WOW! Or as we spell it in spanish: Guaauuu!!! Yesterday may have been one of the longest, most frustrating days ever...although I did enjoy the time as well.
As I mentioned earlier, one of my lifetime best friends is here visiting me. My friend Anthony and I have have known each other since we were little kids and have been friends since jr. high. We've managed to stay in contact through distance even through college and after. He's my only friend from the generation of High school who I still keep in contact with. Anyhow, he switched jobs and had a few free days so came down to see Mexico City.
Thankfully I received my visa Wednesday morning so I was able to drive to pick him up at the airport. I didn't know what I would have done if not! His flight was delayed from a 10:30 pm arrival to a 11:30 pm arrival to a 2:10 am arrival! We got back to the Navarrete's home where he is staying at 4 am.
After a late start and a big mexican breakfast prepared by Antonio, I decided yesterday would be the perfect opportunity to see the downtown, since he really only has two days here. Driving into the city the traffic was light but due to great conversation and my absentee mind, I missed the first turnoff to Reforma, the big central road in Mexico City, which would have spit us right out at the Bellas Artes building where we would park. Venturing for about an hour more to get on track, I finally found another way to Reforma but upon arriving to the road the police kindly informed us that it was shut off due to major protests that were covering the entire street! Ugh. So we were back to square one finding another route. We took Insurgentes and Contituyentes, and about every other major street and finally were just about to arrive. I could see the big flag of the zocalo which is in the center of the city ahead of me. I made a right turn on a street I thought would lead us quickly to the parking garage, and it ended up spitting me into a live street market. In the center of the city, the markets go for miles, so we drove at about 1mph through thousands of people wading through the market. Each block got increasingly more "ugly" and scary looking, and I soon realized we were in the pure center of the slum area, called Tepito. Tepito is the black market where all the goods robbed from incoming USA trailer tractors (trailers robbed in route from the border to the city)--all of these goods are sold in Tepito...you can get anything you'd want very cheap, but it is extremely dangerous. This is an area Mexicans talk about and don't even go to, because it is known for robberies, theft, highjackings, etc. Thank God we were driving in a locked car and he protected us. After 20 minutes of fear and winding through very narrow slum streets, we made our way out, turned around and were finally circling the zocalo! We parked a few blocks up and at last enjoyed the afternoon. We were so exhausted from the trip, and I was fuming and frustrated for my inability to navigate. I have never gotten that lost in my life, and the sad thing is I have been to this very place so many times and know the route well...it was all for the police shutting down the major roads due to the protests. Anyhow, at that point we did get to see the zocalo, presidential palace, catholic cathedral, a small coffee cafe, the fine arts cathedral (bellas artes), and we went up the 42 floor latin american tower to give anthony a view of the entire city from above.
At about 6:30 we left to meet up with the Gomez kids (Elizabeth, Rocio and Gerson ) in Coyacan, a trendy, artsy little neighborhood that I thought my friend would enjoy, since he is very much a match for that type of neighborhood. We arrived without getting lost--no problem. This time I mapped it out all well in advance in my handy-dandy 1000+ page mexico city map. :) However, the traffic was another story....we sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the interior circuit highway for almost an hour before getting off to choose an alternative route. Once there, we ate tacos in a neat little restaurant, but were a bit disgusted when they tried to charge us $5 for a pitcher of water. Outrageous. Afterwards we got some authentic mexican churros for anthony to try. We walked around a bit, saw a life aztec "spirit cleansiing" ceremony (very sad to see because these people really believe the aztec gods will cleanse and protect them). We watched some live music performers and walked back to the car.
When leaving we quickly got back to the main road, the periferico. No traffic for quite a while, I was impressed--It was so nice to zoom down the road at 60mph, a speed my spedometer rarely gets to register due to traffic! No sooner had I said "Wow this is wonderful!" did my car come to a stop in a long, long, long, long, long line of traffic. From Mundo E mall onwards, we sat and sat and sat. A distance that has in past days taken me about 15 minutes (from there to my house is about 8 miles max)---that same distance took us 3.5 hours yesterday! I am not kidding, we sat sometimes through a traffic light and then the intersection for over 7 light changes, not even moving inches. It was absolutely rediculous. I felt a bit sad that my friend comes for only 2 days and gets this experience...I guess this is life here, but I wanted a bit more relaxing time. He said "this is the last time I come to Mexico City to relax!" What had caused the back up was a severe rainstorm that left all major roads flooded, like a river. This happens a lot these days but not as bad as last night. So most of the lanes were shut down in points for being unpassable. In addition, we passed several tow trucks and ambulances at an accident site. I asumme they were driving recklessly fast (as most mexicans do) and got caught in the rainstorm before they could slow down. The traffic was so horrible on the one side of the road we were one that people were jumping the median and going in reverse up the entire lengh of the other side of the highway. Keep in mind this is a 15 lane major highway--it is the biggest highway circling the entire city. And people were driving the entire length backwards, in reverse, up the opposite side, aganist opposing traffic, just to get out of the jam they were in on our side! This, I must say, only happens in good old MEXICO! Wow. We arrived at last at 1:00 am (after leaving Coyacan at shortly before 10 pm). My foot and entire left leg were several cramping and giving me charly-horses for the amount of stop-and-go shifting I had to do.
We cancelled our plans of venturing to see the Mexican pyramids and decided to just take it easy today. Our plans include baking a cake for Elizabeth Gomez' birthday which is today, and going to the church in the late afternoon for the kids' club ministry and to show him the neighborhood I work in. Tonight we will eat dinner and celebrate with the Gomez. Feliz Cumpleanos Elizabeth!!! Tomorrow Anthony leaves at 3:30, so we are only going to Chapultepec park and castle in the morning and then to the airport to drop him off.
I have to say, even after 8 hours of restful and dense sleep my foot is still aching from driving. It is sad when you drive over 7 hours during a day to go a matter of, at max, 40 miles round trip (20 down and 20 back). Welcome to Mexico City!
Time to get going and start the day...hopefully it goes a bit more smoothly and with less congestion than yesterday. At least I can thank God for his hand of protection during all the transit and the entire day.
Betania
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