Liesl's Post - Our Mothers' Day Dance at School

Mothers' Day! In Mexico, Mothers' Day is on the 10th of May. (it is a very big deal in Mexico!) Since I got to school in April, we have been practicing for a Mothers' Day dance. I had to get fitted for a special dress (these were all traditional Mexican dances) and I had to tie my hair back in a special way. I did what is called a Mayapan Dance. I thought that it was kinda of cowboy style. I had fun doing it and practicing it with my new friends at school. On the evening of the performance, we (the dancers) sat in the school lobby for nearly 2 hours - a long time! The lights and the sound system came and went, while bats flew in and out of the school the whole time. But when it came time for us to dance for all the families of the school, I think that it went pretty well.

Here are some photos of me and Jeremiah during our dances. And there are also 2 videos of our dances at the bottom.

Disfrutalos!

-- Liesl

La senorita Liesl (she has been re-named here by the locals as "Lisa")

The rather sad-looking campesino, Jeremias.

Que guapos son!

Jeremias and sus campaneros.

Lisa y una amiga, Andrea.

La fiesta, por la calle, delante de la escuela.

unos ninos muy lindos!

Una baile Azteca.

Una danza de la region Maya - de Chiapas.

 Here are two videos from the fiesta - above is Jeremiah and his amigos; below is "Lisa" and her amigos. They are pretty cute (at least for their parents!)

Day 2 in Mexico City - a visit to Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan pre-dates the Aztecs, or Mexicas, whose power center was 40 miles south at what is now the heart of Mexico City several centuries after Teotihuacan had been abandoned. It was a very large, carefully planned city that rose and fell roughly between 100 and 1000 A.D. It was at the time, the 6th largest city in the world, home to as many as 125,000 people. It's structure and layout shared some similarities to other city-states and states that emerged during and afterward in Mesoamerica - the Aztec empire, the mosaic of many Maya cities and states that thrived eastward in the 1500+/- years before the arrival of the Conquistadores.

It has several predominant features: the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon, Avenue of the Dead, and the Plumed Serpent Ciudad. These were all clustered relatively close toward the northern end of the city. This was where all the religious and governmental and main market and community events took place. Only about 2.5 km of the Avenida of the Dead today has been uncovered. It was at least 10 miles long, extending south into the mountains toward points unknown today.

There are numerous theories to explain the fall of Teotihuacan, but no one seems certain - internal strife, external threats, environmental pressures, climate change leading to loss of food production or water availability. The site has been revered ever since as a sacred site, though when the Aztecs wandered through this area looking for a homeland, Teotihuacan pyramids and streets were buried under dirt and trees. Some have even speculated that the residents intentionally buried the city before they abandoned it, but that seems crazy to me (but what do I know?)

Anyway, here are some photos from a tour I joined to visit the site. It was quite amazing in its layout, scope and scale. The site we visited is enormous, but this is just a small fraction of the once-great city. Most of it remains unexplored and un-excavated.

I am standing atop the Pyramid of the Moon, with the Avenue of the Dead behind me, and the Pyramid of the Sun over my right shoulder.

Atop the Pyramid of the Sun (which, based on recent excavations, may in fact me a pyramid to honor the Tlaloc, the God of Rain.) This the the higher, larger, of the two pyramids. Steep steps lead to the top.

This is a bust of the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl, a mythic god creature, on the face of the much smaller pyramid in the market area, La Cuidadela.

View from the Pyramid of the Moon; looking down the Avenue of the Dead.

Ditto above photo.

The view looking north - the Ciudadela, closest on the right, then the Pyramid of the Sun beyond that, and finally, the Pyramid of the Moon in the distance.

With the Pyramid of the Moon behind me.

JB's side trip to Mexico City

So last week, I took a 14-hour bus through the night from P.E. to Mexico City. The ride took me back through the mountains, though not nearly as sinuous as our first trip to P.E., past Oaxaca, and into Mexico, or D.F. (Federal District), as it is called here in the homeland.

Mexico is a city inhabited by at least 23 million people - one the biggest (the biggest?) in the world. I stayed for two nights and three full days. I focused my time on the historic center and Teotihuacan - an ancient city that rose and fell between 100 and 1000 AD, before the rise of the Aztecs, or Mexicas.

D.F. feels like a big city, to be sure, it has a beat, it is international, it is cosmopolitan, but it is also very Mexican. But, despite its size, I did not feel the pressure of 23 million people. I did see the sprawling neighborhoods in the foothills outside of the center. There is tremendous poverty and inequity here, but that did not overwhelm on this quick visit.

