Mexico City
All of the pictures of all of the things we did before we got to Mexico City are actually in last week's blog...
This is a picture of us on the subway when it WASN'T crowded. And the beautiful Paseo de la Reforma. Mexico City was so much more green and lush and beautiful than we thought it would be.
The sun dial inside of the Museo de Arqueologia
A look at one of the streets in the market.
THe family in front of the cathedral, on the Zocolo.
This is our family at Teotihuacan. In the first pyramid on the left, you can see a tiny little Elliot burying his tooth.
This is our family at the Templo Mayor, which is the sunken pyramid in the middle of Mexico City. You can also see Audrey and Elliot in front of the wall of skulls. Then Elliot is standing in front of the statue of an Eagle Warrior and Audrey is in front of the God of Death- his liver is hanging out because that's where the Aztecs believed our souls lay, in our livers.
Here we are riding on the Viva Mariana lancha through the canals at Xochimilco.
Audrey and Cecily found these really cool calaveras in the Museo de Artesania in Morelia. There's also a shot of the cathedral and streets in Morelia.
Dear Friends and Family,
This is a really really long travelogue. For those of you who want the short version, we went to Mexico City and we're still alive. If you'd like more details about the past week, you can read on.
Monday, Cecily and I went to deliver mini libraries with Lety, Diego, Kingsley and Grandpa in schools up in the mountains. Diego drove because the roads were horrible. It was like the road that we go on to get Christmas trees. It was very misty. First school was so well-run and so beautiful. We were offered coffee and bread and the kids could name several of their favorite books when we asked. Second was un on top of mountain- they say they have pumas and deer and gets cool enough that they can grow apples and peaches. Fed us lunch, which was tortillas with a combination of eggs, salsa, and some kind of squash that we didn’t recognize- looked like a pear, tasted a little like a zucchini. I tried to take some pictures of that sheer drop from every side of the school, but it doesn’t show up in the photo. Last, we went up to Las Lagunitas- that was very very very remote. They have to hire teachers for one year at a time with one of those government programs where they can pay off their student loans. The teachers have to live up there all the time and seldom does anyone come off of the mountain. Daddy said it reminded him of places he’d taught in South Africa forty years ago, but not in as good condition. We were all exhausted when we got home.
Mary kept staying with us until we left on Wednesday- they were still working on finding a permanent place for her to stay. I accidentally put pictures of those schools on the blog already.
Wednesday morning we took the kids to their schools to give some gifts to their teachers and classmates- soccer balls and jumpropes and books. Elliot’s whole class wrote letters to him and to Audrey. The ways they spelled their names are really funny. Andrui, Adruhi, Atri, Audri, Adrui, Adry, Aduin, Andry, Allui, Adllie, Abllie, Ellios, Elliod, Eriel, Elions, Elion, Ellianss, Elians, Eleons, Eleon. Except for Cecily’s name, we didn’t do very well naming our kids so that anyone here could pronounce them. The kids actually got a little teary thinking that they weren’t going to get to go to school with their friends anymore. Quite a change from their reasons for getting tears a few weeks before… They tried to translate the letters the best they could on our way to Guadalajara. Elliot accidentally said “I’m going to need my Book of Mormon to translate all of these” (instead of his dictionary) and that sent us into a fit of giggles. I guess he thought if he read his scriptures, he would receive some kind of divine help in reading the letters. We went over to the Hacienda on our way out to Guadalajara to drop off Mary’s things, and ran into Ted and Susan who had just come back from the U.S. Daddy talked to Jorge for a while and Jorge kept telling him what an unusual American family we are. He said he never got a chance to pin him down as to what he means by us being unusual. We guess that it’s probably that they don’t see extended family spending time together like they do. They kept saying that our family seemed more close, like a Latino family- probably because Mommy and Daddy were willing to come down and spend some time with us, even though Mommy didn’t feel good. Maybe we’re just paying ourselves on the back too much- maybe they’re not actually complimenting us…..
