WEBVTT - Mexico City: Mi Casa, Mi Casa 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:21.636 Pushkin. Hey, Brendan, this is Christie from Topic I'm Missing. 0:00:21.676 --> 0:00:24.836 You're on your flight to Mexico City right now. We 0:00:25.116 --> 0:00:26.956 just wanted to make sure you receive my email because 0:00:26.956 --> 0:00:29.556 they haven't hear back from you. So there just is 0:00:30.196 --> 0:00:33.956 We really want to proper dinner party from you this episode. 0:00:34.436 --> 0:00:37.556 Not like an art loss or a pizza party, but 0:00:37.756 --> 0:00:40.836 like an actual dinner party at the home of a 0:00:40.876 --> 0:00:43.156 local person. It's like you promise when you pitch just 0:00:43.276 --> 0:00:46.236 a podcast. Remember, Okay, let me know if you have 0:00:46.276 --> 0:00:50.196 any questions. Oh. Also, I was looking over your receipts 0:00:50.236 --> 0:00:54.396 and you can't expense cocktails on non travel base and 0:00:54.436 --> 0:00:57.876 I'm going to assume that was a mistake. Okay, assimi, Ago, 0:00:58.756 --> 0:01:02.636 this is not lost. Each episode, a friend and I 0:01:02.756 --> 0:01:06.516 go somewhere to find ourselves and yeah, try to get 0:01:06.556 --> 0:01:10.036 invited to a dinner party. Um, Brendan, friends is this week? 0:01:10.236 --> 0:01:14.196 My friend is my frequent co conspirator, the writer Daniel Henderson, 0:01:15.556 --> 0:01:26.916 and the somewhere Mexico City. Driving through a neighborhood, you 0:01:26.996 --> 0:01:29.236 see people kind of just going about their Friday morning 0:01:29.276 --> 0:01:31.876 routine and then you kind of turn on an avenue 0:01:31.876 --> 0:01:35.356 and it's very open and the city lake. Yeah, it's cool. 0:01:35.956 --> 0:01:38.796 After dropping our things off at our renter department, Danielle 0:01:38.796 --> 0:01:41.196 and I cruised the streets of Mexico City in the 0:01:41.236 --> 0:01:44.876 back of maneuver. We passed clusters of people gathered near 0:01:44.916 --> 0:01:48.156 food carts and coolers filled with twenty five cents Tomali's. 0:01:48.676 --> 0:01:52.076 The streetscape shifts from neo colonial buildings and big trees 0:01:52.396 --> 0:01:55.156 to low slung auto repair shops baking in the sun. 0:01:57.116 --> 0:02:00.036 So where we go, we're taking this uperwear. I thought 0:02:00.036 --> 0:02:03.836 we started the Zokolo, the main square, which is the 0:02:03.836 --> 0:02:06.476 center of Mexico City, of the city of twenty million 0:02:06.516 --> 0:02:12.036 and growing. And so we're meeting Professor Pavel Maldonado and 0:02:12.356 --> 0:02:14.316 he's a professor of culture at the University of Mexico. 0:02:14.596 --> 0:02:17.076 So I thought he could kind of get us our bearings. 0:02:17.316 --> 0:02:18.796 Because I get to do this all day, I could 0:02:18.836 --> 0:02:22.756 just be in the super Well. There's a lot of 0:02:22.756 --> 0:02:26.436 color here. It's like red grid white. Also, a woman 0:02:26.476 --> 0:02:28.996 wearing an aren't like he has a uniform with CDMX. 0:02:29.036 --> 0:02:30.916 It looks like she works for the city cleaning the 0:02:30.916 --> 0:02:35.556 sweeping the street. I like uniform culture. I feel like, 0:02:35.676 --> 0:02:38.396 don't don't expand on that that it's such a privilege 0:02:38.396 --> 0:02:45.156 in New York. No, it doesn't, or why I've warned 0:02:45.236 --> 0:02:49.876 them like I don't. Danielle might not share my appreciation 0:02:49.996 --> 0:02:52.596 for chic workwear, but it was important she and I 0:02:52.716 --> 0:02:54.716 were on the same page about our mission in Mexico, 0:02:55.436 --> 0:02:57.596 because yes, we were going to learn about the secrets 0:02:57.636 --> 0:03:01.356 of masks, wrestling, eat great food, and get private dance lessons. Well. 0:03:01.396 --> 0:03:04.916 He also had a very specific objective. She was really 0:03:05.036 --> 0:03:07.636 adamant that we have to have a dinner party this trip. 0:03:08.356 --> 0:03:11.516 I mean, that's on you. It's just not realistic for 0:03:11.596 --> 0:03:13.716 a travel show. I think it's if we were here 0:03:13.716 --> 0:03:17.676 for a week, sure, for two days. I mean, like, honestly, 0:03:17.676 --> 0:03:18.916 I feel like at the beginning of the show, I 0:03:18.996 --> 0:03:21.156 did think it was a good idea, But as you've 0:03:21.196 --> 0:03:24.356 pointed out to me, in other places, like we do 0:03:24.516 --> 0:03:27.396 get good conversations with people while we're meeting them, so 0:03:27.476 --> 0:03:29.636 it does seem a little superfluous maybe to go to 0:03:29.716 --> 0:03:32.596 their home, but I don't know that's the show they bought. 