Mexico City

Depending on who is doing the counting, Mexico City may be the second largest city in the world and the largest city in the Americas.  Or not.  Anyway, that is what they tell me, and it is definitely big.  Of course, the city that the Incas built used to be an island on a lake.



Here is the same view today.  It is a little different.




I had signed up for an all day intensive walking tour of the historic center of Mexico City and was happy to discover that no one else had signed up, so I had an excellent private tour.  We began the day exploring the ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor.  The Spanish thought they had demolished the temple and built their cathedral on top of it - surprise, surprise - but a significant portion was discovered less than fifty years ago and excavated.  The temple was apparently used for human sacrifice.  I say apparently because the Aztecs left no written records, and no one knows how accurate the accounts that they told the early Spaniards are.  According to my guide, the Aztecs conquered many neighboring tribes, took the best of their soldiers and, after feeding them well, then sacrificed them.  She said it was a great honor; only the best of the best.  I asked who it was an honor for, and she told me seriously that it was an honor for both the sacrificer and the sacrificee.

Next we went to the cathedral built by the Spanish which is indisputably the largest cathedral in the Americas.  We were taken up a narrow stairway to the roof to see the two bell towers with their thirty six bells, the oldest of which date to the seventeenth century.  Very cool view as we watch them ring the bells.

The most interesting thing inside the cathedral was this black Jesus.




He used to be a "normal" white Jesus with his legs extended.  One day several centuries ago, a bad man put poison on his feet in order to kill a good man who kissed his feet every day.  Just as the man leaned in to kiss the feet that day, Jesus raised them and his body turned black as it absorbed the poison.  Needless to say, this is now the Miracle Jesus, and even the Vatican has sanctioned this black Jesus.

How can you visit Mexico City without viewing murals by Diego Rivera?  This is the only picture I had taken of me today, just to show that I was here.

After my guide left me I wandered around some more.  Some things you just don't understand.  What are the police doing in formation in the middle of the sidewalk with helmets strapped to their chests?

A band playing rock music on a sidewalk - that's more normal.  But a nearly toothless middle aged dancer?  I haven't seen that before.

I love the ceremony every night when they take down the largest flag I have ever seen.  It takes a dozen soldiers to grab and hold it.

Finally, a statue in front of the cathedral.  It is hard to see it, but the line on the statue's base shows the water level of the lake that Mexico City was built on.

Today I am a journalist

Several years ago while visiting New York, I had brunch with Greta Gerwig and she let me in on a little secret:  in recent years they have recorded every Broadway show and anyone with a New York City library card can go to the Lincoln Center Library and watch them.   I held on to that little tidbit of information all this time, and I am finally in New York for a week, so ...  as soon as I arrived here last Friday I acquired a library card.  Then it turns out that Greta was not quite right.  Not anyone with a library card can watch the shows; you have to be a theater professional (I guess no one questioned Greta on that count) or a researcher or a journalist.  I made an appointment on Friday to come to the library today to watch shows, not knowing how I would pull this off, but another young friend of mine, Josh Samberg, pointed out that since I write a blog ... I am a journalist.  It is helpful to have young friends with good ideas.  So I thank all of you for reading my blog occasionally so I could sit in the Lincoln Center Library all afternoon today watching Broadway musicals that I missed the first time around.  And I will faithfully write a blog entry to make it official.

Flashback ... in 1970 when I attended Stern College on 34th Street, I also had a New York library card.  Every other Monday night I walked up Broadway to the Lincoln Center Library on 65th Street to take out three Broadway albums since they had a lending library at that time - and albums were the latest technology.  I played the albums nonstop for two weeks until my roommates were sick of them and then walked back for three more.  One night a man tried to pick me up using language that eighteen year old Orthodox Glenda had never heard and had no idea what it meant.  New York was, and is, always exciting and enlightening.

Back to today.  Greta was not quite right about something else; the library does not have every show ever produced.  Fortunately, they had the first show on my list, but did not have the next four.  So I saw an odd assortment of shows.

Loved it.  I don't know why this didn't run forever.

Meh.  For those of you who saw The Wild Party in Sacramento with me, that was the Lippa musical and today I saw La Chiusa's.  They both wrote a musical based on the poem when it went off copyright.  Frankly, I liked the Sacramento production of Lippa better than the Broadway version of La Chiusa, Mandy Patemkin notwithstanding.



I was enjoying this, but the library closed at 6 so I had to leave near the end of the first act.  It may be years before I find out how the Civil War ended.

Now the shows I am seeing live this week.

Very funny classic musical.  Clever spoof of Shakespeare and Broadway.

Great (underline three times) dance musical.  This one deserved a longer run, too.

Hysterical.  As clever as the original.

I've never seen a Cirque Du Soleil show before and
now I don't have to see one again.

Meh.  Nobody is going to get a Tony nomination for this one.

A little dated but fun and a great cast.