We drove up to Guadalajara and the drive was just gorgeous. We found the airport and waited for Dad. When he first arrived Audrey and Elliot jumped all over him. Cecily was hesitant to go to him at first. He left to run to the bathroom and Cec turned to me and said “Daddy’s so cute!”We left Grandpa in Guadalajara because we were worried about getting back from Mexico City before he had to check in for his conference. We drove as far as Morelia and stopped for the night. Morelia was really pretty but between it pouring rain, being dark, having road construction, and taking James and the kids an hour to pick up dinner for us, we had a difficult and adventurous time finding a hotel. When we finally did, there was a Mariachi band playing right outside- it we hadn't had evidence to the contrary we would have sworn that they were actually in our room. But luckily as soon as everyone had teeth brushed and prayers said, they stopped playing for the night. We spent the morning wandering around Morelia. It's really pretty but doesn't look Mexican. It looks more like photos I've seen of eastern European capitals like Prague. All of the buildings had ornate stone and iron fronts.We headed over here to Mexico City and this time I drove. It was such a beautiful drive. I think if the Spanish had arrived from the south and west like we did, they would have thought that the new world looked a lot like France or Germany. We listened to a little "lucha libre" talk radio, a call in show where people called in to talk about their favorite wrestlers and the current controversies, just to say that we had. We lucked out and got onto a main road that led right to the center of town. Of course we didn't know that at the time and there was a lot of me and James screaming at each other "Did you see that street sign?! What street are we on now!? Do I turn?!" It was also pouring rain as we drove in. We got into a really tight little stretch of highway and a lady in a really nice BMW just decided to form another lane to the right of us. I slammed on my brakes and just as soon as I let out a sigh of relief that we hadn't hit her, the car behind us hit us. There was absolutely no shoulder- I could have reached out and touched the cement wall to the left. So we just kept driving! We figured we'd rather pay for the damage to Project Amigo's van than stop and get out and risk getting killed. Plus, it would have caused a traffic jam that would have made the news. We found a hotel a block away from the Zocolo, and we're up on the seventh floor where there are two balconies and, since it's the top floor, we can look out on the city.
On Friday morning we got together with a tour group to go out to Teotihuacan. We went with a couple from France, a couple from Spain, a couple from Argentina, and three women from the US. We went first to a demonstration of the maguey. They showed us how the outside film was used as paper, the tip was used as a needle, and the fibers as threads. And, of course, that it was used to make tequila and pulque. They gave us “tastes” of tequila and pulque and we told them we didn’t want any alcohol and our guide told us the pulque wasn’t alcohol. So we each stuck our tongues in ours and it was really nasty. It tasted like peaches that you’ve found at the back of the fridge smell. Or like fermented sour milk. I could go on…. But anyway, I guess to reassure me, the guide told us the pulque only has about 5% alcohol. (?!) So we really felt like model parents and now have to beg and bribe our kids not to tell their teachers and friends when they get home that they’ve tried pulque. Then we went to Teotihuacan. It was huge. There are too many pyramids and ruins even to explore. And the guide told us that only about 15 percent of the complex has been excavated. Audrey Elliot and Dad climbed the Pyramid of the Sun while Cec and I waited. Our guide expressed a lot of anxiety about letting Cec go up and down. And they really were steep stairs! It gave you vertigo to start climbing back down. Elliot had lost a molar a few weeks before and Grandma and Grandpa told him that Jacob used to bury his teeth when he’d lost them in Spain and that he now had teeth in several European countries. So Elliot decided to bury his tooth somewhere in the Pyramid of the Sun. We all climbed the Pyramid of the Moon because you can only go up about halfway. The stairs were really steep- about 16 inches high. It made the old thighs burn.
