…With the Coca-Cola Parade in Cuernavaca

I know, it’s kind of silly having Coca-Cola provide a large community even like that, but that’s how it is in Cuernavaca. (They also do our Christmas tree in our zocalo, much to my chagrin.) Anyway, I decided not to be a snob and enjoy the parade. 

My son and I walked to the start point (which is at the Wal-Mart — it just couldn’t get more commercialized, could it?) and joined the very packed crowd waiting for the show. About 90% of the children where spinning multicolored light sticks in their hands. Venders were working the crowd selling these along with Santa hats with reindeer antlers and flashing lights on them. I had already spent my money donating to the children who live at the Salvation Army home. They were all dressed in red sweaters, singing Christmas Carols in front of the Wal-Mart and looking quite adorable.

At approximately 6:40 — only 10 minutes later than advertised, the first floats appeared in the road and some colorful fireworks boomed and sparkled overhead.  100s of children were instantly lifted onto father’s, mother’s, aunt’s, uncle’s and big brother’s shoulders.

The parade was short. It consisted of about 5 well lit floats with costumed people dancing on them and two decorated semi trucks pulling lit up displays. I had run into a neighbor with her two kids and after the parade was over we navigated the crowd (mostly headed into Wal-Mart) together, each finding our husbands on the other side of the area where traffic had been temporarily blocked off. Mine had hurried up on his bicycle after coming home and finding my note on the kitchen table. We hadn’t planned to see the parade but I had heard about it on the radio today. (When you live in Mexico it’s always a smart idea to tune in to the radio regularly to learn about community events.) Despite being unable to find us in the crowd he had arrived in time to see the parade.

I took the pictures included here while standing on the street, ballancing my son on my shoulders and keeping the empty stroller in check. They aren’t spectacular, but the nice thing about them is the way they show the crowd. Please don’t use any of these photos without my permission.

I love mandarin organgs and one of the best things now that I live in Mexico is that every winter I can buy kilos of them. Right now in our market they are 3 kilos for 10 pesos! They are all very sweet and so juicy they overflow as soon as you bite into them even a little bit.

Their smell reminds me of Christmas because my mom used to put a mandarin orange into the toe of everyone’s stockings. I’m not waiting for Christmas, though! I’m eating tons of mandarins every day.

We are back from Thanksgiving vacation and Mexico feels pleasantly warm. Birds are chirping and the sun is out. Ahhh. Need I say more?

You have to make your own Thanksgiving when you live in Mexico, so this year my son and I bailed for the U.S. My tummy is full of home made pre-Thanksgiving apple pie as I write this blog entry.

I’ve been missing Mexico, though. I miss the way people interact with my son in Mexico. Often people give him the cold shoulder in the U.S. In Mexico people share their sticky, choking hazard candies with him when he cries. In Mexico men talk to him in line at the bank. In Mexico women coo and smile at him. In Mexico EVERYBODY takes a moment to shake his hand and say hello as part of the greeting ritual that happens naturally among adults. It puts him at ease and makes him feel welcome.

I’ve been trying to encourage him to still greet people here since it is natural for me and not awkward as it was when we first moved to Mexico, but often the adults don’t expect it at all and the whole thing flops. Oh well, a few days of turkey, stuffing, and time with his grandparents and aunts won’t ruin him. It’s nothing a day back in Mexico won’t fix.

Live in Mexico and Experience Bird Migrations in a New Way

One of my favorite things now that I live in Mexico is experiencing the bird migrations that happen in the Americas in a new way. Mexico creates this wonderful bottleneck in the path over land from North America to South America and the birds bunch up here. I’d love to participate in a bird count some day, but for right now I’m just experiencing the new arrivals to our yard. Our landlord has lots of trees in his yard and so do our neighbors but the most important factor in attracting the birds is that we live on the edge of a very steep ravine. The water in the stream at the bottom of the ravine is quite polluted and choked with plastic refuse, but since the sides of the ravine are so steep, people haven’t cleared them and there are a wide variety of tree species represented.

