On February 28 Sinaya, Lalo and I went to the Faro de Oriente for an event with Henry Chalfant. I already told you about the Faros in the blog about Faro de Viento. Faro de Oriente www.elfarodeoriente.org is much bigger. They offer lots of workshops there and many events are happening. You can also learn to jump rope!

They even have a pirate radio and TV station and their own magazine and asked me to write an article for them. Which I will be honoured to do as soon as I get my blog updated. There’s just too much happening!

They were showing Henry’s documentary “From Mambo to Hip Hop” which I love. And the people at the event loved it too. There also was a little photo exhibition. It was hard to get to Henry since he was constantly surrounded by people who wanted to do interviews and tell him about their own projects. Lots of B-Boys, B-Girls, MCs and writers had come out to the event. The atmosphere was great and I finally met B-Boy Aztec. In-between the film and the dancing, we went to grab a bite and passed by a “quinze” celebration. In Mexico the girls have a big celebration when they turn 15 - „La fiesta de quinze años“. They wear beautiful dresses and everybody is invited. Doesn’t she look like a princess? I think I’m gonna do that for my 41st birthday which is coming up in less than 3 weeks. I wonder where I’ll be at the time.

I finally managed to talk to Henry and to check out the anniversary edition of Subway Art which isn’t even out yet. It’s beautiful! Way bigger, the colours are richer and there are some new photos in there too. Henry told me he had thought that because of its size, this edition would be more difficult to steal—you might not know that, but Subway Art is the most stolen book of all - you bad people! It didn’t work out for Henry though. He had gotten 2 pre-copies from the publisher and one got nicked within days from his office! Bad behaviour guys! I’ll go and buy the book when I’ll spend some days in New York after my trip.

Peace out!
Nika

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On February 27 I went to an event in a place called “FARO del Viento” en Ecatepec http://farodelviento.blogspot.com. Of course it was way out of town again and it took a 2 hour trip to get there. The FAROs (there are 4 of them now) are built in the not so well-off parts of the city. FARO de Oriente was the first one and FARO del Viento was the latest which actually hadn’t officially opened at the time of the graffiti event, that’s why we couldn’t use bathrooms for example, because the water wasn’t working yet. That made the whole thing a little difficult, but I found a friendly lady, who let me use her bathroom. The FAROs are community centres, where the locals can take lots of workshops for free and where community events are held. Unfortunately not many people showed up to this great event. The neighbourhood is so big and it looked like almost everybody who was there had travelled a long journey to get there. Well, the event was great nevertheless and I guess the neighbours just have to get used to being able to go to free concerts and will make better use of it in the future.

When I got there, everybody was extremely friendly and helpful, as I must say almost everybody is here – if you are friendly yourself that is. Act like an asshole and you’ll get treated like one. Griska and her team looked after me and explained everything. Quetzally (the Quetzal is a beautiful bird in case you don’t know) spoke excellent English and that also helped, cuz I still need to improve on my Spanish to be able to understand everything. I loved Quetzalli’s earrings with the little masked Zapatista women. If you want to learn about the Zapatista movement – which you should – here are some information links, one in German, one in English and the website of the Zapatistas themselves. I think it is very interesting that the German Wikipedia speaks much more positive than the English Wikipedia which has a negative tone to it, so make sure to do your research right!

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatistischer_Widerstand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/

There is a lot of graffiti going on in Mexico. I won’t say that it’s all so great, but they are at it. I was surprised to find out that the scene is big enough for Mexico to have their own brand of graffiti cans –Expresarte! www.expresartemexico.com

The atmosphere was great, I checked out the graf and chatted a while with Yogafire of the Jedi Revolver Crew www.myspace.com/jedirevolver. They are a collective with DJs, MCs, writers.

While roaming the area, I met this nice couple who were playing with their dogs. They told me they had a son living in the States and I gave them the blog address, so their son could check out the photos. So son, whoever you are, let me know if you saw the photos!

They had quite a line-up and while the concert was going on inside, the writers were doing their thing outside. I was waiting for Ximbo, Nax and Jezzy P since naturally I am interested in the girls. They were the headliners, so they were on very late which gave us time for a little chat. I had expected that it would be harder in Latin America to make it in Hip Hop as a woman, with Machismo going on and stuff, but the girls said that they didn’t feel it was. If you paid your dues and were good at what you were doing, the guys would definitely pay you respect. I also heard that from some of the b-girls and Sinaya said that machismo was real, but she had the feeling that even though it was a big thing in everyday life, that it didn’t count for the Hip Hop scene. She had the feeling that the guys were much more supportive than in Germany.

Jezzy P and Ximbo both have founded female collectives. Jezzy’s is called “Pollos Rudos” – The Rude Chicks and Ximbos is called “Muijeres Trabajando” – Working Women which includes the graf artist NEWZ who we already met at Estadio Azteca and who is just amazing – you gotta check out her artwork and the Brownies Crew who’s members we met at practice in Cuajimalpa.

