Festival of the Authentic, Intrepid Danger-Seekers

Mexico, like many other Latin-American countries, is characterized by an overwhelming dominance of the "machista" mentality and the fulfillment of traditional male and female roles. That's why our trip to Juchitán for  La Vela de las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro, or Festival of the Authentic, Intrepid Danger-Seekers ended up being as educational as outrageous. On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, being gay is celebrated and having a homosexual son (specifically a transexual) is actually considered quite a blessing since,  

"These sons do handicrafts and sell embroideries in the market with the women, while the men work in the fields, so it's a monetary boon to the family. And while daughters marry and leave home, a muxe cares for his parents in their old age."

Muxe we met representing San Francisco in the pageant

Muxe (pronounced "MOO-shays") is the local name given to men who dress like women, or dress like men but have male lovers and hold traditionally female jobs—weaver, party planner, hairdresser. There are still strong indigenous roots in this area, so the word muxe is Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.

The story of how muxes came to be is as follows:

God gave San Vincente Ferrer (Juchitán's patron saint) a bag full of homosexuals to distribute throughout Mexico, one in each town BUT when he got to Juchitán, the muxes became too exuberant—they all burst out of the bag here." 

SCANDALOUS 

The festival ends with a ball on Saturday night that began at 9 pm and ended at 5 am the next morning. For about $10 (which I didn't pay because I'm a girl) you receive a case of beers (approximately 24), food, and entertainment of all forms. There was a live band and dancing but more importantly, "there were muxes in trajes (traditional Mexican dresses), ball gowns, miniskirts and thigh-high boots-some of them with prosthetic breasts and one with very real-looking implants". The entire town was there, fathers dancing with daughters, mothers and grandmothers, muxes and more muxes. It was truly an amazing trip. It was approximately 13 hours on a bus each way with tons of shambles en route. Lots of running, sweating, getting left behind, and winding roads. We headed to the beach the next day to recover from what truly was one of the most outrageous things I think I've seen. 

 Here is some more evidence: 

                                                                                  

This man just hopped onto our small van and started playing his guitar as we weaved around this gigantic mountain...just one of the ridiculous things that made this weekend. People pretend they don't hear him so they don't have to give him $, obviously, I was caught filming him and had to..



This place had no AC and no toilet seats, "Hotel Modelo" I think not

For 130 pesos you got an entire case of beers (24 beers) and free food, live music and dance..THAT is why it was shambles

   


Ate Tlayuda a typical Oaxacan  dish to recover from the night before. Had some Iguana right before this and was not a fan





Playa Azul-The virgin beach we'd been searching for

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo :)





Pups laying out on the beach with us

 *Sources and more information can be found in the NYtimes and Travel & Leisure 



Latest Adventures

So I am currently working on 2 blog posts that I hope will be enjoyable reads. The first is about what can only be described as an Indigenous celebration of transexuals and the second is a SHOCKING exposé on the travesties witnessed on a daily basis on the Mexico City MetroBus. It's a human interest piece really.

In the meantime I wanted to document some of the things I got to do around here the weekend of November 11-13.

On Friday, November 11, only 3 important things really happened:

     1. At 11:11 (remember that it was 11/11/11), all the ladies at the office went out into the courtyard and we took part in some yoga and meditation ritual to increase our positive energy. From what I gathered, it was supposed to make us one with the Sun and make us look at the good in life, but I just felt like an uncoordinated dork. Overall though, I enjoyed it.

  

  2. The Secretary of the Interior died in a helicopter crash. He's the equivalent of the Vice President in the U.S. He's ALSO the 2nd  Secretary of Interior to die in a helicopter crash in 3 years, and the 6th one of this Mexican administration. Needless to say after we got all our good vibes flowing, theories of this being a murder carried out by narcos were all anyone could talk about...SCARY.

  3. My phone got jacked

And as a result of event #3, I spent Saturday, November 12, sulking around and doing housekeeping things.  I went to Chili's and ordered a Fajita Quesadilla which I realized was stupid seeing as I live in Mexico and could have gotten something way better on the streets for a dollar. Things started looking up after that though. I went to a house party where a famous Mexican celebrity happened to be. His name is Kalimba but I'd never heard of him so his presence was not impressive except for that he was surrounded by beautiful women dressed in what seemed to be a uniform of little black dresses paired with black boots. This Kalimba was apparently the voice of Arnold and Simba in the Spanish versions of Hey Arnold! and The Lion King.

Highlights of the night include watching the Pacquiao Marquez fight, seeing the semi-enraged (would've been enraged if sober) Mexicans when Pacquiao won, then dancing to the following songs at our local bar:

1. Party Up-DMX

2. You Can Do It-Ice Cube

3. Lo que Paso Paso-Daddy Yankee

Sunday, November 13 was an amazing day. It was just one of those days that you wake up and wonder what you've done to deserve the opportunities you have.

Had breakfast with Scott and Joe on the rooftop then headed to Plaza de Tecnologia to break a myriad of American laws to get my iPhone activated here. Plaza de Tecnologia is basically a street, rather than an actual plaza, filled with people selling what are no doubt stolen phones, pirated and illegal software, tech repair services and accessories. Turns out that when AT&T tells you your phone is locked..they're lying. A guy standing on the street took off his gold hoop earring, pulled out the SIM card and somehow figured that out as I gawked at his ability to use jewelry to solve my phone issue. I paid about $40 total to get a new case, screen cover and to have a man there download all the software necessary to get it working. So many broken laws though...oh so many.

