Best Weekend Yet

Tuesday
November 6, 2007

The weekend of the concerts was the first time where I really felt that I have gotten past the frustrating aspects of the city and started to really enjoy it. Going to see Jorge Drexler was the first big city/latin opportunity I feel I took advantage of, but the weekend of the music festival and The Cure was distinct because not only did I see some amazing bands, but I hung out with a lot of locals and did some activities unique to the city. Also that weekend, now that I am looking back on it, was when I started to realize that I was beginning to have some pretty well established friends.

The motorokrfest started early on Friday so to help me out, Homero (a friend of Mauricio from high school) picked me up from school on his way down from Toluca. He and his and Mau’s friend Alejandra was with him too. I had met Homero twice before. The first time was at a bar in Toluca and the second time was when he came to town for a conference. Hanging out with Mau’s friends is always great because I learn more Spanish, I learn more of the subtle cultural intricacies,* and they’re fun. Mau noticed after seeing me with both his high school friends and his college friends that I seem to be more comfortable with the former group. Recently I have been thinking about it and I think that since they’re from high school and not from his political science college, they are more diverse. For example, Homero is an architect, Marlen is in marketing, and Tavo works for a Japanese car company. I ended up getting to know Homero and Alejandra quite well on the way to the “Foro Sol” since the traffic was horrible. He picked me up at 3:30 and we arrived around 5:30 or 6:00. I always thought it was going to be a tough transition when I finally get settled somewhere and I no longer have the 8 minute bike ride to campus and the 2 minute bike ride to work at the Inn. However, living in Mexico City is going to make living nearly anywhere else a breeze when it comes to my future commute. I can’t wait to be able to laugh at myself in retrospect. Until then, I will take advantage of the traffic and get to know my traveling companions.

The concert was unbelievable. The baseball stadium wasn’t completely packed but I do remember walking to it from the pedestrian overpass and seeing the sea of people on the field in front of the main stage. The most impressive thing was not the amount of people, but the fact that of this crowd of people, all I could see was black hair. Yep, I’m a white girl in the middle of Mexico City. The other striking thing was that for the first time since I graduated college, I was actually surrounded by people my age. It was a fantastic feeling.

Of the bands I saw, I was mostly impressed with the Killers, Molotov, and El Instituto Mexicano del Sonido. Incubus wasn’t too great and The Dandy Warhols, although I have gotten to love their music, played too early for them to really rock. Being able to see Molotov was a very special experience. One thing I will always remember, which is one main point that separates the Mexican Indie/Hipster crowd from their American counterparts, is that in the US, an indie crowd would never listen to the hip-hop/rap/rock that is Molotov. But, Molotov is so important to Mexican culture that no matter what music you prefer, if you are young, liberal, and Mexican, you are going to rock out to Molotov.

In addition to giant cups of beer that were sold at the Foro Sol, fans were offered quite the selection of snacks. To accompany your Sol or Indio, you could enjoy a doughnut, Cheetos, personal pizza (Hawaiian or pepperoni), or a cup of hot ramen. Yes your read correctly, Top Ramen, or Maruchan as they call it here, is quite the popular (and apparently normal) concert snack. At the The Cure concert which was in an indoor stadium called the Palacio de los Deportes, vendors were selling candied apples as well as Ramen, beer, and doughnuts.

After the Friday night show, Homero, Marlen, Tavo, Alejandra, Mauricio, and I went out for tacos in La Condesa. The next day we met for a late breakfast in the Mercado of Coyoacan. To get there, we decided to give Alejandra an introduction to the metro of Mexico City. Although it was just one stop, we figured that since it was a tranquil Saturday morning, it would be a good first time for her. It made me happy that I, as a gringa, got to teach a Mexican the ways of public transportation. Breakfast was frustrating as I am still not in love with much of the food here. They all had quesadillas and I ended up having chicken soup. After eating we all walked around Coyoacan (my favorite place) and parted ways since Alejandra had a meeting she had to get to back in Toluca that afternoon.

My day didn’t stop then. Mauricio and I headed back to his apartment just in time to have lunch (yeah – and I wonder why I haven’t lost any weight here) with his parents, Sergio, and his girlfriend Alejandra. His mom had made delicious taquitos de papa, pollo, y frijoles. I love spending time with them because we laugh and joke a lot and they make me feel very comfortable. One interesting conversation we had was about sleeping on the job. Sergio Sr. used to go to the movies during the afternoon just to get some sleep between shifts when he used to work longer hours. To this day, apparently, he can’t stay away when he goes to the movies. Sergio, being that he is in residency, obviously sleeps often at the hospital, and I told them of my long naps in the corner of my classroom. We joked that some morning my kids are going to walk in on me sleeping at one of their desks. This conversation made me realize that I need to start cracking down on the “don’t come in if you don’t see me in the classroom” policy that I have loosely established with my students.

Later that night I went to a Halloween party that Sarah threw. It was great to be able to balance Mexican social gatherings with more international ones as I am happy to be able to speak English every once in a while. I have so much more to tell but it’s late and I need to start thinking about my field hockey and Day of the Dead entries.
Good night and as always, comments are welcome.

* One example, which I haven’t quite gotten used to (and have suffered as a result), is that in Mexico, friends say cheers (salud) for seemingly random reasons. In the US, saying cheers is a somewhat formal act. The custom, at least for me and the people who have taught me, is to look everyone in the eye, say cheers, and take a drink. If you don’t do one of those things, you are either considered to be rude or are stricken with bad luck. Here in Mexico, someone will propose “salud” for whatever les da las ganas. People say “salud” if a random feeling of happiness overcomes them, if someone shares a good memory, or even if someone spills. For pure reasons of survival, and sobriety, Mexicans don’t always drink when they clank glasses. That’s where the suffering (if you can call it that) comes in for me. Holding true my superstitions, I have had to adjust my sip size when drinking under conditions where much “salud” is wished upon by my drinking companions.