Guadalajara

Hola amig@s :)

I thought today I could write a little bit about Guadalajara, the city where I'm living in. I'll start with the basics: it's in the Centre/North West of the country and it has 1.500.000 inhabitants. Pretty big for European standards...not so much for American ones! As far as I'm concerned, it's the biggest city I've ever lived in, so I'm pretty impressed (Bologna and the Hague have around 500.000 inhabitants, while Brighton - together with Hove - only has 270.000). As any big city, it has a bit of everything. It has rich neighbourhoods and poor ones, it has cinemas, theatres, hospitals, universities...You name it! What surprises me most, though, is that it really doesn't have a very good underground system. In theory, it doesn't even have any underground, but in practice it does, it's just that they like to call it with another name. They call it "tren ligero" ("quick train"), because for some parts of its routes it's actually overground. There are two lines, line 1 runs under a big street called "Federalismo", from North to South, crossing the centre. Line 2 joins it in the city centre, at a stop called "Juarez", under the "Parque de la Revolución" (which means "Revolution Park", but friends call it "Parque Rojo", "Red Park", and not because red is the colour of the revolution, but because it has a lot of red decorations...that's what I've been told). This line goes from there towards the east of the city, but it doesn't have so many stops.

The west part of the city, and all that lies in between the two lines, can be considered forsaken land, at least by the tren ligero system. For that piece of land, you have to take the bus. Ah! Mexican buses! Unpredictable and yet so strangely happy to accommodate your needs. You may NOT know where they stop, unless you're very lucky and you might spot a half-erased "parada" ("stop") on the asphalt of the street...but don't get your hopes up, that doesn't happen often. Truth is, it pretty much stops wherever you want it to stop. So it's not like in the UK, where I saw a bus driver completely disdain an old man who was desperately running towards the bus stop (and was really just 10 metres away from it!). Here there is no need for you to be exactly at the stop exactly at the time the bus comes. You can be in between two bus stops, and you're OK. The real problem is getting off...and don't bother asking the bus driver: they'll forget about you in a second and they'll obviously forget to tell you where to get off. You just have to be very very very careful, and keep your eyes out of the window ALL THE TIME, or you'll end up like me, too many blocks away from where you wanted to go. It is a good way to know a bit more of Guadalajara though! There's obviously no possibility to know the times of the buses, but, in all honesty, they are fairly frequent. And if you wanna know which bus to take? Well, theoretically there's this website: http://rutasgdl.com. In practice, I tried using it a couple of times and always failed. Here's where your ability to make connections really pays off: a call to the right person will do the trick, and you'll know all the possible buses from that stop to the other one. And really, they do get everywhere. You just need to use your imagination!

Enough with transportation, let me tell you what I like about the city. It's full, FULL of cultural initiatives! My Mexican friend (the one I knew before coming here) knows a lot about it as she's really into these things. There are concerts, muppets shows (yes, and not for kids...I was shocked too when my friend invited me to one of them!), people delivering their pomes to an audience on the street, book fairs, markets...and more! In particular, there are a lot of fairs and festivals. Right now there's a "cultural festival", while next month there's a fair based on dresses for the 15th birthday (do you remember I told you it is the most important one for Mexicans?). I'm not sure this last one can be considered a cultural event but...in general I like that there are many things to do every day. Too many, I wish I could do everything! I love sundays in particular, as a big street behind my house gets closed to the traffic (only in the mornings, sadly), and people get out to walk, cycle, take free dance classes, etc...I love to sit outside a café and drink a Corona (only 90 eurocents!! Can you believe it? In Europe it's around 4 euros each bottle), while watching people pass by. Of course, another thing I really like about Guadalajara (also called GDL) are its places to dance salsa! In particular, if you ever come here, do go to "La Mutualista", where they have live bands and lots of room to dance :D

GDL is an important city, not only because it's the second-largest in Mexico, but also because it's on the train tracks, and it's in a beautiful state (Jalisco). Right now, trains are only for goods (and for those migrants who dangerously jump on them with the hope of finding a better future), as the company that manages them was privatised and the new owners are not interested in carrying people. There are only a few trains that transport tourists (I'd say there are only two of such routes, if I'm not wrong), and one of them goes to Tequila, the town where Tequila is made. I took that train last year when I came to visit my friend....It's quite expensive, but they provide for a whole day of entertainments (which includes drinks like margaritas), and a visit to the Tequila distillery. Another town/city in Jalisco is Ciudad Guzman, where my Mexican friend is from. I went there last year too, and it's a very interesting place. Near the mountains, not too big and not far from GDL, I think it'd be a nice place to live in! Finally, of course, Jalisco has some really pretty beaches. The most famous ones are in Puerto Vallarta - where all Americans go, but I've also been suggested a place called Sayulita. Google it if you have any doubts! I went to Puerto Vallarta just after my birthday. The beach in itself was not amazing, but the bay, on the Ocean, is pretty cool. And Puerto Vallarta itself has a nice city centre.

I wish I could tell you more, but I don't wanna make this post too long. I'll leave you know, and maybe if you're interested I'll write another one about Guadalajara - in particular in relation to the flux of migrants! Just one last bit of information, Jalisco is supposed to be a very conservative state, but I haven't really experienced much more conservatism than in the rest of Mexico!

Cate

P.S. another bit of information I was thinking about last night while I couldn't fall asleep...There seems to be NO regulation about noise at night time. Several times I've seen builders work (and drilling) at night on private houses, and it seems like any bar can blast the music up all night without problems. Very different to Europe!