Transcription
Hi everyone, and welcome back! We're back in Mexico once again for another series of videos from a collection of brand new locations you may not necessarily think of when planning a trip.
A couple of years ago, I lived in Doctores in Mexico City for two months. It's pretty much the home of car mechanics. Visited Ecatepec. I felt like I was the only foreigner there. Checked out whether Tepito was actually as dangerous as its reputation led me to believe: illegal activities, drug dealing, the sale of weapons, and more. Recently, we headed to Iztapalapa.
Mexicans are hard-working, resilient people. Each of those areas are bursting at the seams with independent businesses from food outlets, barbers, car mechanics, and so on. Locals sell headphones on the metro and play the trombone on the street. These are people who haven't had the luxury of government support or not working during 2020. They needed to continue as normal regardless of the unprecedented situation we have all found ourselves in. Understanding and accepting cultural difference in relation to affluence and employment opportunities is key when travelling. Today, we're going to do just that. We're in Estado de Mexico. Welcome to Ciudad Nezahualcoyot, as it is more commonly known. I'm surrounded by collectivos and taxis. It's very noisy. I'm slap bang in the middle of this city, and it is a city. It's on the south-east border of Mexico City. It's actually in Estado de Mexico. I've just crossed the border into the State of Mexico. It's the first time I've been here, really, since I filmed the Ecatepec video a very, very long time ago. And Nezahualcoyot in Nahuatl means "the fasting coyote." Fascinating, right? And right in front of me is this red thing, this massive structure, which is called the Glorieta Cabeza de Coyote, which is the head of the coyote. And in this video, we're kind of gonna do similar as to what we did in the last one in Iztapalapa: explore and kind of talk about what's the reality in a place like this. Is it as the media portrays, as this hellhole full of crime and gangs? Yes, there's that aspect, but we're gonna see what we can find today. Let's get going.
So, really, the reason I'm here today is because of you. Because many of you commented in the Iztapalapa video that I should come here to explore. So, it's very much an unplanned video, in a way. There's a helicopter going up over above. Lovely classic Mexico City sirens, helicopters, dogs barking at all hours. Love it! And obviously, this isn't a tourist area. So, if you are new, you might be wondering, "Why have you come on vacation to Mexico City and gone to these places?" I'm not on vacation, I live here, right? And I like to come to places like this to show a bit of a different side of, well, I know it's not Mexico City per se, but, you know, it kind of is. It's kind of on the border. Immediately, as you know, it's a bit of a difference in the road signs, like a yellowy color. A lot of that in Mexico. You've got Volkswagen vans driving along. We've got little, um, like motorbikes with things on the back. There's a helicopter again. And one of the things I have read about Neza is that it's one area of Estado de Mexico where they still collect trash and things off with horse and cart. You do have this kind of different feeling. I, I feel like when I got out the metro station, it felt like when I got off at Ciudad Azteca. I went to Ecatepec with all these big markets and wide roads and crossings and all these little market stalls everywhere. There we go, lovely. So, it does have that kind of different feeling. This is really cool. I thought that was a real person in the car, but it's a doll. Brilliant.
Right, one thing I didn't say in the Iztapalapa video about coming to a place like this is it can feel slightly daunting. And you feel out of place, and that's natural. Um, but the biggest piece of advice I would give is just think of yourself as a local. Because really, people aren't gonna be looking at you thinking, "Oh, he's a foreigner. You're the only foreigner here. Let's mug him." Yeah, some people might think that, but try and fit in as well as you can. You know, I've been walking down the street, "Hello, good afternoon" to people on the street, people working in shops. I've had a little chat with a woman in the shop buying my mango Boing earlier. The guy trying to get me into the collectivo. Or just try and fit in as much as possible. Obviously, Spanish is necessary. You cannot get by with only English in a place like this. You've got nice typical white and green buses. Guy on the roof, don't know what he's up to. Mexican flag. All these little, uh, motorbike things with the thing on the back are quite commonplace. Just walking down a regular street into nice colorful buildings down there. Taxis going past. Water salesmen there. And, um, as with Iztapalapa, I am quite impressed by the, the precautions around COVID-19. Masks, separate entradas y salidas (entrances and exits) as you go into, uh, shops. Some places like shops like this will have, um, you know, the barriers up, the bars. You can actually go into the shop. So, um, yeah, compared with a lot of countries in Europe, once again, I am impressed.