Still to see this week ...

And the two minute recap of the first two months of this trip ...

Amazing.  Incredible.  Awesome.  There just aren't words to describe it,
 but it will run forever, deservedly so, and was worth every penny.

Week in Washington with my grandkids - priceless (and the kids are worth a lot, too.)

Week in Washington touring with my sister, Sue - interesting and fun.  Highlights:  the Library of Congress is still the best tour in DC, but the Archives and Newseum are close behind.  We liked biking the Mall to see the monuments at night.

Week in Berkshires and Hudson Valley touring with my sister, Sue - interesting and fun.  Shocking that no one in our home town of Beacon remembers us.  Shocking too that we left Beacon over fifty years ago and frankly, little has changed.  Highlights:  loved Hyde Park, Norman Rockwell Museum, and Washington Irving's home, but if you are ever in Tarrytown, don't miss Union Church of Pocantico Hills.

Drive to Quebec highlight:  the Clark Museum in Williamstown, Mass; biking along Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont.

Week in Quebec with Kathee and Merry Rosenberg - magical.  Quebec felt like Europe.  Highlights:  our hotel, every meal, our guide, the old city.  Everything was a highlight.

Week in Montreal with Kathee and Merry Rosenberg - fun and interesting.  Not so shocking that no one in Montreal remembers my father who left there eighty years ago.  Highlights:  the Underground City, biking, great meals, organ concert in Notre Dame Basilica.

Drive to Albany highlight:  Fort Ticonderoga.

Week in Hudson Valley bike touring - lots of fun.  I managed hills way better than I expected, and while we had to ride with cars more than I would have liked, sometimes we rode country lanes where we had the roads to ourselves.  And we had perfect weather.  The only slightly unfortunately thing:  the leaves are changing colors late this year so I didn't get to see full-on fall colors.  I might have to come back.

Which brings me back to New York.  Besides shows, I have been visiting friends and relatives.  The one rainy day of my whole trip cancelled my bike ride in Brooklyn with Nina Samberg, but she walked me around the "cool" neighborhoods.  And yesterday I spent the entire day at the Met.  Usually I just visit a few rooms for a couple of hours, but I took the grand tour, seeing things I had no idea existed.  Who knew the Met has an entire Egyptian temple, a medieval courtyard, the facade of a Wall Street bank, and a Frank Lloyd Wright room including furniture?

And that's the wrap-up from your friendly Broadway journalist.

Never in America

I took a walking tour of the historical part of Quito on Monday.  The guide hustled us through the first few usual stops because we had to get to the Independence Plaza, the main square.  The government house is on the square and on Monday mornings at 11, they have a ceremonial changing of the guard.  There was the usual pomp and ceremony - soldiers in colonial uniforms, soldiers on horses, a military band.

But here is the amazing thing.  Take a good look at this picture.

The plaza is full of people.  On the balcony in the middle, overlooking the ceremony in the square, are the president and vice president of Ecuador.  Every Monday morning at 11 AM they stand out there and greet the people.  On the balcony this week are the members of Emelec, the team that recently won the national futbol championship of Ecuador.  In the very front, seated in a position of great honor, are students from a random rural area who have most likely never seen the big city and don't know anything about politics.  After the ceremony, they will have lunch with the president.

Students lining up to go into the government building for lunch

Like most places outside the US and Europe, public safety is ... uh ... not very safe.  I'm not talking about the water you can't drink or the air you can't breath.  Sidewalks are uneven.  Steep stairs in public buildings have no banisters.  I thought the park on Sunday was incredible.  There were thousands of people enjoying themselves on uneven soccer fields and cracked basketball courts.  Anyone could dirt bike or skateboard, and there were truly people of all different skill levels.  One idiot was guiding a kid with training wheels on the dirt bike track while the good riders were literally flying by them.  Skateboarders of all different abilities were practicing their tricks, and apologizing if they got in someone else's way.  As far as I could tell, the city provided a place, imperfect and rundown as it might be, and people did what they wanted.

Okay, you can always blame the lawyers.  Is it enough for the city to provide a place?  Once they do that, do they have to guarantee its safety?  And does that mean screening to keep unsafe riders out of the way?  Should everyone sign a waiver?  Is a waiver worth the paper it is printed on?

But the lawyers are only part of the problem.  What I didn't see - at least in my short viewing - was any gang or territorial behavior.  Grown men were riding by six year olds.  No one "owned" the tracks or ramps or looked down on beginners or outsiders.  Kind of like the sack race last week in Montanita, they seem to have an old fashioned idea of good, clean fun.

