You’d think that if you walked around the same streets and corners most every day you’d stop discovering things but no, that doesn’t seem to be the case here in CDMX. I keep finding “new” stuff: shops, cafes, little restaurants, government buildings, residential courtyards; scarcely a day goes by I don’t walk past something and say to myself, “Where did that come from?” as though the Mexicans pulled a fast one and sneaked in something new in the middle of the night.

The latest couple of finds included the retro (and well used) Café Allende and an interesting and colorful street mural, both close to where I’m staying in Centro. I went back the next morning to have breakfast at the café. The food was only so-so (a little greasy I thought), but the atmosphere was fantastic and I felt like a real local slurping my coffee and wiping the scrambled egg residue off my plate with a tortilla.

In the meantime life here goes on.

Café Allende, a new little find (for me. I suspect others knew about it…)

 

Street mural near Centro. CDMX is loaded with fantastic murals and street art.

 

Photograph in the Museo Archivo de la Fotografía, Centro.

 

Street traffic on Avenue República de Argentina, Centro.

 

República de Perú, Centro.

Mexicans go to the polls in early July to elect a new president. As you’d expect, more and more election ads and posters are appearing on walls and billboards as the contest heats up. Andrés Manuel López Obrador – who goes by the acronym AMLO –  is currently the runaway favorite, leading by nearly 25 points, but it’s not a done deal. Victories have been stolen in Mexico before, and many people I’ve spoken with aren’t at all sure the results will be close to what the polls expect. Besides voting for their next president, the July election includes contests for governors, senators and a handful of other state and municipal positions. A record number of candidates have been assassinated or otherwise dissuaded from running (as though being murdered isn’t deterrent enough). It’s unlikely – though possible – AMLO will be killed, simply because he’s too obviously the likely winner, but no one is sure. One Mexican told me, “AMLO should win. If they somehow manage to steal the election from him this time, I’ll never vote again. What’s the point?” I haven’t heard anyone say they expect violence, at least not in CDMX, but I suppose that’s possible too. Fingers crossed.

AMLO for President!

I spent an interesting morning exploring a small neighborhood called Moderna, just east of the busy Avenue Tlalpan, a bit south of Centro. It’s a very calm and family oriented place, with the added bonus of a small but active Chinese community for a dash of multicultural flavor. It’s a very peaceful and calm barrio, with just the right mix of small houses and flats, little shops and cute restaurants, a lively market with excellent fruits and vegetables and a metro station close by (Viaducto station, if you must know).

A large banner hanging in the street on one quiet corner gave insight perhaps into why the neighborhood is so calm. Basically it reads: “Criminals – Know that in this neighborhood we are organized and we will hunt you and if we catch you we will not report you to the authorities. WE WILL LYNCH YOU!” (in Spanish the word “delincuente” doesn’t translate directly as just criminal. A criminal could be someone convicted of white collar crime, or bank robbery. A delincuente is a criminal who’s usually violent, or treacherous, or ruthless and evil).

Criminals Beware! Local street warning in Moderna.

I talked to a Mexican friend about it and he told me it’s not the first time he’s seen a sign like that. In areas of high crime it’s common that the police don’t get involved, either because they’re scared, or because they’re in the pockets of the criminals themselves and stay out of it. I hadn’t seen a sign like that before and it’s impossible to imagine something like that in Canada. I couldn’t tell why Moderna had problems with delincuentes, but it’s obvious the struggle there is real. 

Election fraud, violence and lynchings bring to the surface a darker side of Mexican life that I haven’t seen much of. Living in CDMX is a bit like living in a bubble: for the most part it’s clean, safe, vibrant and open minded. But much of the country is not like that, and as I’ve been discovering not all of CDMX is like that either. A quick look at the murder rate in Ecatepec, or the lynching of criminals by local residents, or the history of assassinated politicians and judges tells a different story. I’ve learned a lot about corruption here too (luckily not from a personal side), and about abandoned mothers and street kids and feminicide (or femicide). It’s hard learning these things, but it’s part of the point of staying in one place for an extended period of time and making an effort to find a wider perspective. I want to gain a better understanding of Mexico overall, not just where to find tacos.

Knowing these bad things, however, doesn’t detract from the very positive overall experience I’m having in the capital, eating, reading, wandering around, going to my Spanish lessons and working out in the gym.

One of the many fantastic used book stores on Donceles street, just near my apartment.

 

Plaza on San Jerónimo street.

I’ve had a visitors lately. My niece Abby and her boyfriend spent nearly a week with me. You can ask her but I think they enjoyed seeing the city. I tried to show them contrasting areas – a gritty place, a loud place, something trendy, a charming area, a quiet spot or two – and we walked a lot and spent time on the metro.

My pretty niece in a pretty Coyoacán courtyard.

 

Parroquia San Juan Bautista, Coyoacán

During their second night in town the neighbors held a kid’s birthday party in the outdoor courtyard of the building, complete with sugary food and a bouncy castle. From previous experience here in my building I’ve learned that resident parties can spell trouble, with long nights of music, laughter and drinking games; but these were six and seven year old kids, surely they’d run out of steam by 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.

Nope. At 3:00 a.m. the little monsters were still carrying on, though admittedly most of the racket by this time came primarily from the parents who kept it up till the wee hours while the kids all crashed and slept on the bouncy castle. Mexicans love a party.

“A clean toilet speaks well of the person who uses it” – Keeping things clean in CDMX

I spent a great morning in San Ángel, a neighborhood in the south-west of the city. Like many other places in CDMX San Ángel used to be its own little village, stuck out in the middle of nowhere completely separated from CDMX. In time its been swallowed up and now sits as a sort of colonial surprise in the middle of a busy district surrounded by thoroughfares and malls and parking lots. San Ángel itself is beautiful, with cobbled streets and attractive green plazas and twisty streets.

San Jacinto church and garden, San Ángel.

Next month I’m heading north to Guanajuato for a few days to attend the wedding of my (Mexican) friend’s daughter. It’s a three day affair capped off the final day with the big party that starts (starts!) at 10:00 p.m. and runs until 6:30 a.m. the next morning. As an incentive to keep the action going draft beer and chilaquiles (a kind of snack, like nachos covered in salsa) will be served at 4:30 a.m. Like I said, the Mexicans love a party.

Stay tuned!