It’s Sunday. One of the busiest streets in Mexico City called the Ave. Paseo de la Reforma shuts down to all traffic and everyone walks or bikes or anything on wheels. Good for pollution control and good for the health of these city dwellers.
We go to a church called MásVida. They had five services and we went to the 9:00 service. It was a 30 minute walk from our hotel. There was a line, masks required, temperatures taken, and ushers to guide us to leave a seat between each couple, family, or single.
The music was good and the Spirit was present. The staff were greeting us and sending us out with card benedictions.
The Spanish captured the Aztec ruler with the help of other ethnic groups that were not treated well by the Aztecs .
If you see a Spanish word ending in tl, it comes from the Nahuatl language which is related to Aztec. Some of these words that come from this language are coyote, avocado, and chocolate.
Spain sent Spaniards to Mexico who received money (gold), native slaves and land without having to work for it. The culture was used to take from those that are working hard.
After church, we toured the Templo Mayor. It consisted of seven buildings one covering the other. (Think Russian doll.) The Spaniards only saw and destroyed the first layer. They called for its destruction. The stones from the dismantled temple was used to build nearby churches or even on top of the dismantled temple.
Syncretism is a fusion of two cultures. Holidays of a new culture (often religion) are overlayed on an old culture. For example, Christian celebrations are often disguised with traditions and past deities. I read where one would carry a cross but had his traditional deity behind it.
Easter was a pagan festival concerning the arrival of spring. The resurrection of Jesus was put over that. The people were already gathering to celebrate but now is the time to REALLY celebrate.
We people, especially Christians, might criticize this but don’t we do the same thing when we cross our fingers, knock on wood, etc.
Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1810. The revolution of 1910 was started by Pancho Villa in the north and the people were liberated. The main drive was not being able to own land
Since Hollywood could capture events on film, they came to film the conflicts of Pancho Villa. These are in sepia but can be seen on YouTube.
Michoacán, the name of the state where we will visit butterfly sanctuaries, means land of waters. They are a large producer of avacados. The greatest consumption of avacados is Super Bowl weekend with 150 tons.
What we call nachos, they call totopos. Another way to serve avocados is to cut in half, remove the pit, and put tuna, etc. in the hole that remains and eat with a spoon. Every restaurant served guacamole as an appetizer. It was assumed.
Avocados are harvested in the fall. Smaller avocados are imported since they have a thick skin and are more easily handled. There is less waste. Locally, they grow larger. It takes 4 to 5 years for a grafted avocado to produce fruit. I guess that I won’t grow one from seed.
The trees need to stay small for handpicking. They grow well here because they need hot days and cold nights for good avocados. This is true for peaches as well.
The leader of our trip, Renzo, has an avocado farm in Peru so he was very knowledgeable. He said that when there is a yellow ring where the stem has been removed, it is ripe. To prepare guacamole, some people just smash them and mix with lime or lemon juice. He prefers to add onion, tomatoes, with water and salt. Wait for 15 minutes for the best flavor. Eat it all! No problema!
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