Kooks in the Kitchen and Great Social Skills: A Mother’s Trade-off in Mexico May 1
First Published on Mexico Connect April 1, 2008
Kooks in the Kitchen and Great Social Skills: A Mother’s Trade-off in Mexico
By Julia Taylor © Julia Taylor 2008
Sometimes circumstances in Mexico make it harder to care for a child. But overall, Mexico has given us many blessings as parents.
“Kook! Kook!” our son, standing on a chair and pointing emphatically at one particular spot on our kitchen shelves, kept repeating, “kook.”
“¿Qué quieres? No te entiendo. ¿Qué es ‘cuc’?” My husband was getting more and more confused, as he moved non-edible items around on the shelf.
“Do you want this?”
“No. Kook.”
In a process of elimination, my husband had moved almost everything away from the area indicated by our son — even most of the glass spice containers. Containing no fruit or snack items, the area in question was normally ignored by our toddler. That particular part of the shelf was almost bare, and still he hadn’t determined what our son wanted. In a last-ditch effort to help our son, he scooted the chair that our son was standing on closer so that our little one could touch whatever it was that he wanted. When he didn’t select anything, but continued to point, my husband finally said, “Well, son, I give up. I’m sorry, but I just do not know what you want,” and went back to chopping veggies.
Our son instantly turned to me, “¡Mamá, cuc!”
I decided to give the shelf one last look, and there it was. A cockroach, sitting on top of the last spice jar, waggling it’s antennae in broad sweeps. It was one of the outdoor kind, sometimes called a Plametto Bug, with the big wings, which obviously had decided to come inside and try the domesticated life.
“Oh. A cockroach. Quick, get a paper towel.”
We each took our customary pest elimination stations. My husband holding the preferred killing device - in this case a folded paper towel, myself on back-up, holding a shoe over a possible escape route, and our son, observing from a safe distance. The cockroach met his end on the first try and we began joking. “We have ‘kooks’ in the kitchen.”
Roaches aren’t the only wildlife our son can identify. He knows three others, collectively referred to as “tee-tees,” making use of his term for ‘injury’ or ‘hurt.’ He stays well away from previously killed scorpions, left out for him to find and practice not touching. He loves to tell everyone about the “tee-tee” (a lovely, but very nasty fuzzy green caterpillar) that his father chopped out of the rose bush with pruning shears while he and I stood well back and said, “Oooo. Tee-tee. Don’t touch. Be careful Papá.” He also identifies snakes as “tee-tees” thanks to the little viper we found on the washing machine.
I showed him the black widow I recently killed on the screen door, but it was so mashed up, I don’t think he properly got a positive I.D. on that one. I’m just grateful they seem to hang out in the front door frame where I can periodically check for them.
A child’s social life
Our son, when he’s not scouting for vermin, keeps up on our neighbors’ activities. In fact, their joyful attentions have him convinced that he is famous. One of our neighbors is retired and often comes out to water his plants on the other side of our shared chain-link fence. Our son likes to stand nearby and observe him. Our neighbor always asks him to pass his little hand through the fence so that they can shake hands. “Saluda,” [Say hello] he tells him and corrects him if he tries to extend the left hand rather than the right. It was during one of these moments that he taught our son one of his first words, “agua.” Lately, they are practicing their whistles. When our neighbor comes out to water, he lets out a short, high-pitched whistle and my son replies with his own version, “wsht.”
Another neighbor is semi-retired and building a new house on his property. He is often outside shoveling sand and mixing cement. Our son stands at the gate and shouts for his attention. This neighbor says our son is his cuate [buddy] and always takes a moment to greet the little guy. He pays enough attention to our son that he understands our son’s pre-speaking conversation and always responds appropriately to what our son tells him.
A third neighbor has a small work-area under a tree in front of his house where he welds made-to-order window frames and metal railings. Every time we go by, he stops work and waves goodbye to our son, calling him by name and asking him where he is going, which is a common way of greeting a passing neighbor or friend in Mexico.
When we travel outside our neighborhood our son beams huge, toothy grins at complete strangers, expecting them to respond to him as warmly as his neighbors do. He doesn’t get discouraged when they don’t reply, but just uses more of the social skills that he has learned from our neighbors.
When I first considered becoming a parent in Mexico, one of my concerns was that my child might be stung by a scorpion. It is true that we sometimes find scorpions inside our house but, by cleaning behind and underneath furniture, we keep them away and have always seen them just as they are first entering our house from outside. As our son has grown older and successfully learned to be afraid of scorpions, I’ve become less fearful of a tragic sting.
Sometimes circumstances in Mexico make it harder to care for a child, but overall, Mexico has given us many blessings as parents. One of the most important blessings is that I will be able to stay at home with our son until he is ready to go to pre-school or day care. I’ve had no social pressure to return to work, but have had lots of support from other moms who understand that being a stay-at-home mom can sometimes be downright boring. In Mexico the weather’s always good and we can play outside with water, chalk, or toy cars. Everybody else has children, too, so if our child is over-tired or bored and making a scene in public there is almost always someone who will talk to him and help him have fun.
Like our neighbors, many people in Mexico understand and enjoy children. Children are spoken to directly from the moment that they are born. When our son was an infant and I first began carrying him with me to do errands, I was surprised at the way people greeted both of us. Not only would they say hello to me, but they would get into his line of sight and greet him too, telling him how precious and cute he was. After becoming accustomed to this, when I traveled to the U.S., I was again surprised at the way people treated him. This time I was surprised at their coldness. People would hold entire conversations right over his head and never so much as say hello to him. Not everyone was like this, of course, but enough people were that I noticed the difference between the two cultures. I got the impression that people’s general lack of exposure to children caused them to be embarrassed to talk to him. As a child he was a minority of sorts and people preferred to avoid him. Personally, if having my son be included in social interaction and thus learn positive social skills means I have to see the occasional ‘kook’ in my kitchen or scorpion on my patio, I’ll take the deal.
