Nochebuena

 Paco is really helpful. He had Yolanda do my laundry; desfortunadamente, she insisted on doing it by hand despite the existence of a washing machine. Then because it had not been spun, it took hours to dry. Paco drove me to the subway station and fretted about my safety. He said that Venus and Valentine were not doing so well in Oaxaca, that Valentine had been sick with a fever. And so Paco is trying to find a place for them to be here, even his sister's house, so Valentine can be treated by another sister, a doctor. Related to my safety, he said that a guest, a single lady, had been robbed after leaving his house and moving on to-- I don't remember where, including her passport. So he went and picked her up and took her to the US embassy . . . he really is a saint. Mrs Lorente turns out to speak excellent French (some Quebecois showed up today).

View from the Hostal Catedral

 I did check into the Catedral Hostel, which is nice-- a sink in my room and shared showers; all day coffee; locked storage in the room; etc. The balcony view is of the back of the Cathedral, which oddly seems to be closed and the gate guarded by police. Lots of people on the nighttime, lit-up Zocalo, buzzing and roaring with families taking pics and enjoying themselves. In addition to the usual tamales, various iterations of tortillas, meat, and salsa, Cotton candy makers were around making an art form of spinning sugar. Loose streams of it escaped and floated in the night like clouds, illuminated by the varicolored lights. Muchachos were trying to catch it with their pencil shaped mylar rocket toys. There were at least 2 pancake makers. A sausage griller. 

Many sellers of lighted things-- the fluorescent slingshot spinners, lightup and blinking noses, animals like butterflies and pigs, spinning balls and multi-light jiggling laser pointers. And Hello Kitty bows, and Minnie mouse bows, and those tops that you work by setting the flywheel going...and then there was the sensational lighting of the Zocalo itself. 

One part of the Zocalo-- in the daytime!

There were building-sized lighted scenes of a family decorating their tree, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and two of the kings; poinsettias and snowflakes, and giant pinatas in lights with flagella coming from the points that were waving, like some kind of alien beings. There was a set of stairs for people to go up to a tiny stage to be photographed in front of the huge Pepsi lighted tree. Everyone was jolly. Some guy showed me a peso and asked a question, but quickly walked away when I Noed. How could this be a scam? But it seems it was, There was a Chinese group, about ten or fifteen college aged kids. Several dogs dressed as Santa Claus. But-- the cathedral was closed. It's now 11:55; I wonder if bells will peal at midnight. Maybe I should have headed for a local church, but I didn't think of it. And, Paco was right, I shouldn't be roaming too much at this hour. The Zocalo was full of police presence, but wandering to another church might not have been a great idea.

Return to DF, December 24

Meandering around Puebla: A German tourguide was talking about the facade of one of the cathedrals, Santo Domingo, and instead of using a laser pointer to point out details, he used a mirror to reflect a spot onto the facade. I guess this is something you could only do at some times of day-- a neat trick.

At Puebla's Zocalo:  The place is hopping after dark; the cafes are crowded and the park is full of families, kids, lovers, and me.  Live music, kids running around and playing with lighted whirlybirds shot from slingshots (I have one, now I know what it is) that had the effect of tiny fireworks in the night. Just as on the cruise in Shanghai, it made me feel very lonely.The transvia was not running on the 22nd, and the Zocalo was pedestrianized on the 23d. I bought some supersweet Pueblan specialties-- buttery cookies, pepita halva, and walked around.
I never did get chocolate and churros.On the way to the bus station, I saw a Chinese sight: a man with a tiny cart lugging an improbable number of wooden bookcases down a crowded street.

Security at bus stations-- stuff goes through xray machine, and guys wave wands over it. I am sure this is pure pretense. You go through one of those gates==also pretense I am sure. On one bus, a woman in uniform had me bend forward in my seat so she could pat down my back! But had no interest in my backpack on the floor next to me.

Adventure getting the bus at CAPU back to Mexico City and Paco's. I kept understanding the wrong number about the bus, and running up and down between gates 1 and 65; a bit of a hike when I knew I was missing my bus; I saw it go by. But I found a booth with a guy inside who directed me to the next bus which left as soon as I got on. 

 The Merced market was on the way back on the same metro line, so I stopped; it is huge and labyrinthine. You can’t really see where you are or have been because there is really no overview. Each booth has tarp walls. But there are countless chile, avocado, fruit, veg, toy, candy, powdered and paste mole of numerous kinds, dried fruit and nuts, mysterious dried herbs, bacalao and dried shrimp, meat meat meat, and regular stuff like tshirts, makeup, shoes…enourmous and so crowded, more than any place in China ever was; of course it is nochebuena, a big shopping day. Huge bags like 70 gallons of various kinds of cheetos. Booths with 15 kinds of dried chilis. Overwhelming and unending. Luckily I found the metro again, I think a different place. I ordered a licuado with maguey and lime and the guy looked at me like I was crazy. Maguey turns out to be  bland and sweet. It looks like a potato on the outside and bright orange on the inside. I got a delicious torta at the station in Puebla for 15. Anyway, here now, waiting for laundry to dry. Yolanda washed it by hand and I think it was too wet when put in the drier. Oh well. So I will go to the new place, Hostal Catedral, right behind the Zocalo and then out onto the Zocalo to see what is up.