MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — I’m just a girl, my apologies.
The only daughter of a single, working mother, I early on found hope, curiosity and companionship in music and art.
My love of art taught me to be curious and unafraid. I ventured out on my own in Mexico City as a young girl in search of museums, galleries, fairs, markets, parks, zoos, movie theaters and monuments. My city, I realized as a young girl, never ceases to surprise.
When I started working at Global Press Journal just more than two years ago, I realized that I was not just a girl, but a journalist with a voice and perspective capable of changing minds and opening hearts.
Each time I start reporting on a new story, I know I’m going to be spending time on the metro, which is my favorite mode of transportation. Yes, it’s inexpensive, but the most important thing to me is that most museums here are near metro stations, including my favorite the Museo de Arte Popular. My favorite exhibit – full of colorful skulls, craniums, skeletons and masks – explores how death is perceived in Mexican culture.
I have always liked skulls and everything related to death, because even death is celebrated in Mexico. Parties dedicated to the dead fill the city streets with color.
Mexico is more than how it is portrayed in the news. In the coming months, I will use this space to explore Mexican culture in hopes of showing you my Mexico — one that is filled with museum openings, horror-movie screenings, midnight art openings, music festivals and underground punk-rock clubs.
Rishi Khalsa, GPJ, translated this column from Spanish.