Just this last week I saw a vireo-like bird with a black eye stripe hopping among the branches of the nispero tree outside my kitchen window. Seeing him was like seeing an old friend. I see that type of bird every year at this time. Today I saw a precious little yellow bellied bird doing the same thing in my landlord’s lemon tree. It was good to see one of these little guys back, too. In fact, this afternoon as we sat eating sweet mandarin oranges so juicy their nectar trickled down our wrists, we watched them for quite a while. They were both out there working the branches for nutritional insects while a gentle breeze rustled the leaves all around us.

I can’t identify them based on the two bird books I have with me. In fact, if you plan to do birding while you live in Mexico, you should do some research on bird identification guides for Mexico. It’s something that I haven’t taken the time to do, but I do know they are hard to find and are often incomplete. Sometimes guides for the U.S. and Canada portion of North America will do the trick but you have to have West Coast, East Coast, Central Plains, Rocky Mountains, you-get-the-picture guides because birds from all over come through Mexico not to mention all of the resident species! Planning how to organize a guide useful in Mexico must be a real head breaker. I think I might do it by habitat type and time of year.

How exciting it must be to plan your retirement in a whole new migratory corridor! Mexico is for savoring.

November 12th is el día del cartero (mailman’s day). This is the day that you can give him a little extra to show your appreciation for bringing you your mail.

When you live or retire in Mexico, I hope for your sake that you can build your own house. The inconveniences of our little cottage we are renting are getting me down. Our bathroom has no cupboards and had no shelves until my husband devised two little triangle corner shelves. The sink is lower than U.S. standard height and it’s literally hanging off of the wall, making a permanent puddle in the front of it. The soap slides off of the little soap divots in the rim of the sink and we have to make it stick in there by jamming a bottle cap on the bottom of it or squishing it onto a suction cup stolen from our son’s baby bowl set.

Our son can now reach the puddle in the sink and the lower of the two tiny shelves. He can even reach the window sill by climbing on the toilette. There is no safe place for my stuff! He’s broken my glasses twice! He’s lost my contact lens disinfection container. I’m afraid he’ll get some chemical in his eye. The lid to the gel is on so tight I have to have my hands dry to open it. I’ve had to put the Q-tips in the top drawer of the dresser in an effort to protect his tiny ear drums.

I was handling this all pretty well until he started to get into the soap. He squishes it in his fingers and then I have to wash his hands, which gets him wet — which is bad because it’s so cold in our house I have to change is clothes…. I’m going nuts. I was trying to figure out how to stick my soap to the wall above the sink. I need soap on a rope.

That’s funny. What to Pack When You Move to Mexico: Item number 245: soap on a rope.

We were in the zocalo the other night and had the best time. There is a group of people who do African drumming in the Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan zocalos and they are really good. Sometimes they even have people who do traditional African dances along with the drumming, though the dancers haven’t quite reached the level of excellence as the drummers. I’ve also seen groups of young men competing at “gymnastics/break dance” sometimes. They take turns doing head stands, elbow perches, etc. I love to watch them and see how strong and agile they are.

Well the other night the young men who do break dance got together with the African-style drummeres. The interaction among the two teams of “dancers” and the drummers was joyful.

The young men were on two sides or teams and they took turns showing off. Wow! They do wonderful moves. The other team members would come out and “measure” their poses, if they did a particularly good one. Then, of course, they would have to try to outdo the moves with some of their own. The crowd would often ooh and ah. The dancers would strut after doing something really impressive. Sometimes the marimba players in the front would shout out when a dancer did something really impressive, like bounce down onto their head and spring onto their feet or lift their legs up and over their body while on one elbow. It was neat to see how much the drummers loved to see the skills being displayed in time to the music they were creating. I wished I could drum too. I would love to be able to produce something that captures and moves so many people all at once.

We stood in a tight crowd that never dispersed. We had jockeyed our way up to the front and could see all the drummers and marimba players who sat on the ground. Our little son was tired and insisted that I hold him in my arms. I completely forgot how much my arms ached and cheered and clapped (when I could). I was bouncing to the music without worrying about who might see me. The music was holding me up with its energy and the rapt attention between dancers and drummers was so clearly inspired creativity it made me feel warm. I was smiling from ear to ear. As we were leaving my husband said, “Wow. That was great,” and I wholeheartedly agreed with him. When we got home our son tried some new “moves” going down on his knees on the kitchen floor.

