Back in the heart of Mexico City, I had the honour to stay for two nights with Carlos and Ninfa, who threw half of their weekend plans overboard to do a lot of things with me. The first day we spent most of the time at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas and in the Museo de Sitio de Tlatelolco, where I learned a lot about the student movements and politics of 1968.
Thanks to Ninfa, who is an excellent cook, our day started with the most delicious hot dogs I've ever had. In the morning we spent some time at the Tianguis Cultural Del Chopo, also known as the Rock, a market which takes place every Saturday. It offers mainly clothing, discs and all kinds of accessories of the metal scene. I bought the first souvenir on my trip: a Caribbean sea blue T-shirt with a little embroidered breast pocket showing some bicycles. After doing some shopping we entered the Biblioteca Vasconcelos, one of Mexico's biggest libraries. It is home to more than half a million books, and you can find all kind of dance and yoga groups practicing in the outdoor areas.
Furthermore we spent some time in the Buenavista Station, a passenger rail station. Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México provided intercity passenger rail service at this station until 1997. In June 2008, the station was reopened to serve as the terminus of the newly inaugurated commuter rail service, the Suburban Railway of the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico. Additionally one of the city's largest shopping malls is located within the station. Outside the building we bought a mamey (Pouteria sapota), a delicious fruit, which is commonly eaten in many Latin American countries.
After making a little stop at Carlos' and Ninfa's home, which is located in perfect walking distance to many traditional markets and touristic spots, we were heading towards the Museo de
Sitio de Tlatelolco which is located at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. The museum is divided into different buildings that show various exhibitions. A temporary exhibition
showed different szenarios of the future. It included world maps which didn't show the size of countries but of companies, a destroyed antique column, a board game and many abstract
things.
The main part of the museum reports about the Tlatelolco massacre (Matanza de Tlatelolco), the killing of students and civilians by military and police on October 2, 1968. The massacre took place ten days before the opening of the Olympic games in Mexico City. Hundreds of people have been shot this day by the government of Díaz Ordaz. These people, led by the National Strike Council (Consejo Nacional de Huelga = CNH) demonstrated to promote social, educational, and political reforms. Main participants were the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM) and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN).
On October 2, approx. 10,000 university and high school students gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas to protest peacefully. One of the mottos was: ¡No queremos olimpiadas, queremos revolución! ("We don't want Olympics, we want revolution!"). To silence the protests for the Olympic Games thousands of soldiers supported by helicopters and tanks stormed the square. The truth about the extent and cause of this massacre was concealed for a long time. The Olympics took place in Mexico as planned. A crowd of peace doves were sent to heaven, even if peace existed only hypocritically.
The museum shows very lifely the processes which happend during this time. In addition to various photos, works of art, reports, newspaper articles, tickets, stamps or remains of the massacre there has also a video game been programmed. You play a protesting student who has to dodge the fire of the soldiers and convert them into revolutionists. At the museum exit the floor is filled with figures of protesters holding their arms up to defend themselves. These figures may be taken home with you as a reminder figure in return of writing a little post-it and pinning it on the wall.
The Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Square of the Three Cultures) outside the museum is called so because the buildings around the square reflect the three periods of Mexican history: Prehispanic (pyramids and ruins), Spanish colonial (Catholic church of Santiago de Tlatelolco) and the independent nation (Torre de Tlatelolco and housing complexes). In the evening we were watching the movie Tlatelolco, Verano del 68 which shows the movements before the massacre and the time after it until the start of the Olympic games, embedded in a love story.
At night we went out to a Cuban restaurant and bar where we had some Mojitos and I had the first salsa session of my life with Diana and Carlos teaching me how to move. It was great fun and made me curious to try out other Latin American dance styles and repeat and improve the few dance moves I learned this night.
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