Mexico City in February 2024
mis días con dios mexicanos
my days with mexican gods
the god of traffic
dios de trafico
the god
of pollution
of overcrowdness
of the gradual sinking city
once built by Aztecs
built on water
(where is the water?)
a „magical“ city
quips a guide
as fast as your
credit card here
disappears
crime, drugs,
femicides, desaparecidos
news from Mexico
I am preparing myself
„come back safe“
„ui, that’s brave“
The driver is waiting.
Evening. Hotel.
Genuinely vintage, old colonial architecture
wooden elevator, galleries in the inner courtyard
the rooms on
flower railings
and light
Door is difficult to close
chain
Window to the outside gallery
Safe does not work
I can only use a few numbers
the janitor speaks
only Spanish
and smiles
I try several options
despacito
says the janitor
and no dippdipp
I show the door and window
safe?
he shrugs his shoulders
says something about surveillance
I wonder if I should have invested
1000 Euros more?
Breakfast is included
thick pancakes
hard taco variations
always lots of queso
in the first days
I don’t know
what to eat
I was warned about
the usual gastrointestinal malaise
Brushing my teeth with
bottled water
twice I go to
McDonald
(„Mexiko me encanta“)
Order failed
fries?
ah, papas grande
is the name of this
coke without ice cream
por favor
sin hielo
or was it called something else
at least I’m full
I get on the Turibus
and drive back and forth
across the city
hellish noise
traffic jams, skyscrapers
huge cathedrals
„de mundo“
it sounds
from the loudspeakers
fall asleep again and again
jet lag
oh well
sunglasses, of course,
cap
fall asleep again
we drive through the
alto clase – neighborhood
Polanca
Billionaire Museum
golden commercial buildings
Dogsitter
I miss my dog
my dogsitter in
Germany
writes to me,
that he has been whining for two days
at the colossal
Auditorio
I get out
concert hall
„de mundo“
six-lane Paseo de Reforma
over a street walk
requires patience
be careful, lady
the pavements are treacherous
sloping sidewalks
holes
Honking, screaming, shouting
what are they shouting?
oh well
they are selling
oh – blueberries
and frases
how I would love to eat fruit
but is that possible?
stunned
from megaphone marketing
hoarse
loud
threatening
shouts
jaguars
I understand the
street vendor
oh well, a kind of sounding
sound instrument
jaguars and owls
I see the
green and red ceramics
try to play it
I laugh
that sounds good
cuarenta y cinque pesos
maybe for one of the daughters
or the nietas
DaughterDaughters
my first souvenir
I stroll on
and drink another
coke
the revenge of Monteczuma
that’s what we call it
Oh dear, the Aztec king
I reach the
Museo de Antropología
and –
am overwhelmed
pyramid walls
imposing
prehispanic
of ancient indigenous
peoples
sculptures
gods
never
heard of them
names difficult
to pronounce and
to remember
Nahuátl is the name of one of the languages
Huitzilopochtli – the god of war of the Aztecs
their patron saint
the feathered serpent
Quetzalcóatl
incredible human history
they built pyramids
on which temples stood
interlocking lava rock formations
that withstood the earthquakes
pre-Christian sustainability
base hundreds of meters wide
gods of the Creación,
of the rain
huge penises
harnesses
Mesoamericanas
how little we know
outside our
Occident
after several hours
I am a few kilos
books heavier
on Zócalo
the concheros dance
with their shell rattles
on their legs
magnificent masks
you can get smoked
get smoked by them
copal and pirul
are the name of the incense
drums and flutes
on the way back
the serious face
of a child woman
plump baby
smoke
in the smog
the angel of
indepencencia
altar of the fatherland
patria
I meet Jozan
black hat
pink T-shirt
historian of gastronomy
and human
fears
in a kilometer-long
avenue
he shows me the stores
for the quinzeras
the fifteen-year-olds
whose female adulthood
are celebrated
with expensive parties
2000 – 20000 dollars
is what the parents spend
says Jozan
and the so-called
chambelanes
are young men
who are hired for good money
engaged
to dance
with these precios
dressed glittery women
in petticoats
that’s what he did
he laughs
and takes a bow
the great tower of the Aztecs
by chance found
during construction work
for the metro
Temple pyramid
of the Aztecs
Cortéz, the Conquistadores,
have destroyed everything in the
center
with the stones of the pyramids
they built their
voluminous
catholic
cathedrals
historical recycling
says Jozan
yes yes, the Aztecs sacrificed
humans
50000 warriors per year
blood, heart, life for the gods
(how many hundreds of thousands of soldiers
are sacrificed in current wars?)
most of these warriors
were from the surrounding countryside
from other peoples
who were oppressed by the Aztecs
therefore they
made common
with the Conquistadores
to get rid of the Aztecs
It took less than two years
their destruction
Rich country
says Natasha,
Russian British
with Münchner Kindl roots
She buys herself a heavy necklace
of silver and
obsidian
Fits
also such an exploring lady
Exchange
about our latest findings
She is (among other things) a rigger
stage technician,
rigging for spotlights & co
she is currently touring with Bryan Adams
around the world
also oceansailor a.o.
Just no news
she says
you just need to know
where the money goes
then you know
who wants to conquer
what and how
Wanted to bring mom to England,
but she loves him,
the Putin,
she could live decently now
after the misery of the nineties
Moscow is beautiful
cheap food
Free cures for the pensioner
What the aunt is telling
says Natascha
after a sales clerk
tries to rip her off
the city is sinking
the old buildings of Mexico Ciudad
some already leaning more than half a meter
the Virgen de Guadelupe
in her basilica with a capacity of ten thousand Catholics
is kept in balance by underground hydraulics
We cannot solve the problem
only control it
says the architect
Place de la Constitutión
Zócalo
built according to a prophecy
where an eagle on a cactus
eats a snake
on an island
in the middle of lakes
Tenochtitlan
The Aztecs came
from the north
Arizona, Utah
(where are actually the tequila fences
of the Mexicans
to keep others
from their territory ?)
