CDMX in five minutes

FINALLY, I woke up in a valley surrounded by mountains.

I can already sense that Tepotzlán has a dark underbelly, and for some reason, I mean that in a good way. ;)

I got here yesterday afternoon, and before I fully immerse in this mountain valley oasis — for maybe the next two days, maybe the next two weeks — here’s the last of my notes from CDMX in five minutes:

• I felt grateful for, and proud of, the community I've built over the past decade or so. You guys are the epitome of worldly and connected. You led me to the best people and places, making my experience in CDMX infinitely better and more authentic. In particular, thank you Isan, Waldo, Molly, Ash, Sol, Sofia, Julie Ann, and Justin for sharing your local gems — both the characters and the corners — with me.

• At a cute rooftop party for a friend of a friend’s birthday, the hosts were making Azulitos in 32-oz plastic containers the size of small buckets, like the ones you’d find at a deli. The kind of vessel you need two hands to hold. I thought they were going hard since it was a birthday, until the next day at Lagunillas market I found hundreds of people drinking the same exact thing out of the same exact bucket cups and realized that this is just how Mexicans drink.

• I went for street quesadillas and there appeared to be only one stool available. I asked if it was free, and one of the other patrons said yes, please sit, and I said great, thank you so much. And then before I could even plant myself, an old man snuck up from right behind me and sat himself down on it having no idea that he’d just stolen my spot. I looked at the other patrons and made a face like, “oop, okay!” and everyone burst out laughing.

• I've committed the visitor sin of flushing toilet paper way too many times. Every time, I’m like OH FUCK I did it again — it's pure muscle memory! Kartik and Sourabh, if you're reading this (and you better be), please accept my sincerest apologies for all the times this has happened at Happy Panda. After a week or so, the new habit kicks in and I am no longer an enemy of the plumbing.

• The owner of a shop on Calle Colima told me I looked like Zélika García, the founder of ZONA MACO. She showed me a photo and asked if I agreed, to which I responded, in Spanish, “I can see it, but more importantly, I am writing a blog so I am going to mention that a shop owner on Colima told me I looked like Zélika García,” which gave her a really good laugh.

• At one of the flea markets, a furniture vendor had a giant swastika flag hanging from his tent. I asked him if he knew what is was, and he said, “sí, swastika.” And, assuming positive intent, I asked him if he knew what it meant, and he said he did. So I said it made me feel terrible when I saw it, and perhaps he should consider taking it down. And he said he wanted to keep it up because someone might buy it, some people like it. And I said yeah but it’s a symbol that represents something truly horrific, and he said yeah, but some people don’t care.

• Met a Mexican guy in the hostel and we were exchanging stories about getting robbed around the world. He said that ten years ago he was robbed right here in CDMX. He was riding the metro when his phone was stolen right out of his back pocket. He didn’t feel it happen but knew immediately. So I was like, “well how did you know?” and he was like “because one second I was listening to music and the next second I was not.”

• A friend of a friend brought me to a small reggaeton club for a Sunday night DJ set by a person called Piolinda Marcela who was wearing a paper maché Tweety Bird mask and giving a drag performance while spinning. The music was mostly reggaeton remixes of well-known tracks from other genres — everything from Shakira to t.A.T.u. to Justin Bieber. At one point Tweety played I Will Survive, and the whole club was singing along but only knew the iconic parts in English. I felt sheepish knowing all the words because I knew it outed me as an American (as if I wasn’t already looking exactly like one). I danced a lot and enjoyed myself even though the music wasn’t my fave, and my favorite things about the night/place were 1) the outfits were so good and 2) how it into it everybody was. Also, I put my hoodie down on a bench bordering the dance floor and it stayed exactly where I left it. I knew it would, that’s why I put it there. I just love when I’m right about stuff like that. I could write a whole post on whether To Trust, or Not To Trust. I mean, I will write that post — I’ve collected notes on it.

• Also also at the club, a set of keys was found on the floor. To connect the keys with the owner, the finder held the keys up high above the dance floor and shined their phone flashlight on them so that all dancers could see. The keys happened to have a small translucent orange orb dangling from them, and the impromptu disco ball effect felt like a little inside joke moment between the people on the dance floor. I think they found the owner…

• Me, to Google Gemini: what is the past tense of shine

  • The past tense of shine can be either "shined" or "shone."

    • Shined is generally used when the verb has a direct object: "I shined my shoes."

    • Shone is generally used when the verb does not have a direct object: "The sun shone brightly."

Two of my new Mexican friends told me they liked my Insta stories and my eye for Mexico and it felt really gooooood. Meant a lot. They especially loved the photo of the garbage pile of cups.

It’s a cloudy afternoon in Tepotzlan and the mountains are looking even more majestic and menacing. Sinking in…

More soon,

allie