2 Weeks in Mexico - Mexico City

I embarked a 2 weeks trip to Mexico on June 25th. On this trip, I visited Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca. It turned out a wonderful trip. I truly enjoyed every single experience on the trip. The journey started with Mexico City.
I arrived at mid night, a little nervous about the safety, weather and language etc. With some assistance of a couple of hospitable locals, I easily made my way to Hostel Amigo where I stayed for 5 days while I was in Mexico City. My first impression of Mexico City is a school of cyclists threading through some neat cobbled streets by the hostel in a beautiful morning.There was a cycling event going on that weekend. It's completely opposite to Mexico City's stereotype "smog-choked, crime-plagued urban" image. Mexico City is easy, from the springlike weather, humble and patient locals, cheap, quick and tasty tacos to the extremely convenient public transportations. Mexico City is sophisticated. How do you define life, death and family in this unique culture? How do people live with the ethnic conflicts mainly between mestizos and indigenas? What about all those overwhelming pre-Hispanic, colonial and modern art and history? It probably takes a life time devotion to understand all.
Mexico City is too huge for 5 days. I mostly stayed at the Centro Historico area. My hostel is a walking distance from the Zocalo (meaning 'base'- city central square). I did a walking tour on the first day around the Zocalo area. In the following days, I visited Palacio Nacional, Templo Mayor, Catedral Metropolitana, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Museo Mural Diego Rivera and a couple of bustling local markets. On a side trip, I visited the pyramids at Teotihuacan. One night, with an escort of a 6'1 German girl, we walked to Plaza Garibaldi for the mariachis bands. Among the above attractions, the most impressive are Museo Nacional de Antropologia and Teotihuacan. Food wise, I had tried several local restaurants and still favored the taco stands most. The tiny sizzling taco stands produce the most tasty and moist petite tacos with self serviced accessories such as roasted cactus on the side. That drives appetite and lively crowds. It's part of life in Mexico City.
My favorite place is Zocalo. The square is the center of what's happening in Mexico City. One of main functions served here is a forum for protests. Protests are routine here. If I'm not mistaken, Zocalo "hosts"protest every Wednesday or Thursday. Apparently, there are plenty of issues to protest for. Sometimes there are multiple protests going on at the same time. One rainy morning, I found a piece of quiet at the Cathedral on the Zocalo. All of sudden, a loud voice from a speaker broke the silence as a mass protesters were marching around the Zocalo. They were well organized. After a few hours of march, they finally settled in front of the government office. Locals seem to be well accustomed to the activities and showed indifference on their face. I asked a few locals what the protest is about. There's no a uniform answer. Later I strolled through the square and noticed several piles of old shoes lay in a circle in front of vendor's tents. I heard vendors are not allowed to do business on Zocalo and some of them have been hanging out here to protest chronically. An old American man I met on Zocalo who has lived in Mexico for a while gave me some explanation on the protests going on. It sounds bus drivers and small business owners are the leading roles of the protests. The "shoes protest" has something to do with the hike of energy bills. There were voices on Zocalo in such a drizzling and bustling day. The voices were heard, sort of at least by me.
Next morning, the last morning I believe that is before I left Mexico City, I took a walk to Zocalo again. When I travel, my last day at a place always involves some roams around a spot I really like. It's like a way to say good bye. It's again a gloomy and drizzling morning. Vendors in the "chronic shoes protest" got up just as early. They were hanging outside of their tents and chatting. Some lovely Mexican pop music came out of the tent and went around on the Zocalo. Piles of broken shoes survived rain from last night and were lying around dripping. I looked through the half open tent and I saw Marx and Lenin's portrays. I guesses he is a souvenir vendor. Cheerfully, vendors greeted to me. "Aola" I answered back. A few women were preparing breakfast in the tents. People were in a good mood. So was I. In Mexico, one could enjoy a damp morning while he camps out on a chronic protest. I get that kind of spirit that morning.