0:03:34.876 --> 0:03:37.036 In a moment, the light shifts in the back of 0:03:37.076 --> 0:03:42.676 our uber are dense surroundings, cars, peddlers, pedestrians give way 0:03:42.916 --> 0:03:47.396 to sky and space. Yeah, it is legitimately the biggest 0:03:47.436 --> 0:03:51.036 flag I've ever seen in my life, Mexican flag. We've 0:03:51.196 --> 0:03:54.116 entered the Zokolo, one of the largest city squares in 0:03:54.196 --> 0:03:57.356 the world. Casually dressed in a Bart Simpson T shirt, 0:03:57.556 --> 0:04:00.476 Professor Pavel Maldonado fits right in with the other locals, 0:04:00.636 --> 0:04:04.556 just doing their thing in the Zokolo's vast, shadeless expanse. 0:04:04.996 --> 0:04:08.196 You know, guys work here at the Socolo, the santric area, 0:04:08.196 --> 0:04:11.196 and this plast is supposed to hold one hundred thousand 0:04:11.236 --> 0:04:13.756 people if you want to be you know heard nowadays 0:04:13.796 --> 0:04:16.556 saying whatever this the play were used to come even 0:04:16.596 --> 0:04:19.396 from Mexicans that are now from Mexico City. Did he 0:04:19.516 --> 0:04:21.556 of coming to Socco? It's like wow, you know, like 0:04:21.836 --> 0:04:24.076 the big deal. You know, you may think that it's 0:04:24.156 --> 0:04:26.556 kind of touristic, like I get a picture of selfie, 0:04:26.636 --> 0:04:28.876 you know, with a flat but actually I would say 0:04:28.876 --> 0:04:31.876 that probably nine out of ten Mexicans you know, have 0:04:32.116 --> 0:04:34.596 this picture as a Facebook profile, you know, at least 0:04:34.636 --> 0:04:36.436 once in their lives. What is it like to live 0:04:36.476 --> 0:04:39.396 in the middle of all these millions and millions of people? 0:04:39.956 --> 0:04:43.756 Is the city where everything can happen? You know, it's funny. 0:04:44.116 --> 0:04:48.076 Salvador da Lee came here once only watching his life 0:04:48.596 --> 0:04:50.476 and he was like, um, I don't know, like kind 0:04:50.516 --> 0:04:51.956 of jealous because he was like, you know, the city 0:04:52.076 --> 0:04:54.716 like so surreal, you know, even more than my art. 0:04:58.676 --> 0:05:01.796 Do you guys know? By the way, what's the definition 0:05:01.836 --> 0:05:05.436 of the word Mexico do you guys know it? No? Well, 0:05:05.476 --> 0:05:09.436 the word Chico, like from Mexico, means center, So the 0:05:09.516 --> 0:05:12.956 word Mexico mins the belly, bottom of the universe, the 0:05:13.076 --> 0:05:16.636 center of the universe. What's going on? Well, you know, 0:05:16.836 --> 0:05:19.316 this plas is like so popular. You know, people who 0:05:19.716 --> 0:05:22.716 you know have here or said some protests or some 0:05:23.156 --> 0:05:26.476 meetings and like, you know, people trying to get some 0:05:26.876 --> 0:05:31.116 more riots. You know, in general, get right, but also 0:05:31.196 --> 0:05:33.596 like the place where you have all these massive concerts, 0:05:33.636 --> 0:05:36.796 free concerts. I also think it's it's kind of interesting 0:05:37.716 --> 0:05:44.116 that there's such a rich history of heavy metal music here. Yeahs, 0:05:44.156 --> 0:05:47.076 who are your bands? Guns and Roses and yes, you 0:05:47.196 --> 0:05:51.076 know kids like or Ozzie Osbourne, y alltise like heavy 0:05:51.076 --> 0:05:52.596 metal bands were like like you know, it's this white 0:05:52.636 --> 0:05:54.956 guy with his long hair. You know here in Mexico 0:05:55.076 --> 0:05:57.836 we carried to ideas a stigma like that brown skin 0:05:57.916 --> 0:06:01.836 people are not attractive. So yes, when the Spanish came here, 0:06:02.076 --> 0:06:04.276 of course, the idea of being indigenous, you know it 0:06:04.316 --> 0:06:06.636 would be brown skin was like, you know, that's not cool, 0:06:06.796 --> 0:06:10.116 you know, But the slash was like, yeah, this guy's bronsky. 