A week tomorrow since the earthquake. The streets of Mexico are silent. Eerie. This is the South. The South has colour, there is noise, movement. Yet, hope of finding any remaining survivor is practically over. And the streets are silent. I’ve just made a selection of photos taken a few weeks ago near the centre of the city, some of the areas most badly hit and other spots. There are enough photos of the wreckage on the news. Let’s stick to the ones with life. The above is a café in the street of Guanajuato or Zacatecas, Roma neighbourhood.
Roma neighbourhood again. A very “hip” area now, lots of cafés and restaurants. Art nouveau buildings, many of which are on the verge of collapsing.
Tlalpan, our area. A few weeks ago. The church of Saint Agustine. Those who can read Latin may wonder about that prayer.
The same gate last Saturday. The portico has been closed. See the horizontal fracture on the left pillar? The belfry is damaged. The church dates back to the 16th century. Though many colonial buildings have held better that modern ones, Mexico has not only lost people, it has lost a part of its history: many old churches in the interior have been damaged.
Thar she blows. Roma neighbourhood.
A very unusual white dove, last Saturday in the streets of Tlalpan. Will there be peace?
Thine castle Milord?
Roma again.
Gea Gonzalez Hospital. Tlalpan. There are a dozen top level hospitals nearby.
To the left of the Gea Hospital. Those are water wells scattered all across the city. Comex, the leading paint company and Converse (left corner) have struck a deal with the water company to brighten up the wells. Love it. Plain and simple. 🙂
Colonial church, near the centre. The road simply divides around the church. See on the right?
“La ruda”. “The tough one”. (Feminine). The people of Mexico have demonstrated, once again, 30 years after the devastating ‘quake of ’85, their extraordinary resilience, compassion, solidarity. Volunteers flocked by the thousands and thousands to the crumbled sites. Human chains lifted stones and bricks with bare hands. Supplies, food, medicines, gloves, helmets, machinery were donated by the truckload. The people of Mexico deserve more peace and luck than they’ve had in the past thirty years. (Crossing fingers here as in many other places is for good luck) The following illustration is not mine. It has circulated on Whatsapp the last few days. I find it very appropriate:
Equinoxio 
It is hard to understand the destruction and loss. I am glad you got the photos before the earthquake. My strongest well wishes for the people of Mexico. Please stay well , we need the tours, the reminders, the glimpse into other places. Hugs
Thank you Scottie. Take care.
Thank you for presenting this peaceful vision of Mexico City’s streets. I love those old, ornate buildings. It’s painful to think they might collapse in the next earthquake. We keep losing parts of our history bit by bit, but hopefully we’ll never lose our sense of community and solidarity.
Hola Fabiola. Me acordé de tí la semana pasada. Espero que estén bien todos, familia, amigos, conocidos, hasta enemigos! 🙂 And yes the response was – and still is – formidable. Viva!
“St Augustine pray for us” seems innocuous enough or is there a deeper meaning one should be contemplating?
I should have known you would have understood “ora pro nobis” (maintenant et à l’heure de notre mort?”. I was just reflecting that those prayers were not very effective in terms of the many casualties… But don’t mind me. I shouldn’t get into religion…
Thank you so much for posting these beautiful photos. They bring back so many happy memories. I am also glad to hear that you are ok.! So much damage…so much loss…it is almost unbearable. Ánimo.. ❤
Thank you. Gracias. It is another layer of sadness, but Mexico has a way to get over tragedy… And the sun’s shining today… 🙂
So very true.! Glad to hear the sun is shining. Cuidate…
Tú también.
Memories of a very near past. How fragile existence is…
It is. Very.
You images always are so very beautiful. Still sending prayers to the people of Mexico and all around the world where devastating losses are occurring. Peace and love Brian, always, Kim
Thank you always Kim. I realized only late in Life, that what I had been looking for all over the globe was Beauty. And that realization came to me as I was standing on a small bridge leading to Notre-Dame, looking at the river Seine. So, yes, let’s try to reach for Beauty. 🙂 (And Peace and Love)
Ah, si. Viva Mexico. Have you heard whether the old cathedral on the Zocolo survived, more or less? Those floors were already wavy.
As far as I know the Cathedral is OK. But many churches and old buildings in the interior are in very bad shape. 😦
A nice post Brian. I hope the recovery goes as well as possible down there. I can only imagine how many people are missing still…
Thank you Jenny. Hundreds or thousands missing I guess? Terrible.
Oh no. That’s awful. I was hoping you would tell me fewer.
I don’t really have a figure. Just estimating, taking into account not just mexico city but the interior as well…
Let’s hope it will be less.
Yes. Let’s.
Bonne chance Mexico!
Muchas gracias!
Viva Mexico indeed!!!
Thank you Patti. How have you been? Long time no hear.
🙂
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Thanks for the link.
Lovely post. With sadness too. I guess it reflects México’s current state. Sad but with hope and some happiness and pride to see how the people came together. Nice about the dove!
Exactly. And the dove… was quite unusual. never saw one here. Must have escaped… 🙂
My heart goes out to the people of Mexico. As my daughter also lives in a very seismic unstable area, I always think of the earthquakes with dread. Horrible tragedy.
Thank you for your thoughts Inese. The quakes are not so bad per se. It’s the greed and corruption that bring tragedy. I guess a thatched hut collapsing is not that bad. Your daughter lives… in Arizona? Or am I mistaken? Saint-Louis?
Near the Rocky Mountains, not too far from Yellowstone. They had about 460 small tremors from 1.5-3.1 in Idaho and surroundings in the past 30 days and 700 in the past 365 days.
Yeah, I would expect that region to be “sensitive”. Do they live in a house or a flat?
House. With a basement.
Good. (No tornadoes over there?)
No, so far not, but people feel uneasy about the Yellowstone volcano.
I can imagine. Here one gets used to volcanoes. I even climbed Popocatepetl – 5,200 meters, before it started becoming active. Now, some days there are ashes all over the city.
Oh that could not be good. I hope the earthquake didn’t wake her up… It definitely triggered the Idaho-Utah tremors.
Strange things are going on.
Hope things are getting back to normal for you over there.
Thank you Julie. Slow pace, but there we go. 🙂
a walk with colours!
Mexico has many colours as I am sure Calcutta has
Oh yes, this. The world forgets, sadly. Is this in the past now over there or still on people’s minds? I knew some Mexicans when I was studying in France 16 years ago. They always made it sound like such a warm-hearted place. They were from Guadalajara, I remember.
People forget. 🙂