IPA Mexico City

In August, 2011, the International Psychoanalytical Association will be holding its biannual Congress in Mexico City.  Some IPA members, especially in the United States, have expressed concerns about security issues.  The IPA invited me to travel to Mexico City in early December, 2010, during the time of the 50th Congress of the Mexican Psychoanalytic Society,  so that I could report back to members of APsaA and other IPA members about the real security situation in Mexico City, from a first hand look.  I promised to give a frank and thorough report.

But I have to confess that before I traveled I was not unbiased.  I love Mexico and have traveled there 4 times in the last decade.  I regret two things, enormously:  that I never visited Mexico in the first 5 decades of my life,  and that I don’t speak Spanish.

This was  my first trip to Mexico City, and perhaps the same is true for many of you.  It is home to archeological wonders–there is an excavation site right in the center of the city, and the third largest pyramid in the world rises at Teotihuacan, just an hour away.  Diego Rivera and Jose Orozco and other social realist muralists from the 1930’s have covered literally thousands of feet of public spaces with their paintings.    Modern Mexican design is a startling and wonderful discovery.

Our Mexican colleagues are eager to welcome you to their astonishing city, which I promise  you will find safe, surprising  and possessing extraordinary cultural historical and artistic riches.

I hope this blog will help allay any concerns you might have about security issues, as well as tempt you with the wonderful extra-psychoanalytic experiences you will have if you visit Mexico City for the Congress next summer. I hope it will answer any questions you have that will make your experience most comfortable.

Please ask me any questions you have either by posting a comment, or emailing me directly (prudygourguechon@gmail.com).  If I don’t know the answer directly, I will find out for you from the local arrangements committee, the members of which have rapidly become good friends.

Prudy Gourguechon

Note:  I am entirely responsible for  this blog.  It is not an official IPA publication.  I welcome information, contributions, improvements and corrections.

If you are seeking official IPA information about the Congress, including registration information and details about the scientific program, please link here www.ipa.org.uk/congress