0:06:10.276 --> 0:06:14.476 I love that slash was the gateway. Yeah, we're literally, 0:06:14.516 --> 0:06:17.196 I mean so we're literally on top of a Naztec ruin, right, Yeah, 0:06:17.236 --> 0:06:18.676 that's right, you can see it. Actually, what does it 0:06:18.796 --> 0:06:20.916 feel like to live in a city where the past 0:06:21.036 --> 0:06:23.956 is underneath you and the future is rapidly being built 0:06:23.996 --> 0:06:27.996 around you? Many people they will say like, oh, you know, 0:06:28.076 --> 0:06:31.236 people here we have no memory. I think that's why 0:06:31.316 --> 0:06:34.356 we're not so aware of who we are. And if 0:06:34.396 --> 0:06:36.156 you're not aware of that, you're you're not aware of 0:06:36.396 --> 0:06:45.636 who you can bet. We hear drums and follow their 0:06:45.676 --> 0:06:48.476 sound to a far corner of the Zokolo, we find 0:06:48.516 --> 0:06:51.596 a roped off area of dark stones and partial stairs 0:06:52.076 --> 0:06:54.796 remnants of a temple built in the fourteenth century for 0:06:54.916 --> 0:06:59.476 worshiping the God of Rain and the God of war. Nearby, 0:06:59.636 --> 0:07:01.556 a group of men and women dressed in n Aztec 0:07:01.596 --> 0:07:05.476 clothing with painted faces feathers and skull masks, bang on 0:07:05.596 --> 0:07:10.636 drums and dance. This place was so important before the 0:07:10.716 --> 0:07:12.956 Aztec civilization. It was a place where you can get 0:07:12.996 --> 0:07:15.876 in contact to the you know, the gods, the gods 0:07:15.956 --> 0:07:18.196 you know paid reviews are do you are these people 0:07:18.236 --> 0:07:22.876 actual Aztecs? No? Uh, they are. They went to Nyu, 0:07:24.196 --> 0:07:27.196 most of these people are. They're really like shamans or 0:07:27.236 --> 0:07:30.916 you know, educated people you know in these fields. Which, yeah, 0:07:30.956 --> 0:07:33.996 there's such of the culture. This place is so important 0:07:34.316 --> 0:07:37.076 and so popular, not only among visitors but also among 0:07:37.156 --> 0:07:39.316 locals because it's the place. Would you get the olympias? 0:07:39.436 --> 0:07:42.156 You know you have olympia, you know, to clean like 0:07:42.276 --> 0:07:45.076 negative vibes that you received from the order from your enemies. 0:07:45.796 --> 0:07:49.596 Olympia is an Aztec healing ritual meant to cleanse the spirit. 0:07:50.236 --> 0:07:53.436 It evolves being immersed in a percussive sound bath, rubbed 0:07:53.556 --> 0:07:56.956 with fresh herbs and the fog of insects. That's also 0:07:56.996 --> 0:08:01.676 a good preparation for chicken. You're heartbroken, you know, your 0:08:02.116 --> 0:08:04.436 job play as well. Come canna get olympia, man, Maybe 0:08:04.476 --> 0:08:06.636 I need to get one. Yeah, you know, I think 0:08:06.716 --> 0:08:08.956 I need some bad vibe removal. How do you do. 0:08:12.076 --> 0:08:14.556 Pavel approaches the shaman and lets him know him in 0:08:14.596 --> 0:08:18.756 the market for Olympia, You're leaving everything behind. You know, 0:08:18.956 --> 0:08:21.836 this is the new Brands and you know, yes, I'm 0:08:21.876 --> 0:08:23.956 wishing for this show to succeed because i want this 0:08:24.076 --> 0:08:26.476 to be my new future. And then also I'm wishing 0:08:26.516 --> 0:08:28.516 for a dinner party to happen by the end of 0:08:28.556 --> 0:08:35.916 this weekend. Raid close your right, please. The sound of 0:08:35.996 --> 0:08:40.156 the shell is gonna made out the spirits. This bad vibes, 0:08:40.596 --> 0:08:47.316 his bad souls escape from Brandon's body. But this rituals 0:08:47.356 --> 0:08:50.676 before and after the combats. It's the way that you 0:08:50.716 --> 0:08:53.556 can be protected. This is a new beginning for Brandson, 