Another Month

Yesterday was the first of the month, and I forgot to post the picture for July from the calendar that I made for 2023.  Regular readers know that this year's calendar features photos that I took at the Cleveland Museum of Art.  

For the month of July, we have a beautiful painting of Yosemite by the 19th century landscape painter, Albert Bierstadt.

Bierstadt (1830 - 1902) was born in Germany, but his family emigrated to the United States when he was one year old.  He returned to Germany to study art, and after four years came back to the U.S. where he devoted himself to landscape painting.  He took several trips to the American West, and his monumental paintings of the natural wonders there were extremely popular with people back East.  

Today art critics are divided in their opinion of Bierstadt.  Some consider his work theatrical and oversized.  Others point out that his landscapes created support for the conservation movement and the establishment of the National Park system. 

Gelato!

Just a short walk from the apartment that I rent in Mexico City, a new ice cream parlor selling Italian-style "gelato" opened this year.  On my last two trips Alejandro and I have gone there a number of times for a tasty treat.

(photos taken by Alejandro)

One evening, toward the end of my most recent trip, we stopped there after dinner.  They have a variety of flavors, many of them flavors you would not see north of the border... or in Italy for that matter.

My two scoops were of "lemon pie" and "red fruits".  Alejandro had basic chocolate and vanilla.

Smokey Ohio

 It is rather ironic.  A month ago, before my last trip to Mexico, I was worried about the eruption of the volcano Popocatépetl.  I feared that the air would be filled with volcanic ash.  Now I have returned to Ohio, and the air quality here has been at unhealthy levels due to the wildfires in Canada.

Yesterday morning, my first day back in Ohio, I looked out the window and could see that the air was hazy.  This was not morning mist, but smoke from the fires.  Later in the afternoon, when I went grocery shopping, it was still noticeable.  In fact, it seemed smoggier than most days in Mexico City, which is infamous for its air pollution.  A couple of friends told me that it had been much worse the day before.

This morning the air looks clearer, although, according to the weather forecast, there is still an air quality alert.  This weekend we are supposed to have thunderstorms, so that should temporarily clean the air. 

The Journey Started Well Enough...

Yesterday, I made the journey from Mexico City to Ohio.

On this trip I had booked economy seats using my frequent flyer miles.  When I checked in online the day before, I was going to see how expensive it would be to upgrade to "Economy Plus" for more legroom.  When I clicked on an "Economy Plus" window seat for the Mexico City - Houston flight, I was immediately assigned that seat at no extra charge!  Perhaps it is because I have "Silver Premier" status that they did not charge me for the upgrade?  Anyway, I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  When I checked the Houston - Cleveland flight, however, the only "Economy Plus" seats available were middle seats.  So, I just kept my economy aisle seat.

My flight from Mexico City was supposed to depart at 11:30 AM.  Alejandro drove me to the airport.  We had to wait in a long line to check my suitcase, so we really didn't have time to eat breakfast before going through security and heading to my gate. I arrived at the gate shortly before boarding was supposed to start.  However, the plane was not yet at the gate.  It finally arrived, boarding began, and we pulled out about a half hour behind schedule.  I was not worried, since I had a three-hour layover in Houston.

We did not have the usual long wait on the runway for our turn to take off.  We were soon in the air.  My window seat was on the right side of the plane (I have normally been on the left side), so I had a different view during takeoff.  However, the sky was partially overcast, and I had no opportunity to see the volcanoes to the east of the city.

A remnant of the of the lake system which once covered a large portion of the valley where Mexico City stands today.

The flight to Houston takes only about two hours.  Before long we were flying over the Gulf coast of Texas.

I could see downtown Houston as we made our descent.

We had made up time, and, when we pulled up to the gate, we were only eleven minutes behind schedule.  In the past, going through immigration and customs and returning through security at Houston airport has been a breeze.  I don't know if I simply arrived at a bad time, but there was a long line at immigration, and security was chaotic.  But I was not concerned since I still had plenty of time to make my connection to Cleveland.

It was not until I had passed through security and checked the board to find the gate for my next flight that the smooth journey suddenly went awry.  My flight for Cleveland was supposed to leave at 6:00 PM, but it was delayed and not scheduled to depart until 9:00 PM.  I had heard that there were severe thunderstorms on the east coast, and apparently those had thrown many flights off schedule. 

I had a pass to use the United Club, so I decided this would be a good time to take advantage of the comfort (and free food!) of the lounge.  However, the lady at the entrance said they were not accepting day passes because the club was too crowded.  She said to try later.  I went back a couple of times, but there was a line out the door.  

It would now be after midnight before my flight would arrive in Cleveland.  I got out my laptop and sent an email to my friend who housesits for me.  I told him not to bother meeting me at the airport.  I would take a taxi when I got to Cleveland.

Each time I checked the board, the estimated departure time was later and later, until it was pushed back to 10:30 PM.  The plane arrived, but then they were waiting for a flight attendant to complete the crew.  To the cheers of the waiting passengers, she arrived, and we were able to board, and leave at 10:15.  

