chilangos vs. tapatíos

So it's been a while since my last entry. Sorry about that. I was home in AZ for Christmas and New Year's and loved spending a good deal of time with family and friends who I care for dearly. It has taken me some time to get back into the swing of things here in Mexico, but I am glad to be back. In several conversations with people in AZ I referred to Mexico City as "home", and I really do feel that way. Right now this is my home and will be until I end my stay in June or so.

At 10 pm Thursday night (day before yesterday) I got aboard one of two buses on their way to Guadalajara. I went with some 80 other Latter-day Saints (or "Mormons") to the Guadalajara Temple (actually in the neighboring municipality of Zapopan). Mexico City has an LDS temple as well (there are currently 12 temples in Mexico), but it is closed and under reconstruction for the next several months. Because Mormons like to go to temples (which are different from chapels, where we attend Sunday services) as often as possible, a bunch of us decided it would be a good idea to rent a few buses, go to Guadalajara, spend the day at the temple, and come right back home. So that's what we did.

I knew the drive would be long and that I might not sleep much, so I came prepared--brought plenty of snacks, some books, Sudoku puzzles, and my journal. Fifteen minutes or so out I thought I'd get at it. One problem: the light switch above my head didn't work. In fact, no one's light worked. Thankfully a friend of mine brought a head lamp and loaned it to me. That was a lot of fun to use. I felt a little like a miner.

Then the second problem: the bus was quickly heating up, so much so the windows were dripping wet with condensation. When I could bear the heat no longer (the fact that the only top I had on was a sweater didn't help much) I decided to approach the chauffeur and kindly ask him to please, please turn on the air. I don't think he was happy about it (air conditioning uses gas) but he complied.

The rest of the ride there and back--some 17 hours in all--was great. Comfortable seats, good company, and good food.

This was my second time to Guadalajara (Mexico's second largest city with some 4 million people in the Metropolitan area, compared to Mexico City's 20 million). My first time there was in 2004 when I visited my brother Jacob during his missionary service. From this time forward I heard on occasion that people from Guadalajara (known as tapatíos) don't like people from Mexico City (known as chilangos) and vice versa. Between temple sessions, on a taxi ride to visit downtown Guadalajara with a married couple from Mexico City, I decided to bring up the issue. I thought I would take advantage of a 20-minute car ride with two chilangos and one tapatío. As an American, I could claim neutrality :-)

First, I should say that all three were cordial discussing the topic. Yet, at the same time, they were forceful to highlight the virtues of there respective cities. Realizing I pitted an uneven battle--two against one--I began to side with our driver. I said, "Yeah, Guadalajara is nice; look at the great architecture, the clear sky, and there's a lot less traffic here--plus, mariachi is from Guadalajara, right?" My comment only increased the intensity of the debate (probably my intention; conniving, I know). While they didn't disagree mariachi music has become a cultural icon of Guadalajara and Jalisco generally, they strongly debated its origins. Actually, I'm not sure anyone with certainty knows where it originated. But it was a lot of fun to watch the chilangos and the tapatío go at it. They gave some substance to this notion that chilangos and tapatíos don't get along. I couldn't help but find it all very entertaining.

Below are a few pics I took of downtown Guadalajara. The last one is of my two chilango friends (Jessica and Ramiro) and me eating lunch. Among other things, we had tortas ahogadas, which are indisputably tapatío :-)