Tamaleras

Nothing says welcome home like joining the tamale assembly line on the day before Christmas eve/ Noche Buena. Making tamales for Christmas is a tradition held by many a Mexican/Chicano family here in Wilmas. December 23rd is the day for my family to get together, catch up on the latest family gossip and oh ya, make tamales. Above is my grandma and mom showing off their skills. Below are two steps of tamale assembly: the first is spreading the masa on the corn husk, second is putting in the filling (in this case its carne de puerco/pork).

On Dia de la Virgen, Even the Buses go on a Pilgrimage aka Goodbye for Now!

I conclude my trip to México where I began, the buses. In the city they are known as "peseros", in my first blog entry in México I talked about how confused and intimidated I was by the bus system. But once I got a hang of the peseros, they were my favorite thing about the city and I am going to miss riding around in them. They are privately owned so each pesero has its own unique atmosphere, some have bangin sounds systems and others are adorned with stickers or religious articles. Above and below are pictures of the peseros on dia de la Virgen, December 12. In various neighborhoods though out the city the peseros go on a pilgrimage drive in honor of la Virgen de Guadalupe. Each pesero owner decorates their bus with balloons and pictures or statues of the Virgen. In this particular delgeation, Magdalena Contreras, they drive to the top of a mountain. Each pesero is filled with the family of the owner, like a mobile party. On their drive down the mountain, they throw candy and other treats at the crowd of onlookers. It was a really fun way to spend my last day in the city. Long story short, yesterday I said farewell to the city and it was bitter sweet. I'm happy that I'm going to see my family for the holidays but sad because D.F. has become my new home and I will miss it dearly. It's back to reality but I hope to go on another adventure as soon as financially possible. GOOD BYE MÉXICO! Its been a blast.

My Ultimate Favorite Food and Dessert

Over the past month I have been eating every type of street food fathomable, well at least every type of food that does not include pork or beef. I'm not quite a vegetarian because I still eat chicken but I try to stick to veggie dishes. Some of my favorite things have included arroz con platano (rice with bananas) and Sopa de Pollo, a really yummy chicken soup with garbanzo beans. My ultimate favorite dish is completely veggie and pictured above and below, Tlacoyos! Tlacoyos are made with blue corn masa, they are stuffed with either beans, cheese or greenbeans. They are topped with nopales (cactus), onions, cilantro, cheese and salsa YUMMY! Also equally delicious are the quesadillas de flor de calabaza which include pumpkin flowers and cheese (picutred below on the left).

For dessert let me tell you, in Mexico they don't mess around when it comes to helado (ice cream). Below you can see a beautiful helado cubierto. It has two scoops of ice cream, cookies and cream and cappucino; its dipped in chocolate and covered with chocolate sprinkles. At a price of about 2 US dollars, it beats Cold Stone any day. Heaven on earth!

Petate Session Hip Hop Event

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to go to a hip hop event by the name of Petate Session. It was mainly a break dancing competition but it also included a performance by local hip hop emcees. The event was hosted by Otherside Crew, on their blog they state "Porque nosotros no somos gringos ni europeos sabor orgullosamente mexicano" (Because we are neither gringos nor Europeans, a flavor that is proudly Mexican). The hip hop culture of Mexico definitely has its own flavor, the break dancing community appears to be very passionate and united. I was happy to see that there were break dancing crews that included bgirls. I also noticed a real community feel, the more experienced bboys help others improve their skills. They also show a lot of love to younger kids who are learning to break. Below I've included a video of one of the battles.

Aerosol Art Culture in Mexico City

This week I had a chance to take a tour of some of the staples of graffiti art culture in Mexico City. I went to this amazing cultural center called El Faro, it is a huge building that houses different art workshops such as sculpting and Nahuatl language courses. Pictured above is an "Alebrige", a type of traditional folk art sculpture, a product of one of El Faro's workshops. The exterior of the building is covered in aerosol murals (Pictured in the second row). I also checked out a marketplace near the Isabel la Catolica Metro station where any budding artist can find all kinds of aerosol paint and markers (pictured below). Across the street from the marketplace is the underground hip hop store called T.T. Caps (click the link to view T.T. Caps' blog or visit gritarap.blogspot.com). T.T. Caps sells graffiti art magazines, clothes, vinyl as well as demos and CDs from local hip hop artists.

Bike D.F. on Sundays at Paseo de la Reforma

Every Sunday Paseo de la Reforma, one of the main streets of Mexico City is closed down so that people can ride bikes, skateboards or rollerblades. In a city where the traffic can be pretty crazy its definitely a nice break from all the cars and a way for the people of Mexico city to focus on exercise. The city even hosts zumba and aerobics classes (pictured above) my sister and I were tempted to join in, it looked like a lot of fun!

