Mexico City: The Bicentennial Independence Parade: Following a two mile route from the Angel of Independence to The Constitution Square known as the Zocalo, hundreds of volunteers made their way through massive crowds for the countries bicentennial celebrations. The Grito given by President Felipe Calderon on the balcony of the National Palace, commemorated 200 years of Independence from Spain, and 100 years since the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The Independence Parade, honored the history of Mexican identity, from Pre-Colombian, to Colonial, to the present, as well as paid tribute to many indigenous groups of the country. At the cost of almost $54 million U.S. Dollars, the celebrations included an immense fire show on the roof of the National Palace, and extraordinary fireworks and multi-media show over the Cathedral as the President shouted Viva Mexico! More than 50,000 spectators crowded the streets at the careful watch of 12,000 police officers.
Teotihucan: Known as the “City of Gods,” Teotihucan’s Temple of the Sun is the second largest temple/pyramid in the world. Located approximately 25 miles northeast of Mexico City, the ruins of this ancient city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Each year, thousands of visitors from all over the world attempt to climb its steep 365 steps. At the very top of the temple, a black shiny metal square the size of a quarter is embedded on the floor and symbolizes the very center of the temple. New archeological research suggests that the Temple of Sun, could in fact not be a temple dedicated to the sun deity, but that to the water deity, Tlaloc. A moat that surrounds the base, as well as the presence of child burials at the corners of the temple are characteristics of offerings to the water god. The mysterious decline of the City of Gods and almost vanishing in 700-900 A.D. continues to be a debate amongst scholars.
Xochimilco: Known as the “place of flowers,” Xochimilco is one of sixteen boroughs in Mexico City and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. While it remains a high tourist attraction, the once famed and romanticized canals have slowly begun to deteriorate in large part due to draining and contamination. Visitors board a trajinera, which is a small boat, and float over the shallow swampy waters of what remains of Lake Xochimilco. Smaller boats service the trajineras and offer food, drink, handmade jewelry or traditional candies. Music groups like traditional mariachi, trios, or banda groups serenade visitors at an average of $80 U.S. dollars for five songs. Indigenous people that continue to live around the banks of the canals are subject to extreme poverty, lack of running water and educational resources. Not surprisingly, one female vendor admitted, “the bicentennial wasn’t for us.” Read more about Xochimilco in the "external links" section below.
Mexico City: El Templo Mayor at the Zocalo: As the city planned to expand its massive underground Metro service in 1978, the colossal stone of Coyolaxauhqui was discovered. According to Aztec mythology, Coyolaxauhqui attempted to kill her mother, the Earth Goddess Coatlicue, because she was pregnant. However, Huitzilipochtli, her son, sprung from her belly fully grown, killed his sister, threw her down Coatepec Hill, and flung her body to the night sky making her the moon. The 8-ton stone is displayed at the Templo Mayor Museum and illustrates her dismembered body. Symbolically, each month, the sun kills the moon, and she is reborn in phases. El Templo Mayor is said to have been built on Coatepec Hill and the excavation has only led to the surface of an immense structure. Before its discovery, roads and buildings lay over its highest peak. The day after the Bicentennial Independence Parade, activist demonstrated against the continued unfair and unjust treatment of indigenous communities. To date, indigenous groups continue to dance and worship outside the fenced walls of El Templo Mayor and outside the fenced Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built in part, with stone from destroyed Aztec temples in 1573, and is the oldest cathedral in all of the Americas. The Spanish destruction, burial and construction over El Templo Mayor lend a hand to many questions. What else is buried underneath the National Palace, the Zocalo, the Cathedral and its surrounding buildings? How deep and how far does it go? Will we ever find out?
Diego Rivera’s House-Studio: Internationally acclaimed for his art work, his life and his marriage to Frida Kahlo, the Diego Rivera house-studio is a pristine example of Diego and Frida’s forward thinking. Located in the upper middle class suburb of San Angel and built in 1932, the architect Juan O’ Gorman, designed a two square building home that connected through a bridge. The house was featured in Selma Hayek’s film, “Frida” and today doubles as an art gallery and museum. Diego’s side of the house, the “studio,” offers a glimpse of what life was like for the artist. His leftover paints, sketches, clothes, boots, chair, pottery and anything that could have potentially been used as inspiration are displayed for all to see. Across the street is the historic San Angel Inn, where Mexican revolutionary heroes Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa planned to unity of Mexico during the 1910 revolution.
