Who Are They???

As I have mentioned many times, my apartment is just a short walk from the Mexico City World Trade Center.  A part of the complex is a concert venue known as the Pepsi Center.  The frequent concerts... sometimes even on weeknights... draw large crowds and snarled traffic.

Outside the center there are posters advertising upcoming events.  I have to admit that I have never heard of any of these singers and musical groups.

Even as a youth I was never really a follower of the latest music, but Alejandro has never heard of any of them either.  I guess we are just a couple of old fogies! 

 

Mangos!

 

One of my favorite fruits is the mango.  It is hard to get really good mangos in the United States.  The very best variety is the one known as the "mango de Manila" (as the name implies, it was originally brought to Mexico from the Philippines).  However, due to the delicate nature of the fruit, the "mango de Manila" is rarely exported to the United States.

The season for the "mango de Manila" is from April through October.  This week when I went to the market to buy produce, I asked the vendor if she had any.  She did, and I bought several to take back to the apartment.  They are so sweet and juicy.  If fact, I have to eat the mangos over the kitchen sink, and I have to wash the mango juice off my face and hands after eating it.

Mangos will now be on my weekly shopping list when I go to the market!

Poster Pollution

The elections in Mexico are a little over a month away.  I wrote in an earlier blog entry about the political signs posted everywhere, but, since my return from Ohio, the number of signs, banners and posters has proliferated to the point of ridiculousness.  This is especially evident in Alejandro's part of town.  It is not as if his borough is a hotly contested district; the area is overwhelmingly in favor of the ruling, populist party Morena.  But Morena obviously has money to burn with advertising overkill.

 On every utility pole there are multiple posters, one on top of another.  It just looks trashy.

 

Janecarlo Lozano is running for the mayor of the borough where Alejandro lives.  He goes by his unusual first name which is pronounced ha-nay-car-lo, but we jokingly Anglicize his name and call him Jane Carlo.

Someone obviously does not like Yuriri Ayala, Morena candidate for local deputy.

 

The sad thing is that no one removes these posters after the election.  For months and months the neighborhood will be blighted with poster pollution.

Street Art Again

It's been quite a while since I have written an entry about street art in Mexico City.

I was walking around Alejandro's neighborhood yesterday, and I photgraphed several examples which I had not posted previously.

Geometric designs decorating a wall behind a local playground

A mural on a government sponsored athletic and cultural center

Public schools frequently have outdoor art.  The following are on the walls of a junior high school and an elementary school. 

I don't know exactly what this beast is supposed to be. Perhaps it's an "alebrije", a fantastical creature which combines elements of different animals.

Nor am I sure who this person is supposed to be, or if the headdress is a jaguar or a tiger.

There is no mistaking the subject of this painting however.  It is Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god of pre-Hispanic Mexico. 

Pambazos!

On Saturday, Alejandro and I were walking through the "tianguis" (outdoor market) in his neighborhood.  He was trying to decide what he should fix for dinner for the family that day, and he asked me if I would like "pambazos".  Several years ago I wrote about those tasty sandwiches, and Alejandro didn't have to twist my arm for me to say "¡Sí!".

So, instead of buying something in the market to fix for dinner, we went to a nearby, hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

There are a few tables inside, but most of their business is carry-out.  You can see that Alejandro was second in line, but, soon after we arrived, a long line of customers had formed behind us.

The place is called "Doña Tere Pozolería".  The specialty is "pozole", a pork and hominy soup.  (A number of those waiting carried plastic buckets to be filled with soup.)  However, they serve a number of other traditional Mexican foods, including "pambazos".

A "pambazo" is a bun with a filling of chorizo sausage and diced potatoes.  The bread is then brushed with salsa and grilled.  As a finishing touch, some shredded lettuce and "crema" are added.

We purchased eight "pambazos" and took them home for dinner.  They are definitely a "knife and fork" type of sandwich.  They are also very filling.  I had one and a half "pambazos", and I was stuffed.

Not an especially healthy meal, but so delicious!

Welcome Rain

Mexico's dry season usually runs from November until the middle of May.  However, this year the dry season is more than just dry.  Much of the country is suffering from a severe drought compounded by higher-than-normal temperatures.  Many lakes throughout the nation are drying up.  Lake Pátzcuaro in the state of Michoacán is a popular tourist destination, and the island of Janitzio in the middle of the lake is famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations.

This is what Lake Pátzcuaro currently looks like, and you can walk to Janitzio...

(image taken from the internet)

So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the rainy season, at least here in Mexico City, seems to have started a bit early.  On Thursday, the day that I returned to Mexico, it was drizzling in the early evening.  In the middle of the night, while I was sleeping, it rained more heavily.  It drizzled again on Friday and Saturday, and then, yesterday afternoon, we had a heavy rain.

 
Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast for this afternoon and early evening again.

With last yesterday's rain, the webcam of the volcano Popocatépetl showed the peak covered with snow this morning.

Flying Home

 It still seems a bit strange to say that I am "flying home" when I return to Mexico City.

Last Thursday, after a wonderful two week stay in Ohio, visiting friends, and seeing the spectacular eclipse, I flew back to my adopted country.  I got up early, checked out of the hotel, and returned my rental car.  The shuttle bus took me the short distance to Cleveland airport.  My flight to Houston was scheduled to leave around 11:00 AM, and I checked in at 8:00.  On previous trips, I usually left Cleveland earlier in the morning, and I would be at the airport before 6:00.  I was amazed that the airport is much less crowded a couple hours later... the check in line was minimal and even the security line was shorter.  On future trips to Ohio, I will have to make it a point to leave on a late morning flight instead of at the crack of dawn.

As I mentioned when I left on this trip, I had splurged and booked first class tickets.  I had plenty of time before departure, so I was able to have a leisurely, free breakfast in the United Club lounge.  My flight to Houston left on time, and I was served lunch on board.  I had a three-hour layover in Houston, so I availed myself again of the United Club, and ate more free food.  There was a lot of eating that day!

My flight to Mexico City also left on time and was pleasant and uneventful.  In drought-stricken Mexico City it has been sunny and hot for weeks. However, as we descended for our late-afternoon landing, the skies were overcast.  (Later that night it rained.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that perhaps the rainy season will begin early.)

Because of the gray, hazy conditions, the photos as we approached Mexico City International Airport are not the best...

In the metropolitan area outside the city limits is Presa Madín, one of the reservoirs that supply Mexico City with water.  Given the current water crisis, I was surprised that the level of the lake did not appear to be low.

As we fly over the city from the west, in the lower left you can see the Hipódromo de las Américas, Mexico City's track for horse races.  The vague green area to the upper right is Chapultepec Park.

A closer, but hazy view of Chapultepec Park. (My attempts to photoshop this picture did not do much good.) The two buildings on the left side of the park are the National Auditorium toward the bottom and above it the National Museum of Anthropology.  You see the line of skyscrapers stretching along the Paseo de la Reforma beyond the park.

The building in the center of the photo is the Mexico City World Trade Center. My apartment is down there just a block away.

I'm home!