We got stuck in traffic on the way back and what should have taken about 35 minutes took one hour 40 minutes. We were all about going out of our minds. It turned out that an armoured car had slid off the road and was about to tip into one of the culverts that they had for heavy rains, so not only did they need emergency medical and traffic cops and tow trucks, but they needed heavily armed policemen. We ate at a taco stand near our hotel that we figured was pretty good. We figured that because when we got to our hotel the day before to check in, there was a police car outside with its lights flashing. The two policemen were inside ordering some tacos to go.
Saturday we went to the Templo Mayor. It is a big pyramid that has sunk in the marshy ground under Mexico to the point that it is actually underground now. You can see all the shells that they build around the pyramids because it was so heavy that it sunk and kept needing to be rebuilt. You can tell now how unevenly it has settled in the sand underneath. Then we got onto the subway and went to the Museo de Arqueologia. Our favorites were mask of jade, the fountain outside, the ancient Aztec writings and books, and the feather headdress of Quetzalcoatl. The subway ride back was worse because everyone wanted to get into the city center. Then we went through the market and that was really something. You could barely move- there were so many people crammed into the streets. A lady tried to pickpocket Dad twice, but he had put his wallet into his pocket with Velcro and he could hear her the two times she tried. Then the kids wandered around while Cecily took a nap. They got one of those sticks of corn with mayonnaise cheese and chili like they show on Nacho Libre. They thought it was pretty good except that the mayonnaise was really sweet, like Miracle Whip. Ew.
Sunday morning we got out of town really quickly because they were having a political rally in the center and were closing the whole thing off. One year ago they had the presidential elections in Mexico and the loser, Lopez Obrador, has always contested the results, so he and his supporters were going to march down the main street to the Zocolo with banners that said something about how the “legitimate” Mexican president was worried about voter fraud. We went out to Xochimilco and took a ride on one of the boats down the canal. It was really an adventure with Cecily on it. But the guy on our boat said that she was actually much better behaved than some of the Mexican kids that he takes out. Whole families were piled onto boats eating lunch and paying floating Mariachis to serenade them. On our way to Guadalajara we got stopped to search our van for drugs. I think they thought that Cecily was looking a little shifty. We made it to Guadalajara by nightfall and stayed in a funky hotel downtown. Funky as in, the kids are afraid to use the bathroom. But we will survive.
We hope that you're all well and that you're surviving your adventures too. And, we hope that if you're ever in Mexico City with you children, that it's not on the same weekend as the Mexico Gay Pride demonstration and parade.
James Jenny Audrey Elliot and Cecily
This is a really really long travelogue. For those of you who want the short version, we went to Mexico City and we're still alive. If you'd like more details about the past week, you can read on.
Monday, Cecily and I went to deliver mini libraries with Lety, Diego, Kingsley and Grandpa in schools up in the mountains. Diego drove because the roads were horrible. It was like the road that we go on to get Christmas trees. It was very misty. First school was so well-run and so beautiful. We were offered coffee and bread and the kids could name several of their favorite books when we asked. Second was un on top of mountain- they say they have pumas and deer and gets cool enough that they can grow apples and peaches. Fed us lunch, which was tortillas with a combination of eggs, salsa, and some kind of squash that we didn’t recognize- looked like a pear, tasted a little like a zucchini. I tried to take some pictures of that sheer drop from every side of the school, but it doesn’t show up in the photo. Last, we went up to Las Lagunitas- that was very very very remote. They have to hire teachers for one year at a time with one of those government programs where they can pay off their student loans. The teachers have to live up there all the time and seldom does anyone come off of the mountain. Daddy said it reminded him of places he’d taught in South Africa forty years ago, but not in as good condition. We were all exhausted when we got home.
Mary kept staying with us until we left on Wednesday- they were still working on finding a permanent place for her to stay. I accidentally put pictures of those schools on the blog already.
