Mexico City Times

Spontaneous

Barra Vieja

We met Jim and Robin when they moved to Mexico City.  At that time they lived in the northern neighborhood of Linda Vista near the Polytenicho campus.  Our children were young.  They lived in a tiny apartment so we tried to get our families together as often as possible for everyone's sanity including ours.  We had cook-outs at their apartment and then went to the campus of the university to run wild or ride bikes.   We had cook-outs at our house and let the kids run wild in our tiny yard while we visited   It was difficult to find time in our busy schedules, but it was always worth the effort though we often complained about having to set up our "play" dates so far in advance.  "I have Friday, in two months available."  Sorry, I have class then, what about Saturday, in three?"  And so it went until the two wives started trying to "practice spontaneity" which we always said with a chuckle.  So we would call out of the blue and say, "Are you busy this Saturday?" with only a day or two notice.  And sometimes it actually worked.  We would call one day in advance or the night before and take our chances that the other was free for at least a couple of hours.  Sometimes it worked and we congratulated ourselves on being Spontaneous, or as spontaneous as our lives would allow. 

Three weeks ago, while we were celebrating R & D Day (Robin & Donna), we talked again about someday going to Acapulco together thanks to a friend who would lend us their condo.  Once again it seemed impossible with all our schedules about to begin in earnest when school was in session again.  There was one week, actually five days, when we could do such a thing, but without some reimbursement funds it was not possible to go, so we just sighed, said, "One day," and put it out of our minds.  Then on Saturday, they called and said that they were going to receive the funds they needed for the trip.  We called.  Yes, the apartment was still available, and our long-awaited trip was on.  It felt like Christmas!  Only two days in advance, we were back in Spontaneous Land and running away for five whole days together.

Pie de la Cuesta

We enjoyed the time we had together, drinking coffee every morning and waking up to good talk.  We went to the beach, we swam in the pool, we watched the sunsets, we ran through a pouring rain into the theatre for Inception, we went for a ride down the coast and up the coast, walked along a deserted stretch of beach in Barra Vieja and drove up to Pie de la Cuesta for a romantic fish supper beside a huge surf at sundown.  It was truly restful and invigorating at the same time, getting to be with our friends.  Spontaneous never felt so good! 

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Popular Cultures Museum

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Last Friday, my friend Robin and I finally got to reschedule our pijamada.  She came into the city and we set out to enjoy some of the local color of the neighborhood of Coyoacan.  You could say that Coyoacan is the second oldest area in the city, the first being the downtown centro of the city.  Coyoacan was the first stage coach stop from the centro to the next city of Cuernavaca, and is where Cortez and his generals chose to build their homes, several of which still exist as private homes, government offices and schools.  It is a beautiful historic area of Mexico City with most of the homes and buildings built in the colonial Spanish style.  In the more recent past some government officials, including past presidents of Mexico lived in this area.  One such home and the one next to it have been converted into the Museum of Popular Cultures (Museo de Culturas Populares).  Currently they have produced a show showcasing two of the icons of Mexican culture, the charro (Mexican cowboy) and the China Poblana, a popular female figure from the last century.  The photo above is a reproduction of a calendar illustration from the 1940's, painted in a romantized style.  I love these old illustrations although I have lived here long enough, seen enough of real life to know that if one really lived in one of these houses you would be living in dire poverty.  It's probably why these calendars became so popular at the time and still enchant us with their idealization of Mexican womanhood and life.  They take real life and make it beautiful.  And I like the more realistic photo made at the same time of a real woman, strong and ready to take on whatever life or her man brought her.

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