The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2002, Page 27

Vol. 57 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
25
new culture. Volunteering in a developing
country had long been a dream of mine and
1 was ready to fulfill it.
Guadalajara is the second largest city in
Mexico. Home to over 5 million people
and counting, it is said to have the most
moderate climate in the world. The tem-
perature rarely rises over 30 degrees celcius
or falls below 15 degrees celcius. It is about
a six hour drive north of Mexico City and
five hours east of Puerto Vallarta.
The first thing that struck me about
Guadalajara was that in a city of 5 million
people there were very few buildings over
2 stories high. They have flat roofs and are
connected in the space-efficient European
style. There are no front yards, no bright
green meticulously coiffed lawns to admire
while you meander past rows and rows of
rectangular houses painted in bright pinks,
oranges, blues and yellows. Adding to the
colour of the buildings is the ever-present
graffiti which few house-owners bother to
paint over. The effort is futile.
Downtown Guadalajara is a contrast
between beautiful colonial buildings and
the growing modernity of a rapidly devel-
oping city. The Cathedral is the centre of
the city surrounded by plazas and foun-
tains. There are government buildings
adorned with murals by famous Mexican
painters. There are street vendors selling
fruit, chips with chile, limon y sal, street
performers and beggars showcasing their
various festering injuries or their tiny mal-
nourished children in pleas for help.
Mercado Libertad is a huge market located
a few blocks from the Cathedral. Here you
can buy anything from rosary beads, to a
gigantic pig's head on a stick, to designer
jeans.
It is easy to get from downtown to the
suburbs. Guadalajara has a subway system
and limited though it is, it is by far the
cleanest underground train I have ever had
the privilege of using. Far more commonly
used, however, are the city buses. Oh, the
buses. Noisy, polluting machines crowded
with people and driven by lunatics at bone-
rattling speeds on the winding, bumpy
roads. Each bus driver decorates his own
bus. You are guaranteed to find a large
image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, rosary
beads hanging from the rearview mirror
and a charming picture of a naked woman
in a submissive sexual pose. Also popular
are large squiggely sperm stickers, plas-
tered to the dashboard window. I am still
puzzled at this phenomenon.
Despite their fascinating decor and the
fear of lunatic drivers, buses are the most
convenient mode of transportation. There
are many of them, their routes cover the
entire city and they are fast. Buses are also
the preferred mode of transportation when
travelling to Puerto Vallarta, the nearby
towns of Chapala, Ajijic or all the way
down to Chiapas.
Guadalajara is a modern city, but it is
said to be one of the most truly “Mexican”
cities in all of Mexico. There are very few
foreigners here. Not many people speak
English, and the Mexican culture is alive
and well. This is brought to the foreigners
attention about every two weeks when
there is one holiday or another celebrated
with spectacular parades, mariachi music,
throngs of people in the streets, spicy food
and bright smiles. I have never fully com-
prehened the historical or religious signifi-
GIMLI IGA