Frida Kahlo – bohemian superstar
perfect storytelling
in her casa azul
A beguiling flower smile
Diego Rivera
constantly kisses her hand
They were married twice
In between, he once loved
her youngest sister
Polio, accident, great painting, corset and the colors
A tar machine rages outside
The street is steaming
A Mexican coffee
OLLA
Summery Christmas on the tongue
Cinnamon and cardamon
and nibble a churro with créme fraĭche
Coyotes are also nation builders
Coyoacán is the name of this neighborhood
In Xochimilco
where the naked axolotl has its exclusive residence
I make friends
with two bold Taiwanese women
A doctor and something to do with the film industry
They order micheladas
with everything that goes:
Beefblood, tequila, mole (local sauce), chocolate
We take a ride in a colorful boat
through the canal landscape
Just like in Venice
But experienced mariachis play music here
Black cowboy style with silver fittings
At one point they play a son
That’s beautiful
Chinese New Year. Holidays
toast the ladies from Taiwan
They cruise in a Land Rover
through raging rivers and fish (?)
something the size of blue whales
I gather from their movements
They can only think of the Chinese word for it
Should definitely travel to Japan too
they recommend
Their parents are so worried right now
the people here are calm and kind
I say
salud
we should not hear so much US-news,
they say
Later, Friday night,
when we get off the bus
Party in the Centro Historico
El Palacio des Bellas Artes
in festive lighting
Be careful, Paula
Double hug
The tourists hold their backpacks
in front of their bellies
Policía parades
Security everywhere
On the Konsti in Frankfurt
it‘s probably more dangerous
Did you feel
the two small earthquakes this morning?
my mirror rattled
vibrating
most of the time we don’t even feel them
the three earthquakes a day
UNAM is a university as a city
whole buildings
like the library
painted with Mexico’s history
Murales –
a specific art form
education painted on walls
understandable for everyone
The Grande Tres
Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco
Orozco is a discovery
a nihilist as a muralist
All ideologies in the trash
he paints
church, communism, capitalism
basura
and that already in the twenties
a hundred years ago,
in the 19th century
already
in the Mexican constitution
the separation
of church and state
(do we not seem
underdeveloped ?)
Emiliano,
thick black plait of hair
down to his hips,
tells us the
the historical background of the
Palacio des Bellas Artes
Dictator Porfirio Díaz
with a soft spot for European Art Deco
Why dictator
a New Yorker wants to know
He brought wealthy into the country
By definition
explains Emiliano,
a dictator is someone
who at some point no longer allows himself to be elected,
but elects himself
for over 30 years
then revolution
Flowing mural
by Siqueiros
three rooms
above the roofs of the city
Chapultepec Castle
Revolutinonaries
march
against
Díaz
He had to go into exile
France.
died
Before him
the Habsburg
Emperor Maximilian
lived here
with his wife of seventeen years, Charlotte,
enlightened ruling couple
Multilingual
they also learn the
languages of the indigenous people
But the Insurgentes,
do not want the
the colonial emperor
After two years
he is shot
Charlotte goes mad
Isaac
did an internship here
That’s why we are not controlled
You are allowed to carry water bottles
in your backpack
The nicest cops in the world,
beams Isaak
Jimena raves about
authentic mexican food
The group is immediately
laughing.
Two couples from Sarajevo
My next destination
(are they surprised?)
The finer points of mezcal,
various types of tequila
pulque from cactus
(mild like beer,
is always emphasized)
Agaves provided
the first fibers,
paper and
these fermenting
liquids
Finally
roasted grasshoppers
in lemon chili
I can feel their legs
on my tongue
a kind of ant
also belongs to the
mexican cuisine
In the Mercado de San Juan
there are even
lion burgers
ecológical
naturally
fruits
and mariscos
Again and again
all sorts of things
from corn
The corn god
has a good reputation
in the meantime I also dare
street food
hearty sopas, quesadillas
Near Chalula and Puebla
are enthroned like graceful
the two
over five thousand meters high
Popocatépetl
and
Iztaccíhuatl
On the largest pyramid base
in the world,
400 meters wide,
a church.
Overgrown pyramids
were thought by the conquistadors
for mountains
and left them
undestroyed
Vulcano
and
Vulcana
carry clouds
and look good
smaller and larger
eruptions
again and again
evacuations
flight cancellations
indigenous shamans
can appease God Popocatépetl
Santa María Tonantzintla
is double:
Church and temple
At some point the Franciscans had
allowed the indigenous believers
syncret their religion
into Catholicism
El paraiso
mexican baroque
churriguerresco.
The main indigenous goddess is Mother Nature.
Tonantzin has always been there.
Unlike the god of the conquistadors,
he created everything.
El centro del universo
Even the ancient indigenous peoples
many centuries
before the Aztecs,
believed this.
At some point they disappeared
They built gigantic buildings,
but left behind
no writings
The Aztecs don’t destroyed
these pyramids
in Teotihuacán
but
celebrated in them
their own rituals.
We are a mixture
tres culturas
Indigenous
Hispanic
Mexican
cultures
of the
contrarios:
Death
and
life
man
and
woman
God of the sun
Goddess of the moon
The dead are celebrated
because they belong to life
The dead
in Mexico
are
very cool
casual
they sit around
fold
their
papier-mâché skeleton hands,
read taught books
carefully
dressed
elegantly
or traditionally
Besame mucho
Kiss me. Kiss me
Even in my hotel
there are some
to greet me
I was fine here
after many hours
in heaven
back
happily wiser
