(日本語は下にあります↓)
Friendship is one great reason to go abroad.
Even if your friend is not waiting at the final destination, the fact you are traveling through the foreign territory knowing someone there can assure you a fine taste of purposeful visit.
I had a transit in Mexico City. 18 hour layover before making my way through the security gate and board on the plane to Lima.
Long story short, I was lucky to have friend in Mexico City! This is the sole reason why otherwise dreadful long hours of layover has turned into exciting warm up for my Machu Picchu adventure.
Milo is amazingly talented music composer who I first met in college and we worked together on some film projects in Boston and LA. He now lives in Mexico City with his girlfriend and two beautiful children. It’s been almost 4 long years since I last saw him in LA.
I don’t speak Spanish, though I try and usually say “hablo español un poquito” whenever I make contact to that language with strangers. When I arrived in Mexico City International Airport, it was half past 5 in the morning and waiting in the line through immigration was a tough battle not to fall asleep. There was a large Samsung LCD monitor next to the procession displaying “7 Wonders of the World in 4K.” I glanced at the short program as I waited patiently for the lines to move as slow as earthworms extracting their bodies from the soil. Eventually, my turn to show the passport has come and I tossed the awkward “buenos dias” to the immigration officer.
6:30am — that’s when I retrieved my checked-in luggage (e.g., 65 liter deuter backpack) and finished my early check in process at Aeromexico service counter for onward travel to Lima. From there I had 18 hours to spend in this fourth most populated city in the world before catching the 11:50pm flight.
Reinvigorated by strong morning coffee and anticipation of seeing my friend, I had no plan but to make my way to friend’s house using the double-sided Google Map printout. If this post is not the very first post that you are reading by me and if you’ve read my older traveling posts like this one (thanks for that by the way) then you know how my international travels seldom involve “oversea data plan.” My philosophy is this: why do you need smartphone if you already have the address and general geographical idea where the destination is located? Just ask the locals and find your way there, that’s 120% more fun.
Of course, I had some sort of idea. Aforementioned Google Map printout had the basic instruction on which bus to catch from the airport and how long it takes to get to the station where I should transfer to the next bus. Overall journey takes about 45 minutes and it doesn’t seem that complicated. It shouldn’t have. If only I knew how to decipher the chaotic public transportation system that pumps the blood of this massive metropolis.
First thing I did after exiting the airport was to find the bus terminal.
Well, I promptly failed on that attempt.
Here’s the thing – there was not just one bus terminal around the airport! There was multiple sectors of bus terminals that don’t necessarily take you to the city center. So I quickly gave up on my Google Map idea and asked the man who was wearing the security uniform the method on how to reach my friend’s house somewhere in the southwest region of Mexico City. The man was kind enough to give me suggestions. Again, I do not understand Spanish for most part and his English skill wasn’t anywhere near perfect, however with the visual aid of Google Map printout we “kind of” communicated the task and objectives.
The man escorted me to the main street that looked like a safe zone on the side of highway 101. We stood by the power pole for about five minutes until the minivan full of passengers pulled in to the curb. In Central and South America, it is very common to see these minivan style shuttles everywhere. For most part these shuttles have no business to tourists like me because (a) I don’t live here, therefore I have no idea where it will take me and (b) I look like a perfect example of tourist who doesn’t speak Spanish or know what he’s doing – signed, sealed, delivered, mug me!
So I hopped on the minivan per instruction from the helpful man.
It took about 10 to 15 minutes to the metro station where the taxi driver stopped and told me this is where to transfer to train. Thanks to the man at the airport my Google Map is now upgraded with scribbles of writing that I can follow to reach the destination! I got off the minivan and climbed down the stairs that lead to the metro terminal. The writing on the map tells me my next step is to take the metro and transfer to another bus at the next station.
