in an office at the rear of a bank in North York, a bank attached to a swanky mall. I was in a hurry and the young banker who was processing something for my account noticed that I was eager to leave.<br />
<br />
'What's the hurry?' he asked. 'Oh, nothing', I answered. I didn't want to tell him that I wanted to leave because sitting in his office was putting me to sleep. Perhaps he sensed I was bored and thus let slip the following anecdote, which was sure to pique my interest, and I hope yours as well dear reader.<br />
<br />
'You're not the first client I've had be in a hurry. Once I had a client who came in first thing in the morning and needed me to urgently do something for his account. I asked what was the hurry and he said that he was flying to Russia later that day to have dinner in the evening with Vladimir Putin. I didn't believe him but he came back in a few weeks and showed me pictures on his phone, of him and Putin sitting beside each other, laughing and eating. He told me that they were old friends.' <br />
<br />
Well I was no longer bored and in fact I wanted to stay in his office and ask him more questions, but something told me it wouldn't be a good idea to learn any more information. I left the bank very intrigued that someone who does his banking in North York near my house is an old friend of Vladimir Putin, and has the same banker as me. I wonder what's in his account.<br />
<br />
--David Stokes <br />
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-9989604236737513832018-03-04T09:36:00.001-08:002019-08-03T06:42:15.371-07:00Poem 14: The Innocents <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Cascading slaughter</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Like the buffalo</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The city of Buffalo</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The braying of the hounds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFbuVaOTIMUdLxdjYiCTV8ZgSVawJeNvGUnyjW-lLgqAk8qB50x_OfLFz3YRHHtEAVTNX2Hoa1f_Kw7onmbexHp1uwkTYKhjEsuj7xZ2Urkf-4gzNsrdRWlI8r2Lm2i9eyHqOXSGsqP9i/s1600/20180304_154642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFbuVaOTIMUdLxdjYiCTV8ZgSVawJeNvGUnyjW-lLgqAk8qB50x_OfLFz3YRHHtEAVTNX2Hoa1f_Kw7onmbexHp1uwkTYKhjEsuj7xZ2Urkf-4gzNsrdRWlI8r2Lm2i9eyHqOXSGsqP9i/s640/20180304_154642.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">--Eli Fox</span></span>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-36734878887482453742018-02-26T15:20:00.000-08:002018-03-16T20:32:39.106-07:00Big Land Design #2: "The Meeting of A Grasshopper and a Dog at a Street Corner" (bronze sculpture for Mexico City)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf-G2SNz4NOW0HVY1Sn5TvWJthUfujIYtTLszZzBrrdOknPv3A5yCppmH88w7KbgTj-Cs6jPGGIuP5Cx7BPHb1ZGxw5g9pmUotYaxhtdvJTICj_5D9wmpCjiH6T7pu4f4mzTuY_LLZili/s1600/colored+version+of+meeting+of+dog+and+grasshopper+at+a+streetcorner.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOf-G2SNz4NOW0HVY1Sn5TvWJthUfujIYtTLszZzBrrdOknPv3A5yCppmH88w7KbgTj-Cs6jPGGIuP5Cx7BPHb1ZGxw5g9pmUotYaxhtdvJTICj_5D9wmpCjiH6T7pu4f4mzTuY_LLZili/s640/colored+version+of+meeting+of+dog+and+grasshopper+at+a+streetcorner.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Description of the Sculpture </b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Here is a sketch of a proposed and hopefully one-day realized bronze sculpture for Mexico City. It depicts the meeting of a grasshopper and a dog at a street corner. The two life-size bronzes will be anchored in place at a suitable street corner in Mexico City, preferably at the meeting of two quiet streets. Mexico City is a city full of dogs (some as pets and others as street dogs) as well as of grasshoppers (both the dried crickets that people eat here as snacks, and the famous </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chapultepec Castle, named from the Nahuatl word chapoltepēc which means "at the grasshopper's hill"). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The sculpture is inspired by a sentiment by the poet Tristan Tzara, who wrote in his </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sept manifestes</i> <i>Dada</i> that dada, or free expression, should be seen as "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">the meeting</span><span style="background-color: white;"> place of contradiction, the point where the yes and the no meet, not solemnly in the castles of human philosophies, but very simply on </span><span style="background-color: white;">street corners</span><span style="background-color: white;"> like </span><span style="background-color: white;">dogs and grasshoppers." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We hope that the sculpture delights with its innocence and whimsy, and makes it's viewers contemplate what beguiling people, places, animals, ideas, and thoughts they might meet at a street corner. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTXstU439n5zXF4HFKg06kp4gGdxyZhoUbBhrmXT7cvFtz9AzvJT5HHG9gc54pwXGEukrBGrNGtMG4Y-TUI9-yS9Y5tPDPvLw_PeZ9lTqZOVT3kdbAAlh_O_Pm0S2Tb0gRThQ-yGl7J_q/s1600/Screenshot_20180302-095033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="909" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTXstU439n5zXF4HFKg06kp4gGdxyZhoUbBhrmXT7cvFtz9AzvJT5HHG9gc54pwXGEukrBGrNGtMG4Y-TUI9-yS9Y5tPDPvLw_PeZ9lTqZOVT3kdbAAlh_O_Pm0S2Tb0gRThQ-yGl7J_q/s320/Screenshot_20180302-095033.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Design by David Stokes </span></span><br />
