On Thursday, we arrived in Mexico City. We spent the afternoon getting oriented with the city, learning about the Mexico MCC (Mennonite Cenral Community) program, and eating tacos. While here in Mexico City, we are being lead by an MCC worker who is actually from France. Her name is Clementine. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at Casa de Los Amigos, which is the Quaker Guest House where we are staying.
On Friday, we went to a local business that MCC partners with called Center for Ecumenical Studies. They partner with small, indigenous villages and help make sure that their land is not taken up by larger state corporations. In the afternoon, we went to the Zocalo (city square). The group that I was with had lunch on the 5th floor balcony of a buildling and we got to overlook the Zocalo while we ate. The best part is that it was SUPER cheap! SCORE! :) We explored the former National Palace which has many murals by Diego Rivera, went in the big Metropolitian Cathedral, and then just sat and people watched for a long time. Close the ¨Casa¨where we are staying, is the HUGE Revolution Monument. On the plaza next to it are many water fountains in a square shape that shoot out of the ground in different patterns and heights. At night, there are also colored lights that shine on them. 2 of the other girls and I ran through them. In my attempt to stay dry, I got really, really wet. It was fun, but FREEZING! We grabbed tortas for supper at a little corner stand. In the evening, we watched the movie, ¨Frieda,¨ which is about the life of Frieda Kahlo.
Today, we went to ¨Casa Azul,¨ which is the house of Frieda Kahlo. It is now turned into a museum that showcases many of the actual artifacts from her house, in addion to lots of her artwork. We walked to the Zocalo of this little town, called Coyaucan for lunch. We also had a bit of time to swing through their Saturday Artisan`s Market. After that, we headed to Leon Trotsky´s home, which is now also a museum, with many artifacts and photos of him. For supper, we had pizza together. Then some of us went and got ice cream. On our way back to the casa, we came upòn an outdoor concert where a group was playing some amazing Celtic music. They were so sweet and translated everything they said in Spanish into English for us. We ended up staying there watching for over an hour. Afterwords, we talked with them and took a picture with them.
I have came to the conclusion that Mexican here hate me because of my hair color...they glare at me a lot. It is actually becoming a bit uncomfortable.
Finally, I am so irritated by how the Mexican population treats those with physical disabilities. They´re treated horribly and deserve so much more. Outside all of the main public places, cathedrals and what not, there are people with only one leg or who are missing an arm. Many of these people obviously can´t walk and so you can tell that they must have been left there by someone to sit there and beg for money all day long. It´s really sad. The other thing that really irritates me is how blind people are treated. On the subways, a ¨group leader¨ puts one blind person on each subway. They walk around with backpacks that have speakers in them. They play music and ride the subways all day trying to get money and sell CD´s. Yes, I´m glad they have a job, but they don´t deserve to be treated the way that they are. It is so sad. So, so sad. (That was definitely my inner Special Education teacher coming out...)
Hope you all are doing well! Miss you and see you in 3 days!!!
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