In a city as big as Mexico, D.F., there is certainly not a lack of things to do. The city is full of Museums, colonial buildings, ruins, parks, delegations, and of course, markets. Every street corner, in fact, can become a market at any moment. These "markets" are usually inhabited by vendedores ambulantes who are sellers with no license to sell and are usually selling pirated goods or knock-offs. Just walk down the street Moneda next to the Palacio or down the street Donceles and turn left on Rep. de Argentina to see two of the most persistent and easily accessible "black markets".
I am actually not sure if these two spots are official market sites. In both cases, you will find actual stalls, structures, but you will also find people just setting up tables on the sidewalks. It may be that the stalls have permits to vend, but the ambulantes are the sidewalk dwellers. The other day, I was looking at CD's on the sidewalk when suddenly a cascade of whistles could be heard moving down the street. Looking in that direction, I saw a wave of vendors hurriedly packing up their goods and a policeman in the distance. The guy with the CD's looked at me and told me to wait a minute while he too began packing up. I told him I would come back, which I did, 15 minutes later and I bought 2 cumbia CD's.
Mexico City also has official markets happening all over the city. Many of the markets have designated days. For example, the delegation of Coyoacan has a Saturday market. My favorite market is on Sundays and it is walking distance from the Centro Historico. It is called Lagunilla.
Lagunilla is the bohemian market. It has a little bit of everything, but is more eccentric. There are antiques, jewelry, funky T-shirts, Indian wares (from India), tarot card readers, and clothes. It is quite a large market that is fun to look around even if you don't need to buy anything.
To get there from the Zocalo: go up 5 de Mayo, turn right on Rep. de Chile and keep walking, you will run right into it.
As I have said before, Mexico City has everything, including contradiction and synthesis.
No market anywhere captures the spirit of the vendedor ambulante and a corrupted officiality like the infamous Mercado de Tepito.
I DO NOT, I repeat, I DO NOT recommend that just any ol' backpacker or tourist goes to Tepito. I went to Tepito knowing full-well what I was getting myself into and I went with the utmost respect for its reputation and the reputation of the people who live there.
Tepito is a living legend. It is the toughest, most feared delegation in all of Mexico City and mainly because of the market that operates there 6 days a week.
Tepito is THE black market of Mexico. They say if you lose your passport, or it gets stolen, it ends up in Tepito with a price tag of $5000 USD. If you want a gun, go to Tepito. If you want a diploma saying you're a doctor, drugs, exotic animals...go to Tepito.
Now, Kike used to take me to Tepito and I have never seen any of the above contraband. I don't even know where it would be. I mean, I am sure it is there and the market itself is a GIGANTICALLY HUGE labyrinth of stall after stall after stall. Most people go to Tepito to get more basic things, like movies, CD's, clothes, electronics, cook-ware, make-up, shoes, etc, all of which have "fallen off the truck" so to speak. The police are constantly doing early-morning raids on Tepito to try to put an end to piracy, but they are never successful. A day later, the market is up and running again and just as packed as the day before.
Obviously, due to the nature of merchandise and the kind of business conducted in Tepito, it has a dangerous reputation. Kike always made sure I was respectful and aware of the risks of going to the market. I never thought of ever braving Tepito by myself until I met Nicole.
Nicole is a nice Australian girl living in Cuba who is staying at my hostel. Since Cuba is communist and what-not, Nicole comes to Mexico to do her shopping. We have talked quite a bit about our fondness for travel, Latin men and Mexico, so it was more of an honor than a surprise when she asked me if I was up for an adventure.
She asked, "On Monday, would you like to go to Tepito with me? I have never been, but I would like to go."
We both giggled excitedly at the idea of it. Big, bad Tepito, the barrio of myth and legend, were we brave enough to do it?
I wouldn't have ever braved it alone and I would not have gone with Nicole if she weren't as street smart as she is nor if she didn't speak Spanish. So, I decided, what the hell?
Monday morning, we woke up and headed to Starbucks. Yes, that's right Starbucks. Hey, I like good, strong coffee and it is hard to find in Mexico. Also, I would like to add in my and Starbucks defense, they only serve shade grown organic coffee from Mexico. Regardless, I bring it up more because I think it is funny. We may be the only two people to ever go from Starbucks to Tepito in one day.
Well, we went, nervous and giddy the whole way. The whole experience was actually very nice. Not many people were there because it was the Monday after vacations and we took all the precautions. Our money was stashed all over our bodies, we put on our hardest faces and always watched each other's backs. All in all though, the experience was as anti-climactic as this e-mail will be.
People were actually nice to us. One lady selling movies was fascinated that we even knew about Tepito and told us we would always have a friend to visit when we came. I mean, imagine you were in South Central, L.A., or Compton, and people actually invited you back.
The moral of the story is, I guess, not to go to Tepito because it is wonderful. The moral of the story is more that there are a lot of horrific stories that circulate about people, places, and things. I hear them all the time from travelers and non-travelers alike. The fact of the matter is that people generally are good people. Everyone is similar in that most people just want to love and be loved. While bad people do exist, they are not the majority.
We, as Americans, have been taught to fear the unknown. Horror stories circulate about everything. This place is dangerous, that place is dangerous, people do this, people do that. In the end, the majority of stories are just stories. People have so many bad things to say about Mexico City as well. Don't take taxis, don't walk around at night, don't take the Metro. The fact of the matter is that bad things happen everywhere and there is no one place where bad things happen every moment of every day. Life should be about adventure and fear only keeps us from living a full life. So, while respect should always be paid to the reputation of a place, NEVER, judge a place on reputation alone.
