A Glimpse of Mexico City in 1987

In 1987 I visited places around Mexico City for the first time with my friend who used to live there. I was glad to have her as my unofficial tour guide since she spoke Spanish fluently. We both worked for an airline at the time, so we made many travels together. (Before there were travel bloggers, there were travel junkies like us who chose to work in the travel industry in order to be able to afford travel.)

Ancient Pyramids in Mexico

We took a bus to Teotihuacan, a UNESCO world heritage site. We saw the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon which stand right next to each other about 45km outside of Mexico City.

We met Laura, from Bogota, on the bus and the three of us enjoyed each other’s company while walking around the historical site. (And as you travelers know, meeting people is a huge part to travel enjoyment).

I had fun running up and down the steep stairs and taking these now awful but memorable photos using a 110 disposable camera. See my feelings about using crappy old photos to tell a travel story.

Nevertheless, I post my old photos for you to see what I was doing when I was 27.

The commercialization of an ancient Aztec site with no thanks to corporate Wal-Mart

Fast forward to 2004 when the American cheap store chain, Wal-Mart, decided to put in one of their stores right on the pyramid grounds. It was controversial and many people protested it, but the backstory is that some Mexican government officials took bribes from Wal-Mart to ignore the zoning laws.

Ultimately the market store was put in and history was altered to include modern commercialization. Sure, the area needed a new market (according to many news articles I’ve read) but putting it so close to a UNESCO World Heritage site seemed callous and indifferent to cultural history. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to visit the Pyramids again to see how the area has changed but at least I got to see it in the year of 1987 when it became a UNESCO site.

Sinking Church; Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Did you know that 25 Popes have visited this church? It is revered in the Catholic religion due to an appearance made by the Virgin Mary herself in 1531. She left an imprint on a poor peasant’s cloak which still exists to this day 491 years later. The church was created at her request so the tale goes.

The church started sinking due to groundwater extraction causing roads to buckle and colonial-era buildings to shift and/or sink. So in 1976 a new Basilica was built next to the sinking one.

Zocalo and Aztec Archaeological Ruins

One of the reasons I love travel is seeing ancient ruins. Maybe it's because America is considered a young country at 246 years old. We don’t have much in the way of ancient ruins. Contrast that age with many countries around the world that have been around for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years, and you get a sense of what a country’s culture was like in its formative years.

As we walked around the Zocalo, or Central Square in Mexico City, we came upon these ancient Aztec ruins that had been discovered beneath the bustling city street. It was fascinating to see this. But what really caught my eye was a guy I thought was an actor portraying an Aztec Indian. My friend Shelley said he was for real.

He was dancing and chanting right there in the open street with a dead, bloody bird laying on a special piece of adorned fabric at his feet. He had wild bird feathers sticking out on his headband. His loin-cloth was the only article of clothing he wore on his lean, muscular body. He had gold armbands that glinted in the sun. His eyes though were on fire. I don’t want to say he was high on something, but he must’ve put himself in a trance of some kind. Shelley said he was casting protection over the area. I felt it was too invasive to take a photo of him.

Tarot Reading

We had visited the natural history museum and gazed at the Diego Wall Murals. (My photos didn’t do the colors justice so I’m leaving them out) Later on, we stopped for tea and came upon a metaphysical herbalist shop where we found a psychic giving readings.

We eyed this dark-haired middle-aged dude with piercing black eyes who was eyeing us back. I asked Shelley what his sign said and she replied; “He’s a psychic and offers Tarot readings”. I said “ooh, let’s go have one!” So we did. It was supposed to be up to one hour long but with mine, he couldn’t stop talking fast enough for a little over two hours. Bits of spittle pooled up in the corners of his mouth. Shelley had a hard time keeping up with the translation. She was amazed at the secrets in my life being revealed.

Driving around the ruins of the 1985 earthquake

Some friends of Shelley’s took us on a night drive around the city after dinner. It was haunting seeing the tall concrete skyscrapers that had collapsed in the 8.0 earthquake of 1985.

Heaps of rubble were still there with tons of limestone poured on the structure. This was because they couldn’t get all the bodies out. It was too precarious and they didn’t have the right equipment for it. Here it was 2 years later! And I was seeing and unfortunately smelling it. I was creeped out but its also sad commentary to know people couldn’t retrieve the remains of their lost loved ones.

Conclusion to this particular visit to Mexico City in 1987

These were just some of the sights and places I saw on my first visit to Mexico City.

Subsequently, I went back several times more but didn’t necessarily visit the tourist sites again. I went to accompany Shelley, staying at her in-law's house in a nice area of Mexico City. I was warmly received by them and even her ex, we all got along fine. She was happy to have me along. We were travel partners (as well as colleagues at the airline) so we went on other travel trips together to Greece and Acapulco, stories which I’ve yet to write about.

For now, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse back to Mexico City. Happy travels!