33.2

One of my favorite dives used to be located a few steps from the Plaza Garibaldi, where mariachis warble and blare for the minions in Mexico City. The hang, called El 33, was a bar where transvestite prostitutes began to arrive at two or three in the morning, to relax after finishing a night’s labor. Until dawn they tended to drink, dance, laugh, cry and look for boyfriends – the real ones, not the short-timers in exchange for a few pesos. The place abruptly closed its doors a few years ago.

A little while ago a reduced version of El 33 opened in the same location. Literally reduced: Without the long hallway and enormous salon in the back, it is now one of the smallest bars in the city.

On Fridays and Saturdays there is a show, which includes an Alejandro Fernández impersonator, an XXL-sized drag queen who lip-synchs along to Lucha Villa records (while wearing a banana-yellow dress with embroidered daisies), and the woman above, who imitates the singer Alicia Villareal. She began by thanking “the most select drunks of Garibaldi” for arriving to catch her act, in particular a woman who, according to the singer, “was my boyfriend when she was a man.” In the above photo, she demonstrates her maternal instinct with a particularly childish customer, mid-song.

Labels: Mexico City, gay nightlife

On the road

By the week of June 9, my book about Mexico City, First Stop in the New World, should be in stores across the U.S. Hence, for the next three weeks or so I will be in el norte promoting it.

I will be appearing on various radio programs, but also making appearances to talk about the book and sign copies.

Here is the schedule of events:

Thursday, June 12
Idlewild Books, 7pm
12 West 19 Street
(between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York

This event is sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute and a cocktail reception will follow.

Monday, June 16
Mount Pleasant Branch Public Library, 7 pm
3160 16th St. NW
Washington, DC

Tuesday, June 17
Housing Works Bookstore Café, 6:30 pm
206 Crosby Street
(one block east of Broadway between Houston and Prince Streets)
New York

This event will be a conversation between the great Guatemalan-American novelist Francisco Goldman and me. There will be beer.

Saturday, June 21
Mexican Cultural Institute (co-sponsored by Cervantes Center), 5pm
125 Paseo De La Plaza, Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Thursday, June 26
Martinez Bookstore, 7 pm
1110 N. Main Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

If you’re around any of those places, please come. And if you know anyone in those cities, please spread the word. As far as the blog is concerned, I hope to keep updating it while I’m on the road. In any case, keep watching this space.

Labels: First Stop in the New World, Mexico City

The only way to travel

Twice a week, one of my neighbors lovingly, achingly, painstakingly washes and waxes this Nissan 240 SX on the sidewalk outside the building. In the year or two since he rented the apartment, he has never moved the vehicle. It’s not for driving; it’s a fetish. Note that he has removed the headlights. I believe he did so because he is afraid that otherwise someone will try to steal it.

Labels: Mexico City, Nissan