Mexico and the Four C’s Prologue: The Movie of Life, Musings, and Day 0

I came to Mexico expecting to be radically consumed by The Four C’s mission. As I mentioned before, the main character—the con man, the cult leader—of this whole story lived in Mexico. If you are new to my Substack, I would start here: read_me: How to Read My Substack and Get the Most Out of This Free Book: The Four C’s: COVID, the Cartel, Conspiracy Theories, and Cryptocurrency.

However, I’m afraid all I got was confirmation of what I would call him throughout this recounting of this tale: “44.” It was a number he used for his GitHub moniker, and I thought it appropriate:

Take a look at the building number.

However, I fell in love with the architecture of Mexico City. Long before my father was a chef, he was an architect, and I imagine that bit of my ancestry flows through me as well.

I’ve largely spent my time here immersed in the present moment, absorbing all of the beauty the city and culture have to offer—and reflecting on some critical political tensions that stir a multitude of feelings in me, now that I’m an American. I’ll explore these thoughts at a later time.

Each morning, I did my usual writing, but with a different view and different food to taste. On one of these mornings—Revolution Day, to be specific—I accidentally ended up in the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México. The streets were blocked off by the police, and in Spanglish, I’d meant to ask if I could get a reservation at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant for breakfast. Apparently, I very confidently said that I did have a reservation, and ended up with this presidential view:

Anyway, I took out my notebook, took in one of the most breathtaking views I’d ever experienced in my life, and started writing. The thought that kept arising was, “How do I do this story justice?”

Allow me to provide you a snippet of a conversation between myself and one of the devs, Han (who, with his dark humor, wanted to be referred to as “Suffering” during this interview) that I worked closely with throughout this mind-fuck of an experience, so you can understand:

More than anything, I knew that this was an important story for all the characters of the Four C’s. But as I was pondering the execution and delivery of this story, I started entering flow, and wrote this in my journal:

“Life is masterful, once we accept that it is largely a movie that we are watching unfold. Now, we can control a lot of things. We can choose which movie theater we will watch the film in, the snacks we will or won’t have; the people we decide to sit next to—or, as is the case with me, perhaps you enjoy often watching it alone.

But we are here ultimately to enjoy this movie. And we can be so moved by one part of this movie that we call ‘Life’, and pause and replay this over and over again; enveloped in nostalgia, regret, or both.

But the movie keeps going. We can get up, switch seats and theaters, get company, and whatnot. But we are here to enjoy the film.”

I no longer fear letting down anyone I am interviewing; I encourage them to write their own narrative of the story, because writing your story yourself is the only way you will truly be satisfied (or as a writer may know, very not satisfied).

As I have been replaying the year 2020 in my head and writing down my thoughts and experiences, I realized this:

It was a period of madness. To replay it, and only it, would rob me of the wonder that is the present. And so, this is the way the story will be told: with my heart first, the present woven in, and as slowly as it comes to me. Now, I did have a little failsafe for myself to stay in Mexico City for longer. But I believe I am ready to leave—I will certainly be back soon. I just want to integrate a bit.

As always, thanks for being here.