Photograph: Guillermo Kahlo/Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archive, Bank of Mexico, Fiduciary in the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museum Trust
More than 60 years after her death, painter Frida Kahlo and her Casa Azul in Mexico City are still a source of admiration and inspiration. Her life is as intricate as her paintings and revered all over the world. Here are some iconic images celebrating her life in Caza Azul.
In 1943, Frida posed with her painting “Diego on My Mind” (left) a self-portrait featuring the traditional Tehuana costume. On the right, Frida is holding her pet monkey in the courtyard of her blue house.
The year 2020 seems to be the year that just won’t stop throwing us curve balls. In its latest attempt to shock and terrorize us, workers in Mexico City’s sewer system have found what appears to be a giant rat inside the system. The photos and video are straight out of a horror film.
Some on social media quickly wondered if this wasn’t an actual Master Splinter of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame. But it turns out that the ‘giant rat’ has a far more normal origin story.
Images of a ‘giant rat’ from Mexico City’s sewer system quickly went viral on social media.
In what many are calling another sign of the apocalypse brought to us by the year 2020, Mexico City cleanup crews discovered what looked like a monster drowned rat while dredging the sewers. The giant-size “rodent” was part of 22 tons of litter the workers had removed from the city’s drainage tunnels following heavy rains, according to the Border Report.
During the cleanup process, the workers reportedly turned a corner and encountered what they described as a “giant rat,” which sat hunched over and sported incredibly realistic fur. As it turns out, the ’giant rat’ was actually a Halloween prop that had been washed out of its warehouse by the storm. The decoration somehow ended up in the labyrinthine network of sewer tunnels, where it sat undiscovered for years — until now.
Apparently, the ‘giant rat’ was a homemade Halloween decoration that went missing after a rainstorm.
Gente: No entiendo por qué nos inundamos cada año en la Ciudad de México. La gente también: Encuentran botarga de rata gigante en coladeras de la Magdalena Contreras pic.twitter.com/ym77U0TfCH
Since the ‘rodents’ discovery, a woman named Evelin López has come forward to claim the rat, which she reportedly created from scratch for Halloween. Lopez said it had gone missing “years ago” during a torrential downpour, and no one could help her retrieve it.
Fortunately, the monster rat appears to be in safe hands — as a now-viral video shows it being hosed off on the street by sewer workers after being rescued from its subterranean lair. Witnesses told El universal that they marveled at the “beast’s” naturalistic appearance, and as can be expected many admitted that they’d of gone running in fear if they had seen it on the street.
The rat’s rightful owner said she has no idea what to do with her “Princess Bride”-evoking prop. Social-media pundits suggest recycling the beast for this year’s Halloween festivities — provided they hose it off a few more times first.
Unfortunately, the rat was discovered only because crews cleaned up debris after a woman drowned following torrential rains.
The ‘giant rat’ / Halloween prop was discovered to have caused a flood which drowned a 54-year-old woman trapped inside her apartment. The woman that died was named in local media reports as Doña Mari. She was 54 and drowned in her home after the water flooded into her residence.
The water caused furniture to move and block the door trapping her inside and drowning her. Her body was discovered by a neighbor, who went looking for her after realizing she wasn’t with other residents who had congregated outside after leaving their homes due to the flooding.
Authorities cleaned the drainage system in the area in hopes of reducing the flooding, and that is when they found the giant fake rat.
Mexico City subway users often complain about malfunctioning escalators that keep breaking down continually. In any given CDMX metro station, you’ll find that escalators are out of order more often than they are functioning. And city officials have offered an explanation that shocked no one—people are peeing on them so much that escalators are corroding. Yup, you read that right.
Of the system’s 467 escalators, 22 are out of service on any given day.
Travelers on the Mexico City subway system often blame authorities for broken-down escalators at subway stops, but Metro officials have another explanation. Somehow, urine is penetrating and corroding the drive wheels and mechanisms of the escalators that carry riders up from underground stations.
One-quarter of escalator breakdowns on the Mexico City Metro are caused by people urinating on them, according to authorities.
Por filtración de orina, 25% de las fallas en las escaleras eléctricas del Metro capitalinohttps://t.co/Ui2G4Reavi
The deputy manager of mechanical installations, Fermín Rafael Ramírez Alonso, said that Tacubaya and Chabacano are among the most affected stations.
Maybe—just maybe— stop peeing on escalators?
#TodoMal 😤 La orina dejada en las instalaciones del Metro (leíste bien: la orina) es causa de una de cada cuatro averías en sus escaleras eléctricas https://t.co/679O5Jje9d
Ramírez urged users not to urinate on escalators or other Metro installations, because of the damage it causes. “When we open up escalators for maintenance, there is always urine,” Ramírez said.
But another issue is that there are no public bathroom facilities available.
osea si está de la verga lo de la vatos meandose en el metro y jodiendo las escaleras eléctricas pero, más allá de denotar una falta de ética o loquesea, lo que yo concluyo de la noticia es la falta que nos hacen baños publicos gratiuitos y accesibles en la ciudad (1)
Most stations have no public bathroom facilities, a fact Twitter users were quick to point out, noting there are not even any pay toilets. “More than this being an issue about ethics or manners, I think that this is happening because of a lack of free and accesible bathrooms in the city,” tweeted one user.
Ramirez also said that other causes for breakdowns include excessively heavy loads, running on the stairs, imbalance on the stairs and objects falling between them.
Día 2 en la Ciudad de México: Ese hombre en el metro vendía navajas… ¡navajas!
“There are even users who cut the stairs with knives or other sharp objects, of which we have examples in Tacubaya,” he said, surprising absolutely not one of Mexico City’s users. Many metro users know that vendors even sell knives on subway carriages, as was noted by this tweet.
The biggest problem, subway authorities admit, is that many escalators are old, or have been damaged by rough use.
Took me two minutes to figure out subway tickets in Seoul—and the next minute I was on the train. I still get confused in NYC subway and SF BART despite regular visits. My first time in Seoul and I don’t speak Korean. The US decline in infrastructure is a self-inflicted tragedy.
The city plans to replace about 55 escalators over the next two years. With over 1.6bn rides per year, the Mexico City subway is considered the eighth largest in the world by some measures, and one of the cheapest: a 25¢ ticket will get you a single ride to any destination on the 140-mile (226km) system. Just remember to use the bathroom before setting out.
