ending the first week

thanks everyone for your comments and interest in this blog. I hope you continue to visit often, and I will do my best to make regular and interesting posts. I will also do my best to respond to your queries :-)

Here I sit in an Internet Cafè in Zona Rosa in Mexico City. Sadly my laptop is having problems so I had to take it in for repair. I don`t have my camera with me, but will take and upload some pics asap as many of you have requested this. I will try to take pictures of various areas around and outside (as I make trips) the city so you can see how incredibly diverse this place is. I remember my first few trips to mexico I took a ton of pictures--snapping images left and right. Realizing I will be here nearly a year, I find myself much less inclined to take so many pictures. But I will try to spend some time (more likely on the weekends) to dedicate some time to picture taking.

This week was pretty busy with the Fulbright orientation. Over 70 scholars and students from the US met over a four day period with Mexican scholars and folks from the US Embassy. It was fun talking with the other grantees to hear about the activities they would be involved in during their stay. Some will study history and others will work with Mexican businesses. Some are artists (I met a classical guitarist, a photographer, and a few painters), some historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and a few archaeologists.

The Fulbright organizers really crammed this week with stuff. Several presentations were made on Mexican history, Mexico-US relations, and administrative stuff for the program. They also took us on a few tours through the city. They took is to the main zócalo, which is a huge square surrounded by federal government offices, a gigantic colonial cathedral, and the main temple of what used to be the well-known Aztec civilization Tenochtitlán. Perhaps some of you recently heard in the international news about an Aztec royalty found in Mexico city using radar technology. Well, that what in the zócalo area. There is so much history here, it is difficult to internalize it all. The clash of the indigenous and European traditions is obviously an essential theme. Moreover, it continues to be a very important focus in contemporary political and social sciences, throughout the country and in several other areas of Latin America.

In addition to the zócalo, we also visited a large art museum which houses several paintings done from the 17th to the 19th century. Most were of Christian icons, and were medieval (a la El Greco) style. I assume they were commissioned by wealthy Spanish, and were hung as status emblems. The musuem used to be offices for the Spanish elite. They were painted before "Mexico" came to be -- when it was Nueva España. Mexico officially became independent from Spain in 1821. It was interesting to see that these paintings contained virtually nothing to indicate they were painted in mexico -- no representations of the immediate surroundings here -- e.g., indigenous people, native foods, native traditions, etc.

The Fulbright folks also wined and dined us plenty. Or in my case, juiced and dined. We had some really tasty food, and visited restaurants I probably won`t be able to afford during the rest of my stay. There was also a cocktail party/social hour held at a home of one of the Embassy dignitaries. Regretfully, I was late to the hotel and missed the bus so I wasnt able to attend :( But I was happy to have some time to just chill for a while.

Hope everyone is well. I am on my way to the Mexico City Temple right now, and hope I don`t get lost on the Metro (subway) on the way.