Postmarked Mexico: June 2010

Mexico is hot! It is hot hot hot! Even the Mexicans are melting. That meant this week’s quest was to buy some new clothes. I don’t usually wear shorts in Chicago, so I’ve been looking pretty ridiculous wearing my Soffees around everywhere. Most Mexicans actually don’t wear shorts, but they also don’t go walking around outside for hours in the afternoon, so while it isn't popular fashion here, it is perfectly acceptable. They do need to be a little longer though for daily use (as opposed to club use), and preferable a lighter material than denim.

I went shopping at about 4 different plazas/malls. I was really disappointed by the majority of them because they all have the same chain style stores with prices relatively the same as in the US. I didn’t come to Mexico to have to pay the same price for clothes, no no no. Thankfully, yesterday Kristen and I walked to seek out a new area by the school. Much to our surprise, we actually found another plaza that had some really nice little boutique style shops. I was able to get the shorts and tanktops I’ve desperately been needing for nice prices. Surprisingly, having new clothes that don't suffocate me is making me much more optimistic about everything in general.

Last weekend Kristen and I visited Parque Colomos together. This is the biggest park in Guadalajara. It’s described as a haven of green space in the urban jungle. With images of Millenium Park and Central Park in mind, we ended up setting our expectations way too high. The park was finally relatively small, had dangerous sidewalks, and was mostly dirt and dust in place of the grass we’d hoped for. There were some animals and a lot of trees providing shade, but it wasn’t exactly beautiful. We wandered around trying to find specific areas of the park, like the Japanese garden and bird fountain. In the end we figured out that the map was a complete joke though--nothing was drawn proportionately or correctly and over half the paths were missing. Due to the heat we spent the majority of our time wandering trying to figure out ¿Dónde está el snack? because I really wanted a nieve de garrafa...aka lemon chill. We made it eventually, but no nieves. The fruit juice was a nice alternative though.

Tuesday I went to my first lucha libre. This is the event with the masked fighters, sort of like a minor league WWF. The Rotarians invited me to go on Monday while I was at their meeting. I took a taxi to the “arena” and met up with Enrique, Ale and the visiting Chicago-ins. We got seats in the second row for about $12 each.

The food at the lucha is a sight in itself. Men with huge boxes of ACT II microwave popcorn bags circle. There was lots of beer, and ordering one actually gets you two bottles poured into a paper cup. There was some sort of fish looking plate covered in lime and salsa, as are nearly all Mexican foods. Or, you could buy chips (covered in salsa) or fruit cups.

The first fight was absolutely hysterical. The guys were terrible. They moved so slowly and were so careful with each other. I was really nervous about how the entertainment for the night would turn out. I really couldn't watch much more of that though.

Already in the second fight though, everything was much better. The wrestlers fought one on one, two on two, and three on three. They threw each other out of the ring and did flips against the ropes and all sorts of stuff. I was glad to not be in the front row, as those people had to keep running from their seats so they wouldn’t get squished. We all had a really good time cheering with the foul-mouthed crowds and laughing frequently throughout the fights. My favorite was El Gallo. He bobbed his head around like a chicken a lot. His mask looked like a chicken too. (I couldn't take pictures inside but these are actual fighters I saw.)

I really enjoyed the lucha and I love how authentically Mexican it felt. These were really all people in their city there to laugh and scream off the frustrations of their working lives. They were excited to be there and loved every minute. I think it would be impossible for a foreigner to not love the experience, but I guess we’ll see when my family comes and I take them. After the fight, Matt and Enrique, from Rotary, paid 30 pesos ($3.00) to hold metal poles connected to a car battery to make a circuit and see how much electricity they could handle.

The only minor downside is that the arena is in a really shady part of town. We took a little bit too much time deciding what people were going to do afterwards. Someone threw a glass bottle and it hit the taxi in front of us. Enrique quickly shoved half the people inside that taxi and rushed the rest of us to the minivan. It didn’t feel like there was a pressing danger and nothing else was thrown, but it was definitely time to go. The Chicago group went to Wall Street, but I headed home. I got there at 7 and it was surprisingly already 11. Finished up my hw and went to sleep.

Extra Photos:

At the market in Tonala