An unexpected successful, if short, excursion this evening. I went out to get dinner and had thought I would go to Llano park for the delicious elotes from the cart one has to queue for 20 minutes for. At the last minute, as I walked towards Porfirio Diaz, I changed my mind and decided to keep going down that street to find a tamal cart I’d been told was particularly good. I’d not been impressed by tamales so far, finding them stodgy and the Latin American equivalent of boiled cassava root in eastern Indonesia (that is unfair; there is some flavour to tamales). These, however, turned out to be quite delicious, indeed I had two: one with amarillo mole and one tamal dulce which was studded with small dark plums (I think – they seemed to big to be raisins which I gather is more usual). The masa was very fluffy and light, extremely tasty, and the fillings were delicate. The sweet one was a little like a sooji ka halwa, actually. And light enough that I could probably have had three.
The street comes properly alive at night. During the day it’s full of quiet signs, mostly of coolness (eg the revolutionary print shops) but also of waiting for the night. But it’s not sordid feeling in the way that Soho can be. At least when I walk down, it’s usually reasonably early, so there is no loud drunkenness, vomiting, fighting or stag parties as one finds in London. Just eager young people out to enjoy themselves for the evening. The bars are playing music, some of it live. I turned down one street and found a large group of 14-15 year olds – I had seen this before – engaged in freestyle rap battles in Spanish and Zapotec. It was pleasing to be able to recognise some insults. I turned another corner and found another group of young people, the girls wearing full cotton skirts over the usual tight jeans, dancing some kind of baile folklorico.
I said to someone the other day that I think Pakistanis are drawn to Mexico (when they visit) because for all its problems, it’s what Pakistan could be. It’s a Pakistan where people like to have fun and where the streets are brightly coloured. Simplistic, reductive for both countries, I know, but I think there’s a kernal of truth there.