City of Dreamers

'Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central', 'Sunday Dreaming in Alameda Park', that is the title of the famous mural by Diego Rivera (1886-1957). Today the artist and propagandist painter is mainly known as Frida Kahlo's (1907-54) husband, who always stood in his shadow during his lifetime. The fresco gathered numerous personalities of Mexican history in a colorful array. Conquerors, military men, revolutionaries, emperors, ladies of society, and last but not least, the artist couple joined hands and grouped themselves around the figure of La Catrina, a popular personification of death in female form.

Mexican history was full of dreamers and driven individuals who sought their salvation in the 'New World', starting with Hernan Cortes (1485-1547). Maximilian von Habsburg (1832-67) and his wife Charlotte of Belgium (1840-1927) also belonged to this group. The Austrian followed French promises and had himself crowned Emperor of Mexico in 1864. This was followed by his execution in 1867 under the legitimate President Benito Juarez (1806-72), an important social reformer and the first government leader of indigenous origin.

I spent yesterday afternoon in the neighborhood of Coyoacan, a residential area in the south. A quite circus was going on around the Frida Kahlo Museum. Large tourist buses maneuvered through the housing complex, visitors with tickets for a proud 220 pesos (10 euros) formed long queues, and street vendors offered all kinds of trinkets for sale. The strict self-portrait of the painter was omnipresent throughout the country and served as an icon. Along with the Holy Virgin of Guadeloupe and La Catrina, Kahlo symbolized Mexican womanhood and endurance.

Not far from Kahlo's Casa Azul was the house of Leo Trotsky (1879-1940), reminding us of the time of extremes (1930/40s), when Mexico offered a safe haven mainly for Europeans, including Anna Seghers and Egon Erwin Kisch.

The artistic approach through the biographies of Kahlo and Diaz reminded me once again of how much optimism the Mexican project, also as an alternative to Moscow, was pursued in the past. Desire and reality burst this dream at the latest in the 1960s.

Tired and weary, I started the journey back with the subway, while looking into the faces of today's Mexicans. The masks particularly emphasized the eyes of the passengers: old, young, exhausted, happy, curious, mischievous, tired, dreamy. Every person is a novel. During peak hours, I was the only tourist among the commuters wearing flip-flops and shorts.

...

I took it easy in the hostel in the evening. It wasn't until 1:30 am that I was rudely awakened from my dreams when my five Danish roommates crashed into the room completely drunk. Rolling my eyes, but did I really blame the twenty-somethings. I fell back to sleep easily and dreamed of an alarm clock that wouldn't stop ringing. It was 3:00 am and three of the Danes had to go to the airport. Seriously!!! What followed were 30 minutes of loud whispering, rustling, Danish curses interrupted by alarm clock ringing again and lights on, lights off, accompanied by cigarette smoke from the bathroom.

Good night!

...

Interesting Biographies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_Bosques

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Mercader

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esteban_Volkov