<br />DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-527775670508334172018-02-23T09:11:00.000-08:002018-03-05T11:36:47.871-08:00Big Land Design #1: Sweet Cherry Beach <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-2kNCwJnpV1d_H02jaNN8n14GQhvFgGPhmmb-E6RdFsMyo_nUumq44JsTTnmjY4NRoi1IsI6kj8PebfdaOb2wzreh0gkhi46OsYRLsPPhjEFdrFrW18TxHHNW4mwDrzaE-sizYDVBaFq/s1600/Render1.png" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-2kNCwJnpV1d_H02jaNN8n14GQhvFgGPhmmb-E6RdFsMyo_nUumq44JsTTnmjY4NRoi1IsI6kj8PebfdaOb2wzreh0gkhi46OsYRLsPPhjEFdrFrW18TxHHNW4mwDrzaE-sizYDVBaFq/s640/Render1.png" width="640" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Proposal </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cherry Beach on Lake Ontario in Toronto is a beloved spot for numerous leisure activities. It is the closest main-land beach to the city centre with water access and it is adjacent to an area slated for an enormous redevelopment, converting the current industrial land there into residential and commercial buildings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While Cherry Beach is a delightful place, the condition of the beach surface is degraded. The beach has as much mud, silt, and construction debris as sand. Wading into the water brings cuts and scrapes to the feet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We propose that Cherry Beach can be sweeter. Our proposal aims to improve site conditions and to mitigate the forces that have created the site's current state.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is an examination of what has led to the current site conditions. The following information is provided by Ken Dion, Se<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">nior Manager of Special Projects, Project Management Office, </span><b style="background-color: white; color: green;">Toronto and Region Conservation Authority:</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The sand at Cherry <span class="il">Beach</span> was originally placed in its current location through coastal deposition processes from the Scarborough Bluffs. However, in the 1950s, the Toronto Harbour Commissioners initiated the construction of the Leslie Street Spit, later to become Tommy Thompson Park. The construction of this feature effectively cuts off the continued transport of sand from the Bluffs to Cherry <span class="il">Beach</span>, as such there remains no new supply of sand to Cherry <span class="il">Beach</span>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Given the configuration of Tommy Thompson Park, and the Toronto Islands waves and currents along the Cherry Beach</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> only come in from the west. As such, sand placed on Cherry </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beach</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">generally moves in a west to east direction with little to no longshore currents that are able to move the sand back westward to Cherry </span><span class="il" style="color: #222222; font-size: xx-small;">Beach</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. As a result, the observed conditions at Cherry </span><span class="il" style="color: #222222; font-size: xx-small;">Beach</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> reflect the results of continuous movement of finer materials </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">towards the east, leaving behind the larger materials behind. </span></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority conducted a study a few years ago which recommended the placement of a number of harder groyne structures perpendicular into the water so that they can capture and hold the sand close to the <span class="il">beach</span>, however, there were concerns that it would too drastically change the character of the <span class="il">beach</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>Our Site Plan</b></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To make the site more user friendly, this project proposes three parts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. A series of sand replenishments, to make the beach more secure against erosion and more enjoyable to use</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. A series of distinct and attractive "cherry pile" groynes extending from the shore into the water, to keep the beach sand in place. It is hoped that the sculptural quality of these groynes will mitigate some of the concerns with the TRCA groyne study, namely that groynes are extremely unsightly (for example, see the grey concrete groynes that run the length of Toronto's western beaches)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. A modest sculptural element on the beach, connecting the cherry theme of the groynes to the beach, and creating a new