Mexico City

The kids and I arrived in Mexico City a couple of days ago, flying in from Oaxaca and then reuniting with Nadia who flew in from Jordan. Nadia arranged a house swap and landed us a really nice apartment right in the heart of the historic district. We have a flat with a beautiful open floor plan and situated on the top floor of an old building with expansive views of the city. With high ceilings, huge windows and a fully stocked fridge and bar, its a place you could chill out in for a few days without even getting out on the town. For us though, we only have a few days in the city so we're trying to make the most of it.

Yesterday we walked through the city and checked out the main city square (zocalo), which you may have seen in opening scene of the new James Bond movie - Spectre. We also had lunch at a nice restaurant that served delicious Mexican food. I had roasted peppers stuffed with salmon and shrimp  in a mole sauce (yum). We also visited the old Parliament building where Diego Rivera painted highly political murals on many of walls depicting the bloody history of Mexico including arrival of the Spanish and then the Catholic Church and the impact it had on the country. This city is massive. The buildings aren't so high, maybe 6-7 stories, but they cover every block for mile after square mile. Food stalls and restaurants are everywhere, as are parks, street musicians, people protesting one thing or another, pretty heavy-duty looking police, and much more. Walking down the streets you really get the sense this is an old but still very vibrant city.

Today we're off to the Frida Khalo museum and hopefully another tasty lunch and tomorrow we're excited to fly to Puerto Vallarta to visit my sister Jane who lives in a nearby town called Punta Mita.

Cheers, Rob

View from our balcony at night (the Museo Nacional de Arte)

 View from our living room early morning (the dome is the Opera House)

 The flat we're staying at in Mexico City

Enjoying the Plaza del la Constitucion o Zocalo (town square) 

Notice how wavy and unlevel the building are. Most of the old building in the city are leaning, some heavily and the floors are either slanted or wavy, following centuries of ground settlement 

 Beautiful Spanish architecture and crowded streets are the norm

 One of many highly political Diego Rivera murals cover the walls of Parliament

 Centre courtyard of Parliament

 New age pedal taxi

 This is the view you'll see on most streets in old Mexico City, the 4th most populous city in the world after Tokyo, San Paulo, and New York

Old puppet master selling his wears on the street 

Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zocalo

Massive alter of the Cathedral

:-) :-P :-O

These past few days have been amazing! We went to a "petrified waterfall" 

We went to a huge FREEZING moving waterfall 

We painted these beutiful Alabrijes 

we visited a cat sanctuary

we held a snake

And we had company.

Love, Mira

Interlude with Contrasts

I expect cultural differences (e.g. language and religion) when I travel.  It's amazing to me, however, how different places can look, even if they have fairly similar geographies (e.g. mountainous and dry).

Typical colorful street in downtown Oaxaca, Mexico, where we've been for the past 10 days, and where I've left Rob, Maya, and Mira for six days.  Oaxaca is at 5,500 feet and is arid much of the year.

Typical monotone-colored Amman, Jordan, where I am for the next three days for a sudden and very short work trip (women's rights and peace - how could I say no?!).  Amman is at 2,500 feet and is arid much of the year.

Nadia

From Cabo to Oaxaca

For the first time in an amazing 10 months, I enjoyed a short break from the family by spending five days with childhood and college friends in Cabo San Lucas for 'a guys weekend'. Starting from the time I met everyone at the airport arrival bar in Los Cabos on Wednesday afternoon, until I flew out on Sunday, it was nothing but fun and laughs with good buddies include 3 Marsocci brothers - Bob, Chris and Dino, high school friends Jim and Ben, my college and livelong friend Dom, and two new friends Cory and Mack. We rented a huge house high on a hill with a great view of Cabo town and the sea. The house also had a swimming pool, horseshoe court, and much more. If we weren't drinking beer and laughing about old times, we were fishing, jet skiing, quad-4ing, and of course eating lots of tacos. I hope we can do it again sometime.