Wednesday morning we took the kids to their schools to give some gifts to their teachers and classmates- soccer balls and jumpropes and books. Elliot’s whole class wrote letters to him and to Audrey. The ways they spelled their names are really funny. Andrui, Adruhi, Atri, Audri, Adrui, Adry, Aduin, Andry, Allui, Adllie, Abllie, Ellios, Elliod, Eriel, Elions, Elion, Ellianss, Elians, Eleons, Eleon. Except for Cecily’s name, we didn’t do very well naming our kids so that anyone here could pronounce them. The kids actually got a little teary thinking that they weren’t going to get to go to school with their friends anymore. Quite a change from their reasons for getting tears a few weeks before… They tried to translate the letters the best they could on our way to Guadalajara. Elliot accidentally said “I’m going to need my Book of Mormon to translate all of these” (instead of his dictionary) and that sent us into a fit of giggles. I guess he thought if he read his scriptures, he would receive some kind of divine help in reading the letters. We went over to the Hacienda on our way out to Guadalajara to drop off Mary’s things, and ran into Ted and Susan who had just come back from the U.S. Daddy talked to Jorge for a while and Jorge kept telling him what an unusual American family we are. He said he never got a chance to pin him down as to what he means by us being unusual. We guess that it’s probably that they don’t see extended family spending time together like they do. They kept saying that our family seemed more close, like a Latino family- probably because Mommy and Daddy were willing to come down and spend some time with us, even though Mommy didn’t feel good. Maybe we’re just paying ourselves on the back too much- maybe they’re not actually complimenting us…..
We drove up to Guadalajara and the drive was just gorgeous. We found the airport and waited for Dad. When he first arrived Audrey and Elliot jumped all over him. Cecily was hesitant to go to him at first. He left to run to the bathroom and Cec turned to me and said “Daddy’s so cute!”We left Grandpa in Guadalajara because we were worried about getting back from Mexico City before he had to check in for his conference. We drove as far as Morelia and stopped for the night. Morelia was really pretty but between it pouring rain, being dark, having road construction, and taking James and the kids an hour to pick up dinner for us, we had a difficult and adventurous time finding a hotel. When we finally did, there was a Mariachi band playing right outside- it we hadn't had evidence to the contrary we would have sworn that they were actually in our room. But luckily as soon as everyone had teeth brushed and prayers said, they stopped playing for the night. We spent the morning wandering around Morelia. It's really pretty but doesn't look Mexican. It looks more like photos I've seen of eastern European capitals like Prague. All of the buildings had ornate stone and iron fronts.We headed over here to Mexico City and this time I drove. It was such a beautiful drive. I think if the Spanish had arrived from the south and west like we did, they would have thought that the new world looked a lot like France or Germany. We listened to a little "lucha libre" talk radio, a call in show where people called in to talk about their favorite wrestlers and the current controversies, just to say that we had. We lucked out and got onto a main road that led right to the center of town. Of course we didn't know that at the time and there was a lot of me and James screaming at each other "Did you see that street sign?! What street are we on now!? Do I turn?!" It was also pouring rain as we drove in. We got into a really tight little stretch of highway and a lady in a really nice BMW just decided to form another lane to the right of us. I slammed on my brakes and just as soon as I let out a sigh of relief that we hadn't hit her, the car behind us hit us. There was absolutely no shoulder- I could have reached out and touched the cement wall to the left. So we just kept driving! We figured we'd rather pay for the damage to Project Amigo's van than stop and get out and risk getting killed. Plus, it would have caused a traffic jam that would have made the news. We found a hotel a block away from the Zocolo, and we're up on the seventh floor where there are two balconies and, since it's the top floor, we can look out on the city.
