I decided to go back to Puebla after Mexico City. I had 2 days in which to get to Oaxaca where I had reserved an Airbnb for 2 months. Puebla was so nice that I wanted to go back and spend a day there.
Mexico City to Puebla
Puebla isn’t that far from Mexico City. I had already gone from Teotihuacán to Puebla, and then Puebla to Mexico City via the free road. So although I wanted to avoid the toll roads, I decided to take the toll road back to Puebla from Mexico City for some different scenery rather than re-tracking.
It was so nice riding on a nicely paved road with little traffic and no speed bumps. The scenery was pretty awesome too.
Loa Inn Centro Puebla
This time in Puebla I was staying at the Loa Inn Centro Puebla. It was a little further away from the downtown than the Hotel Senorial, but it looked a bit nicer.
I arrived early but they had my room ready. It was really nice. Looked newly re-done.
Puebla
I really liked Puebla when I was there last. There was a nice plaza with lots of restaurant patios around it. I planned on just relaxing at these.
The next day that is what I did. However, I encountered quite a large demonstration outside the city hall.
It appeared to me to be more of a celebration in the honor of Fidel Castro who had recently died.
Fidel Castro
Obviously Fidel Castro was a polarizing figure. It was evident that the people at this protest supported him and lamented his passing.
I was getting similar feedback from my old home in Nambia where Fidel Castro is considered a hero in their liberation from Apartheid and taking back their country. I remember when I was their walking into the Chief of Police’s home and seeing a picture of Fidel Castro proudly displayed in his living room. It seemed odd at the time until I started my research into the history of Namibia for my Masters Degree.
At the same time, I was receiving posts from people in Canada and the US saying he was a terrible dictator who killed political prisoners.
Aggravating the situation in Canada was when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said of Fidel Castro, “We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.”
Both sides seemed to be saying this is who Fidel Castro was.
In my view, the world and people are not that simple. The two views of Fidel Castro do not have to be mutually exclusive. People are not wholly bad or good. We do both good and bad in our lives. Fidel Castro did both good and bad as well. Now it can certainly be argued that he did more bad than good or vice versa. A lot of it depends on your perspective, bias and experiences. For my friends in Namibia he was a liberator and they will be forever grateful. To others who fled to the US he was a tyrant and killed colleagues.
Everything seems so polarizing these days and absent of rational thought. People are hardened in their positions and depend them to the end regardless of evidence to the contrary. I don’t like it. I guess rather than seeing things as right and wrong, black or white, I see things in various shades of gray. People should be open to their views not be entirely correct and willing to change. Also, we need a more calm and reasoned conversation absent from name calling.
I remember a university friend I had. We disagreed on everything ha ha. But we really enjoyed talking about the issues. There was no name calling and we remained friends.
Ok … I have really digressed ha ha ha. But I had to get that out 🙂
My Route for November 29, 2016
My Location for November 30, 2016
