Spanish School in Tepoztlan (Part 2)

At 1.5 million people, the city of Guadalajara is the same size as Phoenix, Arizona by comparison. The surrounding suburb cities, bring the metro area to a population of 5 million. Even though quite large, the city itself feels like it is made up of numerous smaller unique neighborhoods and towns and traversing through it was painless. We went to a very popular area downtown to explore the Cathedral and Hospicio Cabañas and  although it was a Sunday, with many families out and about, it did not feel at all crowded.

Walking towards the Hospicio Cabañas, which previously served many purposes over the centuries, but is now a museum

The Hospicio Cabañas started its life in 1760 when the Catholic Church commissioned its construction and use as a hospital and home for the needy. It is a huge complex comprising of a main building with a large park area in the center and numerous 

courtyards with main wings to the sides.

Right now it has an exhibit by Eduardo Sarabia. His works at this particular exhibit focus on the drug subculture of Mexico. He uses multiple mediums and some are quite elaborate (such as his videos and costume work), while others have a folk art feel with primitive drawings and themes.  I think that coming from the US, the sensibility is that we are all against the drug trade given its violence and corruption. But, it was interesting to see Sarabia's work where he mixes facts regarding that violence and corruption with the mythos that a younger Mexican society has attributed to the drug cartels and their leaders who are as flamboyant as they are cruel. Sarabia does not appear to condemn this culture, but he does shine a light on the hypocrisy of the system, such as the collusion that is present between the cartels and the Mexican drug enforcement agency. 

So can I admit that a part of me would love to have this in the foyer, just to see if anyone actually looked at the design?

Distribution chain...
 

That is an OXXO cooler at the bottom. OXXO is like 7-Eleven here in Mexico. At first, we thought that OXXO was somehow involved in the corruption and thought we might have to boycott OXXO's while we are here. But, then we learned that the significance of the OXXO coolers in Sarabia's works is a reference to a particular bloody drug war find of human heads in an OXXO cooler in the desert.

The pillars of the drug trade, including government officials.

"I live off three animals whom I love as my life;

They earn me money and I don’t even buy them food.

They are very fine animals: my parakeet, my rooster, and my nanny goat." 

Lyrics from a popular song from a few years ago. The stations playing the song did not realize what it referred to, but it became a pop hit. The parakeet represents marijuana, the rooster is cocaine and the nanny goat is an AK-47. 

The eerie finale to Sarabia's exhibit. Translated: Love is the answer.

I think that what we came away with from the exhibit was a better appreciation for how much the drug culture has permeated all of Mexican society, whether welcomed or not. I couldn't help but draw a comparison to the bootlegging activities of the 1920's and the larger than life personas that emerged from that era. When you look back at smugglers like Capone, Baby-Faced Nelson and non-smuggling criminals like Bonnie and Clyde, we can't understand today how they could have been folk heroes for their time. Yet, that phenomenon repeats itself now in Mexico. Couple that comparison with the corruption of law enforcement and political appointees, and I can only hope that Mexico's own version of "The Untouchables" will soon emerge. 

To wrap up the Guadalajara blog on a more positive note, we do want to stress that Mike and I have never felt uneasy in Mexico in regards to our safety. I have felt uneasy that I am being given Gringo costs on some items...but that's another story...

The US Department of State has travel warnings listed for 19 of Mexico states. We have traveled through 10 of these to date, without incident. We have walked back country roads, driven, gone by bus and taxi and never felt threatened. Of course, just as there are areas of Phoenix, New York, Detroit and other US cities that I would not want to walking in at 1 AM, the same is true here. But I am so thankful that we have had the opportunity to visit some beautiful places, meet really fun and warm people and take in the tastes, sights and sounds of this country - and there is still more to come!