Day 50: The Illustrious Frida Kahlo’s House
Friday, February 20, 2015
Per usual we left for our first site at 9a.m. We spent a bit of time at Templo Mayor and its museum. Templo Mayor was a major capital in Tenochtitlan, the capital city for the Aztecs. The temple is said to be at the exact spot where Huitzilopochtli, a god of the Mexica people, placed an eagle on a nopal cactus with a snake in its mouth. This sign was how the Mexica people were to know that they had reached their promised land. Inside the museum were artifacts that had been excavated, including spear heads, jewelry, pots, pans, and other items.
We finally headed to one of the most anticipated sites of the entire study abroad quarter: Frida Kahlo’s house. Her house is located in Coyoacan. She was born in this home, lived in it, and died in it. For a few years she lived there with her husband, Diego Rivera. It is known as The Frida Kahlo Museum, or sometimes La Casa Azul, or The Blue House, for its blue facade.
the one and only Frida Kahlo’s House
The museum has a collection of work from Kahlo, her personal belongings and art that she and Rivera collected, as well as some of Rivera’s work and various pieces that have been created in her honor. There are various rooms in the house and each one has a different theme, including: some of her less popular works, her fashion, clothes inspired by her fashion, items that she used everyday, her home decor, modern art that was inspired by Kahlo, pre-Hispanic artifacts and other items that Kahlo valued, her kitchen, and her dining room. Outside is a courtyard with various structures and a screen for viewing documentaries about her life.
some of Frida Kahlo’s wardrobe on display
Frida Kahlo is very well known for her self portraits, and just about every room had one. In these portraits, and in her other works, are symbols and images that allude to some of her values. Fertility, Communism, indigenous Mexican cultures, and her health are all common themes in her paintings, dolls, home decor and even fashion.
Kahlo and Rivera hosted many people in their home, such as Leon Trotsky and other Communist thinkers, and photos from their visits are on display in the museum. Although Kahlo and Rivera shared many of the same political views, married twice, and constantly inspired and supported one another artistically, their marriage was not great. They both practiced infidelity and he was often mean and controlling. Yet they had a deeply intimate relationship and memoirs from their time together is also throughout the museum.
Her crutches and corsets, head bands, scarves, skirts, shoes and other clothing are also especially notable items on display. Having contracted polio at age six and been severely injured in a bus accident at age 18, Kahlo was left with uneven legs, the inability to give birth to children, and a lifetime of intense pain. She had to wear a brace and extra inches on one of shoes for most of her life. Kahlo used her incredible artistic ability to show her character and express herself the way she wanted to be presented, regardless of her physical condition. This is especially evident in her fashion as she used her own self as a canvas. Some of her most iconic style pieces include long skirts and scarves, corsets, floral head bands, and braided hair. Each of these items served a purpose. They highlighted some of the features she saw most prominently in herself-such as her face-and concealed her different sized shoes. The clothing had strong influences from the Tehuana culture, which she associated with her mother. A large collection of her clothing and personal belongings were released 50 years after her death, per the wishes of Rivera, and I had the opportunity to see many of the items up close and in person.
Today Kahlo is celebrated as a feminist, activist, and artist. Her biography, artistry, relationships, and political beliefs have all been heavily researched and documented. She continues to inspire people to this day and her influence is seen across a great number of artistic mediums.
“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” -Frida Kahlo
Friday was our last day in the city with the university. Some students headed back to Oaxaca after this evening, but I decided to stay in a hostel and explore weekends in DF. The hostel experience was an…aventura.
But before we returned to the city, we explored Coyoacan a bit more. We ate at an ice cream parlor that was absolutely superb. Every flavor had real chunks of the pastry mixed in. I had a double scoop-cheesecake and oreo with a whole Oreo to top it off. It was so delicious.
We took the metro back to the hotel. (Trying to get a not so touristy-experience by using the public transit as opposed to a taxi. Also, 5 peso transportation beats 100 peso transportation every time.) We packed up our bags and headed to the hostel.
This was my first hostel experience. There were a number of travelers from all over the world and from all ages, although most people were in their 20’s. The building had pop culture decor, with brightly colored walls and furniture and a different theme for each of the four floors. We stayed on the Teotihuacan floor (as evidenced by the giant picture of the Pyramid of the Sun and a sign, though not much else.) Our rooms looked like an Ikea college dorm spread and were very comfortable. However the bathrooms were old and communal and that freaked me out a bit (by a bit I mean a lot and by a lot I mean I am cringing as I think about it) but we only stayed two nights, so it all worked out fine.
That night we went to a club that had a reputation for being really cool and exciting. A massive dance floors, crowds of fun people, tight security, and neon lights. We were pumped! And we got there and saw that the dance floor truly was massive-and it had two floors! In fact, the dance floor was so massive that large groups of people were able to create six large circles for people to dance in in the spotlight. The lights were awesome, too. They were neon and our white pants glowed in the dark.
The music was okay. It was 70’s night so they played songs from the that era that topped various charts around the world. And the people dancing in the circles were having dance battles. The battles were actually regulated, as only two people were allowed in each circle at a time. The dancers were really getting their groove on! You could tell people were in their element, and perhaps that was because the club was filled with 50 and 60 year olds! Now that was quite the surprise. Our first Friday night in Mexico City and we couldn’t dance in the club because we would be interrupting a disco dance party from the good ol’ days. That was such a silly night, but it made for a great story and it was fun to experience something new-in Mexico City nonetheless!
After that adventure we took taxis back the the hotel. The taxis in DF are so expensive compared to the 40 or 50 peso taxis in Oaxaca. The meter started at something like 50 pesos and almost ran past 200 pesos just to go a couple of blocks! We ended up walking a bit and got back to the hostel in time to rest up for Saturday in Mexico City!
73 Aventuras 