Movimiento

Leaving, but when good byes aren't necessary: I spent a few more days in Querétaro after returning from Yucatan. I relaxed and prepared for our swoop south. We had a small discussion about the Plan Colombia poster at a cafe called La Biznaga, which overall went well despite a lack of preparation and the poca gente. Pero bueno, asi es. Regardless, we got cafe de olla, gratis, and a few new contacts to add to the list. Renato and I celebrated my last night in QRO with a caguama of Leon, some cookies, and the Cure- just what I needed, or what we both needed, I suppose. Leaving Qro, like Guanajuato, was slow moving but without consequence, and we arrived to the monstruo of DF, Mexico City, Wednesday night. Higher altitude, constant motion, tanta gente. Jumping on the Metro, I remember New York and can't help but compare.

Current: We stayed our first night with a friend of a friend, Tomás, and his giant cat, Pachi. I finally was able to make a call to the US and it was worth every peso. Voices are distant and sound different but in the end, we find familiarity.

We moved the next day to a couchsurfer's home, near Coyocan. Rodrigo treats us very well and even lets us have his bed, a soft, warm, can't get out of it in the morning bed. Nice. We spent the day at the university, la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). DF and the UNAM are like a breath of fresh air after coming from the cerrada-ness of Querétaro and Guanajuato. Spaces for dialogue and critical analysis and action exist and I watched intently the swirl of people and objects at this historical leftist institution. Young intellectuals meander among blankets covered with pirated dvds and cds for sale, grey haired professors order Puma burgers con papas in the cafe, a sort of bake sale run by the EZLN is just inside the Facultad de Filosofia, and movies, theatre performances, concerts, platicas, seminars, trips, are advertised on flyers that are plastered on all bulletin boards and walls. We roll out the Beehive posters and people are interested, they stop and chat with us for a while, they pass us emails, and invitations to clases and plantones, anarquista newspapers, and the names of artists or organizations or people we should know of or meet. They talk to us more as activists, than as extranjeras or turistas, which feels good. I want to jump into the corriente, to study and be active in a place where things are moving, changing, erupting por todos lados.