Monday, December 11, 2006
An afternoon walking around
I spent several hours yesterday walking around town. The streets here are paved with cobblestones and the sidewalks are old flagstone. It´s hilly - an understatement - outside el centro. I took a long walk up one of the steepest hills to El Mirador, a lookout. From there, San Miguel feels a lot like Florence, with domes and steeples and the same sort of mellow pink gold light.
Then I walked down a street so steep it has stairs in the sidewalk - kind of like some of the places in San Francisco. Started to pass into the Jardin, but caught sight of my mariachi stalkers, so took a quick turn down Calle Umaron, then a left on Hernadez Maceas, and strolled over to Parque Juarez. The park is much different than the Jardin. It´s very shady, with palms covering all the windy paths. There´s a playground and a basketball court on one side, and on the weekends, artists sell paintings along the perimeter. I think there were about 100 people watching a big basketball game on the court yesterday. I like to come here because there are very few gringos hanging out in the park; it´s a nice place to watch Mexican families.
Yesterday, though, something was up. Suddenly, there were cops everywhere. Two guys on horseback (in their traditional uniforms), four on motorcycles (in their flackjackets with what look to me like machine guns), several on foot. No one paid them much attention, but they were obviously looking for someone. As I walked out, I noticed there were cop cars at each street leading into the park. The weird thing about all this is that I will never know what happened. No one will. There is almost no reporting of crime news here. That´s partly because almost no one reports crime. Sergio, our history teacher, says Mexicans are not afraid of anything....except police. If you are arrested in Mexico, you are presumed guilty until you prove yourself innocent, he says. Another friend tells a story about being in a big car accident in Mexico City. Everyone in his car was injured, but quickly covered themselves with ponchos and coats so the cops wouldn´t see. If there is blood, he says, everyone goes to jail while the police sort it all out. After the police left, they all went to the hospital.
Anyway, after the park, I wanted to stop at a little place I like that serves comida, but there in the doorway was the mariachi with the blowpop. Ack! They´re stalking me outside the Jardin now. Instead I went to Harry´s, which is a New Orleans-style bar and restaurant. Kind of a weird place, because there are lots of gringos - a tourist trap - but also lots of Mexicans. It´s kind of embarrassing to go there, but it´s also a very easy place to be when I´m alone. And I like their shrimp cocktail.
Passed by the Jardin yet again (you really can´t go anywhere without walking through it) and ran into my friend Kate from school. We grabbed a margarita at Mama Mias, and she introduced me to some musician friends of hers who were playing at the bar. On my way home, I stopped at a friend´s art gallery to see some new work.
Life is very pleasant here.
Then I walked down a street so steep it has stairs in the sidewalk - kind of like some of the places in San Francisco. Started to pass into the Jardin, but caught sight of my mariachi stalkers, so took a quick turn down Calle Umaron, then a left on Hernadez Maceas, and strolled over to Parque Juarez. The park is much different than the Jardin. It´s very shady, with palms covering all the windy paths. There´s a playground and a basketball court on one side, and on the weekends, artists sell paintings along the perimeter. I think there were about 100 people watching a big basketball game on the court yesterday. I like to come here because there are very few gringos hanging out in the park; it´s a nice place to watch Mexican families.
Yesterday, though, something was up. Suddenly, there were cops everywhere. Two guys on horseback (in their traditional uniforms), four on motorcycles (in their flackjackets with what look to me like machine guns), several on foot. No one paid them much attention, but they were obviously looking for someone. As I walked out, I noticed there were cop cars at each street leading into the park. The weird thing about all this is that I will never know what happened. No one will. There is almost no reporting of crime news here. That´s partly because almost no one reports crime. Sergio, our history teacher, says Mexicans are not afraid of anything....except police. If you are arrested in Mexico, you are presumed guilty until you prove yourself innocent, he says. Another friend tells a story about being in a big car accident in Mexico City. Everyone in his car was injured, but quickly covered themselves with ponchos and coats so the cops wouldn´t see. If there is blood, he says, everyone goes to jail while the police sort it all out. After the police left, they all went to the hospital.
Anyway, after the park, I wanted to stop at a little place I like that serves comida, but there in the doorway was the mariachi with the blowpop. Ack! They´re stalking me outside the Jardin now. Instead I went to Harry´s, which is a New Orleans-style bar and restaurant. Kind of a weird place, because there are lots of gringos - a tourist trap - but also lots of Mexicans. It´s kind of embarrassing to go there, but it´s also a very easy place to be when I´m alone. And I like their shrimp cocktail.
Passed by the Jardin yet again (you really can´t go anywhere without walking through it) and ran into my friend Kate from school. We grabbed a margarita at Mama Mias, and she introduced me to some musician friends of hers who were playing at the bar. On my way home, I stopped at a friend´s art gallery to see some new work.
Life is very pleasant here.
# posted by Anne @ 10:18 AM 
