Mexico made a huge impression on me. Everything there is loaded with symbolism, weighed down with it. The ancient ruins loom over the whole country, or at least they did for me. I went to Chichen Hza and Uxmal and Palenque, and seeing those places changed my life. Human beings are at one and the same time utterly splendid and utterly insignificant. I got a sense that everybody in Mexico understands that in some deep way. We were there on the first of November, when they celebrate the Day of the Dead. It was unforgettable. I gather it’s become something of a tourist attraction nowadays in
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