For some reason, most of my friends thought that I had already been to Mexico. This was a reasonable assumption, given that I had visited a few countries in Central and South America, and in the words of one, "You always seem to be going somewhere in Latin America". However, the fact is that I hadn't been south of the border for one reason or another, thus I was excited to embark on this brief (relatively), solo trip. I admit to being a bit surprised at my friends' confusion - somehow I thought they paid more attention to which countries I actually visited on "yet another vacation". Aha! Now I know its just feigned interest and fake enthusiasm. LOL. Oh well. Anyway, this post kicks off the memories, musings, and funny happenings on the trip. Each post in the series will have a "Part X - Ten Day Jaunt in Mexico" header to make it easier to view the posts in sequence, though for the most part the posts will be unrelated.
My first day was going to be spent in the capital, Mexico City, known among locals as Distrito Federal. To feel like a local, simply refer to it as "D.F." ("de-effay"). The taxi deposited me right at the Zocalo (main square), which was amazing at first sight. I was like, "Whoa, this IS huge!". Surrounding the Zocalo are the gigantic Cathedral Metropolitana, Templo Mayor, and Palacio Nacional, among other important buildings. I had to walk a block or so to Hostel Moneda, situated on a side street right off the Zocalo. No location can be more central than this. Right outside on the street was one of the street markets or tianguis, a noisy sidewalk marketplace for anything and everything. The hostel itself was not bad - clean, basic accomodations at cheap rates - the main asset is the location and the rooftop terrace affording great views of the Cathedral. The tiny speck in the distance resembling the Empire State building is actually the Torre Latinoamerica, at one point the tallest building in D.F. - and featured in the enjoyable film "Solo con tu Pareja" as the setting for the ill-starred lovers suicide attempt, for film buffs out there. 
Pretty much the entire afternoon was spent walking and taking pictures around the Zocalo, mainly of faith healers working their magic on the populace. I got a kick out of watching people actually lining up for the healing session, closing their eyes and standing with palms open and facing upwards, while the healer circled the customer and waved the incense pot up and down, left to right over the customer's entire body. Unfortunately I didn't ask how much they charged, but from the looks of it quite a steady business. Patrons came from all walks of life - from the cellphone-totting executives clad in business attire to the middle-aged housewives to the everyday Joes stopping on their way to the Zocalo subway station. 
The next destination was the Palacio de Bellas Artes, constructed in grandiose Art Nouveau style of Italian marble. Inside are impressive murals by the "Big 3": Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueros. Mind you - these murals are not your ordinary paintings. For one thing, they're colorful, detailed, large-scale works of art spanning entire walls. The fun lay in examining the specific details of each section of the mural, and figuring out what it intends to convey to the viewer. Small placards described each mural and its significance, though alas only in Spanish. The one pictured is either by Orozco or Siqueros (forgot to jot it down), and you can probably figure out what its all about. All that sightseeing can be tiring, not to mention waking up early for my flight. Hey, got a free ticket using my miles, so I'm not complaining. (Sorry, I had to throw that in and gloat). As I sat on a bench and drank a soda at the nearby Alameda (Central Park), managed to strike up a conversation with a father-and-son clown duo, Eduardo and Juanito respectively, getting ready for their act. They graciously allowed my request to take their photo. Eduardo told me about the Chinese community concentrated a few blocks away and warned me to keep my eyes open for pickpockets, simultaneously pointing to his own eyes for emphasis. After a few minutes they left to start their act on the streets, while I returned to Hostel Moneda to sample the free dinner special.
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