So HOT-T in Monterrey!

We almost didn’t get to go to Monterrey because a small hurricane around Veracruz canceled our flight Friday. We were so disappointed. Sheila and I thought for sure that we’d have to reschedule for November because my October weekends are (happily) booked with visitors. But we were somehow able to convince the airline guy to break the rules and let us change our return flight so that we could keep the same amount of trip days by leaving Saturday and coming back Tuesday instead of Monday.

Saturday’s flight went off without a hitch. I can’t believe it only takes an hour and a half to fly a 15 hour bus ride. It hurts just to think about sitting on a bus for that long.

Anyway, my initial impression of Monterrey was, “Wow, this looks a lot like the U.S.” We saw Chili’s and Applebees and 711s and a number of other US-based businesses on the taxi ride to our friend David’s house that afternoon. It’s true, though. The city really doesn’t feel like “Mexico,” more like a wealthy US city with a lot of Spanish speakers. Many people spoke English too, and you could tell they were trying to emulate American styles with the way they dyed their hair blond or flaunted US brand-name clothing. I found that kind of sad, but I can’t say I was that surprised. My second impression was, “Wow, this place is hot. Like, HOT!” I have a new appreciation for my little “City of Eternal Spring.”

Our first tourist stop was a 360 degree view of the city from the bandera (flag) at the Obispado, a former bishop’s palace. You could see the whole downtown, the mountains, and even some adjoining suburbs. Compared to Cuernavaca, it felt huge. I think about 4.5 million people live there, making it the third or fourth largest in the country (Mexico City, Guadalajara and then Veracruz or Monterrey).

 

 

Dave and one of his two roommates, Hugo, practice flagpole hugging.

From there, we headed to the Macroplaza in the city center, which is basically a long string of parks and plazas surrounded by government buildings, offices and museums. Everything was very clean and modern. We peeked into the Cathedral (1600-1750), then walked past the tall orange Torre, or Faro del Comercio (Commerce Lighthouse) that was built by the business community in 1983. At night on the weekends, a green laser on the top of the tower rotates continuously. We couldn’t escape two clowns in the plaza, who tried to get us to sing the Mexican national anthem. I guess even though the city is filled with people who look like Americans, we still stand out as foreigners. I bet our cameras had something to do with that.

The Torre and Cathedral

 

The statue of a “dove” in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. We didn’t go in because we’d already seen the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

Next, we passed the Fuente de la Vida, a fountain of Neptune and his demigods that the government built a year after the Torre. It was kind of strange to see classical Greco-Roman forms next to all this angular architecture. Just past there, we visited the Palacio de Gobierno, which contained a free museum about the state of Nuevo Leon. It was small, but very well put-together.

Palacio de Gobierno

By then, it was time for free performance by a Japanese drumming group in front of the Museum of Mexican History, kitty corner to where we were. It just so happens that we planned our trip during the Forum Universal de las Culturas, a huge international cultural festival that Barcelona initiated in 2004. The idea is to continue holding the event in a different place around the world every four years, kind of like a cultural Olympic Games but without the competition. The forum started on Sept. 20 and goes through the first week of December.

What we saw of it was pretty amazing. I’d read about it before our trip, but I wasn’t expecting much based on my knowledge of Monterrey as a major industrial hub. The city definitely revolves around business, but I was blown away to see how huge this forum was, and the infrastructure that was built just to host it. Granted, it all comes back to a bottom line – hosting a major arts festival brings tourism dollars and more future convention opportunities. And David told us that city officials had no problem tearing down dozens of houses to renovate and construct facilities for the events. Still, I was impressed.

Although the Japanese drumming was a free event, you needed a ticket to get into the close seats. Lucky for us, David’s roommate Hugo is a huge charmer. He got a ticket from a guy that was giving away his extra and somehow got all four of us in with just that one little ticket. He and David are both going to be great businessman!

Outside the Museum of Mexican History, where the drumming took place.

Afterward, we ate dinner at a restaurant that was called Tapiqueno, or something like that, went home to change, and headed to a club called El Alebrije in nearby San Pedro. San Pedro is only about 20 minutes away through a tunnel in a small mountain, but it’s a slightly ritzier area. Ironically, the club we went to also exists in Cuernavaca – Sheila and I went there for her host cousin’s modeling show. It was the same chain and the same type of music, but the inside looked different. It was also more fun this time because everyone was wearing white for a “reopening” party and the floor was filled with balloons and confetti.

On Sunday, David, Sheila and Hugo went to church while I toured the Museum of Mexican History. I didn’t realize until I was walking out to meet the others that my admission included the next door Museum of the Northeast that had just opened a week before. Being the museum nerd that I am, it was hard to tear myself away from the prospect of seeing the Buddha exhibit there, but I somehow managed.

 

 

    We took a taxi to Dave’s Presbyterian church to join his congregation for a Sunday potluck. We met his friend Zorina, who I believe used to work or still works for the tourism department and had helped David plan a very detailed trip schedule of activities for us. She decided that we should definitely get to see the Cola de Caballo (Horsetail) waterfalls, and proceeded to drive us the 45 minutes to get there.