landmark</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqP40smUD3EcmKRyAYRTcRXn1OCVSqrhaDK2pP8Je1A3INSAH8uWWwOgaaM7xWr2pVbWW15uK2Za0gYNmkNkl6GMpcxNcASOJC23bKNdglv8k99YfXhB9s44uofNIlkKX75XO7IdqxrdP/s1600/Screenshot_20180301-132535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1283" data-original-width="978" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqP40smUD3EcmKRyAYRTcRXn1OCVSqrhaDK2pP8Je1A3INSAH8uWWwOgaaM7xWr2pVbWW15uK2Za0gYNmkNkl6GMpcxNcASOJC23bKNdglv8k99YfXhB9s44uofNIlkKX75XO7IdqxrdP/s640/Screenshot_20180301-132535.jpg" width="484" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5ArTZOE5SKX0b17C6xR6wOoKWCi8VBK56nr4jY0I303Z3QQB1mfnPUHnwqJq2G3va8_kW6m-PA_FI4RU0WSM0Y1Z6wSnn5Tz1juSzjBbe02TQwE1H0KtSAvs1UiwQLoofGk5mMjo9r38/s1600/Screenshot_20180301-132659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1600" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5ArTZOE5SKX0b17C6xR6wOoKWCi8VBK56nr4jY0I303Z3QQB1mfnPUHnwqJq2G3va8_kW6m-PA_FI4RU0WSM0Y1Z6wSnn5Tz1juSzjBbe02TQwE1H0KtSAvs1UiwQLoofGk5mMjo9r38/s640/Screenshot_20180301-132659.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Design by David Stokes and Daniel Stokes</span><br />
<br />DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-3411705012239854842018-02-21T11:09:00.005-08:002021-07-29T07:57:52.999-07:00Article 24: Iranian Grocery Store Dating Request <span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Toronto Department</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Arzon Supermarket is in my opinion Toronto's finest Iranian grocery store. They are open 24 hours and I go all the time, usually very late at night, typically ordering either the fesanjoon stew or some of the various kebabs, grilled over what in the wee hours are just little piles of pale charcoal dust tended by a kindly white haired old man. He takes a torn piece of cardboard and waves it over your food. And that charcoal dust, seemingly hopelessly spent, springs back into life red hot.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On a recent day I went to the store with my mother much earlier than normal, at around 8pm. My mom and I were there to get some baklava pastries. The two guys who are always there late at night manning the cash register were already there. They are both about late middle age. I see them all the time but I don't know their names. One of them is very handsome and I've always thought he looks like an Iranian George Clooney or Cary Grant. The other man has the bulldog look of a beleaguered business man, which makes me believe he is the owner even though I don't think he is. I've always wanted to get to know these guys but other than pleasantries while paying I have never have really talked to them.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With their help, my mom and I chose some pastries from the glass cases underneath the cash register. And we told both of them how we were going to serve these pastries at a charity dinner at a church. This seemed to pique the interest of the handsome one, but there were a bunch of customers in line behind us so we moved on and perused a bit in the store. There are hundreds of products in their brightly colored Farsi wrappers, fresh flatbreads strewn on shelves, towers of lemons, hookahs and pottery on high racks, portraits of royalty, flags, posters for visiting singers - an attempt to fit all that is longed for of home into one little store.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My mom and I wandered over to the middle of the store. I showed her the freezer filled with sunshine-yellow saffron-and-rose-water ice cream. There are tubs of the ice cream alone, and some of it is sold in plastic cups where the ice cream sits swirled atop a pile of what look like white noodles. My mom and I have never seen ice cream with noodles and we wondered what it might be. The line at the cash had dissipated and I asked the guys there what these noodles were. They told me that they are made of rice, powdered rice. Persian heartthrob showed me a little bag of it in the form of flakes.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Then he came around the counter and asked me and my mom to follow him. The three of us went over to a narrow aisle in the store where they have bulk bins. He reached down and handed us these little white things, misshapen bits like from the bottom of instant noodles. Mixed in with these were flakes and odd gravelly stone shapes very small and tiny. He motioned that we should taste them, and right as we put them in our mouths he says, "I want to ask for your help, can you help me find a woman?" Immediately I'm thinking this guy wants to ask my mom out or something, my newly widowed mom, but he kept going, "Do you know anyone? I've tried but all the women I meet are bad, they like to drink too much and do drugs and smoke. Do you know anyone at the church?" My mom looks at him with both kindness and sadness and says that she had met her husband at church, and then with a laugh that not all people at church are good. And we asked him about online dating and he said it didn't work. He said he didn't care about ethnicity or religion or anything, he said he was just desperate to meet a nice woman. Can anyone help him?</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My mom and I left with our pastries, not sure of what we should think. The white flakes we tried were totally flavorless and tasted like chalk, like the bitterness and emptiness of a life without love.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">--David Stokes</span>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-83426958691250910342018-02-20T10:33:00.000-08:002018-02-20T10:36:38.238-08:00Big Land Video 3: Looking For A Place In the Community, with Federico Rosendo and his friend, standing on the roof of his house, in Temalacatzingo, GuerreroGuerrero Department<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ut7M03Yl0U0?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
