If I had to describe the difference between Mexico City and other cities as succinctly as possible, I would say this: when a space in Mexico City can become a store, it does become a store. This goes for parks, sidewalks, rickety bridges, and subway stations alike. (We´ve also exited several stations directly into sprawling […]
In terms of scope, diversity, and improvisatory growth, you could almost consider Mexico City the Los Angeles of the south. The analogy works as far down to (and probably best at) the level of neighborhoods. La Condesa, where we’re staying, is Hollywood; both afford their residents ample opportunities for outdoor dining and ample quantities of […]
On the ride in from the airport, I immediately saw my first Mexican thing: a hunched fellow pedaling a bicycle loaded down with a five-foot-wide pallet of cookies and pork skins. On the freeway. Inches from traffic. We entered a tunnel, and I saw my second Mexican thing: a line of pedestrians shambling toward the […]
I´d write at greater length, but this Mexican keyboard slows me down. This strikes me as a challenge basically identical to the guy in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly who has to write by repeatedly telling a nurse when to stop cycling through the alphabet. I´m a regular Jean-Do in Mexico. (Except Jean-Do didn’t […]