0:08:54.076 --> 0:08:55.996 you know, and it's a new beginning for all of us. 0:08:56.196 --> 0:09:07.436 Right now. I emerge ears ringing, smelling a bit like 0:09:07.516 --> 0:09:11.916 a hippie dorm room and invigorated. You're you're a new 0:09:11.996 --> 0:09:16.396 person now. That was smoky but interesting. I smelled a 0:09:16.436 --> 0:09:18.436 lot of sense. He made me close my eyes. I 0:09:18.516 --> 0:09:24.156 feel ready to roll. Not wanting the effect to wear off, 0:09:24.276 --> 0:09:26.316 I decided to put some of my newly cleansed vibes 0:09:26.356 --> 0:09:28.956 to work. Part of the thing we're doing is we're 0:09:28.956 --> 0:09:32.396 trying to get invited to someone's house for dinner. The 0:09:32.516 --> 0:09:35.276 idea thinking that getting in someone's home will really understand 0:09:35.316 --> 0:09:38.636 the culture. So I wonder, Daniel and I maybe induced 0:09:38.676 --> 0:09:40.596 a dinner party. You can invite your friends over, and 0:09:41.276 --> 0:09:43.196 I would really like to have you on my blaze. 0:09:43.236 --> 0:09:47.236 But uh, I get it, it's a big ask. Well 0:09:47.276 --> 0:09:49.476 how about this. I have faith that I'm going to 0:09:49.516 --> 0:09:51.236 find someone will be game if I do. Would you 0:09:51.316 --> 0:09:52.876 maybe be willing to join us? Yeah? You know, you 0:09:52.916 --> 0:09:55.596 can kind of meet with a a scalt man. Oh nice, 0:09:57.636 --> 0:09:59.556 I could do with a shot of mescal to Washtown 0:09:59.596 --> 0:10:03.316 Pavel's rejection for here in the belly button of Mexico, 0:10:03.636 --> 0:10:06.916 a huge space dedicated to social gatherings. You think people 0:10:06.916 --> 0:10:08.836 would jump at the idea of hosting a dinner party, 0:10:09.356 --> 0:10:13.036 but alas, it seems like good vibes alone aren't enough. 0:10:13.756 --> 0:10:16.236 We need to up our game. So that's what we do, 0:10:16.796 --> 0:10:21.436 all right, So our next job is dance lessons. Wait, 0:10:21.676 --> 0:10:24.756 you're you're having dance lessons and I'm going to hang out. 0:10:24.836 --> 0:10:27.196 We are We are going to have dance lessons, hopefully, 0:10:27.716 --> 0:10:31.676 because we are in a city where apparently everyone dances 0:10:31.756 --> 0:10:35.676 all the time, all ages old, young, For formal occasions 0:10:35.716 --> 0:10:38.636 and NYM formal occasions. I'm so excited to watch you 0:10:38.836 --> 0:10:43.836 do that. I personally know dance because I cannot dance. 0:10:44.076 --> 0:10:48.796 I have no moves. I've got great rhythm, I don't 0:10:49.036 --> 0:10:53.036 enjoy I don't know how to say it, but like, 0:10:54.236 --> 0:10:57.716 I'm at odds with my body and I don't want 0:10:57.796 --> 0:11:02.436 to do anything that I know will make me look 0:11:02.556 --> 0:11:07.236 and feel foolish. Dancing is for like beautiful people who 0:11:07.436 --> 0:11:09.196 like to be seen, and I don't like that. M 0:11:09.596 --> 0:11:11.476 I'm an old person with a sword back, and I 0:11:11.596 --> 0:11:15.196 like that. It's also a way to get lost. Let's 0:11:15.316 --> 0:11:17.356 let's think of it as a window into the culture, 0:11:17.356 --> 0:11:18.996 and we'll see. We'll take it from there. We'll go inside, 0:11:18.996 --> 0:11:21.556 we'll meet Rosa. We'll definitely gonna good meet and check 0:11:21.596 --> 0:11:32.356 it out and and watch thank you, goodbye, goodbye. Let 0:11:32.396 --> 0:11:34.636 me take it advil just in case I feel the 0:11:34.676 --> 0:11:38.636 spirit hit me. I should also take my hand I 0:11:38.676 --> 0:11:58.316 depressed them in case I feel spirit happy Rosa, Hi, 0:12:00.236 --> 0:12:03.116 hi Thaniel. For the reason we wanted to come here, 0:12:03.516 --> 0:12:05.516 or I wanted to come here, is because it seems 0:12:05.556 --> 0:12:07.636 like dancing is a very big part of the culture here. 0:12:08.916 --> 0:12:11.796 You usually like people come here to Mexico City. I 0:12:11.836 --> 0:12:15.676 don't know, like to know the city or the museums 0:12:15.956 --> 0:12:20.236 or the historic part, but not that like social