I mentioned the street performers that I have seen.  They mystify me as well.  First of all, there is always a big circle of people around them, no matter what time of the day or night it is, and no matter where they are.  I have seen them in the middle of the park in the middle of the day, and yesterday I saw a big group around a troupe of three in the square in front of the National Theater.  Like the crowded plaza at the ceremonial changing of the guard, who are all of these people that can hang out for hours in the middle of a work day?  I watched the troupe for fifteen minutes yesterday.  I have no idea how long they had been going on or how much longer they went.  Roughly the plot was a woman who had a fiance and a boyfriend.  No one asked for money.  No one (except for me) left.  It was farcical, almost slapstick, humor that I mostly don't get and the crowd loves.

Some things you just don't see in the US of A.

Sunday in the park in Quito

I am staying in the Mariscal neighborhood in Quito which turns out to be the big party neighborhood.  Within a few blocks of my hotel are dozens of restaurants and discos.  I just couldn't leave the party scene behind in Montanita.  So it was pretty packed here on Saturday night when I first arrived and wandered around.  On Sunday, however, not much is open in Quito.  They forecast rain but it was sunny in the morning, so I hopped on the first double decker tour bus of the day, so I could get oriented to Quito.  It is a huge city, and because it is surrounded by the Andes, it could not grow to the east or west, only north and south.  So you can practically walk across the city, but it takes a loooong time in a car to get from one end to the other.

Quito is not just surrounded by the Andes; it is IN the Andes.  It reminds me a lot of San Francisco with its steep streets and tiered houses.  But ... it is at 9,000 feet elevation.  Walking the hills here is a lot harder than in San Francisco.  Also, as a colonial, World Heritage city, the buildings come right up to the sidewalks and the streets are narrow.  I was amazed that the bus could drive on half the streets.

In the distance you can see the Virgin of Quito, who sits on a hill overlooking the old part of the city.  She is made of aluminum and is a copy of a statue that is in one of the churches in Quito.  The hill is called Panecillo and our guide said that some people erroneously call her the Virgin of Panecillo, but really, the Virgin of Panecillo does not exist.  She is the Virgin of Quito.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that the Virgin of Quito probably doesn't exist either.













The bus tour ended at Parque La Carolina - the Central Park of Quito.  According to the guide, up to 50,000 people come to the park on weekends.  It was still sunny out, so I headed off across the park.  It was amazing.  First, there were dozens of futbol fields -some concrete and some sand - with games on all of them.  Pick-up games or organized leagues?  I don't know.  Then there were dozens of volleyball courts and a few basketball courts, all with games going on.

 

Then I came to a steep hill that people were walking bikes up.  It was the start of the dirt bike track.

Then the local street performers.  I have seen them now in several cities.  Always a few young men, part of whose act involves dressing as women and dancing.  But most of the act is talking and engaging with the audience, and although I understand what they are saying, I never get the humor.

Then came the concrete bowls and ramps for bikes and skateboards.

The sign says:  Whatever you decide to do, be assured that it will make you happy.

There was a lake, a playground for kids, lots of food stands, and botanical gardens.  And finally ...  when the guide on the bus listed the sports people do in the park, he included gymnastics.  Really?  I thought.  Then I came upon an acrobatics class.

There could only have been one thing better than walking through the park on a beautiful Sunday.  I forgot that I had read that they close some streets on Sundays and everyone goes biking.  I could have rented a bike and gone for a ride.

Oh, well.  Next time.

Second week in Montanita ...

Just like the first.  Life moves very slowly in Montanita and, for most people, doesn't begin much before 10 at night.  I got a new teacher and a new classroom this week.  The classroom is on top of the building with a great view.

It is the last week of public school, so the kids have exams, and I only had a few more days to help with their English classes.  It was an interesting experience.

On Saturday, I walked two kilometers to Olon, the next town up the coast.  It is much quieter than Montanita.  On the way, I passed another school that was having some kind of parent-kid field day.  (Why there are two schools within two kilometers of each other, I don't know.  It doesn't seem like the area is that big.)  Anyway, it is like stepping back in time watching the activities and games in Ecuador.  They had relay races with the parents and kids, including a sack race.  You don't see that often back home.

When I got to Olon, I was rather disappointed to see that, like Christmas in Guayaquil, it is sponsored by Pepsi.  Who knew you could sponsor whole villages as well as holidays?

And this sign on a hostel totally mystified me.  Where do they speak Euskera?

I was not surprised to see lots of people playing futbol (soccer) on the beach.  I was surprised to see that the second most popular game here is volleyball.  They don't even need a net, and carrying is legal.  But what really surprised me was to see a game of girls' rugby.  I haven't watched a game since Rachel played rugby at Duke.

It has been mostly overcast in Montanita for at least part of each day.  Friday, my last day here was sunny and beautiful.  It was really tempting to cut classes on that last day, but my Spanish has improved a lot, so off I went.  I got to read in the sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon before leaving for Quito.  But I didn't go right into the city from the airport.  I went two hours north to Otavalo, which has a large regional market, and on Saturdays, it has the largest market in South America.  I spend most of the day wandering around the market, finally arriving in Quito on Saturday night.