Right, I'm heading down to a market which is up there. I don't know if it's open, um, but first, the thing I want to mention is about crime. Because where the thing about crime in Ciudad Neza comes from is largely about cholos, which are basically a gang or a gang subculture dating back to the 80s and 90s in Los Angeles. You know, they have their typical sort of gang stuff in terms of clothing and language and graffiti and tattoos. There's that kind of font that you see, that lettering. When I've been researching, and actually when I've been researching, I realize it's not the first time I've seen cholos, or at least some sort of influence. Because this is going to sound really stupid for any Mexicans, but it reminds me of Grand Theft Auto, you know, playing the game on PC or whatever with, uh, the homies and, you know, that kind of gang culture in LA. Um, it's just a thing I've noticed. I don't know. But I've not noticed any sort of signs of that so far. I'm sure it still exists, but we'll see what happens. Yeah, and I believe most of the crime is to do with like gang rivalry, drug wars, that sort of thing. Um, I believe like the drugs that are generally sold by them are marijuana and cocaine. And you do kind of, when you walk down the metro station, there is a definite whiff of marijuana in the air. I don't smoke that. I do smoke these, though. This is Mexico for me. Busy streets, messy cars everywhere, noise. And we're next to Mercado Nuevo Evolution. Welcome. Evolucion. Necesito comida. Let's have some food. Ohh, exit. The entrance is that way. Thanks. Entrance. Hello, friend. Yes, yes. Thank you, friend.
So, yeah, as you just saw, entrance to a mercado is a different entrance from the exit. And when you come in, you get temperature checked, and you have the antibacterial gel. And, um, what's cool, I've never seen this in a market before, like a chapel. Amazing! I love markets in Mexico. They're so cool. They're all colorful. They're shoes, they're, you know, piñatas everywhere, food of course, and they're always really big. It's like, you know, endless. And you've got, you know, this lovely communal dining that you have everywhere. Oh, I see tacos. Music playing. Fresh chicken mole for sale. Chicken. As always, we have pollo. We have cilantro. I've remembered this time, if you saw the Iztapalapa video. A little onion, and no cactus. The salsas. I think we will have that one. Beautiful, beautiful. Always have lots of salsa. I think three teaspoons will do me fine. And then we have some lemon. Come on, come on. There we go. Lovely, lovely. Look at that. And in a few bites, it's gone. That was really good chicken. Good. Plenty of salsa. Happy days.
Ok, I've just walked past a zoo in Ciudad Neza, and then I think it's closed, though. Uh, there's like a sport thing next to it. Just hoping it could get a chance to sit down for a minute, but that's not going to happen. The weather has turned, by the way. Now, as you continue to walk through Neza, you definitely notice the difference in wealth in comparison to Mexico City. I think ever I've been in Estado de Mexico, well, here and Ecatepec, it's got that same kind of feel. And this, this is very difficult to say, and I'm going to come back to it at the end. It's difficult to say without sounding like a privileged Westerner, divorced from reality person, you know what I mean? Because I haven't been in a position where I've, you know, had to work my ass off in a local business selling fruit, food, bread, chicken, a barber shop, you name it, for minimal remuneration. And the thing is, there's a place that was here, I think it was, it was a big dump, like a rubbish dump, and people used to just spend the whole days there picking trash out of crap holes, you know, needle-infested, rat-infested hellholes for like five dollars a day or something. And it's one of those things you can, you can maybe relate to or imagine, but it's not something that you can truly understand. That's why it is difficult coming to a place like this. It's a struggle that I have every day about sort of understanding the difference in employment opportunities across the world and the opportunities that people have in general. But of course, my struggle is nothing in comparison to the struggle of the people that live that every day. Let's just get that clear. And I've read stories about, you know, people in the, in that dump, you know, teenagers that want to go to university, they're intelligent people, but because of the situation they are in, where they are, those opportunities aren't there. And it's quite heartbreaking in a way. It really puts things in perspective.
Right, if you're still watching this, you've got two jobs. Number one, hit the like button. Number two, tell me in the comments what your favorite thing from Oxxo is. Mine is Hostess little donuts, the glazed ones. They are the best. All the roads in Neza are kind of like very uniform. So you've got that obvious grid layout, and every road kind of looks very similar. And all the way down the middle of these very wide roads with auto shops and stuff on each side, you've got this nice little path area with these little benches and things like that. And, you know, I think that's, it's quite nice. You know, even though, you know, it might not be the prettiest place on the either side of the road, but, you know, life isn't about being pretty. I tell myself that every time I look in the mirror. I'm sorry to go on about it, but I did touch on this in Iztapalapa as well. I think it's quite remarkable that people in places like this have just continued. I have the greatest utmost respect for those people because they haven't been listening to that fear that people in the Western world have had. That luxury of of staying at home, locked down, all that crap. You know, they've just carried on. And it's quite eye-opening when you come to a place, a place like this and understand that in more detail. I've said before that, you know, I continued, I, you know, I set up a website, blah, blah, blah, but it's different. It's not the same. It's not the matter of putting food on the table at the end of the day, which is the issue that people here have had. So, if you're thinking that, you know, all these people in dirty Mexicans, people that you know are spreading the virus by going out and continuing to work, it's [ __ ] come here and then you might understand that this is the sort of daily life in Mexico. I really appreciate you don't need to go to the fancy places. Of course, if you want to, you can do, but we've got a street dog. Hola. Oh, and also this place up here, um, you know, in terms of food places, they don't have to be the fanciest because you've got this lovely place, nice little lettering on there, Super Chicken's Carmelita, Tipo Pastor, and you've got this big like oven thing inside, and there's chicken going around inside. Awesome.