    Sheila was dying to ride horses, so we paid a few extra pesos to take a horse up the short trail to the falls. That was somewhat hilarious for me because I was not at all prepared to straddle an animal in my little denim skirt. I had to borrow Zorina’s brown shawl to wrap around my legs so that I wouldn’t flash the little boys who helped herd the horses up the hill. I don’t think I blinded anyone, so that’s something.
I still can’t get over how commercialized the wildlife has been here. This wasn’t as bad as the national park in Michuacan, but there were still food and souvenir stands right next to the lookout platforms. No matter how much I wanted to think only about nature, I was forced to remember that I’m a consumer – especially at the end of the ride down when our horse “guides” demanded tips.

 

 

 

Sheila tries to give this baby a high five.

 

We drove directly back to downtown for our next event, the city ballet production of Giselle. We’d bought tickets the night before, when I was stunned to find out that a) student prices were about $8! Crazy! And b) all three of my amigos were psyched to see a ballet. Usually I have a hard time finding people who want to see classical dance. The story was sad, but well-choreographed.

There was another free Forum event in front of the museum again, but we decided to walk along the artificial canal to the Parque Fundidora where the majority of the events and special exhibitions were being held. That canal had supposedly existed before but was expanded to extend the two kilometers all the way to the park. It was quite a walk. Every 20 steps we saw some interesting sculpture or architectural twist. Two singers had a stage set up on one corner, and further down we passed a lookout point lit up with multi-colored lights, a parrot zoo, musicians strumming their guitars from rowboats on the canal, and a mariachi band that was about to start. David decided to ask if he could play trumpet with them, which was almost as hilarious as me trying to ride a horse in a skirt. Of course, a crowd started forming as soon as he began playing, which made him turn even more red. The music made me miss playing my violin, but I wasn’t about to ask to borrow one in front of that crowd.

These night shots didn’t come out well, but you get the idea of the architecture around the canal.

We wanted to take a boat ride down the canal, but the line was so long that we decided to head to the art exhibits instead. Most of them were housed in renovated buildings that had been part of a steel factory. I remember when I first saw the main building from the highway, I had a strange visceral reaction. It was just this horrible pitch black monstrosity sitting in the middle of a green field. It looked so heavy and depressing. But after touring the city and seeing the style of the architecture there, I started to think differently about it. It seemed kind of cool, more interesting than ugly, and very representative of the city’s lifeblood. Rocks and tubes and pieces of ovens had also been converted into random sculptures scattered all over the park, which kept the theme going. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the main hall, it was already closed and we never even had a chance to explore the parts of the park beyond that. I didn’t realize until I looked at a map later just how huge it was. I’m sorry our flight got screwed up because we would’ve had one more day to see all of that (the events only go from Tuesday to Sunday).

Monday, David had to go to class so Sheila and I took a cab to San Pedro to see the fancy hotels and upscale shopping. We popped into three hotels – Safi, Camino Real and Quinta Real – pretending that we were looking for a room for our visiting parents so that we could get a tour. J The mall, Palacio de Hierro, was a lot like South Park in Charlotte. I felt poor. But, they had an ice skating rink AND it was 2 for 1, so we couldn’t pass that up. The ice was terrible and the skates weren’t sharp enough, but we had a great time. You can’t really complain for $2 per person! We also had the rink almost all to ourselves and Sheila helped me improve my backwards skating (I’m thinking of going for the pros soon). After that, we picked up groceries next door so that we could help Hugo cook chiles rellenos for dinner, dropped them off at the house, and walked to Tec de Monterrey to meet up with David.

Shopping in the toy department at the mall.

The campus was just like the city – modern, clean and expensive looking. The buildings were whites and blues with lots of glass and lots of angles. And, oh yeah, there were peacocks hanging out on the lawn.

Sheila, aka Steve Irwin, stalks a peacock

David gave us a tour and then we sat in on his bullfighting class. That’s right, bullfighting. We even got a mini history lecture and a lesson from the teacher. I thought I was doing a good job as the bull until the professor took over. I have a great video of him and David, I’ll have to get that posted. Someday.

 

What a pro.

We also joined David for his last class of the day, which was something about comparing culture and society of Latin America. I think the students are still trying to figure out what it’s about, too. We watched three groups give Powerpoint presentations on topics like weddings or American football in Mexico versus somewhere else. Apparently, David says that’s what they do all the time, in between watching videos from the Discovery Channel.

 

Making dinner was an experience, considering that the three guys in this apartment own one frying pan and one pot, and just enough plates for five people. I must have washed that pan at least three times during the course of cooking. But Hugo was very entertaining, and I learned to make chiles rellenos! We had invited Zorina to eat with us to thank her for driving us to the waterfall the day before. She apparently also used to teach Mexican folk dancing, so we pushed back the table after eating and put on some music. It was salsa and Argentine tango rather than traditional folk songs, but it worked.

It was sad to leave Tuesday morning but school was waiting. And, my parents! Next up, I meet them in Mexico City and we travel north.

Olé!