aspect 0:12:20.396 --> 0:12:23.756 of life like in Mexico City. What are the most 0:12:23.916 --> 0:12:27.316 kind of common dances of this form? It would be 0:12:28.036 --> 0:12:31.516 salsa of course, dance on. I think it's one of 0:12:31.596 --> 0:12:35.276 the we're gonna learn how to do dance on here 0:12:35.316 --> 0:12:38.036 in Mexico. You've seen maybe you've seen it since you 0:12:38.116 --> 0:12:42.316 were a kid, so maybe even if you don't dance, well, 0:12:43.316 --> 0:12:46.836 you kind of know how to do it, like you 0:12:46.916 --> 0:12:49.956 know how it feels, it moves more like in a 0:12:50.116 --> 0:12:54.916 natural organic way. Americans. It's really funny because they look 0:12:55.156 --> 0:12:59.356 really Americans, so it's really easy to see that you're 0:12:59.436 --> 0:13:04.316 not like made to dance. Now you're on her side. 0:13:04.396 --> 0:13:08.716 Hold on a second, but actually it's I know you're 0:13:08.716 --> 0:13:12.036 saying Americans are just a little whatever stiffer. I would 0:13:12.076 --> 0:13:16.436 say trunk, like like you see that part of the 0:13:16.556 --> 0:13:22.236 tree trunk or like trunk. So you just moved like 0:13:22.796 --> 0:13:27.716 like a trunk. You know, you just walked like Frankenstein. 0:13:29.316 --> 0:13:31.196 Not to put you on the spot here, but what 0:13:31.356 --> 0:13:33.076 did you think about me when you saw me coming 0:13:33.156 --> 0:13:40.596 in I thought, okay, Brandon's American. God, Oh my god, 0:13:41.356 --> 0:13:45.756 you're right, And yet somehow I'm offended. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. 0:13:46.316 --> 0:13:51.476 I do walk like I came off a horse. You 0:13:51.596 --> 0:13:55.476 can be as great as you want, like because you're 0:13:55.596 --> 0:13:59.476 you can have fun and you can learn. And that's 0:13:59.796 --> 0:14:04.756 what this is all about, like having fun. No, I'm 0:14:04.796 --> 0:14:07.316 resistant to death. I didn't tell her we were coming 0:14:07.396 --> 0:14:10.196 until we were on your way, and then she said, 0:14:10.396 --> 0:14:14.156 already knew. And then she said that I will watch 0:14:14.236 --> 0:14:16.636 you dance because I'm not gonna dance, but I feel 0:14:16.676 --> 0:14:19.436 like Danielle will be an excellent dancer. Yeah, I think 0:14:19.516 --> 0:14:21.916 you're gonna be great. I'm so tall, I'm too big. 0:14:21.996 --> 0:14:26.316 I don't think that's only like stereotypes. This is not ballet. 0:14:26.676 --> 0:14:30.716 We're not in Russia. You just have one right foot 0:14:31.276 --> 0:14:34.836 and one foot. You just have to like know how 0:14:34.916 --> 0:14:37.836 to use them. So I think everybody can have that 0:14:38.036 --> 0:14:40.796 kind of like redemption. All right, well, let's do it. 0:14:43.996 --> 0:14:46.796 You need to be a little bit closer than that. 0:14:48.436 --> 0:14:51.636 I know you hate this, but okay, at this point, 0:14:51.796 --> 0:14:54.476 Danielle and I are standing nose to nose. We look 0:14:54.516 --> 0:14:57.436 like wax figures on a wedding cake, one arm around 0:14:57.476 --> 0:14:59.676 each other's back and the other stretched out in a 0:14:59.796 --> 0:15:04.676 right angle, poised to dance. So the basic step of 0:15:04.876 --> 0:15:10.356 dancer's a box. Okay, dan you know you're gonna start 0:15:10.436 --> 0:15:19.716 with your right foot backwards one two, three, four? Okay. 0:15:19.836 --> 0:15:24.196 So they are turning right now. They are doing it 0:15:24.516 --> 0:15:28.276 pretty much well. I would say they're dancing dance on 0:15:28.556 --> 0:15:34.596 for almost five years, Danielle. She seems like like this 0:15:35.036 --> 0:15:42.356 gorgeous European girl with the ballroom tenderness in your body 0:15:43.316 --> 0:15:49.516 and Brendan postures. He really really needs to have more 0:15:49.636 --> 0:16:02.356 confidence while leading. They seem they're having fun. Also, are 0:16:02.476 --> 0:16:06.956 you are you sure you've never done this? You're sure? Okay? Okay? 0:16:07.236 --> 0:16:08.876 Who said in the car that you are going to 0:16:08.916 --> 0:16:11.716 get good at this? And I wasn't. Wow, it's so cool, like, 0:16:12.076 --> 0:16:15.356 see you can do this. Well, this has been amazing. 