Okay, this is our penultimate stop. I've put my camera through the railings. It's the Neza 86 stadium. It was used in the 1986 Mexico World Cup, which I just remembered on the way here was the year of Argentina vs England and Maradona's "Hand of God." I don't know if it was here. I'll have a look after, but yeah, it looks, um, slightly rustic and slightly derelict. I don't know if it's still actually used, um, but yeah, it's a nice design, I think, with the green and the red and the big sign. Yeah, I don't really want to try and break in because there's a policia municipal up there. Right, we're going to our last stop. I'm sweaty. I've been walking for miles. I've just walked past the crappy, um, like car wrecking place, and we're walking down a road which looks a bit shady, honest. But the place I want to go to is just over that wall, I think. I couldn't have been more of a ghetto. Right, I've got to cross these train tracks. The place I'm going, it's over there, but I don't want to show you yet. Let's put the camera down. Well, I've got to cross a river. Hopefully not up there. I think there's another way I can go. Yeah, yeah. Just gotta walk through this dump area and go over that little bridge over there. Back there, there's like a massive rubbish dump of crap on the riverbank. It looks like a bit of a, yeah, not the best area, but that's life. We're actually heading into Chimalhuacan. This is something else. Viva Mexico, amigos. Yeah, Chimalhuacan. I think that's the correct pronunciation. Um, yeah, it's rough. Yeah, I must admit, I was feeling a bit out of my comfort zone back there. There was a guy I thought he was following me, turns out he wasn't. That was all right. Oh, yeah, it's definitely immediate difference as soon as you head into, uh, what's this called again? Chimalhuacan compared to even Ciudad Neza. And the place we're going is up there behind that bush. The place we're going is that big red monument up there, uh, Guerrero Chimalli. I think it's an Aztec warrior. Um, and as the other, as with the other monuments earlier, it's this red monumental huge tall thing. I read that it's taller than the Statue of Liberty. I don't know if that's true. Oh, let's see. My battery's going. Hello, dog. Look at that. Excuse the lighting. It's huge. Okay, a woman around the other side told me I can't take video. Why? I don't know. Apparently, photo is okay. But I snuck around the other side. Look at the size of that. Apparently, you can go up it, but it's closed, unsurprisingly. And, um, yeah, you can get some great views of, uh, wherever I am. I've forgotten the name already, but I'll see if I can find some photos below the top and pretend that I did it. As always, during 2020. But yeah, look at the size of it, man. So, it's goodbye to the huge Aztec warrior. It's time to go home.
Right, apologies for the fluff here. It's Saturday morning, and I'm editing this video over there as we speak. And I'll keep this short and sweet. The first thing, thank you to everyone who recommended that I went to Ciudad Neza because it provided me with yet another insight into real suburban life in Mexico, particularly during times like 2020. The second thing was about near the end of this video, I went to Chimalhuacan, and I said that this area looks like a bit of a dump or something like that. What I didn't realize was when I came back, I took a bit of a wrong turning, and I realized it was pretty much like a slum, if you know what I mean. And I'm not an idiot. Well, you might think I am, but I know these places exist. I've been to places like that before in Brazil, in Colombia, but I've never witnessed something like that in Mexico. And it really was on another level. I felt, you know, just the, the sights and the sounds and the sights of the living conditions, and the smell, I think, was the thing for me that really struck a chord in terms of, you know, people's living conditions like this. And, um, yeah, and going back to what I said earlier in the video about the fact that people don't have a choice to live in those conditions, they don't decide to live in those conditions. It's the conditions around them that have put them into that position. And the third thing was about cleaning ladies. You might have known on Instagram, I'm, I've been joking a bit, I've been pedantic and flippant about the fact that many people in Mexico City have cleaning ladies because for me, and for many of us, I was taught, you make a mess, you clean up, simple as that. It feels as though, in a way, that this job as a cleaning lady has kind of been created as a necessity when I feel it's not a necessity because I'd rather clean myself. But particularly after this video, I'm surprised this has taken me so long. But when I walk around Mexico City now and I see what people are doing, I realize they're doing it because they're doing it to earn a living. And particularly maybe for young mothers with children, that's what a lot of the cleaning ladies are. Maybe there aren't employment opportunities available open to them other than that. So, in a way, that job has been created for them. And it is a cultural thing. It is an issue of understanding and accepting cultural difference in relation to employment opportunities and life in another country. And I've definitely kind of changed my attitude to it. So, yeah, cleaning lady, come and clean up, no problem. If it means you can pay your rent every month, fantastic. And that's the kind of attitude you'll have to adopt. Character development. Brilliant.
Thank you for watching. I hope you've enjoyed this video. We're going to go somewhere a little more prettier next time. We're going to Tula in Hidalgo. So, I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, comment, and all of that, and check out my website. Awesome. I'll catch you later.