What Was Going On?

On Wednesday when I went to the Anthropology Museum, I took the route that I will take when my friends Nancy and Fred are here with me in October.  I took the Metrobus up Insurgentes Avenue to the Hamburgo stop.  Then I walked across the Paseo de la Reforma to transfer to the new Metrobus Route 7 which features  double-decker buses.  That route goes down the Paseo de la Reforma and has a stop next to the Anthropology Museum.  But for some reason the Route 7 buses were not going that far down the boulevard.  Someone mentioned something about the Paseo being closed because of a demonstration.  (That's not usual in Mexico City.)

So if the boulevard was closed at some point, I had no choice but to walk down the Paseo de la Reforma to Chapultepec Park and then through the park to the museum. 

The Independence Monument along the Paseo de la Reforma

My unexpected walk had an unexpected benefit.   Along the sidewalk of the boulevard there are frequent exhibits.  Earlier this year in anticipation of the World Cup, they had giant soccer balls representing all the countries that were participating.  The balls were brightly painted to reflect each country.  You might remember the blog entry and the pictures that I posted in April.

Here is one of the pictures from that post.

Now, post-World Cup, they have a display of soccer balls honoring a few of the countries that have hosted the tournament in the past.

Here is Germany, host of the 2006 World Cup.  What makes these spheres so remarkable is that the designs are fashioned in the style of the handicrafts of the Huichol tribe of western Mexico.  That is to say that the decorations are created with thousands upon thousands of little, colored beads.

Here we have Sweden, host of the 1958 games.

Korea, 2002

Mexico, 1986

Russia, 2018

At the beginning and end of the exhibit are pairs of giant soccer shoes.  They too are decorated with a myriad of colored beads.

Well, that made the walk worthwhile.  But there was still no sign of why the Metrobus was not running its route.

I came to the entrance of Chapultepec Park, and just inside there was a temporary "bicycle school" set up where both children and adults could learn to safely ride a bicycle.

As I approached the Monument to the Boy Heroes (young cadets who died defending their city from the invading army of the U.S in 1847) I could see that something was going on there.

There were soldiers assembled and a military band was playing.  A wreath was placed on the "Altar of the Fatherland".  This certainly was not what was interrupting the Metrobus service on Reforma however.

I approached one of the soldiers and asked what the significance of the ceremony was.  He said something about it being the anniversary of the death of some soldier whose name I did not catch.  I asked a different soldier, and he said it was the anniversary of the School of Engineering.   ????

I made it to the museum.  Traffic was running normally along Reforma.  I still have no clue as to why the Metrobus was not operating.

Sometimes in Mexico you just have to accept the fact that nobody knows what the heck is going on!

(By the way, when I was finished in the museum, the bus was running normally.)