The historic center of Mexico City today, is also the original center of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs' capital. In the early 1500s, when Hernan Cortez invaded, the spaniards report being speechless at the civilization that they found - hundreds of thousands of people, thriving markets, amazing architecture, palaces, temples. Aided by the peoples that he met along his way from the Gulf of Mexico, peoples living unhappily under Aztec rule, he, in a nutshell, killed Moctezuma, and began the arduous process of erasing all signs the Aztec empire, enslaving the Mexicans and other Mesoamericans, and plundering their wealth and land.

They buried the Aztec capitol, and built New Spain atop its ruins. It wasn't until the 1970s (!!!) when a workman was digging around a building foundation and happened upon a massive Aztec artifact that the remains of the central temple at the heart of the ancient city were discovered/rediscovered, recognized for its historic and cultural significance, and uncovered as part of a massive project to reveal El Templo Mayor. My first stop in the city.

At least seven concentric pyramids were built here by the Aztecs, via slaves and conscripted labor. A bigger one each time atop the previous one. Engineering masterpieces to be sure. A place of rites and ceremonies and sacrifice and heavenly observation, of appealing to gods and goddesses of rain, wind, fertility, and war.

Mexico City is built at about 6000 feet, on an ancient lake bed, surrounded by volcanic lands. The previous city was built with black and red basalt from the surrounding mountains.  Remains include sculptures and images of snakes, skulls, frogs and eagles.

The on-site museum displays much of the material found during the recent excavations - astonishing stonework, jewelry, ceramics, weaponry, etc.

Amazing fact for the day - Aztecs traded goods and ideas with people as far away as what is now Utah (turquoise) and Nicaragua in Central America. The name Nicaragua has its roots in an Aztec word meaning "the edge of the Aztecs' reach or lands." Everything moved on foot or by boat. Wow.

Below are a few photos from the city: El Templo Mayor and the City Center. 

This is a carved stone box, reflecting corn - maize - as a central theme 

in their culture.

This 8-ft diameter stone sculpture is what the workman bumped up against in the 1970s as he was digging beneath a foundation. It shows the goddess of the Moon, cut into four sections, to reflect the moons 4 phases.

These statutes were laid against the stairs of one pyramid, just before it was covered by the construction of a new one atop of it. The black and red basalt stones were covered in a 6 inch layer of stucco. Huge pyramids and walls all bright white.

This a detail from a 'stella' - a large stone statute etched with symbols and gliphs that tell stories, relate history, and commemorate key events and dates. These were used all over Mesoamerica to record history, for thousands of years until the arrival of the Europeans.

A statue excavated from the El Templo Mayor.

The snake played a central role as a symbol of power and fertility for Aztecs, and many others of Mesoamerica.

Stairs leading into the "Eagle Warriors" quarters in El Templo Mayor. Eagle Warriors were elite fighters.

A wall of skull sculptures inside the Eagle Warriors' quarters.

This is the base of a column that the Spaniards had used at one time in the cathedral. On the bottom of the column, you can see what are snake scales. The Spaniards destroyed the Aztec temples (forced the Aztecs to destroy their own temples, and used the material to build a new cathedral immediately next door.

Here you can get a sense of the pyramids that were built atop pyramids over a several hundred years. Each one bigger and higher than the previous one. Built by the Aztecs with slaves and 'tribute' labor - labor from peoples dominated by the Aztecs.

Frogs were powerful creatures/gods for the Aztecs - they called for the rains to come.

Two Frances Botero sculptures in front of El Museo Bellas Artes in Mexico City

This is a shot inside the Cathedral. The floor is wildly uneven, rolling, as the lake bed upon which this church is built settles and subsides.

Detail of the ceiling from the Gran Hotel, built by Tiffany's Glass Company a century ago, during the reign of Portfirio Diaz, a dictator that ruled Mexico for more than three decades.

The Gran Hotel is airy, beautiful -- grand even.

A sidewalk bench in Mexico City.

Finally, a little political/cultural commentary on the sidewalk of Mexico City - Mickey Mouse covered in the logos of lots of U.S. and multi-national corporations.

It is so hot in Puerto Escondido these days that...

(a very cool photo of our sun)

…your flip flops literally melt as you walk across the sand at noon.

...piles of woody debris on the roadsides and vacant lots spontaneously burst into flame.

...you can cook beans in the kitchen without the burner, just don't forget to add extra water or they will burn!