The plane arrived at Cleveland airport at 1:45 AM, and by the time I got home it was 2:30.  It was a very long and tiring day!

Nothing Accomplished

When I left for Mexico one month ago, I had three goals.  Tomorrow, I return to Ohio, and none of those goals have been accomplished.

I hoped to purchase the apartment that I rent, but I was not allowed to make the electronic transfer from my bank to the account of the owner.  The payment will have to wait until I am back in Ohio.  I planned to obtain my residency visa, but the lawyer / realtor who is handling the sale said he would take care of that.  That process won't be complete for another week.  I wanted to get a private mail service, but since I am going to have to return to Mexico in about a month, I decided to hold off on that.  Nothing has been accomplished... and the heat wave that we have experienced down here certainly did not help my mood.  It is not just here in Mexico that things are not going according to plan.  The contractor that was going to do some repairs to my house in Ohio before I put it up for sale, has said that he is too busy.

The entire time frame for my permanent move to Mexico has been thrown off.  I had hoped that this would be my last trip to Mexico before making the final move.  But in about a month the owner of the apartment and I are going to have to coordinate and make another trip to Mexico to sign the papers.  Then, I will have to return to Ohio to put my house up for sale... and hope that it will sell in a reasonable amount of time.  I had hoped that I would be living in Mexico before the summer was over... now I am not so sure.

 

Sure Fire Way to Speak a Foreign Language

 As a retired language teacher, this picture which I found on the internet gave me a chuckle...

"Lucha Libre"

One very popular attraction in Mexico City which, I had never seen, even after my countless trips here, was a "lucha libre" match.  "Lucha libre" is the Mexican version of free-style wrestling.  Even though I have no interest at all in the phoniness of WWE in the U.S., I did want to see what "lucha libre" was all about.  Alejandro and I had talked about going to a match many times.

When my former student Megan told me that she wanted to go to "lucha libre", I told her that we would like to join them.  She bought tickets ahead of time for Friday's match at Arena México and insisted on treating us.  After our lovely dinner at "Fonda Fina" which I described in my previous post, we walked about twenty minutes to the arena.  We went from the trendy and touristy neighborhood of Roma Norte to the notorious district known as "Doctores" (so named because all of the streets are named after famous Mexican doctors).  The arena is only a block into "Doctores" and the street was well-lit and full of people heading to "lucha libre", so we felt perfectly safe.  It was not as if we were walking down a dark, deserted street by ourselves.

The scene in front of the arena was bedlam with crowds of people and ticket scalpers and vendors selling "lucha libre" souvenirs.

Alejandro was going to drive from his house, park at the arena and meet us there.  I was fearful that he was going to be stuck in Mexico City traffic (which is even worse on a Friday night), but he allowed plenty of time and arrived even before us.  We managed to find each other in the crowd.  Megan and John's friends were also going to meet us there.  Alejandro volunteered to look for them (something of a fool's errand, since he had never met them before), but, somehow, he actually found them.  We were all together, and ready to enter the arena.  We were all patted down by security before entering.  I knew beforehand that cameras were not allowed... hence the poor quality of these few pictures that I took with my cell phone.  Megan had purchased excellent seats for us... close but not TOO close.  Alejandro told me the story (perhaps apocryphal) of a wrestler who had landed on top of a woman seated in a front row seat.  She was left a paraplegic for the rest of her life.

Although I had really wanted to see a "lucha libre" match, I have to say that it was really not my cup of tea.  I knew that it was going to be fake and highly choreographed, just like professional wrestling in the U.S., but I thought it was going to be somehow different.  Other than the fact that most of the wrestlers wear masks, "lucha libre" seemed the same as what I would have expected of a WWE match. There was some impressive acrobatics in the choreography, but much of it was play-acting of dirty fighting.  Megan had been to a match on a trip to Mexico City some years ago, and even she said that she did not remember so much kicking, stomping and shots to the groin.  

In my naivete I had thought that it was going to be, shall we say, more "folkloric", perhaps with mariachis or "norteño" singers performing between rounds.  Alejandro chuckled when I told him that afterwards, but I know that "cockfights" (something which I have absolutely no desire to see) often have musical entertainment by well-known performers.  Frankly I found bullfights, in spite of the animal cruelty, to be much more interesting than "lucha libre".  I can now at least say that I have seen it and cross it off my list of things to do in Mexico City.

We left the match a little early, so that Alejandro and I could make a quick exit from the parking garage.  We said our farewells to Megan and John.  Except for the "lucha libre", I thoroughly enjoyed every minute that we spent together.  As her former Spanish teacher, I felt pride in how well Megan communicated after all these year (even if it is probably more because of her continued efforts than my teaching).  And John, although he never studied Spanish, did an admirable job of using a bit of the language.

They have said that after I am permanently settled in Mexico City, they will return so that I can show them more of the sights here.  I look forward to that! 

¡Muchas gracias, Megan y John!  ¡Nos veremos pronto!