One definite truth about venturing foreign city on public transportation is that you will most likely miss the exit and/or get on the wrong bus but in the end it all turn into good story to tell. This is why I was rather excited to see various faces of Mexico City outside the bus windows when I realized that the bus I got on was taking me to the opposite direction from the instruction. Because I was now completely lost and made no sense to follow the map, I was forced to use my traveler instinct to find my way to get to friend’s house. Once I got off the bus, I found the metro station with the number painted in pink to indicate the train system. I knew, vaguely, that the bus I was supposed to take was leaving near the crossing at Avenida Rio Mixcoac and Circuito Interior off Avenida Insurgentes so I looked for metro station named “Mixcoac” on the map located near “Insurgentes” and decided to make that as point of transit.
I have experienced several exciting things as well as not so exciting things on my way to friend’s house, including morning rush hour in Mexico City. Trains in Mexico City during the weekday morning are literally hell that you do not want to be in. I learned this hard way after getting mashed between the closing walls of commuters station after station and nearly scrapped my souvenir bag brought for my friend. My mission to reach Mixcoac station was soon aborted and I escaped the living hell that is metro system to breathe smog infused air of the overground world.
The next challenge awaited me as I exited the metro station: I did not know where I was standing at all. Up to this point I was relying on Google Map printout that stretches as far as A4 dimension, but I finally reached outside of that tiny world map. With no way to locate my current position in relation to the map, I decided to catch a taxi that can take me to my friend’s house.
Catching taxi, for beginning, was a very difficult task in the busy morning of Mexico City. I’ve eventually caught two to three taxis before they refused to drive because the address is too far out of the way (?) At my fourth or fifth try, I found one driver who spoke less than mediocre English and agreed to take me to the crossing of Avenido Rio Mixcoac and Circuito Interior. Right on.
The driver, whose name faded from my memory, was a big city transplant from small town near Acapulco. We exchanged few words and rolled out something that could possibly be called conversation. After the longest 8 mile drive, I reached the cross street where the writing on the Google Map indicates the bus stop.
Another thing I’ve learned about Mexico City is that many taxi drivers use their brain memory for road navigation. This seldom works for drivers who recently moved to the city like the one I met. Basically, in order to reach the destination by home address you need to be exceptionally lucky to catch the driver who knows the streets and ways of city by heart. This is a primary reason why Uber is becoming quite popular and why my friend Milo suggested me to take Uber from the airport in the first place. Lesson learned!
It didn’t took me that long to give up on the whole idea of taking bus and instead catch another taxi for the rest of the way. The next taxi I caught was driven by older gentleman who had the GPS system attached to the dashboard.
YES! I pulled the lucky card this time!
This is no Uber, but at least the driver can punch in the address on his GPS and take me exactly where I want to go. It was probably the most relieving moment of my Mexico City experience (so far) when I was seating and watching the driver spelling out my friend’s home address…until GPS decided not to show the street name and shut down by itself. The driver helplessly pulled out old map book from the side pocket and fingered through dog eared pages.
Insert facepalm GIF here.
Milo and I made a plan to meet up at his house around 9am. It was 10:30am when I paid my fare and got off the taxi. The total of journey from the airport took about 4 hours instead of 45 minutes as the Google Map route suggested. Well, it was quite an adventure. When I finally buzzed the door and saw Milo walking out, he greeted me with somewhat worried face. I told him the story and laughed, “You had the real Mexico City experience.”
Four years since I saw him last, Milo was still a full time music composer and started the side project of raising two kids with his girlfriend. Here’s the elder brother Noah smiling mischievously as he plays with his drum kit:
For them it is a disability that needs to be taken good care. sildenafil wholesale Despite these statistics, most of viagra uk delivery us don’t even know how to make best use of our existing anti-virus. It is very cheap best cialis online and easily available. The walls of the blood vessels become stiffer and thicker. secretworldchronicle.com viagra uk purchase In the afternoon Milo and his family took me around the city. Seeing the city with friend was vastly different experience from wandering around pointlessly by myself. I totally enjoy solo backpacking trips and freedom it gives me, but it is undeniable that all the great essence of traveling come from people you meet at travel destination. You can enjoy great museums and theatres by yourself, but you cannot breathe the same air that people breathe in the city unless you make an effort to see the world from the local’s point of view. I appreciate Milo and his family for sacrificing their time to let me become part of their daily life for 18 hours before catching my airplane to Lima. The whole experience was compelling, and it was more real than what I would have done based on my Internet research and Tripadvisor reviews on top 10 things to do in Mexico City.