I am actually not sure if these two spots are official market sites. In both cases, you will find actual stalls, structures, but you will also find people just setting up tables on the sidewalks. It may be that the stalls have permits to vend, but the ambulantes are the sidewalk dwellers. The other day, I was looking at CD's on the sidewalk when suddenly a cascade of whistles could be heard moving down the street. Looking in that direction, I saw a wave of vendors hurriedly packing up their goods and a policeman in the distance. The guy with the CD's looked at me and told me to wait a minute while he too began packing up. I told him I would come back, which I did, 15 minutes later and I bought 2 cumbia CD's.
Mexico City also has official markets happening all over the city. Many of the markets have designated days. For example, the delegation of Coyoacan has a Saturday market. My favorite market is on Sundays and it is walking distance from the Centro Historico. It is called Lagunilla.
Lagunilla is the bohemian market. It has a little bit of everything, but is more eccentric. There are antiques, jewelry, funky T-shirts, Indian wares (from India), tarot card readers, and clothes. It is quite a large market that is fun to look around even if you don't need to buy anything.
To get there from the Zocalo: go up 5 de Mayo, turn right on Rep. de Chile and keep walking, you will run right into it.
As I have said before, Mexico City has everything, including contradiction and synthesis.
No market anywhere captures the spirit of the vendedor ambulante and a corrupted officiality like the infamous Mercado de Tepito.
I DO NOT, I repeat, I DO NOT recommend that just any ol' backpacker or tourist goes to Tepito. I went to Tepito knowing full-well what I was getting myself into and I went with the utmost respect for its reputation and the reputation of the people who live there.
Tepito is a living legend. It is the toughest, most feared delegation in all of Mexico City and mainly because of the market that operates there 6 days a week.
Tepito is THE black market of Mexico. They say if you lose your passport, or it gets stolen, it ends up in Tepito with a price tag of $5000 USD. If you want a gun, go to Tepito. If you want a diploma saying you're a doctor, drugs, exotic animals...go to Tepito.
Now, Kike used to take me to Tepito and I have never seen any of the above contraband. I don't even know where it would be. I mean, I am sure it is there and the market itself is a GIGANTICALLY HUGE labyrinth of stall after stall after stall. Most people go to Tepito to get more basic things, like movies, CD's, clothes, electronics, cook-ware, make-up, shoes, etc, all of which have "fallen off the truck" so to speak. The police are constantly doing early-morning raids on Tepito to try to put an end to piracy, but they are never successful. A day later, the market is up and running again and just as packed as the day before.
Obviously, due to the nature of merchandise and the kind of business conducted in Tepito, it has a dangerous reputation. Kike always made sure I was respectful and aware of the risks of going to the market. I never thought of ever braving Tepito by myself until I met Nicole.
Nicole is a nice Australian girl living in Cuba who is staying at my hostel. Since Cuba is communist and what-not, Nicole comes to Mexico to do her shopping. We have talked quite a bit about our fondness for travel, Latin men and Mexico, so it was more of an honor than a surprise when she asked me if I was up for an adventure.
She asked, "On Monday, would you like to go to Tepito with me? I have never been, but I would like to go."
We both giggled excitedly at the idea of it. Big, bad Tepito, the barrio of myth and legend, were we brave enough to do it?
I wouldn't have ever braved it alone and I would not have gone with Nicole if she weren't as street smart as she is nor if she didn't speak Spanish. So, I decided, what the hell?
Monday morning, we woke up and headed to Starbucks. Yes, that's right Starbucks. Hey, I like good, strong coffee and it is hard to find in Mexico. Also, I would like to add in my and Starbucks defense, they only serve shade grown organic coffee from Mexico. Regardless, I bring it up more because I think it is funny. We may be the only two people to ever go from Starbucks to Tepito in one day.
Well, we went, nervous and giddy the whole way. The whole experience was actually very nice. Not many people were there because it was the Monday after vacations and we took all the precautions. Our money was stashed all over our bodies, we put on our hardest faces and always watched each other's backs. All in all though, the experience was as anti-climactic as this e-mail will be.
People were actually nice to us. One lady selling movies was fascinated that we even knew about Tepito and told us we would always have a friend to visit when we came. I mean, imagine you were in South Central, L.A., or Compton, and people actually invited you back.
The moral of the story is, I guess, not to go to Tepito because it is wonderful. The moral of the story is more that there are a lot of horrific stories that circulate about people, places, and things. I hear them all the time from travelers and non-travelers alike. The fact of the matter is that people generally are good people. Everyone is similar in that most people just want to love and be loved. While bad people do exist, they are not the majority.
We, as Americans, have been taught to fear the unknown. Horror stories circulate about everything. This place is dangerous, that place is dangerous, people do this, people do that. In the end, the majority of stories are just stories. People have so many bad things to say about Mexico City as well. Don't take taxis, don't walk around at night, don't take the Metro. The fact of the matter is that bad things happen everywhere and there is no one place where bad things happen every moment of every day. Life should be about adventure and fear only keeps us from living a full life. So, while respect should always be paid to the reputation of a place, NEVER, judge a place on reputation alone.
Go. Explore for yourself. Just remember to be smart, aware and informed.
1 comment:
It was great to read this blog. I am gearing up to live with my fiance in Chimalhuacan; he loves to go to Tepito and has mentioned that we should go there when I get to Mexico, so reading this has definitely piqued my interest even more. I cannot wait to get there and explore more of D.F.!
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