Zocalos are really good things. If you retire in Mexico, make sure you spend time in the zocalo.

This year Cuernavaca went all out for the Day of the Dead. An association of local museums started their first annual festival of ofrendas (offerings) and catrinas (well-dressed woman skeletons). The zocalo was packed with graves made of piled up sand and head stones depicting famous people, rung with marigold heads, and tops with burning candles that glowed after dark as well as offerings made by local families and students, but the best part was the catrinas.

The catrinas captivated all of us from the first moment we saw them. Made of paper machete and dressed to the hilt in a manner that depicted a theme, they were expertly crafted with paint, natural materials, cloth, beads, mirrors, and stones.  We paused and photographed them every which way, jockeying among the crowd to get good angles. We stood next to them and took our photos by their side as if with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland — as did many other people there. I think half of Cuernavaca was inspired to pose next to at least one catrina and smile into the photographic lens of a cell phone. I never saw a sign explaining exactly who made them, but each was labeled with a theme-related title and an artist’s name. The catrinas were about 7 feet tall and their body language showed their character because the artists carefully posed them. The artistic excellence with which they were crafted was inspiring.

One catrina had a crowd of people packed around it so tight that at first we couldn’t see what was so attractive about her. Once we pushed up close we saw that her face was glowing with opalescent tiles and her skirt was lit up from inside with shining butterflies and the Virgin of Guadalupe on a field of matt black. It was stunning and while my photos turned out good, they don’t quite capture the full effect.

You’ve really got to experience the Day of the Dead to know how wonderful it is.

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First Published
on Mexico Connect October 1, 2007

The Pre-Hispanic, the Colonial, the Royal Roads of Morelos and Puebla

By Julia Taylor © Julia Taylor 2007

Photos by Miguel Angel Cuevas © Miguel Angel Cuevas 2007

Step by step, all roads are formed by those who walk them. The roads of Mexico were first formed by native people walking from city to city. These roads - some paved - were used for conducting warfare, cultural interchange, and commerce. Later these same roads were trod by the heavy horses of the conquering Spaniards and the sandals of the missionaries. Still later, they were traveled by mestizo tradesmen and religious pilgrims. Today, these roads are known throughout Mexico as caminos reales, meaning “royal” or “official roads,” sometimes translated as “the king’s highways.”

In Morelos, just as throughout the rest of Mexico, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Dominican missionaries built their convents near existing native populations to facilitate their conversion to Christianity. After the network of convents shifted into power, the routes that connected them were used for centuries by the friars and people, alike. Now, with the relatively recent construction of modern highways, the routes are being forgotten.

But something special is happening in Morelos because it is home to part of the last surviving network of convents in Mexico. In 1994, 14 sixteenth century convents (11 in Morelos and 3 in Puebla) were listed as World Heritage sites by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). This did a lot to ensure the survival of these convents as important cultural and architectural resources, but some essence of the network that makes them special as a whole is still being lost. This is because visitors reach the convents by car, traveling on highways that don’t follow the original routes.

Miguel Ángel Cuevas Olascoaga, a 35 year old resident of Morelos, aims to revive the network itself by re-opening the routes that tie it together for the people of Morelos and the world to enjoy. Cuevas has his bachelor’s degree in architecture, his master’s in conservation of cultural heritage monuments, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in architecture and urban design. His thesis in progress is on the design of cultural tourism routes. He hopes that twice a year, groups of people will be able to walk the king’s highways from the slopes of Popocatepetl through northern Morelos, visiting the World Heritage convents as they go.

Of course, before he can do this, Cuevas has to know exactly where these royal roads are. As part of his research, he and a researcher from INAH (the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, The National Institute of Anthropology and History) spent 9 days walking 242 kilometers (just over 150 miles), visiting all 14 convents and getting lost only twice. They took with them a compass, GPS, video camera, water, and maps. There are few places to stay along the route so, like the original pilgrims, they asked permission to sleep in the huerto (garden out back of the convent) or in the portal de los peregrinos (a covered area connected to the chapel, usually to the right of the main entrance, built to shelter pilgrims).

