Let the games begin: fledgling Mexican skaters laugh after falling on the giant outdoor ice rink in Mexico City. When it opened in December 2007, the rink was drawing an average of 1,000 skaters an hour. (Associated Press)

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I've heard and participated in quite a few discussions recently about the value of these Vancouver Olympics and all the "wasted" money that could have been better spent on real social problems.

It is an argument that is not just consuming us cost-conscious Canucks but that you can hear almost anywhere, as I discovered during my recent trip to Mexico.

For obvious reasons, the Winter Games aren't that big a deal in Mexico. It doesn't have the climate or facilities to allow athletes to excel at winter sports.

But there is one wintery event that the residents of Mexico City have enjoyed for the last three years and that has given rise to the same kind of bread or circuses debates as the Olympic Games — ice skating.

Despite the warm weather — and despite being completely alien to Mexican culture — Mexico City residents flock every winter to what is called the world's largest outdoor ice skating rink in the city's historic central square.

One of the most popular spots in Mexico City, Zocalo square is flanked by the giant Catholic cathedral on one side, the National Palace on the other, while across the way is the remains of an ancient Aztec temple, Temple Mayor.

This is where you see Aztec revivalist dancers in full-feathered headgear strutting their stuff in front of the architectural grandeur of New Spain.

What better place, thought Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, to give the city a gigantic, outdoor ice skating rink?

Let the debate begin

On the day the rink was opened in December 2007, more than 12,000 people went skating, many of them for the first times in their lives.

Mexico's rink in the historic Zocalo square. (Associated Press)

Another 50,000 came just to see and marvel at the city's new addition.

Not surprisingly, the rink was and still is one of the most hotly debated subjects in Mexico City, right up there with abortion and gay rights.

Every "Chilango," as residents of Mexico City are known, seems to have an opinion and my friend Jeancarlo is no exception.

As we walked through the Zocalo, Jeancarlo tells me it cost the city $1.5 million to construct the rink, which measures roughly 40 by 77 metres (almost twice the surface of an NHL rink) and is only around for one month a year.

To maintain artificial ice in a place where it can be 20 C in the middle of December is not inexpensive either. And that extravagance is a potent symbol in a city where so many people live in slums and don't have enough food or clean drinking water.

Life without diversion

Jeancarlo believes that this "gift" of the mayor is a typical politician's tactic to keep the masses entertained and distracted with silly spectacles so they won't focus on the real problems that are out there.

As we walk through the square, we come across a demonstration of unions demanding better wages for their workers, which helps make Jeancarlo's point.

This is a tough city to live in, tougher still if you are poor, which the majority of its 20 million or so residents are.

But, while intellectually, rationally, I know Jeancarlo is right, I can't help but disagree with him.

Yes, there are more important things to worry about in life and there always will be. But does that mean that the poor of Mexico City should only be concerned about basic human needs and not experience joy and fun if it was made more accessible?

What is a life if there isn't some excitement or diversion in it?

Monica, another friend, has a much different perspective on this.

She says that of course food and shelter have to come first. But, for many families, just having the opportunity to take their children to an ice skating rink to enjoy an afternoon together — the value of that cannot be measured in dollars and pesos.

A shared experience

Monica brings up another good point: Most of the Mexicans, and certainly the ones that I spoke to, who were opposed to the rink were upper-class Mexicans who have the means and resources to travel and who would never frequent the ice skating rink in the city square to begin with.

Not a winter sport country, Mexico's sole Olympic athlete in Vancouver was Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe, a descendant of Austrian royalty. In his fifth Olympics, von Hohenlohe, 51, finished 78th in the giant slalom.

Many of the ordinary residents of Mexico City will never see real snow, never see real ice, except in American movies. So why not give them a small piece of that fantasy right here in their own backyard?

This debate has become about something bigger than just how a government — any government — should spend money, it has become a debate about what we value in life.

Sure having a roof over your head, three meals a day and a job are necessary for a stable life.

But are they the only measurement for what brings us joy?

People need to be inspired, they need entertainment, they need something to look forward to.

Mexico's rink also seems to give the people here a sense of pride, not that Chilangos are short on pride for their city and culture. But this is something new and exciting that the rest of the world has marvelled at from a distance.

Unlike the controversial, and irritating, indoor skiing trails in the desert city of Dubai, this is not a private enterprise. It isn't meant to make money.

The Zocalo ice skating rink is a public space. Any Mexican or visitor can come, line up, borrow a pair of skates and for 45 minutes skate in the midday heat and the smoggy air.

Que rico. How wonderful.

So even though we are not exactly "owning the podium" in Vancouver, the Olympic Games and the ice skating rink in Mexico City give us something much more important. A shared experience of joy and fun.