0:16:15.556 --> 0:16:18.956 And I believe you when you say it's social therapy. Um. 0:16:19.516 --> 0:16:23.156 One of my forms of social therapy is entertaining at home. 0:16:23.356 --> 0:16:27.236 And so I'm wondering, yeah, are you interested in dinner parties? Yeah? 0:16:27.276 --> 0:16:30.356 I love dinner parties, So could like it could Danielle 0:16:30.356 --> 0:16:31.636 and I and if we found some other people who 0:16:31.676 --> 0:16:33.476 like come to your place like tomorrow and we could 0:16:33.476 --> 0:16:38.996 prepare dinner. A lot of people here in Mexico say, yeah, okay, 0:16:39.036 --> 0:16:43.196 well but Mikasa. It's only Mikasa, okay, So, oh my god, 0:16:43.516 --> 0:16:46.076 I can't believe Mikasa's Tukasa is not a real thing. 0:16:47.916 --> 0:16:49.796 And I can't believe you're laughing. You know, I need 0:16:49.796 --> 0:16:51.996 to have a dinner party. That was hilarious though, because 0:16:51.996 --> 0:16:59.716 I told you that would happen. That was awesome. Well, 0:16:59.756 --> 0:17:04.036 I'm glad that you overcame your anst about it, but honestly, 0:17:04.196 --> 0:17:06.636 like it's Friday night and we have zero attraction on 0:17:06.716 --> 0:17:09.556 the dinner party front, I'm a little concerned. Well let's 0:17:09.556 --> 0:17:11.476 say we don't get a dinner party tomorrow, mors, what 0:17:11.476 --> 0:17:13.236 should we do? I mean, are they going to cancel 0:17:13.276 --> 0:17:15.716 the show? I'm going to owe them all the money 0:17:15.796 --> 0:17:17.796 for all the shows? And then it's like, oh, two 0:17:17.916 --> 0:17:21.236 people just went on vacation and recorded a bunch of junk, 0:17:21.516 --> 0:17:24.956 Like that's crazy, Like have you ever seen that show? 0:17:25.076 --> 0:17:28.756 Like what's the log line on that show? Back at 0:17:28.796 --> 0:17:31.476 our lodgings for a much needed siesta. I think back 0:17:31.516 --> 0:17:34.156 when something roads that told me, you need to lead 0:17:34.236 --> 0:17:37.756 with more confidence. If I really want to get people's 0:17:37.756 --> 0:17:40.596 troncos around a table for a dinner party, I'm going 0:17:40.636 --> 0:17:43.996 to need to assert myself. Fortunately for me, our next 0:17:43.996 --> 0:17:49.316 stop is a masterclass in power and grit. This is 0:17:49.356 --> 0:17:51.956 definitely the most hectic street life I've encountered since I've 0:17:51.956 --> 0:17:56.756 been here. Well, Friday night Friday night fights, all right, 0:17:56.756 --> 0:18:00.356 So we're approaching the thing. So we're in Roma, and 0:18:00.516 --> 0:18:02.156 once we get on the other side of this drag 0:18:02.196 --> 0:18:06.596 woking in Doctores and Doctores is the home of Rana 0:18:06.636 --> 0:18:09.556 Amico where we're going to watch Luja. We're on our 0:18:09.596 --> 0:18:12.636 way to Luca Libre with Asa Merit, an American journalist 0:18:12.676 --> 0:18:15.156 who lives in Mexico City and spend a year working 0:18:15.196 --> 0:18:18.716 on a documentary about its infamous mask wrestlers. What does 0:18:18.796 --> 0:18:24.196 Lucca libre mean? Literally translated? So, Luca libre means free fighting. So, 0:18:24.396 --> 0:18:26.756 I mean, there's so much to be said about to 0:18:26.836 --> 0:18:30.116 what extent its scripted. It's not scripted, but in its 0:18:30.436 --> 0:18:34.876 early days, much of Luca Libre wasn't as scripted as 0:18:35.036 --> 0:18:37.836 narrative based as it is as it is today, and 0:18:37.996 --> 0:18:41.316 so that's why it was called free fighting, and so 0:18:41.716 --> 0:18:43.516 what's up with the masks like that? To me? When 0:18:43.516 --> 0:18:45.396 I think of lucha libre, that's the thing that pops 0:18:45.436 --> 0:18:48.636 in my mind. Okay, So the masks are key to 0:18:48.996 --> 0:18:51.516 each of the wrestler's identities, all right. So in the 0:18:51.596 --> 0:18:55.076 old tradition of luca libre in the golden era, was 0:18:55.156 --> 0:18:58.436 these luchadors who went their whole life without revealing their identity. 