As they went, they identified the road construction to confirm that they had found the actual route. The original roads took three forms. The largest was the calzada, which was as wide as a modern road (8 to 10 meters). Calzadas were generally unpaved, but were occasionally paved with stones at the entrance of certain towns. They were used for the transport of people walking, domesticated animals, men on horseback, carts pulled by animals, and cattle. The middle sized roads are called caminos and were 3 or 4 meters wide and used by people walking or those on horseback. Less than half of these were paved with stones, with the pavement extending no farther than 10 kilometers from the town center. Finally, there were veredas, which were no wider than a meter and used by people on foot. Cuevas and his partner identified the paving techniques, looking for those that originated in the 16th century.

Despite the fact that people rarely use these routes to go from town to town anymore, they are still known as the royal roads. To get a general idea of where to start looking, they often asked the older locals, “¿Cuál es el camino real que llega a …?” (”Which is the king’s highway to…?”) The older people know the roads from the days before cars when they used to travel on horseback, transport their goods using mules, or walk to the next town.

In fact, every city of Mexico has its king’s highways, hidden within its fabric. And every city of Mexico has its old men who remember these roads and can tell their stories. These royal roads have been built on, around, and in many cases, re-built for modern traffic, but they are still there because people still travel them, whether they realize it or not. Grandfathers still remember the days when people hired arrieros (muleteers) with their mules or donkeys to carry their harvested corn, beans, or grains from the field to market. Arrieros traveled the royal roads back and forth from town to town, kicking up dust in the dry season and getting coated in mud during the rainy season.

Imagine a Mexican town you know well. Where might the king’s highway have started or ended? Imagine the men outside of town, resting near the road or playing cards or having cock fights in the shade of a tree. Imagine all the stories of adventures and misadventures, the busy daytime traffic, shuffling and clopping along, hurrying at dusk to get into a safe place. Imagine the lonely road at night, a worried family bringing a sick person to the biggest town in the region, with no flashlights - guided by the moon.

Grandpas still tell stories about events along the royal roads. They know who fought whom at the designating fighting spot or where the devil or La Llorona (the ghost of a crying woman) habitually appeared to drunks who traveled too often at night. The trees, rocks, and curves in the road are the big landmarks of the past, and today we pass by and know so little of them. Since the only way a road can die is if people stop traveling it, Cuevas’ project will help to keep a small portion of these king’s highways alive.

Cuevas’ doctorate thesis won’t tell stories of cock fights, and devil sightings, but it hopefully will help to open the royal roads connecting the World Heritage sites to visitors. The visitors will have to imagine the old days themselves or stop to ask a grandpa what he remembers. Cuevas’ proposal is that twice a year, for two weeks each time, visitors would be able walk the caminos reales as part of a truly Mexican cultural experience.

He hopes that these road openings will be during Holy Week and in November in the days surrounding the Day of the Dead. Visitors will enjoy observing the preparations, festivals, and completion of these special celebrations with their accompanying sights, sounds, and smells, as well as the sun, views, and clean air of the countryside. He likes the idea that these holidays strike right at the heart of Morelos’ complex history. The celebrations include elements from pre-Hispanic as well as Catholic traditions and are rooted in the very land that the route crosses.

He personally enjoys the contrast of the sights and smells of the countryside with those of small towns, particularly surrounding the Day of the Dead. As you enter a town you leave behind the smells of marigolds and other flowers, cattle or sheep, and grasses and begin to hear people’s voices, smell the foods of the offerings, especially the bread, smell the copal burning as incense, etc.

He believes that the route should be enjoyed in groups, which can be organized with guides, first aid, and security support. You can attempt the route alone, but for that must have a map and compass as well as be able to speak Spanish and be prepared to handle any threats to your personal safety. If you would like to join a group and walk all or part of Morelos’s royal roads, seeing the towns and countryside, learning about the architecture of the convents, and appreciating the local celebrations, Cuevas will be organizing some pilot walks during 2008 to test the feasibility of his idea. You must be in reasonable condition for walking and preferably be able to speak at least a little Spanish. You can contact him at the doctorate department of Architecture at the state university of Morelos. (postgrado de la facultad de arquitectura de la UAEM, coord_conservacion “at” hotmail.com).

