CONCRETE JUNGLE

Mexico City overpowers the barren landscape below. Buildings upon buildings cover the brown and yellow earth as far as the eye can see. I can only imagine what it would be like to live in this place. From the plane, the hawks-eye-view of the lego-land below depicts a mirage of cut and copy scenes. Pastel coloured buildings of yellow and pink amongst the concrete brown, black and grey. The city gives a message of struggle, the buildings like vines reaching for the sun in a jungle canopy, seem to choke each other. Each one higher, bigger, wider than the next. So it must be for the inhabitants of this concrete jungle, where a possibility of earning some more cash, and the draw of the big city life, would be the biggest lure to the centre of it all. Octovio Paz described the Mexican way of life as a constant battle, a struggle, a never ending suffering. Here, from 1000ft above it's hard to imagine how it must truly be to be a "Chilolangian", all trying to make a future in this city of opportunity, all trying to outdo one another. The surrounding landscape of rolling hills and towering mountains are still no match for the relentless rows of buildings that manage to cover the countryside. Don't get me wrong flying over Mexico city instils a sense of awe in me more than anything else. It is hard to fathom that a single city could contain the whole Australian population in its confines. 25 million people, some working for the minimum wage of less than five dollars a day, while some are the richest people in the world. A cultural boiling pot, a relentless economic machine, a home to many. I cannot wait to discover the true Mexico city and lay aside the media inspired perceptions I have of the heart of the country.