More Handicrafts, More Art

Next door to the Mexico City World Trade Center is a structure known as the Poliforum Siqueiros, a cultural center designed by the famous mural painter David Alfaro Siqueiros.  The exterior and interior murals together constitute what is claimed to be the largest mural painting in the world.  The Poliforum was opened in 1971.

In 2017 the building was closed to the public, and a program of restoration was announced.  However, nothing has been done in all these years.  The outside murals are deteriorating, and the interior is only open for private events.  The grounds around the building have been converted into a parking lot.  It is truly a disgraceful situation.

Last week, I noticed a sign advertising a handicrafts fair to be held at the Poliforum.  I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go inside and see the murals which I had not seen since before the closure.

Handicraft vendors had set up their stalls in the enormous circular hall where Siqueiros had painted his mural "The March of Humanity".

The hall is covered on all sides, even on the ceiling, with Siqueiros's monumental work.  I do not particularly care for his art, but to be surrounded on all sides by this gigantic mural is an impressive experience.

As far as handicrafts go, I really had not planned to buy anything.  However, as I browsed among the stalls, I found one with textiles and crafts from the state of Oaxaca.  There was a table filled to overflowing with "alebrijes", the brightly painted wooden sculptures of animals which are one of Oaxaca's best known forms of popular art.

I looked at an intricately painted figure of a bear that I liked.  On the underside, it was signed "Roberta Angeles".  I wondered if the artist was related to Jacobo Angeles, who is one of the most celebrated creators of "alebrijes".  His works are very expensive and are to be found in museums.  I visited his workshop many years ago in the Oaxacan village of San Martín Tilcajete, and I bought one of his figures... also a carving of a bear.

I have posted photos of my bear by Jacobo Angeles before.  Out of all of the Mexican handicrafts, it is probably my most prized possession.  It was rather expensive back in 2010 when I bought it.  I can imagine what the price tag would be now that Jacobo's fame has increased.

I asked the lady in charge of the stand if Roberta Angeles is a relative of Jacobo,  She responded "I am Roberta Angeles, and I am a cousin of Jacobo."

We had a nice conversation, and I ended up buying the "alebrije" from her.  It is now keeping yet another bear company.   Last year at the Christmas market on the Zócalo I had purchased a figure by an award-winning "alebrije" artist, Agustín Cruz Prudencio.  The two look very good together.

My new bear is the one to the left.

I'm still upset over what has happened to the Poliforum Siqueiros, but I am glad that I went to this handicrafts fair.

 

Gift Shopping

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are visiting my cousins in England and Switzerland this summer.  Last week I started shopping for gifts for them.  I went to the "Ciudadela" Market.  With over 350 vendors, it is the largest handicraft market in Mexico City.

As I have written before, the market has its share of kitschy tourist junk, but you will also find handicrafts of good quality here.  While I was there, I found gifts for my Swiss cousin Brigitta and her husband Peter.  The last time that I went to Switzerland, I bought Brigitta a "rebozo", a Mexican shawl, and for Peter I bought a "guayabera" shirt.  They seemed to be genuinely pleased with their gifts.  

They frequently spend their winters at a yoga retreat in Thailand, and from the vacation pictures that I have seen of them, they favor tropical-style clothing on their trips.  So, I figured I would buy traditional Mexican clothing for them again.  Brigitta had previously told me that her favorite color is soft pink and that Peter's is light blue.

I found this cotton blouse, made in a town in the mountains of the state of Puebla, with embroidery at the bodice.

I bought another "guayabera" for Peter.  This one has blue embroidery down the sides.  It was made in the Mexican beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.

Hopefully they will enjoy these items.  Since they rarely look at the blog, I don't think the surprise will be spoiled.

Summer Travel

We are in the process of making reservations for a trip to Europe in July to visit my cousins in England and Switzerland.

We will take British Airways non-stop service from Mexico City to London's Heathrow Airport.  We will spend a couple of nights at an inexpensive hotel near the airport, and take the train to central London to spend a day simply walking around and seeing some of the iconic landmarks.  Then we will take a bus to the small town in Devonshire on the English Channel to visit my cousin Kevin and his wife Sue.  The last time that I traveled to England they lived in the outskirts of London, but, now that they are both retired they have bought a house just a short walk away from the coast.  

After spending three days with them, we will head back to Heathrow for a flight to Zurich.  My cousin Brigitta and her husband Peter live outside of Zurich, and we will spend a weekend with them.  We will then take a train to the city of Aarau where we will visit my cousin Walter and his wife Helen for several days.  During our time with them we will have a chance to visit other cousins who live nearby.

Finally, we will take a train to Frankfurt, Germany.  After spending a night there, we will board the non-stop Lufthansa flight back to Mexico City.

A 900 Page Novel

It's been quite a while since I have written a review of a book that I have read.  That's because since before Christmas I have been reading a massive, historical novel called "The Memoirs of Cleopatra".  I finally finished it last night.

Don't think that the length of time that I took to read it is an indication that I didn't enjoy it.  I most certainly did.  However the book is over 900 pages long and is in small type.