The royal roads were first utilized by Mesoamerican cultures in central Mexico. 

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The royal roads - some paved - were first utilized by Mesoamerican cultures in central Mexico. During the founding of New Spain, they played a role in war strategy, and later were used by Franciscan, Augustinian and Dominican missionaries.

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Today some roads are being lost, such as this portion in Yecapixtla, Morelos.

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These roads were in use when mendicant friars began the process of evangelization and the founding or dedication of cities and towns. However today this road network is being lost to weeds or floods and water. This is the case of this road segment in Yecapixtla, Morelos.

16th century convent routes between Morelos and Puebla are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

 
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UNESCO has listed 16th century convent routes between Morelos and Puebla as World Heritage Sites. However the original paths are being lost to ignorance and the paving of these roads. 

In the distance, convent of Tochimilco in Puebla - known as “The Jewel” - can be seen. 

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Cuevas’ doctoral research attempts to register and to conserve these roads, mainly through cultural activities. In the distance, the convent of Tochimilco in Puebla - known as “The Jewel” - can be seen. This vast landscape is incomparable. 

The walk lasted nine days and covered some 243 kilometers (150 miles). 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————The walk lasted nine days and covered some 243 kilometers (150 miles), starting at 7 a.m. and breaking at 1 p.m. to eat. We took periodic 10-minute rest stops and brought only what was indispensable - a sleeping bag, tee shirt, pants and windbreaker, a cap, sun block, cereal bars, chocolate, dry fruit, a flashlight, GPS, flexometer, electrolyte solution and water. The backpack’s total weight could be no more than 5 kilos (11 lbs). We slept in village inns and in the convents’ pilgrims’ portals, groves or indigenous chapels. 

Some narrow trails are hardly visible. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Three types of roads have been identified - calzadas (roadways) - wide enough for people, carriages or men on horseback, the paths - used only for men on foot or horseback, and the narrow trails - hardly visible, like that in the photo. 

“Don Goyo,” the Popocatepetl volcano 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————”Don Goyo,” as the Popocatepetl volcano is known, is a silent historical witness. However the older people who worked and walked these roads still remember the beautiful landscapes they saw when young.
 

Tepoztlan is a typical town. 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Each town on slopes of the volcano and most cities in Mexico still have a part of their royal roads and the grandparents know their stories interwoven in space and time. Tepoztlan is a typical town where its older people have edited and published books on their history and traditions.

I invite all of you to join our group as we travel this vast region. 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————The vast landscapes are unforgettable. Our blood runs purer, our sense of smell is sharper, and breakfast is a bowl of tejocotes, a typical Mexican fruit named “Mexican cherries” by friar Antonio de Ciudad Real in the 17th century. Juicy wild Mexican pears are a delight to the palate. I invite all of you to join our group as we travel this extraordinary region of central Mexico. 

Holy water in convent fonts 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————People of the villages, especially the older ones, know magnificent legends that a visitor can enjoy if he or she strikes up a friendly conversation with them. The holy water in convent fonts is still an incentive of faith and hope for Mexicans.

Beginning in 2008, two activities are planned, the first in March. 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Beginning in 2008, two activities are planned. The first walk to these 14 convents is scheduled from March 15 to the 31. Participants must be in good physical condition, as this season is quite warm.

The second is scheduled at the end of October, in conjunction with the Day of the Dead. 

 
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————The second is scheduled at the end of October, in conjunction with the Day of the Dead, and the weather will be cold. This is an excellent opportunity to observe the preparations and celebrations, the offerings, and the entire color mosaic of color and tradition. 

The experience is unforgettable. 

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–If you want, in addition to the scenery you can enjoy direct contact with the people - their cordiality and gastronomy. It is hard to forget the scent of copal incense, of bread baked in firewood ovens, of tamales, gorditas, and the traditional chocolate champurrado or the cafe de olla, typical of the area. 
 

Join us to experience the other Mexico and the roads our ancestors traveled. 

 
 
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Join us to experience the other Mexico and the roads our ancestors traveled.

For further reading:

UNESCO - Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl

An article in Spanish

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