On Friday morning we got together with a tour group to go out to Teotihuacan. We went with a couple from France, a couple from Spain, a couple from Argentina, and three women from the US. We went first to a demonstration of the maguey. They showed us how the outside film was used as paper, the tip was used as a needle, and the fibers as threads. And, of course, that it was used to make tequila and pulque. They gave us “tastes” of tequila and pulque and we told them we didn’t want any alcohol and our guide told us the pulque wasn’t alcohol. So we each stuck our tongues in ours and it was really nasty. It tasted like peaches that you’ve found at the back of the fridge smell. Or like fermented sour milk. I could go on…. But anyway, I guess to reassure me, the guide told us the pulque only has about 5% alcohol. (?!) So we really felt like model parents and now have to beg and bribe our kids not to tell their teachers and friends when they get home that they’ve tried pulque. Then we went to Teotihuacan. It was huge. There are too many pyramids and ruins even to explore. And the guide told us that only about 15 percent of the complex has been excavated. Audrey Elliot and Dad climbed the Pyramid of the Sun while Cec and I waited. Our guide expressed a lot of anxiety about letting Cec go up and down. And they really were steep stairs! It gave you vertigo to start climbing back down. Elliot had lost a molar a few weeks before and Grandma and Grandpa told him that Jacob used to bury his teeth when he’d lost them in Spain and that he now had teeth in several European countries. So Elliot decided to bury his tooth somewhere in the Pyramid of the Sun. We all climbed the Pyramid of the Moon because you can only go up about halfway. The stairs were really steep- about 16 inches high. It made the old thighs burn.
We got stuck in traffic on the way back and what should have taken about 35 minutes took one hour 40 minutes. We were all about going out of our minds. It turned out that an armoured car had slid off the road and was about to tip into one of the culverts that they had for heavy rains, so not only did they need emergency medical and traffic cops and tow trucks, but they needed heavily armed policemen. We ate at a taco stand near our hotel that we figured was pretty good. We figured that because when we got to our hotel the day before to check in, there was a police car outside with its lights flashing. The two policemen were inside ordering some tacos to go.
Saturday we went to the Templo Mayor. It is a big pyramid that has sunk in the marshy ground under Mexico to the point that it is actually underground now. You can see all the shells that they build around the pyramids because it was so heavy that it sunk and kept needing to be rebuilt. You can tell now how unevenly it has settled in the sand underneath. Then we got onto the subway and went to the Museo de Arqueologia. Our favorites were mask of jade, the fountain outside, the ancient Aztec writings and books, and the feather headdress of Quetzalcoatl. The subway ride back was worse because everyone wanted to get into the city center. Then we went through the market and that was really something. You could barely move- there were so many people crammed into the streets. A lady tried to pickpocket Dad twice, but he had put his wallet into his pocket with Velcro and he could hear her the two times she tried. Then the kids wandered around while Cecily took a nap. They got one of those sticks of corn with mayonnaise cheese and chili like they show on Nacho Libre. They thought it was pretty good except that the mayonnaise was really sweet, like Miracle Whip. Ew.
Sunday morning we got out of town really quickly because they were having a political rally in the center and were closing the whole thing off. One year ago they had the presidential elections in Mexico and the loser, Lopez Obrador, has always contested the results, so he and his supporters were going to march down the main street to the Zocolo with banners that said something about how the “legitimate” Mexican president was worried about voter fraud. We went out to Xochimilco and took a ride on one of the boats down the canal. It was really an adventure with Cecily on it. But the guy on our boat said that she was actually much better behaved than some of the Mexican kids that he takes out. Whole families were piled onto boats eating lunch and paying floating Mariachis to serenade them. On our way to Guadalajara we got stopped to search our van for drugs. I think they thought that Cecily was looking a little shifty. We made it to Guadalajara by nightfall and stayed in a funky hotel downtown. Funky as in, the kids are afraid to use the bathroom. But we will survive.
We hope that you're all well and that you're surviving your adventures too. And, we hope that if you're ever in Mexico City with you children, that it's not on the same weekend as the Mexico Gay Pride demonstration and parade.
James Jenny Audrey Elliot and Cecily
posted by Parnell Willmores at 2:59 PM
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