Chapala, Where my Grandparents Fell in Love

This week I took a flight out of Mexico City to Chapala, a small lakeside town about an hour drive from Guadalajara, Jalisco. Chapala is the place where my grandmother grew up, it is also the place where my grandparents fell in love and got married. Although my grandparents live in the U.S. they still own a home in Chapala that is open to my entire family. I spent a lot of time in Chapala throughout my childhood and I haven't been in a few years so it was really nice to visit. Enjoy a few pictures I took of this beautiful town, below is a picture of me sitting on the steps where I used to go fishing as a little girl.

The History of Mexico Spectacular!

This past Thursday I witnessed the most awesome spectacular that involved lights, projectors, fireworks, fire, traditional dancers as well as modern dancers. The show took place in the very spot where the Mexica (also known as the Aztecs) encountered the Spanish. In current times this area is called the Zócalo, in the historic center of the city. It is surrounded by colonial architecture that is built on top of what was once Tenochtitlan, the thriving metropolis of the Mexica. There I stood, in a crowd of thousands of Mexicanos, viewing an artistic presentation on the history of México. Images were projected onto the historic buildings, to accompany the music and dance that occurred on three stages. It was truly a beautiful experience. I've included a few pictures as well as brief video at the bottom of this blog entry, so that you can get a little taste of the show.

A Portrait of Mexico

Last weekend at el Chopo I came across an interesting art project, being funded by the Mexican government. Its called Rostros de México 2010. To mark the bicentenary, the project consists of taking as many portraits of people from all over Mexico as possible. The collection of portraits will serve to capture the personality of today's Mexico from the way people dress, to their professions and hobbies. Mini photography studios have been set up in various public places where anyone is allowed to get their portrait taken. They can pose in anyway that they'd like and are allowed to bring whatever props they may have with them. The picture above is a boy getting photographed (I got it from the project website). If you'd like to see the photographs click here or visit RostrosdeMexico2010.gob.mx

Break Dancing a la Mexicana Part II

Today I joined Cesar and his friend Mimo as they were break dancing on Avenida Universidad. I took a couple of short videos of them dancing in order to give you a little taste of how these bboys do what they love on the raw streets of Mexico City. Keep in mind I am no film maker, nor do I have a high quality camera, but nonetheless enjoy! Cesar is the bboy in the burgundy shirt and Mimo is the bboy wearing a grey tank top.

Punks, Skaters, Goths and Reggae heads unite at El Chopo

This year in Mexico marks the 200th anniversary of the country's independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Although those are very important dates, another anniversary not to be overlooked is the 30th anniversary of the Tiangis Cultural del Chopo. Every Saturday the youth of the city, punks, skaters, goths, metal heads, reggae heads and vinyl collectors, gather at el Chopo. El chopo is a market place filled with all kinds of things such as: boots, belts with spikes, skate boards, CDs and Records. There is also a stage where local bands perform. If you ever find yourself in D.F. it is definitely a fun place to check out. Its awesome to see all of the youth decked out in their punker or goth gear complete with piercings and mohawks.

Frida and Diego's House

Nestled in the bougey neighborhood of San Angel, next door to a Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss boutique, stands the beautifully unique former studio and home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The house provides an intimate lens into the artistic life of Diego Rivera. It was filled with all kinds of his belongings including his art supplies, antique dolls and huge paper mache figures. The building itself has really cool architecture. It was designed by Diego and Frida's friend, a painter and architect, Juan O'Gorman. As you can see in the picture above, each artist had their own house that was connected by a bridge. Diego's house is the one on the left and Frida's is the blue house on the right.

Break Dancing a la Mexicana

In Mexico City, when cars are stopped at a red light, it is common to see people rush into the intersection to dazzle those waiting in their cars with a quick performance. After showing off their skills, they solicit tips from the audience. I've seen fire dancers and juggling clowns, but today for the first time I saw break dancers. It gives the term street dancer a whole new meaning because these boys were literally dancing on the street. Pictured above is Cesar, he is a student at a prepa (high school). When he is not at school, he earns money break dancing. He told me that this is his only form of income. He doesn't earn much money during the week, but on weekends he dances in the historic area of Tlalpan where he usually earns a little more money. I will be stopping by to see Cesar and his friends perform, so there will be more pictures and stories from Mexico City's break dancers to come.

The Ethiopia-Mexico Connection

Did you know that Haile Selassie I visited México?!?! In Mexico city there is a metro station dedicated to his visit to Mexico in 1954. Every metro station has a symbol and that of "Plaza de Etiopia" is the lion, which can be seen on the tiles that make up the walls of the station (Pictured second row). There is also a "Plaza México" in Ethiopia, which Selassie had constructed after he returned from Mexico. Plaza México is the only Plaza in the Ethiopia which is named after a different country. As a result of this historical connection, México and Ethiopia consider themselves to be sister countries. Pictured above is a photograph of his Majesty trying on a sombrero during his visit.

