Screens in Every Corner

Today I walked through a human swarm. Historical downtown is probably as beautiful as ever, but certainly hard to see in the sea of humanity that spilled out of every building, filling sidewalks and taking over the road. I hear many streets surrounding the central plaza close down on Sundays so people can walk and bike about freely. That sounds like exactly the way to hang out at the zócalo.

What I did see downtown were flags absolutely everywhere! And screens in every corner broadcasting—of course—the World Cup. In the textile establishment my mother-in-law and I went to, there were four screens for patrons… and almost everyone—staff and shoppers—were women. As we walked out the door, we caught snippets of conversations all centered on the World Cup, from everyone: men, women, children... I could swear even the stray dogs were commenting. Getting together in the US for games is nice, but it’s just more fun to watch when the whole country is excited!

After our errand downtown, we headed back to the neighborhood where we stopped in at the tianguis to order barbacoa for an upcoming celebration. That’s right, the best place to order truly amazing Mexican barbecue is not a restaurant or banquet hall, it’s the local open air market. And yes, there were TVs there, too, with long extension cords plugged into surrounding homes and businesses, all broadcasting the World Cup.

One of those TVs exercised its magnetic pull on a friend we’d been hoping to run into since our arrival. Let’s just call him Roaming Hippie. After two years without hearing from him, there he was with his hand crafted jewelry displayed, beer in hand, pasted to the screen.

It was a day of get-togethers. After hanging out with said Roaming Hippie, I took time to see family. Getting there was interesting, what with offensive driving being a way of life here. I’m fairly certain I closed my eyes half the trip, which gave me a lovely opportunity to more clearly see my entire life flash before my eyes. It was worth it, though. Being with family is always comforting. The kids are amazing. And for supper… street vendor tacos to go! Woo-hoo!