Reunion in Mexico City was perfected by appearance of Gilda, another friend of mine from school days. Gilda is talented sound engineer working in the music and media industry who I’ve also had an honor to work with in the past for my film projects.
Here’s more pictures from the historic center of Mexico City with Milo, his girlfriend Paulina, and Gilda:
Even an easy stroll through the busy galleria was enough to understand the energy of this city. I’ve passed many street musicians playing songs freely, and saw a big crowd in front of tiny kiosk TV screen watching the soccer match. Art and history of Mexico unfurled on the building walls and at nightfall streets turned into salsa stages. 18 hours may have been too short to see everything this city has to offer, but I made the best out of that limited time.
18 hours of Mexico City in little over one minute and thirty seconds:
Thanks again for everything Milo, Paulina, and Gilda!
Milo released his solo album “ARISE” in November of last year. The music I used in the video is one of the tracks from that wonderful album. If you are interested to listen to his beautifully composed ambient music, please visit iTune store at this link.
旅する動機はいくつもありますが、最大の理由として旧友との再会があります。外国圏、とくに日本やアメリカのような先進国とは全く異なった文化を持つ国に訪ねられる人がいるというのは実に心強く、大きく広がる世界地図さえ鉄道の路線図のように身近なものに変えてしまいます。
ソーシャルネットワークという便利なものが電波上で人と人の接触を単純化している世の中ですが、僕はそういう淡白な情報交換の仕方がもともと好きではないので、フェイスブックとかツイッターもほとんどこのブログの宣伝媒体に使ってるくらいです。
むしろ実際に重たい荷物を背負って海の反対側に住んでいる古き友人たちを訪ねる機会を作り実行する事に価値があると思いますし、これを読んでいる皆さんにも少しでもその良さを届けられたらと思っています。
去る11月、溜まりに溜まった有給を奮発してマチュピチュとワイナピチュを踏破する目標を持って南米ペルーまで行ってきました。サンフランシスコ発の飛行機でペルーの首都リマまでの直行便というのがあるのか無いのか判らない状態だったのですが、時間的にもいい乗り継ぎフライトがあり、幾つかのオプションで旅程を組み始めたのが４月でした。
メキシコシティー経由リマ行きのフライトを見つけたとき、ある人物の顔が思い浮かびました。４年前、僕がロサンゼルスでの生活に別れを告げロンドンに向かう前夜、友達の家で仲間たちと集まって暫しの別れを惜しんだのですが、あの時を最後に疎遠になってしまった友人ミロのことです。あれから２年後、彼もまた事情あってアメリカを出、生まれ故郷であるメキシコの首都に戻ったという事を知ったのは僕がサンフランシスコに引っ越してきてからのことでした。
ミロという友人はボストンのバークレー音楽学院で映画音楽の作曲を勉強していた実力家で、僕がエマーソン大学で映画を作る勉強をしていたときに、ひょんなきっかけで一緒に仕事をする機会があり、それ以来お互いロサンゼルスに移動し専門分野こそ違えど映画の素晴らしさに共感を持つ仲間でした。またいつか一緒に仕事をしようというのが僕たちの合い言葉で、その「またいつか」が人生の線路の上のどこにあるのかは今も未だ判らないまま、時間だけが刻々と過ぎていたのでした。
