A Love Letter to Mexico City
A note I wrote after my first year in the city.
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I fell in love with Mexico City.
I fell in love with the ink on your skin, the faded color of a smiling cat and a family of shapes that greet me in the morning, rising with the steam of your breath above my tired eyes.
I fell in love with the way you dance, swaying from one shoulder to the other, losing yourself in the melody as if nothing else exists but the beat of our hearts and the prance of our heels.
I fell in love with the portrait of your jaw, slanted at an angle that accentuates your smile, a calm and poised invitation to the playful wake on the other side.
I fell in love with the music we find every other night — in a hazy room filled with red lights, an old building overpowered with bass, a rooftop covered in trees and the sound of Mariah Carey, a basement flooded in green and the gritty seduction of a reggaeton song I mumble the melody to.
I fell in love with the plethora of references you express at the tide of your joys and excitements, drawn from songs, movies, and television shows, references as familiar to me now as the scent of my childhood, even if I never knew the source.
I fell in love with parts of myself I never knew existed, splashing sparkles and color across my face and riding the pattern of a weekend’s parties like a fresh, white wave.
I fell in love with the cadence of your laughter that dances around the room, protesting the weather, for it harnesses the art of transforming a rainy day into a bright one too.
I fell in love with the line between stranger and friend, witnessing the thread break, the curtains open, and the light fall on all of us.
I fell in love with our sense of humor — jokes about death, about sex, about the people who take themselves too seriously, and, most of all, about ourselves.
I fell in love with the grit of your beauty, how it shines like the sun at eight a.m., giving life and zest to everything it touches, even in crowded rooms with toilets that don’t flush.
I fell in love with your love for each other, the way you both harmonize a room with a simple glance or exchange, and how loved you make others feel too.
I fell in love with your amusement, all-inclusive like a neon lit park, chuckling at even the worst jokes that everyone else leaves for dead.
I fell in love with the way you give inanimate objects life, carrying conversation between plush animals as if they’d been a part of our story forever.
I fell in love with the tapestry of greens that drench your streets, the sweet scent of bakeries that give refuge from the rotten asphalt, the parks that dot your concrete body like patches of sunlit life on a pale torso, and the dogs — small, large, long; ugly, cute, exotic — that strut and huff along just like the rest of us, Monday through Sunday.
I fell in love with calling you home.
I fell in love with calling you family.
Capy Corner: The Xanax of News 🙂
For once, some good news — helping us be a little less stressy and depressy! Here’s a roundup of some wins in cultural diversity and representation for queer, BIPOC+, and womxn-identifying communities around the globe:
The Ebony Alert bill is lauded by Black advocates as 'historic' step in rescuing missing children - Los Angeles Times - la times
Starting January 1, California will introduce the "Ebony Alert," a system to notify residents about missing Black youths, addressing the gaps in the current Amber Alert system. The legislation, signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, allows the California Highway Patrol to use changeable message signs, media, and social media to spread alerts, especially since Black youths have frequently been labeled as “runaways” and often omitted from Amber Alerts. This change is critical given that 39% of all missing children in the U.S. in 2022 were Black, a statistic that's disproportionate to the Black population's 14% share in the U.S.
Queer pop powerhouse Chappell Roan is making waves - washington post
Chappell Roan, the drag persona of 25-year-old Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, is an emerging alternative pop artist from Willard, Mo., who is making waves with her mix of 2008-era Lady Gaga energy and Carole King lyricism. Behind her character, Roan navigates her identity, coming to terms with her queerness and the conservative surroundings she grew up in, using her music and imagery to comment on the themes of alienation and desire she experienced. While her online presence has been instrumental in her success, Roan places importance on connecting with fans, especially queer individuals in the Midwest, in person through her themed shows.
Bad Bunny judged a 'Shark Tank'-style competition for Latino businesses, aiming to uplift the Latinx entrepreneurial community - la times
Reggaetón superstar Bad Bunny participated as a top judge in his own “Shark Tank”-style competition at the Forbes Under 30 Summit held in Cleveland. The competition, "Bad Bunny’s Under 30 Latinx Pitch Competition," highlighted young entrepreneurs from Latin America. Jaime Castro, co-founder of Selia, a Latinx mental health platform, won the prize which consisted of $100,000 from Bad Bunny and $200,000 from Forbes. The platform, established in Colombia, matches Spanish speakers with virtual therapists across Latin America, aiming to bridge the gap in mental health care for Latinos who face language barriers and cultural misunderstandings in the U.S. The event emphasized the financial potential and challenges within the Latino community, urging them to build wealth and give back.
Playlist of the Week: 10 Songs for Falling in Love with Mexico City 🎛️
This week’s playlist covers a selection of songs that remind me of my first year in Mexico City, including artists from Mexico and around the globe. Notably, Disco Bahia (one of my favorite indie groups rising in Mexico — from León, Guanajuato), Reyna Tropical (a duo focused on queer love and afro-latin biculturalism), and Bad Bunny (who is a phenomenon in Mexico and everywhere — no link necessary).
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With love,
Your favorite capybara ~ AKA Travis Zane
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