2005-07-20-1713Z


Got lost walking out of Hidalgo station this morning, went the wrong way on Reforma and ended up in La Zona Rosa. No sweat, eventually I ran into Cuauhtemoc station and realized my mistake.

Traffic here in D.F. is the craziest I've ever experienced. Never assume you're safe to cross, even when you have the green "walk" light... something can come at you from either side, even on a one-way street: a car, a bus, a modified bicycle carrying a few hundred pounds of cargo... the drivers don't give a shit, so you have to watch your ass. At least the lights have a "grace period" like in the U.S., and unlike Ecuador where when one direction gets "red" the other gets "green" instantly.

The street vendors aren't just crowding the sidewalk on weekends, it's every goddamn day. They give you so little room to walk, that when I accidentally knocked a bunch of stuff off someone's cart with my laptop bag today I didn't feel guilty at all and just continued on. Fuck 'em. You practically have to walk in the roadway because there's so little sidewalk left, and the buses and trolleys are just itching to run you down. On the other hand, some of them have some good stuff. I saw a nice thick all-wool sweater yesterday for MX$100, which I would have bought had it been the right style and color. Music and video bootlegging is big business here. They buy a blank for MX$2.50, burn some songs, and sell it for MX$10.00. Just one sale, and they can get a taco on the street for 6 or 7 pesos.

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