Becoming-Beginning (Back to Mexico City)
March 15, 2022
To paraphrase: “Invariably as we go through our lives we will sit and reflect on our personal history/experiences seeking to understand them, and in the case of pain…often attempt to redefine the understanding of what took place so that we can reconcile with our souls. But, most often, this is a fruitless effort…What we can do though is place ourselves in new circumstances with new experiences that will dilute the intensity of the past, and allow for the new beginnings to fulfill our lives….”
(Reference to come)
What Frida Kahlo leads us to understand as ‘the process of becoming’ 😊
I had such an amazing time in Ciudad de Mexico last time! Now, I am back again….Landing in the evening…. Views such as this always inspire such an amazing feeling. Knowing that even though I have been here before, there is so much more….the history, the sights, the food, the stories of the people…beginnings….things to support ‘becoming’…
It is a bit late….heading to the abode quickly to try and make sure food is available. While the neighborhood is quiet, people are still on the move….and while searching…this place caught my eye. Jazz/nice music playing…attractive photos…kind of place that makes you walk over to it just to see what is going on. And, behold…the city of street food. Often you will see a person with a regular table set out on the sidewalk, table cloth, seasonings, cooking, people talking, family….now this woman works three (3) corners on different nights and has been doing this for 40 years. I can’t even imagine!! But, you see so many displays of a powerful work ethic here. While I wouldn’t say the food would of made an Anthony Bourdain episode, it made mine 🙂 starving was the situation, sated was the outcome ❤
This time the neighborhood is Zona Rosa adjacent to La Condesa 🙂 A beautiful terrace, very quiet, quaint, just absolutely lovely…especially at night…always interesting how quiet this part of the city is…regardless to this being the largest city in Norteamerica. Area is full of amazing street food, restaurants, parks, very clean, nice people….I love it!! And, right across the street people gather at the local bicycle shop for breakfast and a cafe….admittedly, I’m not necessarily craving tortilla chips in the morning, but when in Mexico…be a Mexicano….the experience was worth it!! ❤
As mentioned, I am revisiting my first trip to CDMX to feed ‘the becoming’…. a new beginning…. First stop this morning…Coyoacan….La Casa Azul – Museo de Frida Kahlo! This is a place to which I will continue to return.
After getting a taste of Kahlo, walking the Coyoacan, and always always taking advantage of a fresh cut coconut (water and meat)….DELICIOUS!! Off to the local mercado…the freshness, the colors, the variety of items….walking through this just brings out the life…sigh….
Taking it all in, and heading back out for more becoming…. It really is interesting how there is such an emphasis on ‘FRESH’ here. I mean it doesn’t take much to find fresh squeezed orange juice…at a stand, in a market, in a coffee shop….you can definitely tell the difference….this one contained the peel….which was a bit much….but, all the same…I will take it…feel me? 🙂
On the way to revisit something that I really LOVE now….a cooking class with an actual chef (mexicano)….so off to Supermercado Juarez to learn about picking ingredients….
I can’t say enough about the pleasure of having an actual professionally trained Mexican Chef take you to the market, teach you how to pick the items, and then spend the afternoon teaching you how to cook. As they say, “if it isn’t fresh, then it isn’t Mexican” ❤
Making homemade salsa, mole chicken, sweet tamale, squash flower tortillas, Atole (chocolate drink)….this is one of my favorite parts of the trip each time….while I love to cook, not always easy to imagine something this delicious didn’t require an act of God for my part…and always interesting the people who come together…and the stories you learn about life…
This is a place where you can just walk, eat, learn, absorb, and feed your vision on how life can be – the becoming. It can make you wonder about the veracity of our decisions when we allow our world view to be so small. Of course traveling doesn’t guarantee a certain world view, but there is value in at least attempting to have a better understanding of people and the world we live in…
Fountains and Squares Everywhere!!! Coffee Bean Tree, Puppies 🙂 Food, Food, and more Food – Street Food!!!! If nothing else…get a good pair of walking shoes….and…COME EAT!! ❤
Mexico City is full of things to do! In fact, I now know that once I’ve been here several more times…I will still know only a small amount…and I am most pleased about that….I’ve got excellent walking shoes 🙂
Now on to a place a saved specifically for this trip!! Bosque de Chapultepec y Castillo de Chapultepec!! Now without going into a full write-up. This place is absolutely amazing….with the right tour guide…you walk away with a lot of Mexican history that goes through the ages, and are full of fascinating views….again, most humbling that we can be so absent of our history….and yes…all of this comes together.
