Teotihuacan (near Mexico City)

The Pyramid of the Sun on the right and the Pyramid of the Moon in front. I heard it in Spanish, so I might get a few things wrong, but the story goes that there were two gods. One was rich and the other poor. For some reason, if they went through a fire, they would receive more blessings. The rich one was supposed to go first but became scared and the other one went instead. Afterward the poor god was rich too. People built pyramids if their honor.
The pyramid of the sun is the largest here. If is the second largest in Mexico. The biggest being pictured at an earlier date on my blog. There were more people than normal on this day because it was the first day of spring. Many came wearing white to honor the god. There were other rituals taking place as well.
Here we are standing in line.

Here is the view from on top. This doesn't even come close to covering it all. At this sight, Mayans built and later the Aztecs came across it and built more.


In the circle are people dressed as indigenous peoples dancing.


Here is the pyramid of the moon

Here is the alley to the pyramid of the moon. Can you imagine everything covered with bright colored decorations filled with people, possibly even parades and processions.
Here is the pyramid of the moon from the ground. It is bit more intimidating from the ground, and it isn't even as big as the pyramid of the sun.
Here are the pyramids up close. You can see the diagonal lines. The stones sticking out are for holding the outside plaster in place (doesn't look like it worked...)
Here is an area of more covering.
This spot still has the painting. It is a puma. More importantly puma is the same in English and in Spanish. One less word to learn is always a victory.
Here is one of the temples. They are currently working to refinish it.
Here a commercial area (both old and new), The thatched roofs didn't stick around.
Here is waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy over, on the opposite from the pyramid of the moon, this is the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl the god of rain.
Quetzalcoatl is a snake with wings. Here is a close up of a few forms of its head.
After viewing and climbing, we got under a tree.
From the safety of the shade we watched some men play some music on top of a pole.
After their song they jumped off and going round and round they went lower...
and lower...
and lower til they bump their heads on a rock... Actually they catch themselves before.

Birthday Fun!!!

My day started off with everyone in my Mexican host family greeting me and giving me a hug on my morning commute upstairs to the shower and was quickly followed by a mint cake for breakfast. It was very delicious!!!

Then at 10:30 for break at school I had chocolate cake with my classmates.
I ended my day with some yummy cheesecake!
Not only did I have three cakes, but three different types of tamales. Chile Verde, Vera Cruz (in a banana leaf), and Dulce (sweet).
For dinner my host family took me to a restaurant in the city's main plaza. This is what I walk past everyday, but it looks a lot cooler at night.
This is the government building. The mayors office is the top left part and is directly across from the cathedral. The host dad told me he will take me to meet the mayor sometime this month because they are good friends.
Here is the entertainment. My family showing me what they have learned in dance class.
Here is the restaurant. Our table was at the top, on level three.


This is the view from our table.
more of the view

So all in all it was a pretty amazing day.

Huejotzingo Carnival (Fat Tuesday)

This carnival had a story to go with it, but I only saw the parade.

I wasn't the only one interested in pictures.
This is the kind of dress I was expecting...


This is what I saw.
And I was extremely puzzled by the Arabian nights, but it gets better...
The sombrero fro...
These are the new ten gallon hats.
This is the best I could do to catch a picture of someone shooting off their gun. There were lots of people but even more gun powder. They actually gave us ear plugs when we paid for the trip. It sounded like the forth of July, but with guns instead of fireworks.
Play that funky music white boy...
I could totally get a hat like this and sell advertisement space!
Yes, that is a sucker flying towards the camera...
No, the person with the raised hand didn't catch it.

Don't forget all the people on horses!




With this many people the seating differed from paid...
To the premium "we get to be here cause we own the building"...
The free section isn't so bad when upgraded to "on my dad's shoulders"...
The statue's shoulders seem to work also.
Then again, sitting on a statue leaves you exposed to the sun and it is better to be under two umbrellas in the free section.

If you got hungry while watching you can always buy a piece of bread.

Or better yet, cotton candy.Bored? Get a whistle.
Or go on one of the rides.

It's a school! It's castle! No, it's an exconvent!
It had very detailed carvings up close.
It had murals painted in black and white to look like silver.
Another entrance.
Though I poke fun at the sights, it was extremely fun to watch and experience. It was a mixture of Spain and Indigenous traditions and said a lot about the participants.