0:18:58.876 --> 0:19:00.836 So they would even wear their mask in public. They 0:19:00.876 --> 0:19:03.036 would wear their mask on the plane and the security 0:19:03.076 --> 0:19:05.556 they had passports they had their mask on and no 0:19:05.676 --> 0:19:08.876 one really knew. And Alsanto, the most famous luch store 0:19:08.876 --> 0:19:10.716 of all time, he had like a closet in his 0:19:10.836 --> 0:19:14.476 house and his children thought he was a traveling businessman 0:19:14.556 --> 0:19:16.316 until he was like they were like eight, and he 0:19:16.436 --> 0:19:21.556 finally spilled the beans. So the mass traditionally is this symbol, 0:19:22.036 --> 0:19:24.236 and it's a way for the wrestlers to keep their anonymity. 0:19:24.756 --> 0:19:28.396 But it's also integral to the storytelling of lucha libre. 0:19:28.796 --> 0:19:31.636 So Luca lira is all about good and evil. You 0:19:31.716 --> 0:19:34.196 have the rudos kind of like rude if you think 0:19:34.196 --> 0:19:35.796 of it that way, the bad guys, and then the 0:19:35.876 --> 0:19:39.076 technicos like technical and the technicos are the good guys, 0:19:39.396 --> 0:19:42.036 and so essentially what you're seeing in a Lucha Libre 0:19:42.236 --> 0:19:47.276 match is a very sort of mythic, archetypal, iconic battle 0:19:47.596 --> 0:19:51.036 between like the very good and the very evil. I 0:19:51.116 --> 0:19:54.516 think the theater element is really important to understand that 0:19:54.676 --> 0:19:59.276 there's a certain catharsis that's happening for some audience members 0:19:59.316 --> 0:20:02.836 that's really different than the thrills of watching Game seven 0:20:02.876 --> 0:20:05.676 of the NBA Playoff. Do you have any theories in 0:20:05.756 --> 0:20:09.556 your studies of this, like why these mass characters resonate 0:20:09.676 --> 0:20:12.436 so powerfully with people in Mexico and in Mexico City, 0:20:12.476 --> 0:20:17.516 specifically of the dozens of wrestlers and Luca Libre filmmakers 0:20:17.596 --> 0:20:20.276 and everyone I spoke to, Like, though, there's one anecdote 0:20:20.316 --> 0:20:22.596 that I will never forget, and it's this woman who 0:20:22.716 --> 0:20:26.076 described to me how she liked Luca Libre and the 0:20:26.156 --> 0:20:30.196 masks to Diodos Martos and so Diodo Swartzi's Day of 0:20:30.196 --> 0:20:33.316 the Dead is this annual holiday here in Mexico where 0:20:33.436 --> 0:20:36.836 families get together and remember those who have passed away. 0:20:37.316 --> 0:20:39.756 So she was explaining that to me, and she said, hey, listen, 0:20:39.836 --> 0:20:41.796 like Day of the dead. It's it's not just like 0:20:41.916 --> 0:20:45.436 we're getting around thinking about her relatives. We really believe 0:20:45.676 --> 0:20:48.196 that they are there with us in the room. It's 0:20:48.196 --> 0:20:51.396 the same with Luca Libre, like we believe. And she 0:20:51.556 --> 0:20:56.076 described Mesco as this nation with imagination, and there were 0:20:56.116 --> 0:20:57.596 there were hints of that from so many of the 0:20:57.636 --> 0:21:00.156 people I talked to, that the mask was this incredible 0:21:00.196 --> 0:21:03.756 tool for someone's imagination. We merge into a mass of 0:21:03.876 --> 0:21:07.756 humans squeezing their way into the arena and finally surface 0:21:07.836 --> 0:21:12.436 among thousands of hands surrounding an illuminated wrestling right. The 0:21:12.516 --> 0:21:16.556 air smells of booze and fried food. The energy is crackling. 0:21:17.556 --> 0:21:19.836 All eyes are focused on the center of the ring, 0:21:20.356 --> 0:21:24.236 where two topless, masked men repeatedly crashed into each other. 