Mexico City, Ubers, Bibliotecas, Oh My!

Mexico City is daunting, intimidating, terrifying. It was the largest city in the Western Hemisphere in the early 16th century and currently the largest metropolitan area in North America with the population in the city proper at over 9.2 million people. Where there’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of crime, but I haven’t seen it and that has always caused me to wonder if it has more bark then any actual bite, but then again I’ve only traveled with people who are familiar with the city. G’s told me stories about walking to and from school without being afraid, but kids so rarely were in the early 90s, times have most definitely changed or are we just more aware? I always struggle with the answer to that question. However, his mother has shared other stories with me as well. Like the time she took the bus with little G and his sister and someone almost pulled a gun from the waist of his jeans when an altercation, that had nothing to do with the gun carrier, was occurring between another patron and the bus driver. She started driving herself places after that, better to brave the traffic on your own terms, she told me.

Every time I have gone with his family they have protected me in their cocoon. Don’t put your cell phone in your back pocket, his mother would say; G would always make sure he walked on the street closest to the traffic and made sure my purse was body strapped and stuck between the both of us, my hand resting on it protectively.

So, you can imagine my anxiety as I embarked on yet another adventure, taking an Uber, by myself, in Mexico City. G prepared me of course. I carried in my backpack my iPad, lip gloss, eye lash glue and a tampon; that was really it. Everything else: cell phone, one credit card, ID, and some bills were nestled neatly in my pockets. The thinking being if my bag was grabbed, I would still have on me what was essential, unless I was stolen, and let’s not even consider that a possibility.

I began the day by googling, is it safe to take an Uber in Mexico City, the answer was it is “generally considered safe” the word generally was not exactly reassuring. I wanted something more on the lines of “definitely, It’s always a safe bet.” But alas, I got generally. Google then proceeded to give me several tips for my safety, tips that I followed down to the letter. I shared my location with my husband, both on my phone and using the Uber app (I didn’t even know you could do that). I immediately checked my Uber driver’s rating once confirmed (4.999, and he had over 1,000 rides, that seemed really good). During the trip I followed my ride’s route, my phone tightly clasped in my hand the whole trip. If my driver had varied the route in any way I was fully prepared to leap from the car, dive to the sidewalk. My organs would not be sold on the black market today sir. But everything was going splendidly. I saw the name of the library, my destination, in large black letters plastered on a parking garage, so I knew that I was in the right place. I wasn’t being kidnapped and human trafficked, thank God for that.

The driver soon stopped, turned to me and said something in Spanish. It was a something that I didn’t quite understand, but it was a something that I assumed was, can I drop you off here or do you want me to deliver you closer like I was some sort of delicate flower that would wilt if left outside for too long, but I wanted to prove that I knew what I was doing so I quickly said si followed by a muchas gracias with one hand already on the door handle and then I leapt from the car to my freedom with a sigh of relief. I had made it, or so I thought.

I began to walk with purpose as I turned the corner of the parking garage, expecting to find the front of the library right there, but it wasn’t. I immediately pulled my phone from my pocket and typed in the name of my destination without much hesitation and kept moving. G has always said to never stand still because that’s when you attract unwanted attention, something that I most assuredly did not want to do, not today at least. I pretended that I was a Mexico City citizen, my new character for the day. However, the more I walked, the more I had my doubts that I was heading in the right direction. You can see why I was concerned. Notice the trash, the man lying on the ground, the lack of people to hear me scream and in Mexico City, where people are everywhere, that is a big cause for concern.

But Google maps was telling me to go in this particular direction, so like Michael Scott I followed Google’s instructions, even when my spidery sense was telling me something was very wrong. I felt like Michael when he drove his car straight into the lake because Google said it was the right way to go. I also followed Google’s instructions because I’m a sheep too and apparently common sense is not a thing for sheep.

I eventually FaceTimed G, embarrassed, so wanting to have proved my new character of trendy Mexico City native, yes citizen is no longer good enough for me now, I prefer native. I hung up on him once as I fumbled for the right button on a phone that suddenly felt too big for my hands. We figured out that yes I was in fact heading in the wrong direction, no shock there, and in my excitement to get out of the Uber, I had completely missed the side gate which led to the entrance. But I made it in the end, red faced, sweating, I entered the Biblioteca Vasconcelos.

Once inside, I could finally breath again. I was home. The Biblioteca Vasconcelos, a public library, covers 38,000 square meters and houses over 600,000 books. I felt like I kept walking and walking, never reaching the end of this building. Hanging in the center was the bones of a dinosaur and I, of course, had to take a picture standing beneath it.

Being a bibliophile, I was struck by the magnitude of the place. So many stories, so many dedications of lives told through words all in one place that I began to tear up as I’m so prone to do when traveling and faced with a true love of mine. The realization of how lucky I am to be on this earth, to love what I love, and to be surrounded by it all in this moment in time is simply the best thing in the world to me.

This particular biblioteca also had a garden that stretched on one of its sides and I began to wonder why more libraries don’t have such a thing and maybe they do in other places; I am just unfamiliar.

I decided, now that since I’m a pro at Uber riding in Mexico City, that I would visit another public library. This one was called Biblioteca de Mexico “Jose Vasconcelos”.

The layout was different than the other biblioteca. It reminded me more of a palace than a public library.

There were several entry ways before I even spotted the first book. Everything was so open, airy and I wished I could have relaxed in all of that splendid openness, but it was raining. A down pour that was a small one at first, but then turned into a thunderstorm.

The Biblioteca de Mexico has more than 155,000 works and is organized over five large rooms, each one more unique than the last. I found myself hanging on the outskirts of one of the rooms when I spotted this statue staring at me.

I wanted to immediately steal the thing, smuggle it back into the states for my own home library. Once you have a pinkish red yarn man, do you really need anything else? I then noticed a group of librarians trying to get my attention through several large hand waves and a pleasant smile or two. I walked over and they excitedly began to explain more about how the library was set up, they even dug a pamphlet written in English out of a dusty pile underneath one of their desks and gave it to me. They acted like they hadn’t gotten a visitor in quite some time and their excitement really warmed my heart. Yes, I began to tear up, again.

This library was so beautiful, with each room being it's own special kind of peace, each book promising to take the reader through a journey of discovery and awakening if someone would dare to just open the covers. Sometimes I feel that the people who don't read are just afraid of what real knowledge might mean for them.

The entire day was one that I will always remember for it featured my very first love, los libros. I’m so thankful I didn’t let my anxiety deter me from experiencing the day although there were times I did have my doubts. The hotel bed always looks so much cozier, the sheets more comfortable to hide beneath, the hotel bar so much friendlier than having to brave the outside with all of its scary unknowns, but I sucked up my anxiety once again and I'm so happy, like I always am, that I did.

Thank you G for suggesting I spend the day completely surrounded by books, which you know always make me endlessly happy.