Sunday, March 30, 2008

El Mercado

If you want to see, feel, and smell how the locals shop, just head over to the mercado. In search of this experience, this past Sunday we ventured downtown to the local municipal market here in Cuernavaca. The bus deposited us right off in front of the huge building which houses hundreds of stalls and vendors. So we rubbed shoulders with the locals as we wound our way through the narrow aisles.

The minimum wage in Mexico is about 4 U.S. dollars a day, so if you're in that pitiful earning category, you're not going to shop in the big supermarkets - all of which happen to be owned by Walmart here in Cuernavaca. Your 4 bucks a day won't buy you much in those places. So the mercado is where most Mexicans shop, especially the poor ones. Prices are cheaper, bargaining is common, and the selection is as good if not better and fresher than in the large box stores.

A typical mercado is open daily and sells everything under the sun: consumables, vegetables, fruits, dried foods, flowers, spices, meats, fish, clothing, magazines, books, music, drugs, party favors, household items, etc... There are restaurants, taco stands, tortilla stands, juice stands and all other kinds of snack bars, too. Product types are grouped together, so for instance all the veggies are in one area of the building, fruits in another, meats in yet another and so on. Colorful displays are artfully arranged and you'll come across delicious aromas, especially around the fruit and flower stands, as well as rather horrid smells like those we encountered in the meat and fish departments.

You've basically got several groups of people who thrive off of the mercados. You've got the professional merchants. They can be selling in one location or circulating around while trying to sell their stuff. You've got the serious customers who shop there on a regular basis, and then you've got the passerbys, like tourists who are just popping in or only buying one item. You've got various levels of authorities who make sure everything runs as it should. You've got the support workers who clean, unload, and transfer stuff, and finally you've got the beggars and prostitutes who are just trying to make a living. Outside you'll find an array of transportation options: trucks, cabs, buses, and collectivos, all eager to help you carry your goods to their destination.

All in all, spending time in any mercado in Mexico will surely be an interesting experience.

Here's a sampling of what we saw. I only wish I could include the smells!

The main mercado building with the taxis lined up...

Dried chiles and grain...

Walking down one of the aisles...

Lots of fresh fruit...

Mole for sale...

Fruit gift baskets...

Topical fruits...

Veggies...

Herbs and spices...

Hog heads...I wanted to buy one, but didn't have a pot big enough to cook it in...

Flowers...they're a lot cheaper here than in the states...

Backpacks and bags...

Typical scene...

Taco stand...

Hats and baskets...

More backpacks...

Clothing...

Museum of Anthropology

Saturday afternoon, after our stroll around the historical areas of Mexico City, we headed over to the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec Park. This museum is regarded as one of the top museums in the world and is located in the beautiful park grounds. Chapultepec Park is one of the largest parks in the world and covers 543 acres. It's an oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Mexico City and it's a very popular weekend destination as was evident by the large crowds. Here are some shots...

The museum...

One of the many exhibit halls...

Display of a typical kitchen...

Outside in the cafe...

Dancers and drummers in the park...

Food stands...

Flowering tree...

Kids playing soccer...

Memorial to Gandhi...

Mexico City - Historical District

On Saturday we got up early and went on an excursion with the school to Mexico City, the capital of Mexico and one of the world's largest cities. Mexico City sits on an enormous dry lake bed in a highland valley surrounded by mountains. It is 7,347 feet high and is home to over 20 million people. Because of the excessive extraction of ground water, compaction of the clay soils, and excess of concrete that prevents the permeation of rain water, the city is sinking about 10 cm/year. It's quite obvious in the historic district where many of the buildings are sagging to various degrees. The city also sits on an active seismic zone, so most of the buildings are not constructed above more than a few stories. We started our tour in the historical district and then spent the rest of the day in the Museum of Anthropology at Chapultepec Park. Here are some shots from the historical district.

Click on this link if you want to see some amazing aerial photos of Mexico City:


When we arrived at the school to get on the bus, the security guards were all lined up to receive their orders for the day...

The Mexican flag flying over the zocalo...

The zocalo, the heart of the historical district...

The National Palace...

Inside the National Palace. Notice how the balcony is warped...

Diego Rivera's murals inside the National Palace. They depict the history of Mexico in a very colorful and controversial way...

A small part of one of the murals...
Z...

The balcony above the main entrance to the National Palace. Each Sept. 15, Mexican Independence Day, the president of Mexico stands on the balcony to greet the thousands of spectators who fill the zocalo...

Some of the older buildings in the historical district. Notice the sagging...

The Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere...

Waiting for our bus...

Inside the Cathedral...

The area surrounding the zocalo...

Mc Donald's is located on the ground floor of this building...

More views from the Cathedral square...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Random images of Cuernavaca

View looking toward the Cathedral from Palace of Cortez...
The Diego Rivera murals in Palace of Cortez...
Colorful street near the Cathedral...
Inner courtyard of the Cathedral...
Indian women selling crafts...
Our Sunday meal...

Tepoztlan

Yesterday we took the local bus to Tepoztlan, a picturesque mountain town about an hour from Cuernavaca. It is surrounded by bizarrely shaped mountains that reminded me a lot of Sedona in Arizona. The mountains are visible from almost everywhere in town, and on the top of one of them are the remains of a pyramid. The town was packed with tourists, many of whom came to see the weekend folkloric market. It was quite hot as we strolled around the cobblestone streets, and at some point in the afternoon we noticed a fire had started on the side of one of the mountains, so the air quality wasn't at its best. Here are some photos from our little excursion...

That's me...

One of the many churches...

Former convent Dominico de la Natividad...

Inside the convent's courtyard...painted walls and ceilings...

The courtyard...


The restaurant we stopped at for lunch...

Bread stand...

Vegetable stand...

Fruit stand...

Folkloric market...