I've been having a really wonderful time in Mexico this past week. I think I've honestly been feeling pretty dead inside in San Francisco, and I just feel so much more alive here in Mexico. I am so excited by Claudia Sheinbaum's victory in the recent national elections -- a recent poll has her carrying an 85% approval rating. She is the first woman president of Mexico, and Jewish and pro-Palestine and anti-imperialist. Her victory is such an amazing triumph and it's totally absurd that it hasn't been covered more in the New York Times and other U.S. media outlets. Then again, Sheinbaum's left-wing politics are a threat to the vested interests of the U.S. capitalist class, so it's no surprise that the billionaire owners of the Times don't really want to cover her. Then again, many Times readers are more and more interested in how to actually elect a left-wing government that doesn't bend eagerly to the will of fascism, so one way or another, folks should start paying attention to Sheinbaum and the Morena party she represents.
To the right is a picture from the neighborhood where Eva and I were staying. The sign explains in Spanish that the name of the street, Michoacan, means "place where fish are abundant" in an indigenous language. I assume Nahuatl but I'm not sure. Eva and I agreed that Condesa was filled abundance of all kinds.
On this trip, two of the things I have been most amazed by are how vibrant and alive left-wing politics are in this country, and how vibrant and alive indigeneous cultures are here. I don't mean to sugarcoat things, and pretty much all of the same oppressive dynamics that exist in the U.S. -- especially vis a vis racism, capitalism and imperialism -- exist to some extent in Mexico. But at the same time, the culture and spirit of resistance is so much more alive here.
Some of the highlights of my trip so far were: visiting the UNAM campus. I have also followed with a lot of interest the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, where the EZLN has been engaged in an indigeneous led Marxist uprising against the state since 1993. On the UNAM campus, where one of their leaders, Subcomandante Marcos, was allegedly a student, I spoke to a student selling coffee from Zapatista communities in Chiapas. I was nervous to ask him too many questions, because I was very self-conscious of being a
gringo and also I didn't want to seem like a cop or just being too nosy, but we chatted a little bit. He said that it was only a rumor that Marcos had studied and taught at UNAM, though I couldn't tell if he was being coy and deliberately evasive with a white stranger, or if he really didn't know or what. And he also said that the Zapatistas are still in Chiapas and still in
la lucha, struggling against the capitalist Mexican state -- though from what I have read that has not been an armed struggle for about a decade. I wish I had asked him more questions, but like I said, I was nervous and self-conscious, so I got my coffee and went on my way.
Above is a picture of me with the coffee. I wanted to take a picture with the student at the stand next to the Marcos photo, but I was too shy. Later that night, as I was doing a little bit of journaling, I was feeling very cool for having chatted with the student. To the right is a famous picture of Che Guevara, in many ways a hero of mine, though also a very disappointing figure in many ways. Anyway, after meeting the student, I lay in bed and did some journaling and felt very cool. And then I got stressed, took a shower, and spent the next day perusing all the boogie coffee shops and thrift stores in Condesa.
I think now it's about time for me to get to bed. Hopefully I will manage to write some more about my trip in the next few days. Other highlights which I would like to write more about include: a visit to the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, just all the amazing and creative and inventive coffee shops and restaurants in Condesa and Roma Norte, and exploring Tepoztlan, a small town about one hour outside of Mexico City with the ruins of an indigeneous (Aztec, I'm pretty sure) pyramid. If there were any justice in the world, Mexico City would be recognized as the cultural capital of North America. In my opinion, the food, architecture, music and history here are just way more exciting than anything I would come across in the U.S. or Canada. And sure, my chances of getting food poisoning here are higher than they are in the U.S., but I am way less fucking depressed. There is just a richness of culture and spirit of resistance here that I just do not come across in the U.S. these days. At least in the present. Anyway, I'll take a 5% chance of a stomach bug over my U.S. bred and capitalism induced depression any day. Here, when I'm vomiting, at least it was preceded by some tasty tacos. And lexapro doesn't work for me anyway.
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