and it's this morning that i realise i have not updated the journal side of things here for a couple of weeks!!
i arrived in mexico city on the 31st january, and was kindly collected by a representative of MUAC. it was right then that i realised what little spanish has actually managed to remain in my head after listening to michel thomas and his patronising delivery instantly dissipates when faced with either trying to speak to someone, or better yet when they speak to me!! great discovery!
so after trying to communicate with the driver for a while we both decided to admit defeat and we travelled very slowly though the mexico city traffic, delivering me at hotel milan. for anyone visiting mexico city i can highly recommend the hotel. it's reasonably priced and has comfy beds.
on the 1st i travelled by metrobus to the university city of UNAM, which is massive. and through my not being told that there is an extra stop that is spitting distance from MUAC, i got off at the main university terminal. this was a mistake - as i said, the campus is massive... i walked through what i discovered was the engineering department, which has large open areas of park and around ten large buildings, and then decided i was not going to find the museum this way. then i tried to use the global sim card i purchased specifically to use on my journey, to find that outgoing calls were barred!! no way of contacting the museum, or finding out how to get there from where i was!!
walking back to the metrobus stop i noticed a large group of people waiting for the 'pumabus' - it turned out this collection of 10 bus routes service the whole campus, and wouldn't you know it, there was one that could take me to MUAC. thankfully there are a number of mexicans that can speak enough english to take pity on me and my poor spanish and help me out....
as i visited the museum and auditorium, which is amazing by the way - similar in size to the auditorium at the arnolfini in bristol, and with the same collapsible tiered seating arrangement - i decided to come back the next day (2nd feb) to make some recordings to use in the performance. while i was at MUAC i got lunch at one of the restaurants on site, and after selling some dollars as i hadn't brought enough cash, i had an amazing tortilla soup, which i'll come back to....
so the 2nd was spent in the museum recording various aspects of the site, and also hanging out with the sound engineer for MUAC, Gil. he gave me a guided tour around the site, and then we walked around a volcanic park to a crazy crater that is also volcanic, but has been ringed with huge triangular concrete obelisks that make it look very sci-fi... and then it rained.
i had been in touch with a musician in mexico city, Amede Barez, who was possibly going to meet me at MUAC on the 2nd, but hadn't made it, so we arranged to meet on the 3rd. he took me on a short tour around the centre of mexico city, showing me how to use the metro (subway, not bus - confusing though...), market places, the parliament square, the square in which Francisco Lopez had a concert a few years ago, an exhibition of 'el santo' which was so funny - he was a character!
and then we went for tacos - first up was tongue, and then he got me to try brain - and it was really good! i was kind of squeamish, and if you actually think about what you're eating while chowing down, it does turn the stomach slightly, but it was tasty, and at least they use all parts of the animal!!
Amede then took me to a cantina, which after a search up and down the street we were on, turned out to be two doors away of the taco stand - there you buy a beer, and then you get a plate of food - for free! we had pork in a spicy red sauce and goat served with a kind of broth that uses the juices from the cooking process - again all good!
on the day of the concert (4th feb) i got to the auditorium around 12:30 as i wanted to compose my piece in situ using purely the recordings i had gathered through this year's travels. after around 3 hours i had a piece i was happy with, presented in 4 channels. Gil then took me to a square nearby where we got more amazing food - i haven't had bad food since being in mexico i think - apart from the quesadillas in the hotel - avoid!
the concert itself was attended by only a few people, around ten, maybe a couple more, but they were very respectful and appreciative, and the piece sounded amazing (even though i say so myself!).
after the concert i went back to the hotel, dropped off my gear, and then met up with Gil once again to drink mezcal and then was invited to a party at his sister's place which was very close by and full of very nice people...
on the 5th i took a bus to valle de bravo, where i was invited to stay by a sound artist i have been in contact with over the years, Sol Rezza, and her husband Daniel Ivan. i managed to catch the right bus, after managing to find the right terminal, and was there in just over two hours. and there was no-one to meet me. and then i found that i couldn't call anyone once again. after sitting trying to work out what to do for around 30 minutes, Daniel turned up - i was so glad to see him! it turned out Sol was working over the weekend running workshops, so we dropped off my luggage, had even tastier tacos, and walked a little around valle de bravo - and then it rained. again. it seems the british weather is following me around the world!!! apparently it's very unusual to rain so much this time of year.
i spent around 5 days with Daniel and Sol, hanging out, recording, drinking tequila... and they were the perfect hosts. Daniel cooked most nights, which was fantastic, and then Sol made her speciality - tortilla soup! as mentioned earlier, i'd had a great one at MUAC, but Sol's is incredible - and she uses pork rinds (as in pork scratching for you Brits out there) in it which work really well.
on the 9th i took a bus to toluca, in which i nearly lost my luggage, and my head, as the driver began to drive away while i was fishing it out of the hold! from toluca i got a bus to morelia, which i had been told was first class, but wow! the comfiest bus i think i have ever been on - and they give you food and drink for the journey!! i arrived remarkably fresh and was brought straight to the offices of CMMAS where i have the use of the residency room until the 13th, plus food vouchers for 4 days.
most of the 10th was taken up with preparing for the concert in the evening, but i did manage to skype both my parents and my friends kate and rachel - great to chat and catch up. as i mentioned, the british weather is following me, so for the whole day yesterday it was grey and raining - which stopped a number of people coming to the concert, but again the people who did make it seemed to really enjoy it.
and then tacos once again (but believe me i'm not complaining!) with Francisco and Silvana, the co-ordinators at CMMAS, plus some great tequila which you drink with a spicy tomato drink - very good! kind of like a two-part bloddy mary.
today it's still grey but seems to have stopped raining, so i'll catch up with some admin and then go for a long walk - morelia is beautiful and i have only seen a little of it so far...
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