There are an extraordinary number of street-cries in Mexico, which begin at dawn and continue till night, performed by hundred of discordant voices, impossible to understand at first…. At dawn you are awakened by the shrill and desponding cry of the Carbonero, the coalmen, “Carbon, Señor?” which, as he pronounces it, sounds like “Carbosiu?” Then [...]
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If you’ve ever wandered near the eastern edge of the Zócalo, over by the Templo Mayor, you might have heard them: street vendors selling scarves, hats, sunglasses, purses, desk items and whatever else might be useful from tarps spread out on the sidewalk. As people pass, the vendors call out: “10 Continue Reading →
I heard this guy while I was sitting at my desk a few days ago. Do you know what he’s saying? I think he wants to buy old iron or metal stuff, similar to the La Lllorona lady, but I can’t be sure.
Incidentally, I saw a guy in Condesa today pushing a [...]
Continue Reading →I was at the nail salon in Polanco yesterday when I thought I heard a rooster crowing. Then I realized, wait — that’s not a rooster, that’s a man. He was yelling the same phrase, something unintelligible, over and over.
I asked the nail lady who he was, and she said, “Oh, he fixes curtains.” [...]
Continue Reading →Mexico’s Bicentenario celebration, marking 200 years of independence from Spain, is next week on the evening of Sept. 15.
It’s going to be the biggest party of the year. There’ll be concerts, music, and a bunch of people running around in fake mustaches and sombreros. I’ll personally be wearing a tri-colored [...]
Continue Reading →Every morning at 7 a.m., we hear a loud, screechy bicycle horn honking right outside our window. It sounds like this:
Originally, I had no idea what this horn meant. Then I checked the Internet and realized it was a neighborhood vendor selling pan dulce. Of course! Every service-provider has his own [...]
Continue Reading →Sometimes I forget that Mexico City is an assault on the senses. Everything is loud — the cars honking, the parking attendants whistling, the branches of homemade brooms scraping the sidewalk, the peseros roaring down the street (they are the only thing that moves with urgency in this country), the vendors yelling about their [...]
Continue Reading →Spotted this truck yesterday morning while we were walking to the supermarket. We exchanged our tank for one of theirs (the thought of grilling steaks that very day was too exciting to pass up) and they promised to bring our tank back on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, when we got home and tried to connect [...]
Continue Reading →We had to buy an empty propane tank when we bought our grill on Monday. Home Depot assured us that we could fill up at “cualquier gasera.” I interpreted this to mean gas station.
We stopped at the gas station near our house, but they said they don’t fill up propane tanks. So we decided [...]
Continue Reading →For a long time, I’ve been wanting to record some of the crazy sounds you hear on the street here. Finally, finally, I got my little Olympus tape recorder and captured a few.
At 7 a.m. outside our window, there’s a guy who calls “Aguaaaaaa!” Or at least I think that’s what it is. [...]
Continue Reading → Who is Mija?
Mija is Lesley Téllez, a food writer and culinary guide in New York City. I spent four years in Mexico's Distrito Federal, which launched my deep love for Mexican food and culture. In 2010 I co-founded the tourism company Eat Mexico.
