Sunday, October 23, 2005
Mexico City - Day 3
Today on the subway Quang watched a woman curl her eyelashes with a spoon. He pointed her out to me, but there were too many other people between she and me. I couldn't see her. Darn it. I'd have liked to have watched that.
We were on the subway, heading back to Mexico City from Xochimilco. Xochimilco used to be a small town, but now it's been swallowed up by the city and is a suburb. The main attraction in Xochimilco is a series of canals with boats that you can rent and tour around in. So we rented a boat and we floated around. The water was black and dirty, but the water wasn't the attraction—the boats were the attraction: they are party boats. We end up in a boat with another couple—tourists, like us—and it turned out that the woman was from Little Falls, Minnesota! Go figure.
Anyway, the boats. They are these long, flat skiffs with a table and chairs set up down the middle. An awning is built to cover the table so that you can sit in the shade. The front of every awning is decorated with an elaborate, colorful façade. Each boat is named, always after a woman, and each boat is steered by a man with a long pole. The men push the boats through the canals...think Venice, except entirely more festive.
All the while, smaller boats carrying mariachi bands pull up beside you offering music for a small price. If you don't accept their offer, it really doesn't matter. Another band will be along shortly to offer another tune, and besides, you can always hear the music when another boat orders a song. More vendors in boats come along selling beer, flowers and food. And there are so many boats! It's a sight!
After the boating, Quang and I wandered through the town of Xochimilco. We found the Sunday market—and it was huge. We had a freshly made lunch of chicken tacos, we ate a freshly cut mango, and washed it all down with an ice-cold bottle of water. Delicioso.
We made it back to our hotel just in time to watch a music video being shot right outside our door. The crew rented out the bottom floor of our hotel, and a model was running back and forth changing clothes and getting primped. We had no idea who the singer was, but he was riding around on a bike, smiling into a camera and looking very video-like. People were hanging out windows taking pictures of him with their camera phones.
The funniest part about the whole thing was the model. She was dressed in a long skirt, a tank top and high-heeled flip-flops, and they were making her jump rope. Because she was wearing a skirt and heels, she could only jump once or twice before the rope got caught on the fabric of her skirt. They kept having to stop and do another take. Oh, and because she was wearing a flimsy, slinky tank top, they had to keep stopping to “refit” her. Since our hotel was part of the photo shoot, we were “allowed” into the set. Quang hung out around the model, hoping for a wardrobe malfunction.
We were on the subway, heading back to Mexico City from Xochimilco. Xochimilco used to be a small town, but now it's been swallowed up by the city and is a suburb. The main attraction in Xochimilco is a series of canals with boats that you can rent and tour around in. So we rented a boat and we floated around. The water was black and dirty, but the water wasn't the attraction—the boats were the attraction: they are party boats. We end up in a boat with another couple—tourists, like us—and it turned out that the woman was from Little Falls, Minnesota! Go figure.
Anyway, the boats. They are these long, flat skiffs with a table and chairs set up down the middle. An awning is built to cover the table so that you can sit in the shade. The front of every awning is decorated with an elaborate, colorful façade. Each boat is named, always after a woman, and each boat is steered by a man with a long pole. The men push the boats through the canals...think Venice, except entirely more festive.
All the while, smaller boats carrying mariachi bands pull up beside you offering music for a small price. If you don't accept their offer, it really doesn't matter. Another band will be along shortly to offer another tune, and besides, you can always hear the music when another boat orders a song. More vendors in boats come along selling beer, flowers and food. And there are so many boats! It's a sight!
After the boating, Quang and I wandered through the town of Xochimilco. We found the Sunday market—and it was huge. We had a freshly made lunch of chicken tacos, we ate a freshly cut mango, and washed it all down with an ice-cold bottle of water. Delicioso.
We made it back to our hotel just in time to watch a music video being shot right outside our door. The crew rented out the bottom floor of our hotel, and a model was running back and forth changing clothes and getting primped. We had no idea who the singer was, but he was riding around on a bike, smiling into a camera and looking very video-like. People were hanging out windows taking pictures of him with their camera phones.
The funniest part about the whole thing was the model. She was dressed in a long skirt, a tank top and high-heeled flip-flops, and they were making her jump rope. Because she was wearing a skirt and heels, she could only jump once or twice before the rope got caught on the fabric of her skirt. They kept having to stop and do another take. Oh, and because she was wearing a flimsy, slinky tank top, they had to keep stopping to “refit” her. Since our hotel was part of the photo shoot, we were “allowed” into the set. Quang hung out around the model, hoping for a wardrobe malfunction.