--shot by David StokesDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-14318103673279475542018-02-20T10:25:00.000-08:002018-02-20T10:36:54.115-08:00Big Land Video 2: Your Life Store Toronto Department<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ngOejHqVwRo?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
--shot by Daniel GlassmanDavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-26201360953651806222018-02-20T10:11:00.001-08:002018-03-05T11:54:35.762-08:00Poem 13: 10,000 More<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_4967174295847987264p1" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<img class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-ajT m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-CToWUd m_-1536683471187375966gmail-CToWUd CToWUd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjkyoSXZGxqM3nkIwuxTeQcahumq0XCevH6CGFYFp7XPpkqP1lMgDgRLag_kKXNXqEy9T6pKvotqzIGw-9y_zJHDCacVz0sqJfEHLA4HNvQs-9nqop91GcQhhdh6ZlBUawurqST8yiCpL8UYFTd63YPTMiklHIwo_nRb1UL=s0-d-e1-ft" style="font-size: 12.8px;" /></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-adL" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Magnetized fishes</span><span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-im"></span><br />
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-im">
</span>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-im"><span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">with eyes that glow</span></span></div>
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-im">
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">impregnate the wounds</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">of a thousand men</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p2" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">Ten thousand <span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-il">more</span> would die</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">to be granted such an audience</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">with Bozo the clown himself,</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">pulling the strings of the slipstream</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p2" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<br />
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1"></span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">We have traveled such great distances<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">to fish the eyes of man</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">that there is nothing left</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">but incremental change</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">tumbling backwards</span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477s1">atrophied, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">like the sprouting of ways</span><span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477p1" style="font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 12.8px;">--Eli Fox </span></div>
<div>
<span class="m_-1536683471187375966gmail-m_7881007428742128585gmail-m_3407397829328482421gmail-m_7538291833387944779m_-485886818667817622gmail-m_-2969600843726624477Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
</span></div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-69961285751552950332018-02-20T10:07:00.000-08:002018-03-09T16:36:52.854-08:00Article 23: Saturday Night Breadmaking at the Church of St George<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Toronto Department</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every Saturday night a holy ritual occurs off Don Mills Road between an LA Fitness and some industrial buildings at the Church of St George, an Egyptian Coptic church, where in the basement a group of young men gather to bake the Hamal - holy bread - the body of Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My brother, despite not being Egyptian or Coptic, has been helping bake the bread with his Egyptian friends for a number of years now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The many sensations of the bread-making room arrive all at once. It has bright white light like an restaurant kitchen and a high ceiling like it reaches into heaven yet is cramped at the bottom with equipment and six guys kneading dough elbow to elbow around a marble table. The air is sweet, humid, dusty, hot. The walls are decorated with tapped down posters of Coptic popes, saints, and Jesus, all painted in that strange kitsch style that