We left the Galapagos Islands for the opposite end of the spectrum: Mexico City! A city* of 9 million people, with a metropolitan population of around 22 million, Mexico City is a booming metropolis filled with parks, plazas, museums, shopping malls, world class entertainment and fantastic restaurants. The Mexica people (Aztecs to us) built their capital city of Tenochtitlán in 1325. The city is over 7,000 feet above sea level but was originally built on an island. As a result, it continues to sink at a rate of up to 4 inches per year. Conquered by the Spanish in the 1500s, and renamed Mexico City, it is the oldest capital city in the western hemisphere. After the cultural desert of the Galapagos, we are thrilled to be back in an environment where traditions abound, the climate is temperate and there is more to do than go to the beach.
México!
We live in Cuajimalpa, the most western “delegation” or borough of Mexico City. Cuajimalpa is situated in the Sierra de las Cruces mountains at an elevation of 8,900 feet. It was a separate rural town until being engulfed by Mexico City’s urban sprawl. As a result, it has a local feel, similar to our home in Cajamarca, Peru, but minus the farm animals. We are not in a fashionable ex-pat district of the city, although there are both McDonalds and Starbucks within a couple of blocks of our house (not that those make it fashionable, just typical). While it takes us about 45 minutes to get into the city, Matt has 3-minute, door-to-door walking commute that can’t be beat in a place where 1 1/2 to 2 hour commutes are not uncommon. A large, Walmart-owned supermarket is around the corner, but the neighborhood also has a Saturday open air market, which are called tianguis here, and there is a permanent market about a mile from our house. There are countless shopping malls throughout the area, with a few nice ones 15-20 minute car rides from our house. With some very minor exceptions (decaf black tea, parchment paper, Shout colorfast sheets), we can find pretty much everything we want or need in the city. What a difference that has been compared to our last two moves!
We learned from our other moves that it is best to get settled in quickly by buying what we need to make our home comfortable. We spent our first two weeks here going to the mall or some big box store almost every day. It wasn’t that we had more than a car-load of things to purchase, but when you don’t own a car, you can only buy what you can carry. One day, in a Home Depot, Matt looked at me and said, “Are we in Wauwatosa or Mexico City?” Apart from the language, it is hard to tell when you are in American stores that look exactly the same. We were lucky to have our shipment from the U.S delivered 2 1/2 weeks after we arrived – it felt like Christmas! We didn’t waste any time and had a chair reupholstered, paintings framed, our apartment painted and our artwork hung. We are having a media console and end table built and have a few more odds and ends on the wish list, but it feels like home.
It hasn’t been all work since we arrived. I joined a book club and knew it would be a good fit when 50% of their titles matched the titles my Milwaukee book club has read. I’ve met nice people through the club and the International Women’s Club. While the drive time from the city makes it rare that we go there on a week night, we head to the city most weekends. Depending on who is counting, Mexico City has more museums than any other city in the world, so we have plenty to choose from. In addition to visiting several permanent collections, we have seen a Pablo Picasso – Diego Rivera exhibit and an Andy Warhol one, complete with a reproduction of the Factory’s balloon room. Mexico City is famous for a movement to bring art to the people via enormous murals so those pop up in plenty of places too. But my best museum visit thus far was when our friends, Beth and Chris, were visiting last week because we were going to the U2 show and we ran into Bono at the Soumaya Museum! He was incredibly gracious with his fans and I even shook his hand. What a great brush with fame!
Cosmopolitan Panoramic
While I know that we are in the honeymoon phase with Mexico City, so far all signs point to it being a lasting love affair!
* Mexico can refer to three political units. First, the country, officially the United States of Mexico. Next, the State of Mexico, which is one of 31 states in the union. Finally, Mexico City, or the District Federal (D.F.), which is separate from the State of Mexico and its own federal political unit, like Washington, D.C. in the U.S. While in 2016 the city’s name was changed from Mexico Distrito Federal of Mexico to Cuidad de Mexico (Mexico City, CDMX), many people still refer to the city as D.F.
Kerry On! 
Thanks for sharing. Cannot wait to “tour” with you.
I cannot wait either, my dear friend!