Fruit of Life

There’s something about Mexico City. Whenever I find myself in her warm embrace, I feel like I understand what it means to be human. The city constantly teems with life and you can’t help but be sucked into it.

It was drizzling when we arrived at Frida Kahlo’s house. I knew it was a touristy thing to do, but I was curious to see where the Mexican icon lived and worked. We had journeyed from the center of the city to the district of Coyoacán. We left a crowded subway car and popped outside next to a very busy intersection. After navigating ourselves through a tricky network of roads, we suddenly found ourselves among shady, tree-lined streets. They were curiously named for European capitals, and the drizzle made it so it wasn’t too hard to imagine we were walking along a residential street in London.

It purposefully took us a little while to find the house, but once we did we explored the life of such a dynamic artist. Seeing somebody’s expression of identity is always a remarkable experience, but here there was a heightened level of intimacy. It was partly because we were in the artist’s house, but a huge reason was because we were in the heart of her society.

Walking around Mexico City allows you to see incredible diversity. Many big cities open you up to an array of people from many walks of life, and there’s an overwhelming sense of culture and excitement I get from giant cities. Mexico City embodies this feeling, but differently. There’s an almost buzz in the air as you walk around and take in its sites, sounds, tastes, and desires. There’s something so completely organic and human about it that it’s hard not to have it consume and influence you

Frida’s art is wholly Mexican, but also it transcends national identity. It takes preconceived notions and turns them on its head. That’s what Mexico City does too. It’s an extremely Mexican city, but it’s also something beyond that. It’s humanity at its best and worst. It has an incredibly old history and yet you get a startling view into a long, substantial future.

We ended the day sitting in a plaza eating delicious food under a sunny sky near a Catholic cathedral. We watched passersby and marveled at how festive the vibe was on that particular Thursday afternoon. I thought about how that was my only goal in life. To experience it. To be incredibly human in a place where humanity was embraced and lived out loud.