Back in Davis

Hi everyone,

We have some Mexico posts to create still, meanwhile, we wanted to let you know that despite the crazy storms that are sweeping Northern California, we arrived home safely last night just before they hit. It's raining with apparently 40MPH winds. Our neighbor's (beautiful) tree was blown over and is currently resting on their car. We'll post a picture later.

Speak to you all soon.

a view of our duplex from the street (you can see our car on the right):
view of the street from our driveway (our neighbor's car engulfed in tree):

maintenance releasing the neighbor's car (and sadly destroying the beautiful tree):


scenes from around town:

Here's the warning Leigh got from UCD:

To UC Davis Faculty & Staff:
The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for Interior Northern California predicting heavy winds (40-60 mph) and heavy rain (3-5 inches). This could effect UC Davis campuses in Davis and Sacramento and our other regional facilities.
Facilities Operations and Maintenance has taken precautions to minimize any damage. However, program managers who monitor sensitive research, especially programs involving live animals or sensitive equipment, may wish to have someone come in after hours to make sure no damage has occurred, rather than wait through the weekend.

mexico city - last day 3-jan-08

With a half day left to see some last museums, we headed out to the area of Mexico City called Coyoacan where the Museo Trotsky and Museo Frida Kahlo are.

Andrew consulting the guidebook:

Leon Trotsky was forced into exile and he sought refuge in Mexico in 1937 with the aid of Diego Rivera. Trotsky and his wife lived with Rivera and Kahlo for two years before moving down the street into their own, fortified house.

Frida's famous blue house:



Trotsky's house/museum:
Trotsky's secretaries' office:
Trotsky's rabbit cages:
Newspaper clipping reviewing the status of Lenin's General Staff, most of whom had been executed at the time of publication:
The first attempt on Trotsky's life in his house at Coyoacan left more than 70 bullet holes in the plaster of the bedroom on 24 May 1940... This assassination attempt was led by painter David Siqueiros (one of the three famous Mexican muralists) who was working under the orders of the Stalinist Mexican Communist Party. Trotsky, his wife, and son survived by hiding under their beds.

Trotsky was killed on 20 August 1940 by a man invited into the house to supposedly review an article. The assassinator smashed an ice axe into Trotsky's skull. The killer claimed to be Frank Jackson from Belgium, and served 20 years in jail, but his true identity was Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio. . .

We are intrigued to learn more about Trotsky's life and hope to pick up a few texts by and about him, Lenin and Stalin . . . anyone have any suggestions?

After the museums, we wandered into the local market.
Tortilla-making machine in the Coyoacan market:
Piñata maker in the market:

mexico city - jan 2

With the return to the normal weekday, museums were again open. We visited the Museum of Anthropology expecting to spend the full day there. But, Leigh felt a little ill, so unfortunately, we spent a few hours exploring the museum before heading back to a hotel to get some rest.

en route to the museum...


Highlights from the museum:

Hook and googly eyed creatures like what we saw in the Yucatan:
...and we thought Homer and the macarena were from our civilization:

long lost relatives?

Perhaps the Mayans celebrated the calamari as we do?

(from Santiago Jan 2007)

more turkeys:
the anthropology museum's incredible mushroom-like structure:
?mistaken by 'discoverers' for the calendar, this was actually a sculpture used for sacrifice:
fabulous serpent sculpture:
reminders of work are never out of sight:
for Steve:


this may have been the way the ruins were painted centuries ago:
cool bird:

for daniela:

After resting up at the hotel, we ventured back out for dinner. We were informed that the tiled building was one of many Sanborns - a department store and restaurant. So we walked a few blocks towards the Bellas Artes and wandered into the building:

We were delighted to find a diner-like restaurant with patrons from all levels of Mexican society - just our kind of place! We ate some great Mexican food and wandered around the building a bit...

In a stairway of the building was an Orozco mural:


The building's architecture was especially wonderful... the ceiling:
...and stairs:

another, more fancy dining room with a typical Mexican piñata hanging from the ceiling:

mexico city - 01-01-08

It was New Years Day and still nothing was open. We wandered around Polanco and Condesa - both very snazzy areas of Mexico City. Usually these areas have great cafes, restaurants, art galleries, etc. Polanco is the district in which Sasha and Sergio live - with fancy shmancy designer shops and upscale housing.

Here are some fun cars we saw on our walk:

Neo-colonial Spanish architecture:

Since it was New Year's day, Sasha and Sergio made a traditional Southern meal with collard greens and black-eyed peas. Yummy!
Thanks guys for your fabulous hospitality - so great to spend time with friends on New Years!