Historical novels are my favorite genre, and the author, Margaret George, is one of the foremost writers of historical fiction.  I have read two other books that she wrote... "Helen of Troy" and "Confessions of a Young Nero".

George's novels are painstakingly researched, and this one is no exception.  She took two and a half years to write it, and made four trips to Egypt to research it.  She has provided a vivid depiction of  Egypt in its last days before the Roman conquest by Octavian (who later took the name of Caesar Augustus).  And she provides a sympathetic portrait of the Queen that Roman propaganda portrayed as a scheming seductress, a femme fatale who used men to her advantage.  The author said the Cleopatra was not the "bimbo that the Romans would like you to think she was."  She was in fact an extremely intelligent and astute ruler who spoke at least nine languages.  Her affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony were based on genuine love, and were not just politically expedient sexual adventures.

Of course, the reader knows from the very beginning how it is going to end with Cleopatra's carefully planned suicide, but in the meantime it's a fascinating journey.  I found myself wishing that Cleopatra and Mark Anthony would have defeated the forces of Octavian and wondering how the course of history would have been different if they had won.

Death of a Camera

I checked my old blog posts, and it was eleven years ago that I bought the Sony compact digital camera that I have been using.

It has served me well... through innumerable trips to Mexico, several trips to Europe, and during the two and a half years that I have lived in Mexico.  However, in the last few months, it has been acting strangely.  Sometimes, if I pressed the button to take a video, the menu would appear instead, and if I wanted to go to the menu, I would sometimes have to press that button several times.  I figured that the poor thing was probably on its last legs.  Then the other day, the on / off button would not work.  The only way I could turn the camera on was to access the old photos, and when I left that mode, the lens would open.  The only way to turn it off was to let the battery-saver feature turn it off automatically after a few minutes.  The old Sony was definitely not something I would want to use any more.

If you have been reading this blog for a long time, and have a really good memory, you might recall that a number of years ago, I forgot to bring my camera with me on a trip to Mexico.  Fortunately, Alejandro had a Samsung digital camera that he had hardly ever used.  I was able to use it for that trip.

I figured that when my camera finally died his Samsung would be my backup. Alejandro uses his cellphone exclusively for taking photos.  (The camera on my cellphone is not that great, and I only use it in a pinch.)  So, I now have a new camera without having to buy a new one.                    

A New "Anglicismo"

In Spanish there are many, many words that are easily recognizable to the English speaker because they come from the same origin in Latin, Greek or other languages.  These words are known as cognates.  Just a few examples are... accidente, chocolate, elegante, familia, insecto, música, pirata.  

(However, be careful because there are also "false cognates".  "Ropa" does not mean rope; it means clothing.  "Fábrica" does not mean fabric; it means factory.  And potentially most embarrassing of all, "embarazada" does NOT mean embarrassed.  It means pregnant!)

Beyond cognates, there are also words that have been taken into the Spanish language from English.  These are known as "anglicismos".  The Royal Spanish Academy, which sets the rules for the language, looks down its nose with disdain at some of these "anglicismos", but others have been accepted even by the snootiest Spanish scholar.

Sometimes the "anglicismo" is spelled exactly like the English word.  For example, "jeans" or "golf".

Other times the spelling might be altered or an accent mark added to adjust to Spanish phonetics... sándwich, fútbol, básquetbol, champú, suéter.

Sometimes, the "anglicismo" might not even be recognizable at first glance to the English speaker...

The ball player hit a "jonrón" out of the park.  

The boxer won by a "nocaut".

I bring all of this up, because the other day I saw an advertisement with an "anglicismo" that I had never seen before.  (That's not to say that it's new.  It was just new to me.)

When I saw the word "pines" for a split second I thought of pine trees.  But, no, "pines" (pronounced "PEE-nays") means pins.  In Spanish an "es" is added to make a word ending in a consonant plural.  This advertisement from Coca Cola is about commemorative pins that you can collect for this summer's World Cup.

"¡Coleciónalos (oh, there's another cognate) todos!"

"Collect them all!"

Postal Experiment

Since I moved to Mexico, I have made out my Christmas cards early, and I have given them to a friend when I have visited Ohio.  He then would send them out after Thanksgiving.

My opinion of the Mexican postal service has long been very negative.  However, since I moved to Mexico, I have had some positive experiences receiving mail sent to my apartment address.  This year, I am toying with the idea of sending my cards from here.  So, this past week, I sent some cards... three to friends in Ohio, and one to my cousin in England.  I wanted to see if they arrive to their destinations and how long it takes.

Just a short walk from my apartment there is a post office in the World Trade Center.  So I went there to mail the cards.

The clerk in the post office was very congenial.  He said that the cards should arrive in four to six weeks, but during the Christmas season I should allow more time.  In the United States, first class postage to any foreign country is $1.70 US.  In Mexico, however, different regions of the world have different postage rates.  The cards to Ohio cost 18 pesos each ($1.03 US) while postage for the card to England was 21 pesos ($1.21 US).  I have informed the recipients that they will be receiving mail, and that they should notify me when the cards arrive.

We will see how my postal experiment works out.