Evening in Mexico City: Dancing at the World Trade Center

Well I was among the people who stayed in Mexico City after the embassy talk.

I'd have to say that the section of Mexico City we were in reminded me of New York City, only with more palm trees. The neo-classical park statues, the tall buildings, the buisinessmen and political officials in their formal suits. True less of them were wearing coats than I remember in NYC (I've only seen NYC in the winter). Oh, and yes, there were beggars on the streets, but there are in NYC as well.

It could be just my limited range of personal reference. Both Mexico D.F. and New York City were modeled after European cities. In Mexico City's case, the French Invaders based the Paseo de la Reforma directly on the Champs Elysees (This is a blog. I don't have to wory about accents for French).

Mexico D.F. is more strictly zoned it seems than Cuernavaca. I did not see the kind of contrast between houses that I saw in Cuernavaca. And to make my time there even more New-York-ish, I saw a production of the Vagina Monologues which was translated into Spanish pretty directly, except for a few cultural references. It was intended to raise money for a women's group in Ciudad Juarez. I ate out at a restaurant with a karioke bar, although I did not sing, as it seemed (from what I heard) their selections were mostly songs I did not know.

Later that evening I found out that some of the girls had met up with a group of guys with parents who worked for the government. We all went out to a dance club with a view of the city. The music was a mix of Spanish and English language songs, and like many dance clubs here in Mexico they showed music videos for some of the songs. This was the first time that people have ever tried to check my card for a club here in Mexico. Somehow the Mexican guys got us in. No clue how that happened.

Some of us wanted to do sightseeing the next day, so we had to take a taxi back. I had a feeling that the guys felt slightly insulted that we left. From all I've heard of Mexican culture, they are less adhearent to strict scheduals at least as far as pleasure is concerned.

Oh, and one more thing: The building where the club was located conviniently had names in both Spanish and English written in several places. I missed the Spanish name, but in English it was the World Trade Center. I wonder if it was coincedental, or whether New York's WTC built in the 1970s served as an inspiration. Vinnie told me Boston also has a (still standing) one, and Wikipedia (which if you didn't guess by now I really love) lists several buildings by that name.