Frida Kahlo's Hood a.k.a. Coyoacán

Día de los Muertos is almost here and you can feel it in the air. There are flowers every where and I've come across people setting up altars around every corner. In the spirit of honoring the dead, I went to visit Frida Kahlo's house because she has always been a role model for me. Her home was beautiful, it has some of her and Diego's paintings as well as her personal items such as books, art supplies, clothing and her bed. There was also an exhibit of her personal photograph collection which included pictures of her family and photographs that were gifts from other artists.

After Frida's house I took a stroll around Coyoacán, I had some yummy quesadillas de pollo at the mercado de Antojitos. Something I found interesting is, although Halloween is not a national holiday in Mexico there are plenty of people who get dressed up, and Halloween decorations are just as common as the altars for día de los muertos. I took a picture of this cute little girl pretending to be a zombie. Above right is a picture of the symbol on the benches. Tomorrow I'll be going to check out the altars in the city's center, the Zocalo, I can't wait!

Can You Say Xoloitzcuintles?: Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño

Now that I am settled in my new apartment (which I am sharing with a very nice student from Japan), I decided it was time for an outing. Since it's Sunday I knew it would be super crowded heading into the city's center, so I went to Xochimilco, the home of Museo Dolores Olmedo. Once I figured out how to get there, I was very upset to find out the collection of Frida Kahlo paintings are currently in Europe! Luckily there are plenty of other places in the city that have Frida's work, including her house in Coyoacán. I did get to see plenty of art by Diego Rivera as well as a lot of pre-colombian reliefs and ceramic work. My favorite part of the museum was the garden, where I got to see the Xoloitzcuintles (pictured below), hairless dogs that have been Indigenous' people's best friends (as opposed to man's best friend, I know, I'm corny) before colonization. I also got to catch a show of ballet folklorico.

These pictures are in the garden, on the left are the Xoloitzcuintles kickin it with a statue of themselves.

Heres a couple of pictures of Indigenous art, there were really beautiful ceramic pieces inside the museum but they didn't allow pictures.

A sign outside that in short reads: I leave this house with my collection of art, the product of my life's work, so that all of Mexico can enjoy it.

The dancers gettin' down!

Mexico City Shock!

So my first few days here in the city have definitely been challenging to say the least. The place I'm currently staying is far from everything and the bus system is pretty wild. Slowly but surely I am getting the hang of things. Yesterday I enrolled in school and I am now officially a student of UNAM! (hence my ID pictured above) I'm so excited to start school because I will be able to meet people from all over the world. During registration there were people from Africa, Japan, Korea, Australia and the U.S. I even met a girl who went to Berkley, what a small world!

Long Story short, I'm working on relocating closer to the school. Once my housing is settled, I can start to fully see all the gems of this city. This is only the beginning.

Queens

Today I left Manhattan and spent some time in the borough better known as Queens. I really like Queens! First I went to 5 Pointz, which is a huge building covered with graffiti art from local and international artists. Across from 5 Pointz is PS1, a contemporary art museum housed in an old school building. PS1 is a three story brick building complete with old creaky wooden floors. The museum had a maze like quality with lots of rooms, displaying art of all different mediums.

After tripping out on modern art for a couple of hours, it was lunch time. I hopped on the train to Jackson Heights, a neighborhood where Indian and Latin American culture mix and mingle. There was taco trucks and Cumbia music blasting on one block and then I'd turn the corner only to be confronted with sari shops and the lovely smell of Indian spices. After surveying several restaurants, I settled on a yummy Indian buffet for lunch. It was a good day.

The African Burial Ground Monument.

I made it safely to New York! Yesterday, I spent most of the day strolling around the city feeling incredibly jet lagged after a red eye flight. Today I ended up waking up later than I had planned so I had a breakfast of champions, a slice of pizza and a coffee, and then I headed to lower Manhattan to check out the African Burial Ground. In 1991, in the midst of the bustle of lower Manhattan, not far off from Wall street, a construction crew found more than 400 wooden caskets with the remains of enslaved Africans. In honor of our African ancestors the African Burial ground is now marked with a monument and is a designated National Historic landmark. There is also a visitor's center that opened this year, which had a lot of information. It has video footage of the inauguration of the monument that showed the passion that the African/African American/Black community showed in honoring their ancestors. It was extremely powerful! Bellow are some pictures of the monument and visitor's center.

Here is a close up of the monument, next to this there was a symbol of Sankofa which was the overall theme of the monument. Sankofa is from the Akan people of West Africa, it stresses

that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward into the future.

The Circle of the Diaspora and the Ancestral Libation Court. The Circle represents the African diaspora with different symbols from native African, Latin American and Caribbean peoples who were forcibly subjugated during the colonization of the Americas.

I didn't take this picture, but here is an aerial view of the monument

This an opening inside the Ancestral Chamber, it serves as a pathway for the spirits of those who are buried under the monument to rise up to the heavens.

A photograph of the excavated remains, found inside of the visitor's center.

A snap shot that I took of a video in the visitor's center of Maya Angelou speaking at the inauguration.