Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation 

Today was a day off from touring, a free day to explore. And don’t my feet know it. I made the mistake of wearing flip flops, and it was like an endurance test to walk for two hours solid to the Condesa part of town. Especially with a broken thigh. (By broken I mean very sore muscles) I was looking for the museum of Anthropology. I got lost twice. 

I walked through the Chapultepec Park. Like any other park, a haven away from the traffic and skyscrapers. Only the ducks had a chance of outnumbering the street-vendors, and they didn’t come close. 

The museum of Anthropology itself is huge, and colourful. Filling the rooms are clothes, tools, statues and pictures of the history of this continent. I used to love history, but now not so much. So much of it is invasion and destruction, oppression and violence. Barbaric practices based in history still continue- FGM as an example. With no religious factor, it’s just the “done thing”. It’s important to know the history of a place and it’s people, but for me it’s a foundation for looking forward. 

I wandering around the museum slowly, dragging my battered feet thinking about my own culture. Looking at the formation of the Mexican culture, coming from a long history of different people and beliefs, I can see how I am the product of my history, the history of Britain and of Europe too. I think that’s why leaving the EU makes me so sad. Sure it’s just an economic group, but its ideology is one I believe in: sharing and equality. (I’ll leave the comments open for any Brexiteers). 

Back to the museum: there’s only so many  rocks I can look at, and it was chilly inside the building. I picked up speed in the last few rooms, took photos of the pieces that caught my eye, and exited via the gift shop. 

There are two things besides the prevalence of street vendors that I’ve noticed: police and street cleaners. The main road I walk into town, Juárez, is never short of people sweeping with broomsticks. In the Park, in the museum - people sweeping, sweeping, sweeping. And the police - even with traffic lights, they are permanently attached to whistles, making sure people know when to stop and when to go. 

I ate at Forever Vegano, a vegan restaurant not far from the museum. I had a burger which was delicious. 

I got an Uber back to town because my feet were destroyed. The Uber driver turned into Radio Disney. Amazing. 

Once I’d showered and bandaged up my feet, I went to the Palace of Fine Arts. Unlike history, art I am more inclined to ponder on. And architecture- I love looking at architecture. The palace of Fine Arts holds a lot of murals by the famous Muralist painters including Diego Rivera - he reproduced the famously destroyed Rockefeller mural inside the palace, and its a sight to behold, as are many of the murals there. 

Onwards for a walkabout, buying a belt in Forever 21 because I needed it and some sloths socks because they were socks with sloths on. I bought more plasters after a broken conversation with a pharmacist, and then had dinner and came back to the hostel. The last few hours of my day were spent with a group of people on the terrace drinking and discussing things like how comedies don’t get Oscars and the different types of bugs around the world. 

Basque de Chapultepec, Museo de Anthropologia, Palacia de Bellas Artes

Read: descriptions of the Indian peoples  of this continent, as well as the Teotihuacan, Oaxaca and Maya cultures. 

Listened to: Radio Disney, which played such classic artists as Shawn Mendes. 

Ate: Quinoaburger with sweet potato fries

drank: organic lime and cucumber lemonade. And pasta.

Drank: lots of coke, and some cans of Sol.