Visiting Frida's House

Ever since my senior year in high school, the year I discovered the artist Frida Kahlo, I have been dreaming of visiting her house here in Mexico. I remember reading about "La Casa Azul", about the gardens where her many animals would run around, and about the bed she would paint from when she was too ill to stand up.

On Friday I took the Metro down to Coyoacán, the town where Frida lived. Coyoacán, now a delegation of Mexico city, also has the home of Leon Trotsky, who was a friend of Frida and a revolutionary marxist. I found Trotsky's house first, then continued to walk to Frida's house, just a few blocks away. When I walked into the patio I saw the gardens that I had read about, adorned with fountains and now tables and chairs to sit in to enjoy the ambience. As I entered the rooms of the house (no photos allowed) I tried to picture what life must've been like in this house for Frida. Many of the walls are adorned with her own paintings, with several others by Diego and other artists. Being in the room where Frida used to paint was like a dream come true for me. I saw the bed with the mirror so she could see her face for all of the self-portraits she made. I also saw several of her casts that she used to have to wear that she decorated/painted and made them into works of art themselves. Like many people who are big fans of Frida, being in her house was an amazing experience.

From Frida's house I walked toward the center of Coyoacán. Unlike the part of Mexico City that I live in, Coyoacán is more of what people think of when they think of Mexico (in my opinion, at least). Beautiful, bright-colored buildings, old churches, and plazas where people stroll around and sit on benches. I found a small restaurant where I sat to relax and breath in aromas of the homemade tortillas I could hear being made (slap! slap! slap! slap!). My 3 course lunch, which included Tortilla soup, a cauliflower dish, and mole was only 45 pesos (about $3.50). After lunch I strolled around admiring the old buildings painted bright orange and yellow and trying not to trip on the uneven stone streets and sidewalks.

Yesterday I was a tourist for the day and rode one of those double-decker buses around Mexico City. I LOVE riding double-decker buses! It's so relaxing and you get some really great views. I took pictures of a lot of the things I see everyday on my walk to and from work, and some pictures of things that were particularly interesting that day. Like, the guy dressed like Michael Jackson who was dancing on the sidewalk. His moonwalk put mine to shame! Or, the demonstration that was going on by the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Hundreds of people along the streets were wearing Obama masks holding a sign that said, "If our politicians treated us like they treated Obama, this would be a different country." I'll have to get to the bottom of what that's about. I have to say that seeing all of these people with Obama masks on was quite funny.

I'm hoping that my quest for my long-term apartment is over. I found the place I want to live in, located in the area called La Zona Rosa. It's right by Chapultepec Park and just a few blocks from La Reforma (my favorite street in Mexico City). Hopefully I'll be moving next week... stay tuned!