Adios Mexico City - the highlight reel

After 2 months living in student digs in a gritty Mexico City barrio, its now time for us to move on and see more of Mexico. Leaving was bittersweet - on the one hand it got us off our asses and prompted us to see a bit more of the city and catch up with friends but at the same time, I definitely could have hung around longer. Not having a mobile phone was a bit of a barrier to socialising some times. Say what you will about social networking but organising to meet up with groups of people on skype and facebook is nigh on impossible.

We had some highs and lows in our sightseeing missions earlier in the week. Going to the National Anthropology museum, which catalogues Mexico's long and amazing history of indigenous cultures, was a definite high point. It was a great complement to seeing the ruins of Aztec and Maya cities, because it had so much stuff on what life was like, and all of these amazingly preserved artifacts - pottery, jewellery, weapons etc. There were separate exhibits on all of Mexico's different regions and it was amazing to see the similarities between groups that had barely any contact with each other.

Going to the network of Aztec-built canals in Xochimilco, a neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City, was a complete waste of time. It's billed as a bit of a Venetian experience, where you hire a boat and cruise the calm waterways while listening to the strains of merimbas and mariachi music that float by on other boats.

Boat traffic jam

Our first mistake was agreeing on the ridiculous price offered without haggling - 400 pesos for an hour - compare this with 100 pesos for two people at the anthropology museum. And we should probably have guessed that going on a Sunday, the big family day here, might be a little busy. Also there was just the two of us on this enormous barge-like boat with a big table down the middle - it would have been more fun in a group.

As the boat pulled out from the platoon, it quickly became clear that there were far too many other boats all trying to squeeze down a very narrow waterway. After about five minutes our boat was stuck in a giant traffic jam with 40 or 50 other boats, all carrying large family groups who had had the commonsense to bring their own banquet lunches and beer. We sat there drinking overpriced coronas and munching on tough-as-a-board burnt corn cobs.

Lady selling cardboard-like corn cobs

The first half of the tour was spent being jammed in with the other boats while the gondaleers tried desparately to prise the boats free of each other so they could start moving. At one point another boat spun around quickly and ploughed right into the side of ours. It hit the chair I was sitting on, throwing me off it and slamming me face first into the deck. Soon afterwards the impact made my beer topple over and it spilt all over me.

The weirdest thing about Xochimilco is that it comes really highly recommended - at least five people told me it was a must-see in Mexico City. Adam and I were totally miffed - it was sold to us as a pleasant, tranquil experience but floating listlessly on a crowded waterway while being rammed by other boats was not  even remotely relaxing! And it was not exactly scenic, cruising these smelly backwaters that were flanked by the marshy backyards of dilapidated houses. If you came with the right attitude and a lot of beer you could potentially have fun laughing about the lameness of the experience.

We had lunch with some friends from the Spanish course after the exam finished - which most found pretty easy. Later that night we went to a party hosted by two Swedish classmates who are housesitting a friend's place in the outskirts of the city.

The funny thing about this house was that, while it was a three-story palace, it was still undergoing renovation and not quite finished. It had power and water but no stove, kitchen or fridge. It was pretty wild though - everyone was drinking this dubious punch and dancing to really bad 80s music. At one point someone called a couple of cabbies but only one of them left with people and the other one just hung around and joined the party! An hour after he arrived I spotted him carving up the dancefloor, a cigarette in one hand and a glass of punch in the other.

We had a nice dinner with some of the people in our house the night before leaving, which was fun but low key, important considering how hung over we were from the party the night before.

As it comes time to leave this magnificent metropolis, I have been reflecting on the most striking things about Mexico City - it is without a doubt one of the craziest places I have experienced, but also one of the friendliest - it has a big warm beating heart and even though it is one of the biggest cities in the world it doesn't have a cold, impersonal quality at all.

Here are some more weird and wonderful Mexico City tidbits:

The door to door salespeople: there's something kind of cool that in a city with a racing heartbeat, there are still guys pedalling door to door on cycle carts selling their wares. Each vendor has a unique cry, so that people in their houses will know who is at the door. The funniest by far is the tamale man, who sounds somewhere between a crying baby and a power tool with the way he cries "Tama-lEEEEEE."

Another strange breed of street seller are the guys who have these little mobile ovens that look like mini steam-trains. I think they even run on coal. They emit this high-pitched whistle to alert people they are coming, which sounds like a steam train on helium.

PDAs or public displays of affection: for a conservative ultra-catholic country, there is a lot of love on display in Mexico City. It probably has something to do with parents not letting their kids bring boyfriends and girlfriends home. But these teenagers really go for it in public - not just pashing but full-bodily groping on park benches, at bus stops and on street corners.

Boozy cabbies: if there are drink driving laws in this country, clearly the cops are not trying to enforce them. Many people we've spoken to have noticed their cabbie taking a swig of a beer at the wheel while driving them somewhere. Mini-bus, or colectivo drivers as they are called also seem to like a tipple. We sprung one sitting in his bus on the side of the road with all the lights on, chugging back a family-sized Corona.

Road rules? Anyone? Not sure if there are rules on whether you should indicate, give way or stop at traffic lights, but it doesn't seem like anyone cares. Stopping at traffic lights is optional after 11pm, but most people only stop if there are cars in the way. If there are no lights, the fastest car into the intersection gets to go first. And indicators? What are they for? Are they even needed on cars driven by Mexicans?