makes them look both old and still to come. No surface escapes decoration - numerous saints can be tapped to a humidifier. The posters look supernaturally bright and vivid since every other surface of the room is coated in a thin white layer of flour. The dust floating in the air seems shaped by the melodically chanted Arabic that comes out of a grimy computer speaker atop a minifridge atop a countertop, and the room hums with the sound of these ceaselessly sung psalms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The singers are across the hall in a small wooden-pewed chapel that smells of incense and has finely decorated altar. Three men sing into a microphone and their words get piped across the hall to the bread-making room to bless the bread throughout its making. Sometimes these chants combine with the sound of the dough mixing machine spinning loudly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other than the young men kneading dough, there is an older man, Uncle Atef, who the young men just call Uncle. He's the one who is in charge of the bread-making. He's the one who tapped up the pictures to the wall and the only one who can point to any picture on the wall and tell you who that saint was and what they did or which grey-bearded pope was which. When one of the young men leaves the break-making for good, moving say for school or marriage, Uncle Atef will pull down a poster of a saint and give it to them as a parting gift. Other than his faith, Uncle Atef holds no official religious title. He's in charge of the bread-making because he's done it for a long time, starting back in Egypt, and it's difficult work done late at night and he's the one willing to keep doing it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's only three ingredients: flour, water, yeast. The final addition is labor. "It's actually a workout," says one young man. My brother, Daniel, adds, "Some days, it's work." Someone else shows me a scar from accidentally touching the oven. To make the bread they use 10 kilos of flour a batch. So much is made because there are five masses a week and communion at each one. At the end of a service there is a thing called bouraka where all the bread that isn't blessed is broken up and given out. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's definitely a lot of skill to making the bread. From slapping the hamal on the table, then bending it over your palm, then stamping it with complex wooden cross patterns and putting little holes in it to let off steam. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The end result will be a </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">round, fluffy loaf of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bread</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> with crosses on top. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Round 2! All over again! Guys lets do it!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the night goes on there's more and more joking around. Overheard: "Oh baby let my people go Pharaoh pharaoh ohh baby yeah yeah yeah"; then some christian rap; "no it was when Spongebob ripped his pants..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Daniel is holding a garden hose tube, cleaning the big mixing bowl. "Dude you's got ho's!" someone shouts. "No just one!" Everyone laughs. Someone else leans over and says, "And that's exactly why they have the chants: to go over us." Another guy looks at the hose seriously and says, "I remember one time I left it in and flooded the room." Daniel mimics a heavy Egyptian accent and pretends to act like Uncle when people are being bad and he is angry: "Get out! Get out!" Uncle probably has missed the meaning of the last few comments and just smiles. When Uncle's not looking, little balls of dough get tossed into each others mouths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eventually, the bread is all shaped and the next step, the baking, requires waiting for it to rise. Only two helpers need to stay for that portion. Everyone gathers in the hall and drinks orange crush and plays monopoly cards before heading out for the night. Daniel and his friend use the break to run over to a late night Chinese place and Daniel brings back some food for Uncle Atef, who keeps trying to pay him back the $7 for the chicken. Daniel refuses. "You've given me such a blessing Uncle."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Beneath a mosaic of Christ feeding the 5000, they eat their Chinese food from Styrofoam boxes. Soon they will have to finish the baking, and get home around 4 am.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">--David Stokes</span>DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2178454222459503194.post-64254248418302814552018-02-20T10:04:00.001-08:002018-03-07T17:02:07.016-08:00Article 22: What Happened to the Toronto Reference Library's Fabric "Jungle"? <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Toronto Department</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I was 13, living in the suburbs, a rare trip downtown made a big impression on me. And no place then was more enchanting to me than the Toronto Reference Library. It is still the loveliest indoor public space in the city, but something beautiful there has since been lost. Here's what my youthful mind remembers: </span></div>
