| A photo moment before the climb up the pyramids.– Neil Marks takes a hurried look at Mexico CityChaos finds its definition on the streets of Mexico City, the largest city in the Americas with an estimated 22 million people trying to get from one point to the other.“This is Mexico! This is Mexico!” is the only explanation Pablo, the taxi driver, could muster as he tries to turtle his way through the afternoon rush. Every now and then he gets out and begs someone a pass; some stick their middle fingers at him, others oblige.Getting the green signal from the traffic lights often doesn’t mean you can move an inch.“This is Mexico! This is Mexico!” Pablo screams for the millionth time.I received an invitation from the United Nations Information Centre to attend a workshop in preparation for Mexico’s hosting of the United Nations Climate Summit starting in late November in Cancun.Countries which make up the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been meeting for years. But this is the first time that the United Nations, keen on leading the process for a new climate pact to address climate change, has invited journalists to a regional workshop ahead of one of its climate summits, so we could understand (but we will NEVER understand) the complex jargon of the texts being negotiated and the process the negotiations go through.A three-hour AeroMexico flight from Miami was just the thing I needed as a refresher on that one Spanish course I once took. Spanish is the language that rules Latin America. I have always wondered why it is that Spanish speakers are so loud.From the air,NFL Cheap Jerseys, Mexico City takes on the appearance of the slums of Mumbai, though that might be an exaggeration of mammoth proportions. You see no space between the thousands upon thousands of homes stacked together.The mountains are covered, not by greenery, but by squatters who have come from other parts of the country to find jobs in the bustling metropolis that is Mexico City.I would later learn that if they squat as long as five years, the land becomes theirs, and they could begin to benefit from government services. The fact that most of the homes are unpainted from the outside might seem strange, but it is a smart move; if the house is painted, you have to pay taxes, or at least that is what the tour guide says.Getting through the airport is a delight. Immigration is orderly and immigration officers are friendly.The traffic scene described at the outset gives you a good chance to soak in the commercialism that drives the city. Almost everything you need to know is posted on a billboard.Friends of those who have come to Mexico before described Mexico City as the nastiest city on earth. I find the exact opposite. Beautiful avenues are tediously swept and planted with flowers by government paid workers and the running water is not ‘red.’But might this have had anything to do with the fact that we were housed in the posh Chapultepec district?The real face of Mexico City finds itself in graffiti-laden streets, plucked chicken, unwrapped, dumped in the back of a pick-up and being transported in open air; and Taco vendors littered at every corner. As is common with street side vendors the rest of the world, Taco stands have the appearance of being unhygienic, but it is just as good as the hamburger carts or the food stands around town, including that one tucked away inside an alleyway on Camp Street in Georgetown.It would not be an exaggeration to say the name Mexico is perhaps synonymous with illegal drugs, the country being a producer and transit route for illegal drugs from time immemorial.The problem has increased over the years, with the government facing a huge crime problem tied to powerful and well-financed drug cartels.“The richest people in the country are the drug lords,” tour guide, Rudolpho, says. It is no secret on the streets of Mexico City.One report says more than 28,000 people have been killed in the nearly four years since President Felipe Calderon began his offensive against the nation’s drug cartels.Many point the increase in drug-related violence to Calderon’s frontal attack, and he has managed to get the Obama government to admit the US’ part responsibility for the violence – America buys the drugs and the cartels get their guns from the US.But the streets of Mexico City don’t greet you with morbid fear. You would take the same precautions when on a visit to any other country,Authentic Jerseys Cheap, or walking at nights in certain areas.The opening of a Mexico Embassy in Georgetown is one of the means by which the country hopes to change its image in the eyes of Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean and hopefully get more people to visit the country, and see a Mexico that is largely left hidden because of the proliferation of drugs and violence in the media.On a visit to Mexico, one of the things you must do is visit the pyramids of the bygone era of the Aztec people.The pyramids are located just about an hour drive out of Mexico City and stand as a symbol of an ancient civilization that defied the odds in building structures to practice their worship.The Great Pyramid of Cholula is regarded as the second tallest pyramid in the world and the largest in the New World, with a height of over 200 feet. It would be unthinkable to reach to the grounds and not climb to the top.The Great Pyramid, also known as the Templo Mayor, was the chief temple of the Aztecs. The temple was decorated with shrines to their gods Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli.Visitors are able to climb the pyramids of the sun and moon.The tour guide then takes us for a sip of “Sexy” drink,Cheap NFL Authentic Jerseys, made from the extracts of a cactus plant.“It is what we call Aztec viagra,” the owner of the establishment declares. “It would give you two hours.” Right!Ranked alongside the pyramids, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most visited sites on the outskirts of Mexico City.Ten years ago, the shrine became the most visited Catholic shrine in the world.Our Lady of Guadalupe is an aspect of the Virgin Mary who is thought to have appeared to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Aztec convert to Roman Catholicism, in 1531.As the story goes,China Jerseys Cheap, the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego, and though it was winter, Spanish roses bloomed right at his feet.When Juan Diego presented these to the bishop, the roses fell from his apron (the Tilma) and an icon of the Virgin was miraculously imprinted on the cloth. That cloth still hangs in the shrine, and thousands stare at it in amazement each day.A brief visit to Mexico City was not enough to soak up the history and culture of this fascinating country that is a far cry from the proliferation of drugs and crime in the media. The Government of Mexico decided to open a Permanent Embassy in Guyana last year to strengthen and enlarge its political, economic and cultural links with the English-speaking Caribbean.Mexico has the status of observer to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). With an Embassy in Guyana, the Mexican Government looks forward to making good use of the opportunities that the country members of CARICOM represent, because of their united economic potential and the co-ordination and political arrangements that they have reached in forums and multilateral organizations.Among Mexico’s first bilateral initiatives with Guyana is a scholarship programme that allows Guyanese to study in Mexico.And the embassy is slowly introducing Mexican culture and cuisine in Guyana.Last year, a three-day Mexican food festival did just that,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, with a chef and some ingredients flown in from Mexico.It would not be too much to expect Mexico to put on a grand show,Calvin Ridley Jersey, in whatever from, in celebration of its 200th Independence anniversary this year. |