Check out the girls’ pages:

Ximbo
www.myspace.com/mujerestrabajando
www.myspace.com/batjacob
www.rapserio.com

Jezzy P
www.pollosrudosweb.galeon.com
www.myspace.com/jezzypmx

Nax
www.myspace.com/musicnax

News
www.myspace.com/n_e_w_s
www.flickr.com/la_news

Just when I was getting hungry, a car showed up with a huge speakerphone on top announcing “patas de gallo” and yes, they actually sold chicken feet! I stuck to the more basic thing and had corn on the cob, which they put mayonnaise on, then roll it in cheese and sprinkle with chilli – delicious!!!

The music program was great and they guys were all really good, but when the girls hit the stage, they really rocked the house – not that there was much house to rock, but the ones who were there just freaked out. Ximbo has so much energy on stage! Damn, I would love to bring the girls to Berlin!

During the show this nice elder lady walked up to me and asked me where I was from and what I was doing in such a poor neighbourhood. She was absolutely nice and offered to walk me to the subway after the concert. She also took me outside to show me a comet next to the moon. It was obviously there, I hadn’t read or heard anything about a comet though – if anybody knows, enlighten me!

It was a great day and I wanna thank everybody for being so super nice and taking such great care of me!
Paz y amor!
Neek

OH and by the way, the cool Kweenz Destroy! T-Shirt I am wearing in the last picture is made by Indie184. Check her out!
www.kweenzdestroy.net
www.myspace.com/indie184

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Sinaya is here! Finally I have someone to drink lots of Tequila with! Yeah! On February 26 we went to a Practice space in Cuajimalpa. What a trip again! Mexico City is so big – everything is far away. We first took a subway, then met with B-Boy Roka and B-Boy Thomazoid of Anikilation Squad and with one of the B-Girls of Mexico’s one and only B-Girl Crew the “Brownies Crew” which has 8 members from all over the country. After meeting at the subway we had to take a bus and altogether our this was a 2 hour journey again. Sinaya explained to me that was why you picked your crew members from your area – it is just too exhausting to travel to the other side of town to practice.

The members of the Anikilacion Squad live in the neighbourhood of Cuajimalpa, where they practice in the Centro Cultural right next to this beautiful church. The crew has 8 members and was founded in 2000. Thomazoid and Roka are also the organizers of Battle Sonic www.myspace.com/battlesonic, one of the big B-Boy events of Mexico. They are working with old-skooler Manolo of the Spinmasters on that event. I have met with several B-Boys and B-Girls and discussed the Hip Hop / B-Boy scene in Mexico. If you are interested, you’ll be able to find that interview on www.redbullbcone.com in the second week of March.

Peace!
Nika

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In Mexico City you will definitely meet Hip Hop in the streets. Be it that you go to the Zocalo – the big plaza en el Centro Historico or if you go to the Youth Culture market El Chopo. There are many different youth cultures in Mexico City, but more about that in another blog entry.

Today I want to introduce to you the kids that make their money on the streets with Hip Hop. First I saw these two chaps who were beatboxing, quite good too. I made a little video with my Leica, but the sound is awful, so I might spare you the experience. I didn’t ask them for their names cuz I was busy running to catch the bus and they were busy beatboxing.

Then I met “Los Primos” (the uncles) they are a B-Boy Crew with a fulltime job, working 5 days a week near the Zocalo next to the big cathedral, which by the way is the largest and oldest in Latin America.
B-Boy Thomazoid, who is also working with them, explained to me that they manage to make a living on their breaking. When I asked him how they got that great spot for their shows, he told me it was all about corruption. “You have to pay government officials, the police and a so called godfather for so called protection. If you pay all of these people, you can keep the rest of the money. It’s a tough job, but it’s what we do and what we love!” I didn’t get really get good shots of Los Primos because the first time I met them, I didn’t have my camera – unbelievable, I know, but I thought we’d only go to the supermarket – and the second time I had to jump on the bus. But here you can check out B-Boy Diabolo of Los Primos who is one of the best B-Boys from Mexico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd1ZOlXP1_E

Apart from Los Primos, there are other crews dancing in the streets. When I went to El Chopo, I met these guys who are actually working at a traffic light. When the light turns red, they jump onto the street and do their thing and then ask the drivers and passers-by for change. Unfortunately I forgot their crew name. So anybody who can give it to me – please let me know!

Peace!
Nika

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Was habe ich bisher über das Wetter in MC gelernt? „Febrero loco y Marzo otro poco“ was soviel bedeutet wie „Februar ist durchgeknallt und März irgendwie auch“. Also eigentlich so wie bei uns der April. Nachdem es die ersten Tage wunderbar heiß und sonnig war, ist es jetzt merklich abgekühlt. Gestern Morgen war es schon nicht mehr ganz so warm und als ich am Nachmittag auf dem Punk Markt „El Chopo“ war, fing es an zu regnen. Dann wurde es richtig kalt und gestern Nacht musste ich mich warm einpacken. Jetzt sitze ich hier am Schreibtisch eingehüllt in einen Poncho und trinke heißen Tee.

