What am I talking about? Get caught up on part one.

El Mundial

“A month-long super bowl until Mexico loses in the second round like they always do.” This was the first and best description of experiencing the World Cup in Mexico that I have heard. Prior to this year, like most Americans, I had only a vague notion of what the World Cup even was, and my understanding of what it means to most of the rest of the world was even further removed. Turns out, it means a lot.

I went to see the first game, Mexico vs Germany, at 10am on a Sunday in a seafood chain restaurant. The answer to the question I was asking myself, am I really day drink for the first time since college or should I just get a coffee? was quickly answered when we were greeted by friends that had a couple of elaborate beer/shrimp cocktail combinations waiting for us when we arrived.

In a surprise victory, Mexico beat Germany 1-0 and when the goal was scored everyone got Coronas on the house. Although I was not personally invested in the outcome I quickly bandwagoned and started screaming chants I didn’t know along with everyone else, booing and cheering in unison. It was really fun but also incredibly stressful to have an entire restaurant of people coaching the team with wild enthusiasm from their seats for every second of the 90-minute game.

What I didn’t know going in is that the possibly most iconic symbol of the city, the Angel of Independence, is also the Angel of Victory. So, when Mexico celebrates, the celebration happens there. We made our way through festive streets lined with Mexican flags and joined the impromptu parade for about 45 minutes before I realized that I should have gotten a coffee, my day drinking days are over, and needed a piss, a Gatorade, and a bed right now. But the festivities went on without me well into the night. And all of this was for a single game, at the lowest level of the tournament. So even though Mexico made it to the second round as promised, I stayed home for the rest because I didn’t have the stamina to go out in public.

El Museo de Arte Popular

This museum is my favorite in the entire city. This is significant because there is a museum for everything is Mexico city, including chocolate and tequila. Like the city itself, there something for everyone. Going to museums here is extremely accessible, the price of admission ranges from free to cheap and are they are generally really good. This one is privately owned by a rich family and exhibits folk art from Mexico, which I personally love. This was the first place I saw alebrijes.

The history of Mexico is an inherently violent culture class and you can see the change and expression of this history in native art. This museum does a great job of explaining these changes and how native people interpreted the Catholic religion among other cultural change that arrived with and by force thanks to the Spanish. I also like their gift shop that has expensive but authentic and unique artisanal trinkets, and proceeds go directly to support the artists.

Museo Memoria y Tolerencia

The Remembrance and Tolerance Museum is the first Holocaust museum I ever went to. The permeant exhibit is guided with headphones offered in several different languages and takes about an hour and a half. They also have rotating exhibits, and for pride I went to see the LGBTG+ exhibit. The theme was coming out of the closet and it was really well designed and focused on educating visitors, especially the families of queer folks. Because the main exhibit is a very intense, I was expecting this one to focus on the violence, hate crimes, and oppression against gays.

There was some space dedicated to this, but the main room featured tiny closet doors with questions written on them and the answers inside. It was a clever and engaging way to get information to people, especially to people who might be afraid to ask. Everything from, what is the difference between a trans person and someone who cross-dresses? To, is it ok for gay people to be around children? And even, where does the term coming out come from?

There was a room discussing gender norms, stories of people coming out told from the perspective of the individual and the family, a rainbow timeline history of gay activists and icons, and my personal favorite, a reel of over the top wedding proposals.

Centro Ceremonial Otomi

When I’m in the city, I’m very far from where I grew up, and this is by design. But when I go just a little outside, to the state of Mexico,  I feel like I am in once again in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, which I love. Mexico City is at a high altitude, and while the city itself is the epitome of a sprawling metropolis,  the surrounding pine forests are palpably wild.

The climate is cooler, the air is breathable, and you become surrounded by the qualities inherent to this particular kind of landscape. The unknown, the quiet rhythms, and a creeping darkness on all sides as trees compete upwards for a little more light. And while I can understand the this is considered a nightmare to some, I have a long history of communing with nature and find these spaces make me calm, centered, and grateful. They bring me back to myself in a way nothing else can.

If you go northeast from Mexico City through these forests you can find Centro Ceremonial Otomi. The repeating deccorative towers and the almost too perfect weather the day we went was so reminiscent of a video game background I was half listening for a booming voice from above to announce “Ready? Rounds 1, Fight!” and to have to spring into action the entire time I was there.

It was constructed in 1980 as a ceremonial site of the Otomi people. At two miles above sea level, it’s a popular place for high-performance athletes to train and visitors to be winded from walking up the steps.