After leaving my friends on Sunday, I flew to Oaxaca, Mexico (in the mountains 1.5 hours flight south of Mexico City) to reunite with the family and where we've rented a flat for two weeks in the historic part of the city. Oaxaca is situated in a valley (elevation 5,000ft), is surrounded by mountains, and maintains much of Mexico's traditional culture in terms of architecture, dress, cultural festivals and food. We're fortunate to have Nadia's good friend Holly joining us here for a week from Washington State. We've been taking walks through the city daily and are constantly coming across new things to see and explore.

Two days ago, we walked around the ruins of Monte Alban, which had been a spectacular planned city built by the Zapotec high in the mountains above Oaxaca town and inhabited from 500BC to 800AD. I was in awe when looking at the size and quality of engineering and craftsmanship that went into building this place so long ago. 

A week-long Oaxaca festival starts today so we're looking forward to seeing what this entails. I may even take the kids to a wrestling match (the Mexican version of WWF) where the wrestlers wear cheesy masks. I have no idea what to expect but it could be a good laugh. Nadia will miss the festival though because she flies to Jordan today on a week long consultancy and will reconnect with us in Mexico City next week. 

Even after all the adventures experienced and locations we've traveled to, the trip continues to inspire and enlighten.

Cheers,   Rob

Poolside at the house we rented in Cabo 

Dom and Ben feeding our fishing bait to a visiting sea lion on the way back to port

 

We stumbled across this bar called Fenway's (no pun intended) while walking through the streets of Cabo - Ben, Dom, Soch, Jim, Dino, Chris, Mack, Cory and me

At Cabo Wabo (Sammy Hagar's bar)

Holly and Nadia hiking above Oaxaca city

 Maya at Monte Alban ruins

 Amazing architecture

Rob and Nadia taking in the sights 

Hats for sale 

Expansive view of Monte Alban

The Zapotec

The Zapotec are really an amazing civilization. I feel as if when talking about ancient people in Mexico, the Aztecs and Mayans take all the credit. However the Zapotec were just about as advanced. Yesterday we visited Monte Alban, some Zapotec ruins. They were incredible, and quite large. In fact, they very much reminded me of Chichenitza, the most famous Mayan ruins. Monte Alban even had some ball courts, for a ball game that was also played by the Mayans and Aztecs. Why do the Mayans and Aztecs get all the spotlight, when the Zapotec were just as advanced, and so similar as well?

-Maya

Mitla - A Zapotec Site

Mira Sitting on some Zapotec Ruins

Alebrijes

The story behind Alebrijes is a man got yellow fever and started seeing weird things like chickens with bull horns, or a giraffe with a serpents tail. They were all calling out to him, Alebrijes Alebrijes! Nobody would believe what he was seeing so he started carving what he saw. He caught the eye of the owner of an art shop in southern Mexico, and Alebrijes are now a household item. I don't know if I believe it, but it's where they say Alebrijes come from. Today we did a workshop where we got to paint them.  It was a great day! 

Mira

Maya chose a giraffe, 

I chose an armadillo, 

Mama and Papa chose turtles, 

and Holly chose.... Um.... A donkey I think..

Common Themes

Traveling the world, seeing different cultures, common themes of humanity emerge.

Religion:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people believe in something for spiritual enlightenment or salvation and relief from earthly suffering.  They invest significant resources for places and spaces for enlightenment and/or worship and/or the afterlife.

The inside of the 700 year old Tlacolula Church

Violence:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people have a history of oppressing each other and/or forcing their personal views or opinions or cultures on people with different views or opinions or cultures.  In some countries and cultures, the violence was hundreds of years ago.  In other countries and cultures, it was tens of years ago.

A reproduction of a Mexico government torture room from the 1970s

Art:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people use art as a vehicle for expressing their world views, bearing witness to history, and/or protesting oppression and violence.

1970s art highlighting institutionalized violence in Mexico

Food:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people savor the flavors and fill their bodies with more than just calories.

Chocolates, chili, and crickets - typical and delicious ingredients for Oaxacan food

Love:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people have hope.  They love each other.  They fill their lives with color and joy.

Our house for two weeks in colorful Oaxaca City

Nadia