The Dancers

One thing we are trying to do is to get a bit more familiar with our surroundings.  Personally, I like to explore.  I like to know where you can buy things, where certain stores are or quite simple, places you need to stay away from.  I think Tonya is getting this too.

One Sunday she said, ‘Let’s go walk around Coyoacan”.  Fine by me.  I have read that it is a part of ‘old’ Mexico, but it is probably more widely known for that uni-brow freak, Frida Kahlo.  Yes, this is where she grew up and kept a home.  I think Trotsky lived here too, and was killed here.  I have no interest in either really, so I am going to just mess around.

I am glad we came today.  Much to our surprise, there is a market today.  There are loads of people everywhere and a very kind of laid-back vibe.  I much prefer this to the hectic, trendy fast paced ‘cool’ spots that you are supposed to visit as a scenester or wannabe.  Now, you tell me, would I be able to find shoes like this if we only frequented ‘cool’ or ‘hot’ spots?

So.  There is this huge crowd of people on a corner.  This is supposed to be some fantastic coffee.  Hmmm, take note, we’ll come back, first we have to see what else is out here.  As we wonder form plaza to plaza, there is something new and different every 15 steps.  Music is floating through the air, and as we draw closer towards we it is originating from, there are more and more people dancing.  It is a wonderful sight.  It is lovely weather, and seeing all the couples dancing is really a treat.  Better yet, most of the people dancing are older.  They are reminiscing and re-living the music that is important to them.  The band is older too, and they are playing old Mexican love songs and favorites.  I see one old-timer who just looks awesome.  He and his wife are moving slowly, and he’s throwing down some seriously debonair moves.  I do not want to intrude (actually, it would have been hard to), so I stand across some bushes and start to take snaps of this lovely couple.  Tonya asks if I am filming.  This in turn makes me realize that I actually can film with this handy camera.  I flip the switch and catch a few great moments, look….

After watching the dancers for a bit, we continue to stroll around.  As we near another plaza, there is more music wafting above our heads.  This is from some shabby Beatles cover band though.  As we get closer to another market, the sound becomes annoying.  It is hard to beat bad Beatles covers, but hearing them blaring out of a cheap PA…well, it can make you ponder the exponential possibilities of bad taste.  Why we walk through the corridor of bad music is beyond me, but it opens up to a sizeable, two story market in its own hidden plaza.  I can tell you this, if you want to buy anything with a pot leaf on it, this is the place to do it.  Stall after stall with cheap pot motifs. Candles, lamps, shirts, patches, stickers, you name it.  Of course, the obligatory three dudes are in tow, Marley, Che and Lennon.  Why are these three always found in close proximity of dope (or true life dopes)?  I realize what we have walked in to, an open air head shop!  Yes, I should have put two and two together when the cheap incense washed me upon walking through the gateway.  We do a quick once over, and head toward greener pastures. 

While strolling around, Tonya mentions the coffee place.  So, we reverse direction and head back to the coffee spot.  She thinks it a good idea to grab one to go and go sit on one of the plazas and people watch.  We stand in line, but after a few moments get our prized drinks, and push our way through the crowd which has multiplied immensely while our backs were turned.  A few doors down is a churro stand, so we grab an order to chomp with our drinks.  As the file of people fans out into a nearby plaza, we find a seat on a flower bed and sit down.  I get a sip of coffee in, and as I am thinking about my professional critique on it, Tonya utters a stern ‘SHIT!’, and is immediately thrown into a bad mood.  Before I know what happened, I see cappuccino flowing at my feet.  Believe me, I know exactly how she feels, and I try to ease the frustration by offering her my coffee.  I even ask if I should go back to get her another.  She refuses, and stews a bit.  It sucks.  It sucks when you get something you have been looking forward to and then you drop it…like a goofy kid who is singing so happily because you got your favorite ice cream.  In your ecstasy, you sway a bit too much and drop your lovely scoop of ice cream onto the concrete…or better yet, dirt.  How can this be!  I was so ecstatic and life was perfect for one brief moment?  Now, the world sucks, I hate everyone and all I want to do is disappear.  I know this is what she was thinking.  Ok, maybe not per se, but I know she was probably saying “I hate this place and I hate coffee”

We manage to get everything back to ‘normal’ and enjoy sitting and chatting for a while longer.  It always amazes me at the amount of bad haircuts and blue jean styles on parade here.  Truly amazing.  I soon notice that the nice sheen has worn off, because I have just come to my senses that we have been sitting downwind of the awful Beatles covers.  They are still going on! 

A family spots the empty bricks on the other side of us, and quickly move in to claim their spot. As we sit and chat about the nerds on parade in front of us, I notice coffee creeping across the ground coming form the opposite side of me.  I look up to see another unfortunate victim staring at their coffee run across paving stones coming to terms with the belief of ‘it can’t happen to me!’  Life is harsh at times and I turn to Tonya and nudge her.  I point to the coffee puddle forming to the left of me.  This is our cue to move on.