Diez de Mayo

After a week in Cancun, the three amigos, Julie, Jason and Ricky, flew back to Mexico City, just in time for Pride Week. This time, the three amigos were located in Colonia Centro, within walking distance of the downtown and historical areas. We were situated amongst the hustle and bustle of the city, with constant sounds of car horns from 7am until late at night. We didn't need to set an alarm. The traffic was our alarm clock and like clockwork the high-pitched sound bellowed at the same time each day. We wouldn't be surprised if most of the long-term residents suffered from tinnitus. There was still a ringing sound long after we left the city.

We had only returned and, after a couple of hours, we had reunited with our friend, Gerardo, who also introduced us to his cousin, Pedro, a.k.a los venezolanos. They invited us for dinner at their work, where were we fortunate enough to try some of the local delicacies, in between jugs of the local beer. Julie even got to sample a vegetarian dish made from cactus – of course without the spines! Although, the spines could have doubled as toothpicks. After three jugs of beer between the five of us (although Pedro was working so wasn't able to indulge), the three amigos and Gerardo stumbled into an Über to go home to get some shut-eye, oblivious to events that would occur as Pedro finished work at the restaurant. We found out the next day that Pedro had suffered a blow to his head and only regained consciousness hours later in the streets. He had been robbed and all of his valuables, including passport, had been stolen. Pedro remembers nada. Fortunately, Pedro didn't sustain any long-term injuries.

Meanwhile the three amigos, unaware of Pedro's situation, gallivanted around the historical centre. Later that evening, we were able to catch up with los venezolanos and hear firsthand about the ordeal. Gerardo was always on hand to be our intermediary and translate anything that we didn't understand, which for Julie was anything in Spanish and for Pedro anything in English. We were treated to a lesson on latino music as Gerardo played (and sang) all of his favourite hits.

The next few days were spent trekking and around taking in the typical tourist spots, such as the Angel of Independence, the National Museum of Anthropology, Castillo de Chapultepec and a day trip to Teotihuacan. The National Museum of Anthropology took a good two hours to cover and includes one of the largest pre-Colombian collections that we have visited. The collection includes all of the different ancient cultures from Mexico, culminating with several rooms of Aztec artefacts such as the Stone of the Sun and the Aztec Xochopilli. We followed up the museum with a tour of the Castillo de Chapultepec, a nineteenth century castle that served as the residence of the viceroy during Spanish times and the home of the Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I and his consort Empress Carlota.

Most tourists don't leave Mexico without taking in a bit of lucha libre, a Mexican-style wrestling. Earlier in the day, Julie and Ricky were tasked with buying tickets to the Tuesday night show, while Jason stayed at home, lying in bed sick. After circling the Roma Arena in search of tickets, we finally stumbled upon the ticket office and managed to buy tickets in the second circle. That evening we rocked up at the arena, took our seats and were waited on by roving vendors. With our beers and popcorn purchased, we were set. Now let the show begin! Immediately, we were treated to scantily-clad women gyrating in unison to loud pumping music (well, kind of, except for the uncoordinated dancer in the back row). It was a two-hour show of masked wrestlers bouncing, jumping and slamming into each other like a mosh-pit of gymnasts, punctuated with scantily-clad women dancing and prancing around the ring with signs in between rounds. We're undecided whether the wrestlers were more entertaining than the three latina women sitting next to us who screamed obscenities throughout the show. Our Spanish is no better than a six-year child but we do have a more than satisfactory grasp of las palabrotas / swearwords and can swear like a fishmonger's wife, especially Little Miss Pottymouth. We're also undecided if we should be offended or not. Most of the words being screamed by the women, and many other audience members, included the word puto, which would be similar to an English-speaking person screaming poof or faggot.

But the main event was Mexico City's LGBTIQ Pride Day, which due to Mexico playing in the World Cup was delayed to avoid a clash with the soccer fans. The parade included a number of corporate-sponsored floats, some throwing out free giveaways as they filed down the street. Jason made out like a bandit with all kinds of goodies. Beside some of the commercial floats, there were some politically-inspired messages that were scattered throughout the parade. After four hours the parade came to an end and we headed back to our apartment to catch-up with Gerardo and Pedro for pre-drinks. After a few drinks, we all stumbled out onto the street and walked to the after-parade party, Pervert, hosted in an old movie theatre. But watch out for the terraced dancefloor in the dark! At the party, we meet people from all over the Americas (including Antonn and his partner) and we got to practise our (poor) Spanish. At the end of the night, well past abuelita’s (granny’s [a.k.a Jason]) bedtime, the three amigos and los venezolanos slowly stumbled home.

After a day of recovery, the Mexican adventure of one of the three amigos, Julie, came to an end and she began her journey back to the land down under. For the other two amigos, it was time to move to another apartment, closer to the historical centre and next to the office of the secretariat. The entire area was swarming with police, dressed in full riot gear, standing around, mostly with their heads stuck in their phone checking their social media feeds.

The next few days were spent wandering and exploring the streets of Mexico City and hanging out with Gerardo and Pedro. The traffic in the city is so crazy that often it was easier to walk than catch an Über. We doubt that there is a street within a 10 kilometre radius that we didn't traverse. One day involved a trip to Walmart, the only shop to stock Jason's latest addiction, Juan Valdez coffee, affectionately referred to as Jason's new boyfriend Juan. Another day was needed to explore the gay area of Juárez, and yet another day to explore la Condesa. There are so many areas within Mexico City that we easily filled a couple of weeks, sixteen days to be precise.

Our final day in Mexico City happened to be election day and therefore a public holiday (and also a dry day where alcohol isn't sold). The streets seemed deserted, unlike when Mexico won a game in the World Cup and the one million people jumping up and down caused a 2.0 on the Richter scale earthquake. After more than two and a half weeks in Mexico City, it was time to move on to our next destination.

Next stop: Oaxaca CityRead more