jacobito ([info]jacobito) wrote,
@ 2005-04-06 02:33:00
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Caminando en Coyoacan

Jesus Graffiti in Mexico City
Originally uploaded by jacobito.
I've been walking 5, 6 hours a day. My feet are getting blisters.

Yesterday, I walked around Bellas Artes and Teatro Hidalgo. I was looking for Biblioteca Social Reconstruir but I couldn't find it.

What I did find, next to all the beauty of the city, was lots of poverty. Open, street poverty. From subways to shops, sidewalks to parks, people are everywhere trying to gain a peso or two to get by. Especially women with children. Now, I'm not sure if there is just more poverty in Mexico City than in the US, or if its just 'better' covered up in the United States. America's hyper-marketed corporate capitalism mixed with its political neo-fascism can't stand to see poverty in the streets, it ruins the myth of the American Dream. In Mexico City, I'm not sure if the poltiical infotainment structures are strong enough to eliminate the appearance of poverty.

So as I send you links to these beautiful pictures, I hope you don't forget what I'm not taking pictures of, what's outside the frame.

Today, I went down to Coyoacan. This is definitely my favorite place so far. Multi-colored houses and people, open parks, Frida Kahlo's house, Leon Trotsky's museum, cafes, people drumming, lots of people making out, artists, hippies, punks. Gorgeous. I was walking for hours; on the way, I saw some nice graffiti. Then, I saw the sign that pointed me in the right direction! I walked over to Frida Kahlo's house, but there maintenance being done, so I strolled over to good ole Trotsky's. If you don't know who he is, here's some background for you. Anyways, he was exiled from Russia (after defecting from Stalin) and was allowed to stay in Mexico City, in the company of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Andre Breton and others. There was a nice monument in the middle of the backyard to the Trotsmeister himself.

I stopped in a park. Finished my book. Thought. Ate. Drank. Rethought. Shot some video. Drank. And then moved on.

Food I've been eating: Beans, Rice, Cheese, Tortillas, Jorchata, Veggies, Coffee, Eggs. Some people say there's a lot of vegetarian food here, but I can't find it.

I love the fact that radioActive radio is on the internet. I can still listen to my favorite station from here. Also, seems like the border confrontations are beginning to heat up, as I read on san diego indymedia.

I think this blog is syndicated on indyblogs now, a site that collects blogs from different imc folks around the world.

Had a virtual imc-us meeting tonight. Late, but exciting.

Tomorrow, I'm going to a futbol game with my cousin. Should be wild.



(2 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Antiestablishmentarianism
(Anonymous)
2005-04-07 08:00 am UTC (link)
Everything sounds cool. Some of the people at radioActive want to go to Arizona ("Land of a Thousand Wingnuts") and interview the nutballs of Operation Minuteman, but I told them to wear flack jackets with WHITE GUY/GAL written on them and avoid going out in the bush at night, because crazed, illegal-immigrant hating yokels usually shoot first and ask questions later (or not at all.) www.sdcitybeat.com has a story on the insanity; really Hunter Thompsonish all the way. Anyway, on the poverty around Mexico City; the Mexican government or the corporations don't have to hide it because it's always been there, at least since the conquistadores. Americans have inherited the British viewpoint that "if you don't see it, it isn't there", so they move drunks, vagrants, etc. while fighting graffiti, the latter of which is a hopeless task. But "never say die" is charred onto the brians of white America (as it is in Britain, where the slogan originated), so the communty groups will continue the fight against "Killroy was here" and his descendants. Mexicans know that whatever poster or graffiti is put up, another poster/graffito will take its place in due time. So it's like rocks on the shore weathering the sea. In conclusion, VIVO TROTSKY!

-El Gringo Total, Mr. Mike

(Reply to this)

frida loves trot
(Anonymous)
2005-04-07 02:00 pm UTC (link)
its really funny you explained who Trotsky was. so is it true he really had an affair with Frida?

i think there really is more poverty in Mexico City compared to the US, even if American poverty isnt as overt. and i dont know if Mexican poverty is at all comparable to Tanzanian poverty, but i think its definately a different kind of poverty, and its dealt with differently by both the government and the people themselves than it is here in the US. maybe not. (that is not to say that poverty here isnt a bad. Obviously its still a major problem).

(Reply to this)


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