Weekend Menu Mexico City continues evolving
Many thanks to my first subscribers on the old platform for being so patient!
Writing is easy - technology…not so much
For years, I and other “long-timers” in Mexico City have bemoaned the difficulty in finding out about what this city has to offer culturally if you are a foreigner.
I mean, we quickly hit all the tourist “musts” - Zocalo, Anthropology Museum, Frida’s Blue House, etc., but after that, we have a really bad tendency to stay cooped up in Roma and Condesa, especially now since there is much more for foreigners there than even 10 years ago.
The main problem, IMHO, is that there is no linguistically and culturally-appropriate way to get started finding out about things like local festivals and holidays (you know - what makes Mexicans shoot off all those fireworks), classical music events, lucha libre, museum exhibitions, dance recitals and much more. By far, Mexico City has more of these than anywhere else in the country, many of which are free or for minimal charge, but the outlets Mexicans use like Chilango and Time Out are not only in Spanish - they are a sea of words that do not allow for easy browsing. Mexicans prefer this-but we tend to not be such a patient lot.
Grand Day of the Dead Parade (credit Secretary of Culture)
Government websites are next to useless.
Those of us who choose to be more than tourists in this gigantic, vibrant city almost always have good intentions of exploring as much as possible. But like all migrants, culture shock can tempt us into sticking with the familiar - which is why immigrant enclaves exists all over the world.
But let’s see if a little English-language encouragement can change that.
“Chinelos” dancers perform in the San Rafael neighborhood for Carnival (yes, there is carnival in Mexico City, just not the Rio de Janeiro type). (credit Carlos Adampol Galindo)
Weekend Menu Mexico City (WMMC) publishes every Thursday and has a list of suggestions of things to check out. It is impossible to list everything going on in the metro area, so each week different kinds of events will be listed as suggestions - in Mexico City proper and a nearby if you need a day/weekend trip out of the smog.
My hope is that more of us become fans of one or more of the many, many festivals, museums, concert halls, markets and so much more, bringing that back to our friends and family both in Mexico and abroad as better experts at being “chilangos” (Mexico City residents).