The World Comes to Chapultepec

On Thursday I went to the Global Village in Chapultepec Park, a series of booths representing the nations participating in the World Cup.

The "village" extends from the "Altar de la Patria" (Altar of the Fatherland) which honors the six teenaged cadets who died in the Battle of Chapultepec defending their country against the invading U.S. army, to the Gate of the Lions, the park's main entrance at Paseo del la Reforma.

   In the background you can see Chapultepec Castle atop the hill.

Beyond the trees, far in the background, you can just make out the column of the Monument to Independence, located on Paseo de la Reforma.

The festival of nations was well attended on that opening day of the games.

Many of the Mexican visitors were wearing their team's jerseys.  A few were even waving Mexican flags.

Although the day began cloudy, the sun later came out, and it was a beautiful afternoon.

The expected rain did not arrive later after the opening match had concluded.

I was disappointed with the festival in one respect.  As you may recall, I send dolls as gifts to the daughters of one of my friends in the U.S.  I was hoping to find dolls from a variety of countries.  Although quite a few of the booths sold handicrafts, I only found two countries that had dolls for sale... Algeria and Czechia.

The Czech pavilion

"Argelia" is the Spanish word for Algeria

A couple of Algerian gentlemen in native garb (plus their team's jersey).

Many of the booths were manned largely by Mexican hires.  But most of the staff at this pavilion were Algerians.  In fact, the lady that sold me the doll spoke French not Spanish.

Quite a few of the booths sold traditional foods, and I sampled a number of items.

The "empanada" (meat-filled turnover) from Paraguay was quite tasty.

The paprika meatballs from Hungary were good, although they would have been even better if they had been heated.

The bratwurst sandwich from Germany (Alemania in Spanish) were very good.  A couple of the ladies were from Germany, and I practiced my rudimentary German with them a bit.

Unfortunately, the apple strudel from Austria was not that good.

A fellow from Argentina selling the traditional gourds and cups from which they drink "yerba mate", a type of tea which is their national drink.

A lady at Ecuador's pavilion

A couple from Colombia

The pavilion from the United States was pathetic.  There was a lady at a table, a foosball table next to her, and a booth with four corporate sponsors selling jambalaya.  That was it.

The Canadian pavilion was also disappointing.  It was nothing more than an information desk from Air Canada.  However, you could spin a wheel to win a prize.  I won an Air Canada cap.

It did not surprise me that the most beautiful pavilion was Mexico's.

The decorations were made from painted corn husks.

Mexico, from the heart

There was a display of handicrafts from the different Mexican states.

South Africa was Mexico's opponent in the opening game.

The TV inside the pavilion was turned on when the game began.  When the national anthem was played, the South Africans all sang along.  Then the Mexican national anthem was played, and an even larger home team group was singing.

As I wrote in a previous post, shortly after the game had begun I heard an enormous wave of cheering and applause from the far end of the "village".  There were two large screens set up there, and the largely Mexican crowd went crazy when the home team scored their first goal.

¡Viva México!

Dressed for the Event

Yesterday, the day of the opening game of the World Cup, I could not help but notice how many people (including myself) were wearing Mexican team jerseys.

At a street corner in the neighboring "colonia" of San Pedro de los Pinos, there was a stand on wheels selling Mexico t-shirts as well as Mexican flags to wave at the games.

I already have four team jerseys, so I did not need to buy another!

I am sure the shirts are counterfeit (as are mine), but how many Mexicans can afford to spend the equivalent of 100 U.S. dollars on a tee-shirt?

Protests, Soccer, Victory, and Rain

The eyes of the world were on Mexico City yesterday as the first game of the World Cup was scheduled to be played at the Azteca Stadium while thousands of protesters threatened to disrupt the games.  There were at least nine major protest marches scheduled including the militant CNTE teachers' union, transport workers, and the families of missing persons.  I can sympathize with some of the groups, such as the families of the disappeared, but not so much with others... particularly the teachers' union.  They have blocked the streets of the Historic Center with their tent encampments and vandalized decorations for the games.

I wanted to go to the Global Village that was set up at the entrance to Chapultepec Park.  Alejandro said that I shouldn't.  With demonstrations going on throughout the city, he said I should stay in the apartment.  Yesterday morning, I checked out where the marches were going to be held.  There were mostly in the southern part of the city and converging on the stadium.  I also checked to see if any Metrobus routes were going to be disrupted.  Service on Line 7 which runs along Paseo la Reforma was not running part of the way.  Obviously there were going to be protests along part of that boulevard.  That is one of the Metrobus routes that I would have normally taken to get to Chapultepec.  So, instead, I devised a different route.  I took the subway to the other side of the park, and walked some distance to reach the Global Village.  I encountered no problems. When I reached the "village" it was crowded with visitors, and the mood was festive.  In spite of the "iffy" weather forecast, it was a lovely sunny day.  (I will report on the Global Village in an upcoming post.)

When I reached the other end of the village by Paseo de la Reforma, I asked a policeman if the Metrobus was running normally yet, and he said "no".  So I headed back, retracing my steps. I was halfway through the "village", when I heard enormous cheers.  The opening game between Mexico and South Africa had started just a few minutes earlier, and Mexico had already scored an early goal.  There were two large TV screens where a crowd of fans were watching.

