People here have been saying :Asustados Unidos: to me for the past few days and laughing. Know what asustado means? SCARED. I get it! hahahah... I have to say, this has been a lovely vacation from fear and the word 'terrorism.' I just realized that I was not feeling it, nor was I missing it.
To try to describe my experience at Lucha Libre would be like trying to explain an ecstatic religious experience. Not just as a witness, either. But I am going to have to.... And to see it here in the most prestigious stadium, where Dr. Wagner (of more than 50 years) beat the hell outta Mistico, well. I just can´t find words, but I get a lump in my throat trying to. The moves were carefully choreographed, the costumes and architypes were clear but not general or boring. I took cell phone pics which I will post later. But you will not be able to hear thousands of people chanting ´culero! culero! culero!´ or hear children screaming curse words that blow your mind. My mouth was wide open for 2 hours. Parts of it were slow and calculated like a slow mo reinactment on a true crime show. One highlight was a wrestler in US army camo with swastikas on his mask. loaded! also, perros del mal (bad dogs)- three wrestlers who look like kid rock. they were in the little wrestlers portion of the match. All shorties. And it was buck wild. There was 10 fights at once at one point. it took seeing the opening acts to see how masterful the real thing is.
today was amazing. I met a graf artist who 1. is working on his thesis, 2. is ahem my age, and 3. is a wrestler!! I have a bunch of things to ask him. He has already connected me to a coop graf gallery (and a guy who lives there) that is like a hall of fame. It is visually stunning. Very public-private combo. (It´s like 3 caps for a dollar here, so lemme know!)
also, i saw some 500 year old maps today but i have not got the energy left. save some for later after I eat a giant cob of corn with chile on it. followed by rice pudding.