El Bicentenario!

And the saga of my trip to el DF and Puebla continues....

Maguey plant, where tequila comes from!

On the morning of the 15th we packed up and left the Casa de los Amigos and headed to Teotihuacan, an archaeological site not that far from the other side of the city. Before checking out the pyramids, we met up with our guides at a workshop that produces many kinds of artisania as well as tequila and mezcal, a liquor similar to tequila that is special to Mexico. We watched as the artisans sculpted figures out of obsidian, and learned all about the many uses of the maguey plant, which include everything from weaving and paper-making to the production of the aforementioned drinks. At the end of our maguey charla, we found a table with shots of their most special tequilas and mezcals waiting for us. Not wanting to seem rude, we of course accepted the offer (including the 9-year-old daughters of our director Monica). The mezcal was amazing! It is distilled with almonds and honey, and that is exactly what it tastes like (Cathy - I picked you up a bottle. As if you weren't excited enough to see me already, now you definitely should be).

It was then time to explore Teotihuacan. The history nerd in me? Loving it. The site is huge, and has two giant pyramids (dedicated to the sun and the moon), countless other smaller structures, an Avenue of the Dead, and the remains of several murals. The city is a little more than two thousand years old, and has been inhabited by many different groups of people over the course of its existence. At its zenith, it was quite probably the largest city in the world, showing up European cities like London by several thousand inhabitants. We climbed both of the step pyramids (constructed in traditional mesoamerican talud-tablero style - thanks, art history class) and enjoyed stunning views of the entire valley from the top. The sun was unforgiving up there, but in the end the burns were well worth the experience.

We are the Mexican flag!

After Teotihuacan we headed to Puebla, where we had one last globalization lecture at the uni before being set free to celebrate the Bicentenario! Despite the buckets of rain that were dumping down around us, we were all super excited for the celebrations that night. Hundred-year anniversaries only roll around every so often, and since I missed the US bicentennial by a good 14 years, I was stoked to experience the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence. It is all we had been hearing about since we first arrived - there are even countdown clocks on every major street in all the cities here that have been counting down the date to the minute for the past year! In our talks with Witness for Peace, there was a lot of disaccord on whether grand celebrations were appropriate, considering all the problems Mexico is facing right now. I agree that the amount of money that was put into preparations for the bicentenario definitely could have been applied to much more pressing causes, but at the same time, I also feel that the unity and pride I've seen throughout the country is a good thing. It's not a distraction, exactly, but a source of hopefulness and solidarity in the face of everything else that's going on right now. So with that in mind, I went out ready to celebrate with Brad, Bri, Becca and Jen. We headed to the Zócalo, and it was madness! Not uncomfortable-no-personal-space madness like in the Zócalo in DF, everyone was just in complete celebration mode! There were lights and streamers on every tree and every building in sight, and everywhere people were decked out either in their green, white, and red gear or in costumes of revolutionary figures - my personal favorite costume piece was the Miguel Hidalgo wigs, kind of a bald/long white mullet combination. We wandered around for a while until the fireworks, which were breathtaking, and only to be rivaled by the fireworks display I watched at the close of the Salt Lake Olympics. The cathedral bells were ringing, everyone was cheering, it was wonderfully overwhelming. Next up was the Grito de Dolores, or the reenactment of the battle cry given by Miguel Hidalgo that began the fight for independence in 1810; we watched a live reenactment in the Zócalo, followed by the televised version done by Felipe Calderón in the capital. The rest of the night was filled with live music and A LOT of dancing in the streets. All in all, it was one of the most exciting nights I have in memory, and I'm so glad I was here to experience it.

Pyramids of the Moon and Sun

Heading down the Pyramid of the Sun