Bienvenido a Mexico!

Bienvenido a Mexico! The friendly welcome from my long lost friends warmed my icy skin, which felt frozen in the chilly airport. After nearly eight years of not seeing

my close friend Nancy, I was excited to receive her warm embrace as she and her younger brother Ivan whisked me away from Mexico City’s airport. The unmarked roads flashed me back to Southern Italy’s chaotic streets. Where cars careen past each other like a scene from an action film. I could hardly enjoy the new sights we passed by after realizing that the new camera I Just bought was not working. Anyone who’s spoken to me for more than five minutes knows that my video camera is an extension of my hand. I film any and everything where ever I go. No matter how significant or small. I don’t ever leave the house without it, so I felt completely lost and flustered at the thought of not being able to document every part of my experience.

The next thing that hit me was the ice-cold chill in the air. In addition to checking the weather prior to arriving, I was also told by my local friends that although it can get chilly at night, the temperature warms to the 70’s during the day. So I was ill prepared with my mini skirts and other warm weather clothes I had packed. When I reached the point of putting on every layer that I had, including extra socks, gloves and scarf, and was still shivering – I knew that this trip would get off to a rough start.

Although I hadn’t slept more than 9 hours total over the past three days, I opted to walk with my friends to the market as the suns rays began to shine brightly through the tranquil city street. Colonia Electrisitas is a small, quiet neighborhood just 20 minutes from the city center. It’s a middle-class area with spacious multi-story homes, most adorned with religious statues, Biblical manger depictions and other seasonal decorations. My friends’ family hasn’t lived in this house for years, so they had to some dusting and buy a lot of items just to be able to use the kitchen and other areas of the spacious house. We also had to pump water back into the house to get the faucets working and use special tactics each day to get the hot water to flow. Despite the inconveniences, the Gonzales family went out of their way to make me feel at home. From getting me a portable heater, to making special trips to the market for fresh food to cook special meals every day, and even taking me around the neighborhood to introduce me to all their extended family and neighbors.

When I entered the door I was greeted by Nancy’s exuberant mother Natividad, uncle Horatio and Nancy's three children Max, Valerie and Victoria ages nine, seven and three. I was thrilled when they began dancing to a Michael Jackson song playing from an ornament on their Christmas tree! The children then proceeded to ask me countless questions about Michael and wanted to watch his movie with Ivan and I. I was so to see that they were just as enamored by him as I was when I was when I was their age. Ivan then showed me his  collection of MJ memorabilia which warmed my heart and chilly body.

I took a brief nap then awoke to the wonderful smell of home cooked food in the air. The eight of us ate together then went out to one of the main tourist areas. We ate lunch at an elaborately adorned restaurant nestled inside of a two hundred year old National monument then walked along the main tourist promenade taking photos. Ivan was kind enough lend me his camera for the week, so I took over and began a filming and photography spree - until his camera died!

We went inside a church, cruised past the Presidential palace and even saw hundreds of police officers and soldiers clustered together in large groups, most holding large rifles and adorned in vests filled with ammunition. It was a stark contrast to see so many armed officials at one point, then just a few yards ahead to be greeted by the screams of thousands of children who played on an artificial ski slope, snowmobile track and large ice-skating ring. 

I was constantly reminded of the eminent danger of violence or kidnapping by drug cartel vigilante groups. But at least I was aware of that threat upon my arrival in the country. One thing I was not prepared for however was how awestruck the locals would be of me. I had traveled to a few other cities in Mexico before and had never been stared at so much or felt like such an outcast as I did in this city. From the moment I set foot on the street, men, women and children alike all whipped their heads around to gawk at me as if I were an Avatar from another planet. I experienced extremes such as the drivers of two cars staring so long that they nearly crashed into each other, to people giving me dirty looks and not wanting to touch my hand while exchanging money, to the opposite extreme of groups of people gathering around to take photos with me, telling me how ‘hermosa’ or beautiful I am. I was so overwhelmed with the unexpected attention that I immediately withdrew and felt more nervous to explore the city alone in fear of being targeted by vigilante groups or other random individuals.

On my bus. I had never seen so many guns in my life!

Of all the countries I’ve visited in which I have physically stood out from the locals, I don’t recall ever feeling so out of place as I do here. I was surprised at the lack of diversity present in such an international city. However, when I did come across other apparent foreigners, I noticed that none of them received the same amount of attention as I did. When I asked some locals why they were looking at me that way, some said nothing, while most told me they were fascinated by my skin, hair or some other anomaly. The irony is that so many Mexicans have skin tones as dark as my own and are aware that there are Latino people of African descent from Panama, Cuba, Colombia and many other parts of the world.

So I just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

After a long evening of dodging crowds of people, and taking random photos with strangers, I ended the night watching Toy Story bundled in bed with the family.