One of my favorite things about Mexicans is that since they can't wait on the government to help them, when there are no jobs, they create their own. This plaza and the surrounding streets are packed with thieves but mostly with industrious people who have taken charge of their lives and essentially started their own businesses.

Then there happened to be a free Chromeo concert a couple of blocks from our apartment in Parque Mexico. I'd never heard of Chromeo before but they were really a fun band and the amount of hipsters that had managed to flock there after the post on Twitter about the concert was really great to see..

Here is a much better video of the madness  made by the sponsors, Absolut: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF7irTehnpE

And of course that's not enough excitement to fit into a day so after the concert we headed over to the Televisa Studios for a tour and to watch the taping of their weekend sports show, Televisa Deportes. Their commentary on NFL games was by far the best part...Los Vaqueros de Dallas y Los Acereros de Pittsburgh..jejejeje

The Televisa version of Sports Center

And then real life started again on Monday and to get my phone registered, I had to leave work an hour early, run to a Customer Service Center (open conveniently from 10 am-7pm in a country where office hours are about from 9-6:30), just to barge through the doors at 6:56, deal with some sass from the receptionist, then wait till #330 was called so I could register my phone with my passport. That's right, you buy the phone, then have to travel elsewhere in this behemoth of a city to register the phone so that you can actually use it..#inefficiency

Only one side of the TelCel Service Center  

A Shocking Exposé on Mexico City's MetroBus

Alright FINE. It's no Exposé. But if you've ever ridden the MetroBus in Mexico City, you know what goes down. If you've ever walked down the street, you've seen the poor souls stuck to the windows clinging for dear life as they wonder aloud how they ended up stuck to a bus window at the age of 23. Oh, is that just me?

It's likely that the Mexican government recognizes the lunacy that occurs on MetroBusses (not that their knowing spurs action anyway) but if you are one of my amigos in the States, then nothing you've ridden there could ever prepare you for this.

Quick Background:
Opened up in 2005, the newest MetroBus line was finished in 2010 and is for the most part a cheap and fast way to get around since it operates within a reserved lane and thus moves much quicker through traffic. A single-trip costs about 0.38 USD and you streamline your usage via a reusable "smartcard". Besides addressing the bus service problem, the Metrobús project emerged in the context of the city’s efforts to reduce air pollution. 

According to information from the Mexico City government published in April 2006, the Metrobús carried more than 390,000 passengers daily. I couldnt find the stats for daily passengers in 2011, but it sometimes feels that the 390,000 passengers are all on your bus at once.

The BEAST

Things that have occured on the MetroBus:

* It was once so crowded, I was literally able to sit down in mid-air as fellow riders suspended me up with their bodies.

*I saw a woman try to squeeze into the bus with a cake and then watched knowingly as the doors smashed her cake into pieces.

*A man was once attacked by an entire cart full of women for riding in the "women's passenger car" and was then forcibly removed by a police officer. I have frequently heard women, perhaps sick of years of life in a male-dominated society, yell crowd favorites like, "If we don't demand respect here, they'll always take advantage!"

*A guy on my MetroBus got his phone stolen, sprinted out of the bus at the next stop to beg a nearby police officer for help. He was met with a loud and embarrassing,  "Dude, you got your phone stolen? What do you want ME to do about it?" Not sure why he wasn't expecting that one.

*In the painful and terrifying dash to get off the bus before being trampled by the boarding passengers (see video below), a lady got her purse stuck in the double-door and watched as the bus rode off with her bag. Her panic-stricken face summed up what has to be one of the crappiest things to happen on your way to work.

*This week, I watched as folks intently stared at the Mo' Money Mo' Problem video on the bus tv screen.

And although it seems like this crazy stuff happens every day, what I really DO see every day is what has to be the jankest beauty trick ever: women curling their eyelashes with spoons. I suppose the market for the eyelash curler is minuscule here.

See there? In one hand, a mirror. In the other hand, a SPOON.  No, I'm not a creeper. I am an investigative blogger.

 Since Mexicans have a refreshing "no pasa nada" attitude, I can see why some people (especially those that don't ride it regularly) smile or laugh when they're getting crushed by double doors and squeezing into a space that is simply not there. But most people that ride the MetroBus during rush hour have to do it on a daily basis, so to them (to us!), it's not funny.

In the beginning, I used to get really nervous to ride the MetroBus because there is an entire protocol. It's not a "get-on and get-off" type thing. OH NO.  But it gets better. You get used to it, and you pick up tricks to make the ride easier. For me, trying to take video and pictures of the mayhem to write this post has helped. So now that I've published this post...well..I guess I'll take up eyelash spooning.

I shot about 15 videos to get this one. It is the story of how a pregnant lady and her elderly parents try to get off the MetroBus. I attempt to give you a play-by-play even including English captions for yall who don't speak Spanish. Yes, it's on my iphone but you'll get a good idea. ENJOY!