I've been gone from Ciudad de Mexico for just over two weeks and am only now catching up on the blog. Lots of distractions in Guanajuato. A few posts ago I wrote of a Surreal Day in Ciudad de Mexico in which I woke to the sounds of chanting crowds and streets full of police and police vehicles. A protest demonstration led by the Union of University Professors and Workers from the University of Mexico had gathered in my neighborhood and set off for the Centro from there. Later in that day I discovered the scope of the demonstration when I cycled off on errands. Tens of thousands of people had converged on Paseo de Reforma accompanied by what seemed like tens of thousands of police. The authorities seem quite accommodating in allowing demonstrations and they occur often. Maybe something was learned from the global condemnation of the the violent response to the protests that occurred before the 1968 Olympics in which protesters were shot. In terms of their effectiveness for fostering change, I don't think the demonstrations make any difference. "Go ahead, protest, fill your boots." And life goes on. (These are just my musings and may, in fact, be total bullshit.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88CjDBCjSAs A couple of photos of Ciudad de Mexico on a rare clear day.
The Cathedral, National Palace and Zocolo
The opulent, elegant and historic Gran Hotel de Mexico. The building that houses the hotel was originally built under the order of Hernan Cortes in 1522. Crowned by a Tiffany glass skylight it is one of the few art Nouveau buildings still standing.
The libraray
A random sculpture
Onward to Guanajuato.
An example of the drab buildings of Guanajuato
On a hike in the hills surrounding Guanajuato, I was lucky to see a maguey cactus in bloom. The Maguey is a species of agave, or century plant or American aloe and has a wide variety of uses including tequila, mezcal, pulque, fibre and aloe products. The name century plant derives from the alleged 100yr life span of the plant which is in reality 10-30yrs. After putting out a series of yellow flowers, the plant dies but sends out suckers that become new plants.
Pedaling around in the neighborhood where I took photos and videos of the folks dancing to Cuban Son, I came across another, much bigger dance event some days later. A big crowd of people, mostly older, dressed to the nines, gathered for the 29th annual Plaza del Danzón, dancing this traditional dance to an orchestra from Sinaloa playing danzón music. From Wikipedia: Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba It is also an active musical form in Mexico, and is still much loved in Puerto Rice. Written in 2/4 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages. The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera (literally, 'Havana-dance'). The contradanza, which had English and French roots in the country dance and contredanse, was probably introduced in Cuba by the Spanish. To tell you the truth, danzón is pretty boring itself but seeing the dancers in their costumes performing in perfect synchronicity, thoroughly enjoying themselves strutting their stuff, I find very entertaining.
A visit to the Franz Meyer museum is always worthwhile when visiting Mexico City so one day I took Harry there to see what was on offer. Franz Meyer was a stockbroker and financial professional and the museum was created to contain his collection of decorative arts, the largest in Latin America. The museum was created in the former San Juan de Dios monastery and hospital, an 18th-century structure which was rehabilitated for the museum. This year, one of the featured exhibits was of ceramics created by a variety of Mexican ceramicists.
I also revisited the Museum of Modern Art with Harry, saw another ceramics exhibit that I'd missed on my last visit, pieces by Francisco Toledo, an artist from Oaxaco. His work of distinguished by his technique of using extremely high heats to fire his works.
While I was there I photographed some of the classics.
David Siqueiros - Birth of Facism
David Sequeiros - Aeronave atómica, Atomic Airship
David Sequeiros
Leopoldo Méndez - Peor Subrevivir, The Poor Survivor
Leopoldo Méndez - Deportation of the Women
Jose Guadalupe Posada - Posada's best known works are his calaveras, which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the "Skull of the Female Dandy", which was meant to satirize the life of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Diaz. Most of his imagery was meant to make a religious or satirical point. Since his death, however, his images have become associated with the Mexican holidayDía de los Muertos, the "Day of the Dead".
Rufino Tamayo
Two Fridas
Harry's primary motive for visiting Mexico City was to do some volunteer English teaching at a little school run by a Mexican couple that he'd connected with in Victoria. I accompanied him a few times and got my feet wet participating in the teaching in a limited way. My first experience at this. I found it enjoyable though the school was pretty disorganized. We never knew who would show up for the classes and they sometimes were a wide range of ages and abilities.
On the way to the Museum of Modern Art we came across the designated roller blade hang out.
The Cathedral, National Palace and Zocolo 
