Mexico 2008

Carlos Fuentes’ 80th Birthday Tribute

I didn’t understand much of his speech, but this was in the Auditoria Nacional, which must be the best auditorium in all of Mexico - big beautiful space, plus it was free. I’ll try to read Fuentes now.

This was just a cool sculpture in front of the Musuem of Modern Art. One famous artist I’d never heard of before I came was Siqueiros, a contemporary of Diego Rivera’s. He was a muralist also, but I think in some ways he’s better at executing ideas than Rivera.

Nuestra Imagen Actual by Siqueiros

The Martyr

This was hanging alongside a painting that it inspired but I found the original photo and article more compelling. Haven’t tried to translate the Spanish yet but the photo is enough!

El Fin by Armando Orozco

Sculpture garden was great.

Aztec Dancers in the Zocalo

Another in my series of out-of-focus dancers. The Zocalo is the main square of Mexico City, with the presidential palace, the cathedral, etc. There seems to be constantly at least one group of Aztec dancers.

Favorite Chess Player

I love seeing folks play chess outdoors. I won a few games.

Buying Cricket Snack

You can buy anything under the sun at the Central Market. Here is my Couchsurfing host buying crickets. They were salted. Probably good on a salad.

Danae, Ariel and I

Danae is my host’s sister. Ariel is a Couchsurfer from Israel.

Danae, Rocio and I

Off to the Farm

While I’m down here I’m doing another piece for Current TV, this time about WWOOFing (Willing Work on Organic Farms) in Mexico and Costa Rica, and maybe Peru if I can find a farm. The first farm I visited was Nierika, which turned out to be a real trip.

Arriving at Nierika

The place was a bit like Eden. Avocado and guava trees everywhere, coffee, you name it. Plus when I got there there was a pow-wow going on, with indigenous folks from Alaska, the lower 48, and several parts of Mexico.

Dan, Sean, Vincent, a woman from Wyoming

Sean and Vincent are WWOOFers, Dan and the woman were there for the pow-wow.

Naming Ceremony

When I first got there I was rushed over to start filming and photographing the naming ceremony for the owner’s children. Armando is in the vest kneeling on the ground and his wife Ania is behind him in the red cloak.

Getting ready to sweat at Nierika

The Aztec word for sweatlodge is temescal. There was quite a long ceremony to get ready for the sweat. My favorite part of this picture is the guy in the foreground, also one of the sweaters, taking a picture with his cell phone.

Chief Steve

Steve was an Inuit from Alaska who had made the journey down to the pow-wow.

Helian

Helian was a little boy at the pow-wow who made me miss Miles.

Armando and Ken Littlefish

Armando is translating for Ken Littlefish as he explains the etiquette for the ceremony the following night. Ken is from the midwest, Wisconsin I think, but now lives near Seattle. He’s a real natural leader, one of the most compelling people I’ve met in my life.

Mountaintop above the farm

The last day before I went back to Mexico City I climbed a hill above the farm to take pictures.

Me at the top