Kloster

Old beer sign on Durango. In Roma, there are a lot of little restaurants, many of which appear permanently shuttered behind battered storefronts, yet suddenly will be open one day when you walk by. Many others never open. It's not so much a state of slow decay as it is a state of frozen change, the stasis of the neighborhood.

Street Festival

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an Andean street festival. The dancers and the costumes were quite something. Colombia had a very strong presence (see, Hanni?).









I'd grimace too if I had that on my head.

Dead Flowers

Dead flowers at a small altar in Plaza Cibeles.



Fuck it dude, let's go bowling.

Raindrops

Sometimes when it rains here, the sun comes out afterward. Sometimes, it just storms all afternoon and evening. Sometimes, it just smolders, a dirty pale orange overcast that threatens but never comes.

It's almost summer, which means the regular afternoon rains will return.

Thunderstorms

Late afternoon thunderhead




Votive candles.


Last night, it finally rained, breaking a couple days of infernal heat. And did it ever rain. The thunderstorm lasted several hours, and, as is wont to happen here with big storms, I lost power. For six hours. It explained why the previous tenants had left the candles lying around, but truthfully, they provided borderline illumination at best. It's the little things (shoddy power grids, fluky water supplies, inconsistent trash pickup) that make living abroad so much fun.

Coke Bottles at the Tianguis

These bottles were piled up behind a taco stand at the tianguis (open air market)today. Every place that sells soda in glass bottles, which is basically all food stands, leaves the straws in the bottles when they stack them up for collection and recycling. And there is a LOT of soda consumed in Mexico City, ranging from Coke to Boing! Yes, there's a soda called Boing! Because the bottles need to be returned to the distributor, if you want to buy a soda to-go from a food stand, they pour it into a plastic bag, stick a straw in it, and tie the bag shut around the straw. It looks a little silly the first time you see it, but it's rather effective.

Tortillas

Late afternoon sun on the tortilleria on the way to my usual Saturday night activity: tacos al carbon. While those tortillas are good, I usually buy my tortillas from an old lady who makes them by hand at the Sunday market. Yes, they're as delicious as you're thinking.

Graffiti

Quiet street in Tlalpan in the southern suburbs of Mexico City. I was there for a meeting with a professor but arrived an hour and a half early, so I just wandered around. It's a very pleasant, quiet area.





Graffiti on Medellin street in Colonia Roma.

Streets

Avenida Chapultepec morning traffic and Torre Latinoamerica




Merida Street and storm clouds

Semana Santa 2010

Via Crucis procession in Colonia Roma.




Palms outside a church in Coyoacan.




Stained glass in the Coyoacan plaza.





Evening in Coyoacan.





Cemitas poblanas outside the Sagrada Familia church in Colonia Roma, just before the silent procession.




Silent procession, Colonia Roma.




The silent procession in Colonia Roma. It was not actually very silent.





Dog playing in the Coyoacan fountain.