From what I read, the vast majority of the marchers were peaceful.  However, there were some violent clashes as protesters (I don't know from which contingent) tried to break through the barriers near the stadium, hurled objects at police, and were repelled with tear gas.  Other than the fact that the Metrobus was not running normally, I would have never known that anything was going on.  I could not help but think of the parallels to1968 when the Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City.  Massive student protests in the weeks prior to the games were met by violent repression from the government, and hundreds of students were killed.  Thank goodness there was not a repeat of that tragedy.

I walked to the subway station on the opposite side of the park.  The train was unusually uncrowded.  As I left the station nearest to my apartment, I could hear cheering.  I asked a policeman who was looking at his cellphone, "Excuse me, did Mexico just get another goal?"  "Yes," he said.  "Great!"

The skies were now cloudy, and I should have been prudent and returned to the apartment before the rain started.  However, I stopped at a nearby café to watch the remainder of the game.  The televisions there were, of course, tuned to the game, and the place was filled with fans, most (as was I) wearing Mexico jerseys and some in silly "sombreros".  There were no more goals scored, but the crowd was cheering and groaning with every play of the game.  The final score was 2 - 0, and at the end the crowd erupted into cheers, applause and chants of "México!"

Shortly after I left the café I felt a few sprinkles, and then the rain intensified.  I had several blocks to walk in the downpour.  I had an umbrella with me, but with gusts of wind it was not always effective.  I was soaked by the time I finally reached the apartment.

The day seemed to encapsulate the contradictory nature of Mexico.  There are deep problems and even violence (although I never saw any or ever felt unsafe).  There is also a deep love by the Mexican people for their country, and a passion for soccer.  Anger and joy.  Even the weather, from beautiful sunshine to heavy rain, seemed to represent the contrasts of this nation.

 

Soccer Art

 Interspersed among the pavilions of the Global Village representing the nations participating in the World Cup, are reproductions of paintings celebrating soccer.  They were done by artists from around the world.  The exhibit is sponsored by Visa.

Here are some of them...

by Nathan Walker from the U.S.A.

By Raheem "King" Saladeen Johnson from the U.S.A.

by Bayan Yasien from Saudi Arabia

by César Canseco from Mexico

by Alejandro Parrilla from Spain

by Katarzyna Bogucka from Poland

by Fabrizio Lenci from Canada

by Karabo Poppy from South Africa

by Dave Flanagan from the United KIngdom

by Ledania from Colombia

by Karan Singh from Australia

A Global Village

One of the events of the World Cup that I am most looking forward to is the "Global Village" that will be set up in Chapultepec Park.  There will be handicrafts, food, and music of the nations participating in the Cup.

Two weekends ago, after Alejandro and I went to the Fonart store in Chapultepec, we walked all the way across Section 1 of the park.  As we neared the main entrance on Paseo de la Reforma, we came across the area where the "village" was being constructed.  The sign said that 48 nations will be represented.

The names of many countries are written differently in Spanish.  Can you figure them out?

The pavilions of the nations were under construction as we passed through.

This map on the website shows where the pavilions of each nation will be located.  It is perhaps fortunate that Iran and the United States will be on opposite sides of the "village".  It might have even been deliberately planned that way.

According to the information at that time, the "Global Village" would be open on Saturday, June 6th.  So last Saturday Alejandro and I returned to Chapultepec Park, but we discovered that they had changed the date.  It would not open until Tuesday, June 9th.  I have found that it is not uncommon for the dates of events to be changed at the last minute.  I find it very annoying.  Nevertheless, I plan to visit the "village"... perhaps, numerous times... if the rainy weather permits.

Have a Drink on Us!

It seems as if everyone is getting into the World Cup spirit.

"De Costa de Costa" is a seafood restaurant not far from the apartment.  they also serve good breakfasts, and we usually go there each weekend for breakfast.  On our last visit we noticed this little sign on the table.

"Celebrate each Mexican goal with a drink on the house!"

Of course, all of the games of the Mexican national team will be televised at the restaurant.  If you order a drink of your choice, each time the home team scores a goal you will receive another one for free.

(Fortunately soccer is usually a low-scoring sport, or else they might end up with some very drunk customers!)

Handicrafts and Food

A couple weekends ago, Alejandro and I went to Chapultepec Park to visit the Fonart Store that is located there.  Fonart is a government agency that promotes the creation of high quality Mexican handicrafts, and it operates a number of stores throughout the city.

This Fonart is unique in that there is an adjoining store called Cencalli which sells Mexican artisanal food products.  ("Cencalli" is a word from the Aztec language of Nahuatl which means granary.  It comes from the words "centli" - corn and "calli" - house.)

We came here primarily to visit the food store.  One of my Swiss cousins likes spicy food, and we wanted to see if we could find some gourmet salsas as a gift for when we travel to Switzerland. 

Cencalli has a wide variety of products, but I have to say that I was hoping that they would have a wider selection of salsas.  However I did find a couple of small jars to buy for my cousin.

Of course, as long as we were there we had to look around the handicrafts store.  Fonart always has such beautiful merchandise.

Many of the pieces here are quite expensive, but there are also items at an accessible price.  I rarely leave a Fonart store empty handed, and I ended up buying a few things.  However, I was a good boy.  The purchases were not for myself. They were small, easily packed gifts to take to Switzerland.

My gift shopping for my cousins in now officially completed!