OK, so none of that is actually true, but it is HOT. And HUMID.

Check out footage of Jeremiah unsuccessfully attempting to disrobe after playing soccer in the afternoon heat. He and his shirt are irrevocably stuck together.

Side-trip to Huatulco and coffee farms / tropical forests

A sample of the habitat that we left on the coast:  hot, dry.

Maguey - crowded, friendly, noisy beach in Huatulco.

At our hotel before we departed for the mountains

Las Senoritas Bogaard

Our tour guide Juanito.

So we recently returned from an overnight journey to a town called Las Bahias de Huatulco ("the bays of wa-tool-coe"), located a few hours east of P.E.

(I had trouble placing this video where I wanted it on this blog - it is short, showing Jeremiah, JB, and then Amy on a rope swing at the river. see below. Footage filmed by Liesl)

What I am sure used to be a quiet little fishing village with a series of protected bays and beautiful beaches is in the midst of a transformation into a resort destination - and all that that means. Lots of Mexican families, taking advantage of a 4-day weekend, were there with us.


So we bused from P.E. to Huatulco on two different "regular" buses in just over three hours. Lots of curvy roads but no barfing this trip! We secured a hotel room in an adjacent town called Crucecita (a cheaper town five minutes away from the beaches - its where all the workers live).


Our first afternoon was spent at La Playa Maguey - along, as you can see, with a lot of boats and ships and families. It was, shall we say, a high density beach experience - and not exactly what Amy and I were looking for. This beach had a bunch of restaurants all along the waterfront - small kitchens and big sand-floored eating areas, plastic chairs and tables protected from the sun (thank goodness!) by a series of rough-cut timbers and layered palm fronds - classic tropical architecture.


Little boats - lanchas - came and went with people. Big motorized double-hulled catamarans barged their way to shore, blasting American and Mexican pop music from scratchy speakers, and unloading and loading scores of Mexican tourists for a meal, a drink, and some time in the water.


So, the next morning, after feeling that we got taken for a ride with our meal at the beach, we shifted gears, walked to Crucecita's plaza and jumped in a van with three Mexican families for a trip into the mountains to visit an area known for it tropical forests, clear rivers, and organic shade-grown coffee farms. It was wonderful. Our guide Juan, as usual, spoke only spanish. He was very sweet. We took a long, winding dirt road from sea level to 800 meters - to La Llano Grande - a high open area at the upper limits of where coffee can be grown in this area.


The people on the tour with us were all very friendly. We sampled locally-grown coffee; we ate a family-style meal of mole chicken, frijoles, rice, and pork. The high forest canopy was filled with scores of noisy, colorful parrots; butterflies were everywhere.


We learned about local medicinal plants. The high point of the trip, however, was the river that we hiked into with, that right, tons of other families - kids, parents, and grandparents. We spent a couple hours here swimming in the river, jumping off the rope swing at the base of this gorgeous waterfall, talking and laughing with people.

See the photos below. It was a welcome break from the beach, the heat, and we got a good glimpse of one of the places that produces some of the organic, shade-grown coffee you all drink in copious amounts back home. Hopefully, all the farms all like these. The coffee plants were growing amidst what looked to me like a diverse, healthy, intact forest. The clear, cold water of the Rio Copalito seemed to confirm that they were doing things right.

A photo at the farm - 'La Gloria' Coffee Tour

The falls - cascadas - on the Rio Copalito.

The Bogaards experiencing some local, natural beauty aids.

At the base of the falls.

The rope swing at the river.

Tiger Butterflies.

There are two frogs quietly sitting in this flower petal, hoping that no one notices them.

Some of the amazing flowers in the forest. Does anyone know the name of this one?

Liesl & Jeremiah join a soccer club in PE!

So Liesl and Jeremiah have both joined a soccer club (for the next 6 weeks) where they can train 3 days a week for 1.5 hours with a number of other kids their age. Their first day last week is shown in some photos below. Because of some conflicts, a bunch of the boys and girls did not attend, but there should be more kids that show up.

The coaches are good, nice, skilled, though the afternoons can be a little hot and humid, but this is great place to sharpen their soccer and their language skills and learn some tips from some very skilled Mexicans, and meet some new kids who live nearby.

The facility is quite nice - a fenced artificial turf field, small - about two or three times the size of a basketball court.

Here is the facility, with J making a run, and L is next up.

Liesl making a shot on goal.

J showing some good form here : )

Liesl with another shot on goal!