More from Xochimilco
It was just past 2 p.m. when my group and I arrived at Xochimilco. I had been told it was a place of utter beauty, where flowers grew in abundance around a famed lake that was once of huge importance in commerce, business and wealth before the colonial period of Mexico.
However, Xochimilco, the "place of flowers" in its native language of Nahuatl, left much to be desired.
A swampy lake with shallow water canals no more than 5 feet deep recalled only in memory its once glorious days. I was expecting to be greeted by beautiful women with head pieces made of natural flowers inviting me to enjoy a trip on a trajinera, which is like small boat, around the canals of Lake Xochimilco. At least, that was the impression I had based on the Xochimilco delegation that participated in the Bicentennial Independence Parade. Instead, we were greeted by men with no particular uniform who hurried our group into a boat and launched us off with not so much as a welcome.
We rode along the canal and made it to the open area where other visitors floated in their own trajineras, each adored with colorful awnings and Spanish names, Maria Elena, Conchita, Carmelita, Graciela.
Smaller boats circled each trajinera offering their goods, blankets, tacos, Dora the Explorer backpacks, and beer. Independent vendors, like Sandra, 29, came on board our boat and offered us sweet coconut candy, made from nearby Santa Cruz Acalpixa, a town where the Feria Nacional del Dulce Cristalizado (National Fair of Crystallized Candy) takes place every August.
Sandra, a petite but confident woman, showed in her smile, the day to day hardships of being poor, a woman, and indigenous. She told me that it's hard to be a candy vendor, but it's what her family has done for generations. Each day, she comes to Xochimilco with her basket of fresh made candy and natural nuts and hopes that tourists are interested in buying and helping the local indigenous communities.
"It's hard sometimes because even though a lot of people come, not a lot of people buy," she tells me in Spanish.
She speaks to Señora Leonor, a vendor in her 70's who has jumped on our boat to sell handmade necklaces, in Nahuatl. She says that many have lost the ability to speak the indigenous languages and now speak only Spanish.
"I don't even know all that much," she admits, "but I know enough to understand, I just can't speak it the way some of the elders can."
I bought a natural nut waffle from her that she says will help my digestion, it cost $20 Pesos, which is about $1.50 American dollars.
Sandra stayed on our boat for about 30 minutes and her only sell was to me.
"That's the thing," she says, "people come, and they don't buy, all of us are just trying to make a living, and this is the best candy you will ever eat!"
Xochimilco, the tourist attraction, is very different than Xochimilco the reality, a semi-abandon lake with poverty-stricken homes that line up the shore where draining and contamination of the lake and canals are evident.
Homes made of raw materials, small shacks made of wood and brick and small rafts in need of care kiss the banks of the swamps that surround the homes of the few indigenous people that remain.
Sandra, who is happy to chat with me until she is able to jump onto another trajinera, tells me that while the Mexican government hasn't kicked out the people who live around the lake, they also have not granted them permission to fully build, which explains the environment around this national landmark.
I ask her if the government is doing anything to improve the conditions of the lake or the people who live here and she looks at me with amusement.
"With all the millions that they spent on the Bicentennial? Maybe they could have shared a little with us," she says sadly as she looks to the distance hoping to catch a boat.
Sandra admits she didn't feel connected in celebrating Mexico's Bicentennial Celebrations. With very few schools, lack of resources, and even fewer opportunities, it's obvious the celebrations weren’t for everyone, especially those in the margins like Sandra and her family.
When I ask her how she feels about all the money that was spent, she shrugs, smiles and says, “It’s not anything new.”
Sandra confessed she’s never been interviewed before, but she willingly and openly tells me her hopes, dreams and fears. All she wants is to make a decent living to help her family and live well, maybe one day, a member of her family will finish high school.
As she balances her candy basket, her small frame and her smile as she jumps onto the next trajinera, the sounds of Lake Xochimilco swish beneath our rafts. Sandra’s valor, determination and will to live linger with me.
I raise my hand to wave good bye and think, 200 years of Independence, 100 years of Revolution and in small towns across Mexico, indigenous populations continue to suffer the injustices of being the silent and invisible majority.
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