A Bit of Shaking

 

(image taken from the internet)

At around 9:20 this morning, the earthquake alert sounded in the neighborhood.  "Alerta sísmica, alerta sísmica."  I didn't see anyone leave their buildings and go out to the street.  Since I live on the third floor (the fourth floor by U.S. counting) heading down the stairwell, through the lobby and out to the street is rather impractical in the brief warning period that we have.  I headed to the corner of the living room that Alejandro deemed the safest spot.  The dogs in the neighborhood were barking before I could feel anything.  I leaned my back against the wall, and I began to feel some vibrations.  Looking out the window on the other side of the room, I could see that the utility wires were swaying.  After about a minute it was over.

Later, on the internet, I found that the quake, which measured 5.7 on the Richter Scale, was centered in the rural town of Zocoteaca de León in the state of Oaxaca, around 200 miles away from Mexico City.  The quake was not felt in all parts of the city.  (Alejandro did not feel anything.)  Initial reports indicate that there were no victims nor damage even in the area around the epicenter.  

Abundant Portions

When Europeans travel to the United States, they are usually amazed at the size of portions that are served in restaurants.  There are a number of eateries here in Mexico City that rival their counterparts in the U.S. for the abundance of their servings.

One notable example is a place called Café C which is located in a small shopping mall across the street from the World Trade Center.  The food is good, the prices are reasonable, and service is very friendly.  Because of its convenient location, we will usually go there at least once every weekend for breakfast.  Sometimes we also go there for dinner.  I am usually a member of the "clean plate club", but this is one of the few places where I have on occasion asked to take part of my meal home.

Here you can see what we had to eat last Saturday...

Alejandro ordered a dish called a "tecolote".  The base is a "mollete", a sliced roll with melted cheese.  On top of that is a heaping serving of "chilaquiles", tortilla chips simmered in salsa.  It is all topped with two fried eggs.

I had the "croque madame" based on the classic French sandwich.  A slice of bread is topped with turkey breast, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, a mustard dressing, bechamel sauce, and a fried egg.

Is it any wonder that we are not ready to eat again until early evening?

 

Spring Flowers

The day before my surgery, I took a walk in my neighborhood.  I used my cell phone to take some pictures of the flowers that I saw.  (Unfortunately, the photo quality is not as good as if I had used my camera.)

I don't know what kind of flowers these are...

 

Trumpet flowers

Although the peak of the season has passed, there are still some blossoms on some of the jacaranda trees.

Bougainvillea

Some variety of lily

 

Hibiscus

Street Signs

Most of the streets in my Mexico City neighborhood of Nápoles are named after states and cities in the United States.  I was walking down Dakota Avenue, a street that I have walked countless times, when I saw a street sign that I had never noticed before.

The rusted metal signs and the eroded concrete post make me think that it must date from the 1940s when this neighborhood was laid out.

It is interesting that the old sign spells the cross-street of Missouri that way it is spelled in the United States.

However, the newer street sign spells it phonetically in Spanish... Misuri.

The Merry Month of May

Today is May 1st, a legal holiday in Mexico... "Día del Trabajo" or Labor Day.  As is my custom on the first day of the month, I will show you the photo that I selected for for my custom-made calendar.  This year's calendar features pictures that I have taken on my trips to Germany, and May's photo is of Heidelburg Castle.

On a hill, overlooking the picturesque university town of Heidelberg, are the remains of a  castle.  It was begun in the 13th century and was expanded numerous times.  It eventually included a palace that was considered one of the most outstanding Renaissance structures north of the Alps.  It was largely destroyed in wars during the 17th century, and still stands in ruins. 

The Heat is On

 

April and May are the hottest months in Mexico City.  It is the one time of the year where daily high temperatures regularly reach or exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  April began a bit cooler than normal, probably because of some thunderstorms that passed through.  (We are still in the dry season, but it seemed as if the rainy season were beginning early.  According to Weather Channel statistics, however, the half inch of rain that we have had this month is slightly below average.)

In the past week, the temperatures have been in the upper eighties.  On Tuesday the high temperature was 90, and yesterday the mercury reached 92.  Most Mexican homes do not have air conditioning, and the last several nights we have had the fan running in the bedroom.

The heat has not been nearly as stifling as in some parts of the nation.  In Guadalajara the high temperature yesterday was 100 F, and in Mérida it was 102 F! 

City on the Water

Mexico City is built on the site where the Aztecs founded their capital of Tenochtitlan.  The city, located in a high mountain basin, was built on an island in the middle of a shallow, saline lake.  Actually, there were a number of interconnected lakes in the valley.  The largest of them was Lake Texcoco.  Beginning in colonial times efforts were made to drain off the lakes in order to control flooding.  Today there is only a remnant of that lake system.  Nevertheless, even though Mexico City is landlocked and 200 miles from the ocean, its beginnings as a city on an island in a lake have influenced a large part of its history.

Currently in the courtyard tucked between the Latin American Tower and the Church of San Francisco there is an exhibit of historic images and photographs that portray the city on the water.

In this 1683 painting of Mexico City you can see Lake Texcoco in the background.

Tenochtitlan was the Venice of the Americas with canals forming many of his streets.  If you look closely at the painting you can see that many of those canals still existed in colonial times.

In fact, some of those canals survived into the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In this 1869 lithograph you can see the Canal de la Viga which connected the center of the city with Xochimilco in the south.  The first steam boat in Mexico City plied its waters.

This early 20th century photograph shows that canals were still used as thoroughfares for transporting goods.

This painting from 1874 shows that a sizeable portion of Lake Texcoco still survived.

This painting from the 1860s shows Chapultepec Castle.  Today, the castle is in the heart of the city, but in those days it was far off in the rural outskirts.  In the painting Mexico City is in the distance.  You can also see that there were still wetlands between Chapultepec and the city.  You can also see the aqueduct that carried water from the fresh-water springs at Chapultepec into the city.  Remnants of that aqueduct can still be seen along busy Chapultepec Avenue.

That aqueduct ended at a colonial era fountain in the city known as "Salto de Agua".  The original fountain is now in the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.  An exact replica now stands in its place in the middle of multi-laned Arcos de Belén Avenue.

The draining of Lake Texcoco did not end the problem of periodic floods.  This photo from 1865 shows a flooded street in the center of the city.  Entrepreneurial locals would build wooden footbridges across the streets and charge people 6 cents to cross them.

Even today, heavy downpours during the rainy season can turn some streets into impassable lakes.  It almost seems as if the ancient Lake Texcoco wants to reassert itself.