Tough Darts in Mexico City

Remember a month ago, when I was freaking out after acid-etching the foam presentation model? So that model flew with the two others to Lyon and was displayed for the clients. As it turns out, they loved the acid-eaten model the most. They wanted to know how we achieved the interesting "textured concrete" effect.

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One thing about Mexico that has really started to sink in is how profoundly spiritual this country is. In the US, one is accustomed to seeing expressions of faith limited to churches, crosses in homes, bumper stickers, billboards, and maybe the Precious Moments Chapel in the middle of Missouri. Actually, I should not confuse spirituality with the trappings of it.

In this country, there is an incredible cult of devotion, especially to the Virgin of Guadalupe. There is a particular image of her, which follows the pattern of the "Juan Diego" representation, which appears literally everywhere. In paintings, posters, reisin casts, crude peasant wood carvings, engraved in wood, stone, and plaster, on building corners, on jewelry, tee shirts, books, and as decals in car windows. You can find her in almost every home, watching over beds. Her image is talismanic. There are small shrines devoted to her in every neighborhood, small ones affixed to trees, large ones in glass cases or large steel cages. Every bus station, police station, hospital, has at least one small one.

When you go around the roundabout circiling the Angel of Independence, you cross in front of one. All the busses leaving the main bus terminal of the city receive the benediction of a shine to the Virgin at the gates.

I feel immersed in spirituality here. By analogy, if you live in a town where everyone watches the skies for dragons, you find your eyes looking up as well. The people make the city, and the living and active faith of the inhabitants make the city spiritual and mystical as well.

There is a massive basillica complex dedicated to the Virgin at the north end of town, and many people who come there finish the last 100 meters to the basillica on thier knees. People still undertake pilgrimages here, on foot.

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Last night was the the Noche de Museos (Night of Museums) where a large percentage of the cities 100+ musuems open thier doors late and hold special events. I was torn between going to the Castillo de Chapultapec (nigh views of the city would be amazing, I'd love to see the castle and gardens lit up at night), and the Centro de Cultura España in the historic center, which has cool architecture and is supposed to be a cool place to check out.

I decided to go to the Castillo, since my coworker Moises was going to go too. I waited by the lion gates a long time, and finally he called me from the park entrance a half mile down the road. He had actually crossed paths with another former intern from the office, Ran. The problem was this gate was also closed and locked. We asked the park police how to get into the park. They told us to go around to the Chapultapec metro entrance. So the three of us hopped a cheap bus to the metro station, about a five minute ride.

The park entrance at the metro station was also closed. The police officers nearby suggested we go around the to the front entry. We walked over in about five minutes. It was the main lion gate, where I'd waited initially for the first half hour. Locked when I arrived, and still locked. It was well into dusk at this point, and undeterred, Moises asked the police officers here where we could enter the park. They told him he needed to go to the entry where he had waited for me, which we knew to be locked.

We gave up and walked around the estrella de luz, the starway of light, a 150 meter tall sculptural monument of thinly sliced quartz panels. It's also known as the ice cream sandwich, because the panels make up two sides of the tower. It began as a monument to the bicentennial of Mexican Independance, but with the amount of graft and the final design it was clear that it had really nothing to do with commemorating independance. The price of this tower, which is basically an almost uninhabitable flat stelle, was $150 million USD. This is a flabbergasting price. You can build a skyscraper for that much money. Where did all the money go?

So at the end of the night, I ended up not seeing any museums, but I was not unhappy with the outcome. I got to spend time with friends and catch up a former coworker. As I frequently remind myself these days, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.