0:21:25.956 --> 0:21:28.356 So what you got going on right now is this 0:21:28.516 --> 0:21:29.916 is like you got the same thing as the w W, 0:21:30.116 --> 0:21:33.036 where you got like tag team type situation. So the 0:21:33.116 --> 0:21:35.436 guy of the gold mask just stepped out and his partner, 0:21:35.556 --> 0:21:37.716 which I think is the dude with the blue bandana 0:21:37.756 --> 0:21:42.836 around his head, went in and he is getting double teamed, 0:21:42.916 --> 0:21:47.716 unsurprisingly by the poor sported. He's about the really hurt, 0:21:47.756 --> 0:21:53.276 he's about double job. Here comes the gold guy gold 0:21:53.316 --> 0:22:04.516 Mask is back. Oh that sounded like a hurt Oh 0:22:08.796 --> 0:22:10.836 I it, but I want the gold mask guy to win. 0:22:13.116 --> 0:22:15.116 That's because since we've been here, he's been getting hurt 0:22:15.156 --> 0:22:16.916 the most, so I kind of want him to overcome that. 0:22:18.996 --> 0:22:20.716 You said earlier that you have a problem with the 0:22:20.796 --> 0:22:23.996 word xpat. You think of x pats and you kind 0:22:24.036 --> 0:22:26.516 of think of like people living around the world, and 0:22:26.596 --> 0:22:29.756 they're kind of like rich neighborhoods going to their American schools. 0:22:29.996 --> 0:22:31.916 If you come to Mexico to live in Mexico and 0:22:31.996 --> 0:22:35.996 are earning in a currency either in the United States 0:22:36.756 --> 0:22:39.996 or in Western Europe, the quality of life available to 0:22:40.076 --> 0:22:43.316 you is like an entire social class hire. I mean, 0:22:43.436 --> 0:22:47.036 something also comes to mind, how many Mexicans are called 0:22:47.156 --> 0:22:50.196 expats in the news in America. They're called immigrants and 0:22:50.676 --> 0:22:53.596 there's a threat they're like invading us or they're immigrants. 0:22:53.756 --> 0:22:55.836 But there's never like, oh, there's a big XPACT community 0:22:56.156 --> 0:22:59.836 in Brooklyn, or there's a big XPACT community in Los Angeles. Yeah, no, exactly. 0:23:00.116 --> 0:23:04.436 You know, I prioritize being of this place, not of 0:23:04.636 --> 0:23:15.476 somewhere else who happens to be here. Yeah, Well, two 0:23:15.556 --> 0:23:18.116 body slamming. I mean, look, they're made to be as 0:23:18.196 --> 0:23:22.916 dramatic as possible, right, so they're always really dramatic. Mucha libre, 0:23:23.596 --> 0:23:27.156 a made up social occasion that inspires camaraderie and provides 0:23:27.156 --> 0:23:31.036 an outlet for emotions and the imagination. Kind of like 0:23:31.156 --> 0:23:33.716 my idea of a good dinner party. Except at dinner 0:23:33.756 --> 0:23:36.676 parties the stakes are nothing less than body slammy are 0:23:36.716 --> 0:23:39.236 collective on we un till it begs the reff for mercy. 0:23:39.996 --> 0:23:42.036 I asked, as if he's ready to enter the arena 0:23:42.116 --> 0:23:46.476 with me. Sorry, man, I just had a kid. No way, really, yeah, 0:23:46.556 --> 0:23:51.716 seven days ago, right, okay, Well, thanks for taking us 0:23:51.716 --> 0:24:00.716 on this stour. This wasn't good. We had only one 0:24:00.756 --> 0:24:04.236 more day left in Mexico City and still no plans 0:24:04.276 --> 0:24:21.596 for a grande dinner fiesta. During my flight down here, 0:24:21.676 --> 0:24:25.396 I read a book about screenplays. Apparently in every movie, 0:24:25.676 --> 0:24:29.356 from Harry Potter to Parasite, there comes in all is 0:24:29.396 --> 0:24:32.356 lost moment. This is the part of the story where 0:24:32.396 --> 0:24:36.236 our hero has no hope, his dreams have shattered, and 0:24:36.396 --> 0:24:41.196 his chance of success is practically zero. Asa shutting us 0:24:41.236 --> 0:24:46.476 down for a dinner party wasn't that moment? No are 0:24:46.556 --> 0:24:49.316 all is lost moment would come the next morning when 0:24:49.436 --> 0:24:53.516 Danielle wakes up with a crippling stomach helmet. Yes, that's 0:24:53.556 --> 0:24:59.036 stomach helmet. The stomach helmet not uncommon to tourists in Mexico. This, 0:25:00.316 --> 0:25:04.996 this is the moment all is lost. After loud sobbing 0:25:05.036 --> 0:25:07.116 in the shower like an out of tune Mariachi band, 0:25:07.716 --> 0:25:09.676 I get dressed and drag mysel helf over to what 0:25:09.836 --> 0:25:12.116 was supposed to be our final meetup, but for our 0:25:12.156 --> 0:25:16.916