飛行機のフライトを押さえ、ペルーに向けて着々と準備を進めてきた10月頃、久しぶりにミロから連絡がありました。「元気か？」そんなメッセージはSNS上でも嬉しい一言でした。11月末にメキシコシティーに行くよ、と伝えると彼は「是非また会って話そうよ」という返事で僕の訪問を快く受けつけてくれました。
思えばミロと最後に言葉を交わしたのは3年程前。まだ製作途中だった僕のショートフィルムに音楽を入れたいんだけど、と声を掛けたのが最後でした。結局そのショートは完成せずミロとのコラボレーションの可能性も無くなったのですが、彼はそのことを大変悲しんでいる様子でした。丁度その時期彼と彼のガールフレンドの間には子供が出来、実家のあるメキシコシティーに帰ろうかと考えている最中だったのでした。今では二人目の子供が産まれたらしく、メキシコシティーでの復帰生活にも形が出来た頃合いだったようです。
メキシコには前に一度行った事があります。その時はカリフォルニアから車で国境を越えバハ・カリフォルニアの太平洋海岸をエンセナダとロサリートまで行ってきました。メキシコの内陸部は今回のメキシコシティーが初だったので、国境が限りなくアメリカに近いバハ・カリフォルニアとは違った側面が見られることに期待が高まりました。
メキシコシティー国際空港に朝の5時半に到着した僕は眠い眼をこすりながら税関を抜け、再び航空会社のチェックインカウンターでリマへ向かう乗り継ぎのフライトの手続きを済ませました。わざと待ち時間の長い乗り継ぎ便を予約したので、出発地のサンフランシスコからリマまで一括したチェックインが出来なかったのです。カウンターですべての乗り継ぎ手続きが終わったのが朝の6時半だったので、ここから午後11時50分の乗り継ぎ便まで約18時間ぐらいの透明な時間が生まれました。
さっそく空港を出てミロの家を目指しましたが、その土地の交通機関を試してみたいという僕の旅人の意地のようなものがタクシーやUberという安直な移動手段を拒み、結局つたないスペイン語らしきものを何とか使いながらバスや地下鉄そしてタクシーを乗り継いで4時間程掛かってようやくミロとの再会を果たしました。
メキシコシティー市内の交通機関は詰まりに詰まり、ラッシュアワー時の道路の混み合い方はロサンゼルスの渋滞と同等か、あるいはそれよりも酷いものでした。何事も経験ですね。迷ったり困ったりしながら自分の力で目的地に辿り着くのも旅の重要なポイントです。楽な道は無いってこと！
ミロ、そしてガールフレンドのポーリーナと長男のノアくんたちに案内されて午後はメキシコシティーの中心地を見ました。
スペイン統治時代の影響が現在も色濃く残るプラザには数年前マドリードで見たものとほとんど同じような大聖堂と商店街が延々と続き、もし目隠しされてスペインから瞬間移動してここがヨーロッパだと言われても区別がつかないような趣でした。ふと通り過ぎたキオスクに人集りがあったので何だろうと覗いてみると、棚の上に置かれた小さなテレビで放送されているサッカーの中継に見入る行きすがりの人たちの姿でした。政府機関の建造物のような場所に入ると、建物の壁には色鮮やかなマヤ文明の絵画とスペインによる占領の様子が描かれていました。
バークレー音楽学院ではミロと同期に卒業したヒルダも今はメキシコシティーに住んでいるという事で、僕が来ているという事を聞いて駆けつけてくれました。何だか大学時代に一緒に映画を作った仲間たちとの再会できてちょっとした同窓会のようでした。こういう同窓会なら参加する価値もあるかな。
陽が落ち始めた頃、先ほどの大聖堂やプラザを一望出来る屋上レストランで歴史あるメキシコシティーの夜景を見ながらユカタン地方の料理を食べ、乗り継ぎの飛行機に乗る為に空港へと向かいました。
メキシコシティーでの18時間の滞在を1分30秒弱に凝縮しました。一日分のエネルギーを詰め込んだので是非ご覧ください。
ところで、この映像の音楽いいな〜と思いませんか？
実はこれ、ミロが11月にリリースしたソロアルバム”ARISE”の中の一曲なんです。この作品はiTuneから購入出来ますのでご興味があればチェックしてみてください。映画音楽はJohn Williamsを敬愛する彼だからこそというか、正にエピック（壮大で叙情的）といった表現がぴったしな自信に満ちた素晴らしいアンビエント音楽の結晶です。聴いていると自然と気持ちが穏やかになってきます。二児の父親として、今でもロサンゼルスで培ってきた映画音楽家としてのプロフェッショナリズムを大切にし続けているミロの音楽は僕も作業中に流してます。バックグラウンドミュージックというよりも、日常のサウンドトラックといった感覚で。