Soccer in Mexico.
The soccer league in Mexico is called Liga MX and has 18 teams. Here are the current standings.
The soccer league in Mexico is called Liga MX and has 18 teams. Here are the current standings.
The main four teams are América 26%, Chivas 20%, Cruz Azul 10%, Pumas 9%. The percentages next to the teams correspond to the percentage of Mexicans nationwide claiming that to be their preferred team. Surprisingly Cruz Azul and especially Chivas (Guadalajara) are not doing so hot. Chivas is at risk of relegation to the second division if they finish in last place, something that happened to Argentina´s top team River Plate a few years ago. Of the top 4 teams, all but Chivas are in Mexico City.
The Cruz Azul stadium is a 5 minute walk from my house, so naturally I went with them as my team of choice. It is more of a middle to low-class team (the sponsor is a cement company), but I like the convenience. I went to a game last Saturday and I bought the most expensive ticket for 95 pesos, or 7 dollars. The seats in the home fans section behind the goal (like at Sounders games), are only 50 pesos, or $4. I have a feeling I´m going to go to a lot of games. The quality of play is very good, perhaps better than the Sounders. The Sounder´s record against Mexican teams in the Liga MX is 3-6, which shows it´s a pretty high level here. The Sounders recently played Chivas in September and split games 1-1.
Here are some pictures from the game:
And the classic, police protecting player on corner kick from debris from fans:
This Saturday is Cruz Azul vs. América, which is considered a classic, clásico, as they are two of the most popular teams in Mexico, and have the cross-city rivalry of being in Mexico City. The tickets are more expensive for this at 300 pesos or $22, but still worth it in my mind to see the environment.
Food
I love food. While DF doesn´t have the same diversity of food as San Francisco, it certainly beats it on convenience and price. Recently I have discovered equite, which is a cup of corn with lime juice, mayonaise, chili pepper, and salt. It costs $1.25 and is very filling. A great grab on my way home from work. I also recently spotted the cheapest tacos I have seen so far: 7 tacos for 80 cents. I decided not to risk it... this time.
Esquite:
Esquite:
Here's a picture. This is actually the sweet potatoe guy.
Another guy just shouts PPPAAAAAAANNNNN, which means bread. There are also other vendors selling gas. Mexico City has about 2 million vehicles, and 9 million people (in city limits), so certain things like gas tanks need to be delivered to your house as not everyone has a car to go pick it up from the store.
Close to my house I have a number of food options. The following things are within 2 blocks: supermarket, brazilian steakhouse, argentinian steakhouse, ice cream, frozen yogurt, 7/11, french restaurant, Mexican restaurant, tacos, ceviche, esquite, birria (goat stew). So I think I´m pretty well situated. Haven´t yet been to the brazilian steakhouse but it´s only $160 pesos, or $13 USD, and they have unlimited meat on swords.
In case you were wondering if there were hipsters in DF, let me answer that with a picture:
Notice the hipster hat, and t-shirt with fish on it. The pug is thinking, what the hell am I doing here.
On Sunday I went to a food truck event with about 15 food trucks. The prices were more reasonable than SF food trucks, but still way more than they should be. I like to call this the Hipster Bump. Even though hipsters try to be counter-culture / anti-materialism, everything hipster is more expensive. Food trucks are a great example of this as they are more expensive than regular brick and mortor restaurants, which makes no sense given that food trucks have very little fixed operating costs. The hipster bump can also be observed in hipster clothing prices, and in Mexican Mezcal. Mezcal is the same as tequila but tequila is distilled 3 times, and Mezcal just 1 time. This would make one think that tequila would be more expensive. BUT, the hipster bump is in play as Mezcal is super hipster, THUS mezcal is actually more expensive despite being a less elaborated product.
Pictures from the Food trucks:
Here´s some photos of my most recent eatings:
Chiles en Nogada. The sauce is sweet and it has cranberries on it.
Celery, Pineapple, and Cactus Yogurt. I thought it was weird too, but tastes great.
I also had the opportunity to eat grasshoppers, or chapulines.
And the close up...
These little guys were pretty expensive. The didn't taste bad, but they also didn't taste good.
Other Mexican dishes:
Tasajo Vaquero:
Tlayuda: pretty much a Mexican pizza. Swap tomato sauce for bean spread.
And, some of the stuff I've been whipping up at home. Mostly bean based, haha.
Bismal. It is a side affect and does not necessarily mean that you have upper GI tract
internal bleeding as a Google Search would first suggest.
P.S. I'm getting excited for Bull Fighting which starts up soon, and is right next to Cruz Azul Stadium.