<div style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When you entered the doors of the library you immediately saw an indoor fountain and pond, and above it, an insane mass of white fabric, both messy and elegant, rigorously ordered and overgrown. And you needed to walk beside the fountain and pond and beneath the folds of this fabric to get to the library proper, like passing through a jungle narrow to reach a lost temple of books. With this strange little space - lush, intimate, messy, soft, so different from the hardness and professional order of the city - and then the sudden vast open space of the library's wondrous 10-story atrium, the Reference Library was the most romantic and perfect of places in the entire city. </span></div>
<div style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">So I was very sad to grow up and become a frequent visitor of the library but find the "jungle" gone. The pond was still there, but no sign of the fabric forest existed. Over the years I asked a number of people working at the circulation desks about it and they didn't know what I was talking about. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Eventually someone suggested that I check out a certain binder that the library keeps amid the stacks on the top floor, a binder filled with newspaper clippings and documents about the library itself. There was the answer to what the jungle had been. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It was "Lyra", a sculpture that the library had commissioned specially for that location by the entrance, created by artist Aiko Suzuki, a Japanese Canadian like the building's architect, Raymond Moriyama. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">A photograph of Lyra’s unveiling in 1981 shows dancers surrounded by the aerial sculptures: members of Toronto Dance Theatre performed in the library lobby’s emptied fountain pool at Suzuki’s request. </span>According to a Toronto Star article by Lotta Dempsey July 26, 1980 Suzuki " sees the strands of white and earth tone fibre moving delicately with air currents - "breathing" - and catching light as its visual harp like music.... "I am not a weaver, or a craftsman" she says firmly "I am an artist." Lyra was made of 1 million feet of white nylon fiber and was the largest fiber sculpture ever commissioned in Canada, suspended from 146 points in the ceiling. It took Suzuki eight months to complete her 45 by 23 foot sculpture. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what had happened to Lyra? </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wrote an email to someone at the library's art desk and in response I received this email from the manager of the library: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dear Mr. Stokes,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was passed along your inquiry about Lyra. Although I’m relatively new to Toronto Reference Library, I was able to discover the following information. If you’d like to know more, please let me know and I’ll see what I can dig up.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lyra, a textile sculpture by Aiko Suzuki, hung at the entrance to the Toronto Reference Library from 1981 to 2003, at which time it was taken down at the request of the artist due to its deteriorated condition. The sculpture’s location near the main entrance, suspension over water and requirement to have fire retardant coating all contributed to physical deterioration of the textile over time. The Library then proceeded to secure an assessment to determine if the sculpture could be cleaned and restored to an acceptable level and what the feasibility of achieving that would be. Test results from the Canadian Conservation Institute concluded that the significant risk of the conservation treatment and the associated cost far outweigh the anticipated benefits of this work. Unfortunately, the artist’s original intent would not be able to be satisfactorily recaptured.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Following the artist’s passing and with the test results available, library staff had a number of meetings and discussions with Ms. Suzuki’s daughter, we reached a mutual decision to decommission Lyra.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sincerely,<u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Gillian Byrne</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u></u>Manager, Toronto Reference Library </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was the answer, with new and more melancholy questions. I sent Ms Byrne a number of these follow-ups and never received a response. But what answers would satisfy me. Something beautiful was gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Lyra fiber sculpture Toronto Reference Library by Aiko Suzuki" src="http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5509ea6a1883401b8d2b57d8f970c-800wi" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">--David Stokes</span></span></div>
</div>
DavidJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15669631433056474102noreply@blogger.com