El Metro

On Christmas Day, I overcame my fear of taking the Metro. Even in New York, I still prefer to walk or hop in a cab, but here it was Christmas, and the streets were relatively empty except for some tourists and other down and out types. I walked from the Zona Rosa, where I am staying to the Centro Historico, to the Zocalo and the Metropolitan Cathedral. I would have hung out there longer, but I didn´t have as much money with me as I thought I did, so there wasn´t a whole lot for me to do but walk. My feet were very tired as my shoes are turning out not to be so great for doing a lot of walking, and there I was at Hidalgo Station - I decided to take a chance.

First I paid for my ticket, which was 20 pesos (less than 20 cents) and went through the turnstile. Immediately, I was confused about where to go, so I returned back to the turnstile where two police officers were chatting ( the police seem to be omni-present, which I guess is a good thing), as soon as one of them saw me walking in their direction, the other, who was on my side of the turnstile, turned and asked how he could help me.

I told him where I wanted to go and he pointed me in the right direction. I took that train for a few stops and at another station transferred to another train and soon I was at Insurgentes, where I discovered what is now my favorite internet cafe.

So, yesterday, now brave after a successful metro experience, I decided to take a longer haul to Coyoacan, the small village, which is now part of Mexico City, where Frida Kahlo was born and died.

At the guesthous where I am staying, two Brazilians were telling me that it took them forever to get back from Coyoacan by subway, but they said it was rush hour. So, being smarter than them, I decided to time my trip so that I would avoid the rush hour.

I left here around 10, and was at Viveros Station near Coyoacan by ten thirty, more or less. It was a quick and easy ride, with only one transfer. I even got to sit for most of it.

At Viveros, I followed the directions in my Lonely Planet and walked through a lovely park on my way to central Coyoacan. I found Frida´s house, saw some other sites, including the home of Leon Trotsky, who was befriended by Frida and Diego, and who was assasinated by a Stalinist while he worked at his desk. His assassin drove an ice pick through his skull - brutal.

Because I had to walk a lot to get back to the station that I arrived at, I decided to walk in the other direction to see Trotsky´s house and also to see this ex-convent that was near the metro station. Exhausted after walking so much, I got to the station to find the train was sitting on the tracks and already quite full. I walked all the way to the last car hoping to find a seat, but someone snatched it right before me. So, I stood and waited for the train to start moving.

Finally we were off, but at the next station we sat again with the doors open, waiting for the train to move. I don´t understand what this delay was about, but it happened at almost every station. We´d arrive at the station, the doors would open, and we´d sit and wait.

This is exactly what the Brazilians had described, and it was only three o´clock!

The trip took a lot longer than it had for me to go to Coyoacan. But there was entertainment along the way. We´d stop at a station and the entertainment would board. The first entertainer was a woman with a bunch of CDs. She shouted to us above the sounds of the train and the station ¨LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? i HAVE FOR SALE A DVD THAT WILL ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FORMATION OF THE WORLD (SOUND OF TRAIN WHISTLE AND ANNOUNCEMENT AND DOORS CLOSING DROWNING HER OUT) YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE TECTONIC PLATES (and on she went). Nobody bought her DVD but she was soon replaced by a blind guy being led by what looked like his son. No one gave him any money. Next was a semi-blind guy with a glass eye playing a guitar and singing, which was quite a feat since the train was moving. There were ice cream sellers and people selling gum and candy. More and more people got on the train and it was hot and we´d sit there in most stations for what seemed like forever, but was probably slightly over a minute. I amused myself by counting how many more stations I had before I could get off of this train from hell and get on the train that would take me home.

Finally, we arrived at Pino Suarez station, where I was to transfer. I followed the masses of people up escalators around corners, up more escalators and down stairs. We passed a huge sulpture that looked like a sun dial, which must have been something they found when they excavated the station. It made me think that there must be untold treasures buried beneath this city. Every time they build something where they have to dig, they find something new. I got to the tracks for my line and it was also packed. I guess rush hour starts early here. Not one to stand on a crowded train pressed body to body, I decided to walk to the end of the train. It was not nearly as crowded as the rest of the train, but I still had to stand.

One more vendor got on the train, this time with a CD of music. Someone bought one of his CDs and he got off at the next stop and moved to another car. As I got off at Insurgentes, I could hear his music playing.

I was relieved to be ¨home¨, but left the station by the wrong exit, so that rather than walking just a block to get to my guesthouse, I had to walk several blocks. It gave me an opportunity to see some of the street life that has been missing for the past few days as the city had pretty much shut down for Christmas.

So, even though I overcame my fear of the metro, I now discovered that I´m not too thrilled with the prospect of a 20 minute ride lasting 40 minutes and having to stand the whole way - entertainment or none. Today I plan to walk around the neighborhoods near where I am staying - Condessa and Roma. I´ll save riding the metro for the weekend.