Das Wetter ist wirklich crazy. Am Donnerstag gab es nach einem schönen warmen Tag abends ein Gewitter. Die Wolkenbildung veranlasste mich kurz zu der Befürchtung, da würde sich gleich eine Windhose bilden (checkt mal das Video) aber dann gab es doch „nur“ Hagel….

Wir befinden uns im Wechsel zwischen zwei Jahreszeiten – von den „kalten“ Monaten Dezember und Januar zu den „heißen“ Monaten April und Mai und in dieser Zeit ist das Wetter unvorhersehbar und ändert sich häufig.

Eine andere interessante Sache ist das Licht. Am Abend, kurz bevor die Sonne verschwindet, gibt es meist für einige Minuten dieses total surreale orangegelbe Licht – und nein, ich habe die Fotos nicht manipuliert, das sieht wirklich so aus, wie man auch auf dem Video sehen kann. Eigentlich noch viel dramatischer, vielleicht gelingt es mir ja noch das besser einzufangen.

Peace
Nika

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Sturm http://nawteeneek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/storm.flv

Abendlicht http://nawteeneek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/light_l1000561.flv

Die Sonne scheint und die Esel brüllen. Echt wahr! Ich habe ein ständiges Konzert von kläffenden Hunden und brüllenden Eseln, was man in dieser Gegend eigentlich gar nicht erwarten würde.

Die letzten Tage habe ich mit Büchern im Bett verbracht, außerdem mit Fieber und allen anderen üblichen Grippeerscheinungen. Heute geht’s mir besser und jetzt kommen auch endlich die versprochenen Fotos von dem mexikanischen Jahrmarkt.

Die „Feria“ war total toll, alles war unheimlich bunt und laut und voller interessanter Düfte. Wir haben fantastisch gegessen und getrunken. Neben all den vielen Ständen und Karussells, stand auf dem Marktplatz ein hoher Mast. 4 Männer kletterten hoch und die Menge harrte geduldig der Dinge die da kommen sollten. Wir hatten natürlich weniger Geduld und gingen irgendwann weiter. Aus der Ferne konnten wir dann noch sehen, wie die 4 Männer an langen Seilen um den Pfleiler rotierten. Leider habe ich keine so tollen Bilder davon, da wir schon zu weit weg waren.

Auf dem Höhepunkt des Festivals wurden die rotierenden Feuerwerke entzündet, ein besonderes Highlight war der rotierende Jesus. Was ich persönlich am interessantesten fand, war wie über dem ganzen Fest die Zuckerwatte schwebte. Man konnte einfach in die Luft greifen und sie einfangen. Es hatte für mich den Anschein als würden die Zuckerwatteverkäufer absichtlich immer ein bisschen davon schweben lassen. Ein tolles Bild! Ich werde irgendwann auch noch ein paar Filmclips hochladen, aber die Internetverbindungen sind hier echt nicht so toll und alles dauert extrem lange. 

Morgen gehe ich auf einen B-Boy Event! Werde euch darüber berichten.   

Liebe Grüße   
Nika

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  Cotton Candy
http://nawteeneek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cotton-candy.flv

 Fireworks  http://nawteeneek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jesus_l1000541.flv

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  http://nawteeneek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/azteca.flv

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On Sunday, Valerie, the super nice and super cool chica from Red Bull Culture here in Mexico City, took me to a Hip Hop event in the football stadium – Estadio Azteca. It is a huge graffiti event, organized by the police!!

Valerie explained to me that the police are trying to work closer with the writers and give them walls to keep them from writing illegally. That is one of the reasons, why the “Anti Graffiti Squad” is now called “Graffiti Squad.” Lots of cops were there, handing out free Coke and nobody even complained about all the pot that was obviously smoked everywhere…

It was a really big event! People were painting the walls all around the stadium and they had a tent with life music. Valerie introduced me to a bunch of really nice writers and MCs and I met Dario, a guy who is working on a documentary about graffiti in Latin America. I will keep you updated on that project.

After a while we went for a beer in a little bar—beer with salt, lemon, and chilli! I’m lovin’ it! After the event was over, we went to a street fair close to one of the graf girls’ home—more about that later!

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 I am having the time of my life and am seriously considering moving to Mexico!

Thanks to Sinaya, I am living in a beautiful house in a nice neighbourhood. Thanks to Lalo I feel very well taken care of and thanks to Valerie, I get to go out and meet lots of fun people!

Check out the view from my window!

If I would only manage to make this Lightbox plugin work correctly, I would be muy contenta!

Peace!