Former residence of heads of state, immaculate gardens, architecture, views of the city, the ambiance….plan on spending a few hours here…and, it is worth getting the tour guide….so you get the stories of what you are experiencing…
The statues, fountains, the work of artisans….I’ve not done many of these types of tours….castles as such…but, the history that went along with the experience…from what I’ve read previously and then the explanations of the guide made this experience much much more than I had initially expected when first planning on coming here…each one of these pictures has a story and a significant meaning associated with it…captivating…you leave this place feeling much more aware of what takes place in the world and inside yourself….
However, without a doubt, traveling here is not complete without time in The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos)….Located adjacent to the center of the Aztec empire…
To read about a place…study it….and then go to see it….well, for me it is very fulfilling…and even though I have been doing this for much of my life….it always humbles me and reminds me that I don’t know a damn thing about nothing…but, it also is illustrative about how many of us have very uninformed opinions. This last picture on the above right…the catholic cross, a snake at the base, and skulls….hmmmm…..there is a story there…..sooooo good 🙂
While I post pictures, there is a much more fulfilling dynamic taking place…as none of these are more significant to me than the human story. Where do our lives come from…and what can we do to grow and bloom responsibly. While this obviously doesn’t resonate with some of us, it is my thing! And, a requirement in my Tribe!!! People…People…why…what….and after all the superficialities of life are dealt with….what is left?
LOVE and how we treat each other…including our own selves!! Even if it takes time to get there!!
And a little something special for you…as we say…those who know won’t say, and for those who don’t know…well… 🙂
Well, to paraphrase a line from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ which some people hate – but so what!! A person asks god….bless me with winning the lotto…and god said, ‘well you have to buy a ticket first’. Well…I got a bunch of damn tickets – new beginnings of becoming…peace!! 🙂
Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City)
September 30, 2021
Quite the beautiful dynamic to go beyond the surface, pull back the layers of life, and dig into beauty…to find….
Por fin, mi viaje continua….con y sin…pero lo continua….
I have been planning this journey for over a year and a half. Aside from the corona virus dynamic, making it happen has been ochos locos!! But, finally, it is here 🙂 Admittedly, this part of the journey is more internal than external. It coincides with some major life changes. The type of changes that you can either sink from or get to swimming. I’m sure many of you can understand. Those vicissitudes of life….they do come a calling when we least expect it! With that said, I am using this as my yogini has guided…as a catalyst to reach those internal elevated places … and I shall!!!
For a long time I’ve had an interest in ‘Ciudad de Mexico.’ But, the interest increased exponentially as I delved deeper into cultural studies and the modality of art. Once I got further along and started to explore the Latin affairs, the interest became more particular. Along this path, Frida Kahlo, came in the light.
As I began to learn more about her work, and learned more about what art is and various ways of understanding it… it became necessary to become more familiar with her art…but more so, to become more acquainted with the dynamics that shaped her perspectives.
Hence more interest in the history of Mexico and it’s global interactions. As said by John Berger in ‘Ways of Seeing’…
“The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe…”…
So much of our interpretation of what we see is dictated by what we already believe. or as I might add…what we think we know or believe…would the state of humanity or our personal lives be in the condition it is in…if we were all that aligned with reality? Maybe yes…Maybe no!!
But, how many of us then can admit within the totality of what there is, we don’t know much. Personally, when I started to study this trip, I didn’t know a damn thing about art. Now, I have evolved to a point where I am more fully aware of what exactly I don’t know….nice to apply that to other things as well 🙂
I don’t pretend to be an aficionado….simply put, I just want to learn…add more culture and understanding to my own…
Simply put, it is easy for our lives to get small and intensely confusing when the ochos locos comes. But, we can remind ourselves and reconnect to the grandeur and largess of life. In many ways, this is what Frida embodied and many other aspects of her home culture.
With the contextual timing, this one is similar to a pilgrimage. However, I’m also a believer that when we go places…we only find what we brought with us…same as in relationships.
Thus, this is about using an experience to connect more with what has already been discovered within…as usual, some I will share…and, some is for me…
Usually, I stay in more humble arrangements…however, this time there was a shift to match the original plan and the current purpose…
The abode of the launch…
And yes…’THE VIEW”… 🙂 on top of the hill is Chapultepec Castle maintained within the park called ‘ Bosque de Chapultepec’…for this purpose…view, neighborhood (Condesa), proximity…perfecto!!
But, of course we are in Ciudad de Mexico. Being an Anthony Bourdain acolyte, the ‘Street Food’ must be honored…this place is called ‘Taco, Naco’..will have more on this later…
As our journey continues…
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