The Venice of Mexico City

After one week of adjusting to Mexico City- the altitude, the water and the (sometimes too friendly) people- we set off on our first sight-seeing adventure with the other Casa volunteers and friends of the Casa. We traveled about one hour on metro and "tren ligero" until we arrived in the town of Xochimilco, otherwise known as "the Venice of Mexico City." Hundreds of years ago, before Mexico City became one of the most populous areas on earth, it was the city of Tenochtitlan. There, about 250,000 people survived by using an agricultural process based completely on the use of canals. Today, the town of Xochimilco is the only remnant of those ancient canals. However, instead of being used as an agricultural method, tourists can rent a boat and a guide for several hours to explore the souvenir- and mariachi band-filled waterways. There, the romantic Venetian visions of couples kissing under bridges are replaced by intoxicated tourists dancing wobbily on their narrow "gondolas" and singing passionately to Mariachi bands paid to float alongside them for the duration of a few songs. So maybe we didn't get to see the ancient artifacts and historic buildings until the second week of our time here, but we certainly got to experience the appreciation for friendship and celebration unique to the Mexican way of life.