At the Fan Zone

Last week I went to the Zócalo to check out the fan zone that had been set up on Mexico City's main plaza.

As I headed down Madero Street toward the Zócalo, I saw feathered serpents (the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl) and axolotls (the salamander-like animals that live in the canals of Xochimilco) decorating the lampposts.

This fan was draped in a Mexican flag and wearing one of those silly hats shaped like a soccer ball.

The Zócalo was surrounded by tall barricades, although there were large TV screens facing outward so that you did not even have to enter the fan zone to watch the game.

You had to walk around to the south side of the Zócalo to enter the fan zone.  There police checked everyone's backpacks, bags and purses.  After passing through security, you entered a festively decorated area that was a hodgepodge of Mexican imagery.

A giant piñata

A skull surrounded by marigolds... symbols of the Day of the Dead celebration

Skeletons dressed as fearsome Aztec warriors

Enormous reproductions of Aztec sculptures that had decorated the Zócalo last year for the 700th anniversary of the founding of Tenochtitlan were brought out of storage.

Coatlicue, the Aztec mother goddess

Tlaltecuhttli, the deity of the earth

Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess

Entering the central area of the fan zone

On the giant screen, Switzerland was playing against Bosnia Herzegovina.  When I left the fan zone, there was still no score 40 minutes into the first half.  However, when I returned to the apartment, I learned that Switzerland had won 4 to 1.  Hurray for my ancestral home!

 

While I was there, the fan zone was busy, but not extremely crowded.  However, that evening, the Zócalo was jammed... dangerously crowded... with fans who wanted to watch the match between Mexico and South Korea.  Mexico won its second game (1-0), securing its position to continue on in the tournament.

From my apartment I could hear the car horns honking and people shouting "¡Viva México!" when the game was over.  From what I have read, the scene along Paseo de la Reforma was one of chaotic celebration.  The fans (many of whom I am sure were drunk) trampled the flowers planted along the boulevard and jumped on (and damaged) the roofs of the Metrobus stops.

Although I am rooting for the Mexico's team to win the World Cup, I shudder to think of the subsequent chaos if they do!