Travel Report 8: Mexico City

From Querétaro (I) to Mexico City (J)

Mexico City, aka D.F. (Distrito Federal) - a love and hate relationship. It was the third time I went there. It's always the same. I love that the city is so big, so buzzing, so varied and so exciting. On the other hand I hate that some areas are really not safe, so many people have to live there in horrible conditions, the "natural friendliness" of the Mexicans - don't search it in DF...

Anyway, given that many people consider it as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you feel surprisingly safe. As M. went on to Cancún (read: "beach, party, alcohol, girls"), I spent the last days alone here, and there was no situation where I felt really uncomfortable. Many people don't even dare to ride the metro, as they think it's the hotspot of illegal activity. Might be, as you see a lot of quirky people. But I tell you, it's a unique experience. You will never be in a silent waggon, as there is always somebody who either has a loudpseaker on his back, in order to promote his 10 peso pirate copy of the latest hits, or somebody will loudly sell either socks, or clothespins, batteries, or fake tattoos, or...

People here also have a habit, which is pretty common in whole Mexico, but here it appears extremely concentrated: The minimization. Instead of "salsa" they say "salsita", instead of "tamales" it's "tamalitos", "ahora" becomes "ahorita". As a matter of fact, this perfectly resembles the custom people from my region - the Swabians - have. So far from there and so close... For my German (especially Swabian) speaking readers:

• Salsa = Soße, salsita = Sößle
• tamales = Dampfnudeln, tamalitos = Dampfnüdele
• ahora = jetzt, ahorita = jetzedle

DF just has everything (perhaps apart from enough decent Asian restaurants...) - even a voodoo market: Mercado de Sonora. When I went there it was indeed a bit creepy, because there were so many animals and it smelled disgusting. But actually most parts of the market where nothing but just normal market stalls, even vending toys (or perhaps well-camouflaged voodoo equipment?!). You could say that it was also strange to have so many people staring at you, but as a güero (blond person) this happens to you everywhere in Mexico (and it's not that there are no blond Mexicans, but still...).
Anyway, in order to get to Mercado de Sonora I had to take the metro to "La Merced". I thought, that this was just another metro station. But actually it's the biggest fruit and vegetable market I have ever been to. Words cannot describe how big it is. And when you get out of the metro you are already in it. It's crazy. And to me it was much more impressive than Mercado de Sonora.

Speaking of vegetables: I also made a new discovery here, on a Sunday morning market in a peaceful housing area. I just wanted to get some Quesadillas and asked the vendor what kind of fillings he had. One of them was "quelites". At first I thought that this might be a local dialect for anything I already knew - a very common phenomenon in Mexico (for example my beloved gorditas are called tlayudas here). But when I tried it I had to admit that I had no clue what it was. Similar to spinach, but not chard. I asked some other people eating there and they said it's a "wild leave". Hmm. But actually that's what it is. It refers to a number of different wild leafy plants. Given the appearance, I guess I had goosefoots leaves. Tasty.
As the capital of course Mexico City also boasts a gourmet's market. Well, kind of. Unfortunately I was again remined of the country I stayed in - and I will just never ever end up loving the Mexican flavour palette. So, the visit to that market was more disgusting than indulgence...

I wanted to stay several days in DF, in order to visit some of the amazing museums this city has to offer. Unfortunately, most of them where closed, because it was around New Year. One day I went to FOUR museums and ALL of them were closed. Too bad. I thought, one advantage was at least that I could celebrate New Year in the capital - obviously with the biggest party of the country. Erm. Fail. I knew that many Mexicans spend that time with their family. But all of them? Who could know? The streets where literally dead. And indeed it was a challenge to find a restaurant, which was not closed. I ended up having dinner in a French restaurant with some of my French fellow students, who coincidentally stayed in the same hostel as I did (have I ever mentioned that Mexico is so small...).

Trajeras in Xochimilco

Mercado San Juan in Mexico City is famous for its delicacies... well, tastes seem to be different...

Delicacies in Mercado San Juan...

Chinatown in Mexico City - the tiniest Chinatown I've ever been to...

Mercado de Sonora is known for its Voodoo action... yeah, they definitely have enough animals for it. But already the smell is the worst spell I could imagine... Mercado Merced directly in front is much better (as long as you like crowded places with loooots of food to try )

Zócalo in Mexico City - this time with some Christmas decoration