By Julia Taylor © Julia Taylor 2008
All the paths are swept and, if you were to take your shoes off right there, you could comfortably go barefoot all day. But don’t take your shoes off quite yet. The park extends 24 hectares (59 acres or almost 78 American football fields with the end zones included) and is divided into three different sections. You have a lot of exploring to do!
The Bugambilia Zone
There is also a deeper lap-pool, a chest-deep whirlpool that carries swimmers in lazy circles, a curlicue water slide falling into its own pool, an Olympic high dive, and two ankle-deep wading pools with fountains that move and fall in cascades that are fun to touch and explore. There are a number of covered picnic areas with tables, grills, and tile covered preparation areas. These are clearly numbered and are available for the additional cost of 50 pesos, payable at the front gate.
adults will all like the orange zone. The pools and water slides are clustered so that swimmers of all ages and skill levels can find enjoyment within sight of any shady spot that their family might stake out in the surrounding impeccable grassy areas. One of the pools is shin deep with an arch from which falls a curtain of water that children can turn on and off 
by rotating a wheel, as well as a set of large cones that fill up and spill randomly. There are also two different pools with floating pads that are connected to the bottom of the pool. Overhead bars are mounted above these pads for people to hold as they cross the water without falling in. Of course falling in is accompanied by splashing, and peals of laughter. 
The author’s favorite water slide was in this area, too, with a fast corkscrew that dumps you out energized and ready to run back up the stairs for another trip.
yellow inner tubes. There are a variety of places where you can access this slow-flowing river by simply walking down some stairs built into its bank and climbing onto one of the many inner tubes as they go by. The river is shaded and surrounded by trees and plants creating a very relaxed feel. For excitement, on the straight stretches the 
inner tubes are perfect for kicking, splashing races. Crossing a bridge over the river you see an extensive wave pool creating huge waves that will lift you right off your feet with shaded lounge chairs lining the beach. For younger people there is a large colorful play structure in a wading pool with slides, wheels and bridges. Further along the trail there is a long, tummy slide that you go down 
on a sled-like mat. The wind whistled in the author’s earrings as she zipped down that one. Next to this are two steep slides that are almost free-falls, but the author recommends avoiding these because people exiting had huge, red patches on their backs. The blue zone also has two very large water slides with multiple loop-the-loops.
Sunday in January and there were no lines to any of the water slides. Sundays are typically busy days at parks in Mexico, though the slightly cooler days in January might have reduced the number of visitors that day.
in with them the first time they enter). To protect the feet of bathers, no glass containers are allowed and there is no garbage in sight.
Safety at PAO
PAO and another water park, called the Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec*, share an entrance in the town of Oaxtepec marked with huge stone arches. If you drive to Oaxtepec, head in the direction of Cuautla and, before you get there, follow signs to the town of Oaxtepec. Parking costs 24 pesos.
According to the National Commission of Protected Areas, the Mexica emperors preserved natural areas throughout their lands. The concept of the preserves was similar to that of today’s botanical gardens and in fact was begun centuries earlier than in Europe. The Mexicas limited hunting and gathering of resources within their gardens and even conquered a place in Oaxaca to get a sacred tree that grew in that area. One of these preserves was located in what is now Oaxtepec, Morelos in the area of the current Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec. When the Spanish arrived, the garden in Oaxtepec was under the control of Moctezuma Xocoyótzin and had been functioning as a protected area for more than 75 years. In 1522, Hernán Cortés wrote that the garden was “the best, most beautiful and fresh ever seen.” He continued to say, that “there are pools, and very fresh gardens, and infinite numbers of diverse fruit trees, and many herbs and aromatic flowers.” A phone call to someone at the Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec seems to confirm that the springs and possibly the oldest trees are the only things left of Moctezuma’s original preserve.
open areas in which display environments can be constructed. The museum gets its name from its 3,600 square meters of wall space. Even more important than the walls are the professional, organized, staff members who are stationed throughout the museum and who support the visitor’s experience. Muros‘ staff provides the real heart of the museum.
The entrance to the museum is wide open and welcoming. As you approach the museum, you first encounter a tourist information table staffed by both museum and Morelos tourist department personnel where you can get information about Muros and other attractions throughout the state. As the author purchased tickets for a second visit to the museum, she was carrying her toddler on her back and the man in charge offered a stroller for the visit. Often there is someone standing at the large, glass doorway to hold the door open and tell you, “Bienvenidos.”
In the courtyard area in front of the museum you is an original tile mosaic credited to Diego Rivera. It was originally built near the swimming pool of a private home and depicts native Mexicans bathing in a stream. A mother is washing her son, a father trying to coax another son to bathe as well, and other people are splashing water on themselves. 
Walk around the other side of the mural and you see… the other side of the scene.
collection of Jacques and Natasha Gelman, which the museum is proud to maintain in Cuernavaca. The collection provides a nice cross section of important Mexican art without being overwhelming. There are pieces by Diego Rivera, Carlos Orozco Romero, David A. Siqueiros, Frida Kahlo, and Rufino Tamayo, among others, and a timeline that provides an overview of the artists in the framework of world events during their lives. Downstairs, there are rotating displays of additional artwork. There is also a large room with restored murals that provides an area for events and temporary expositions. Throughout the museum, art of a wide variety of media and textures - such as metal, tile, hair, cardboard, glass, canvas, and video - are on display. The titles of works are clearly listed in both Spanish and English. There are also comfortable computer consoles, with standing perches that offer additional information on the artist’s lives and works as well as a carpeted reading area with cushioned seats and lots of books about art.
At the time that the author and her family visited, there was an interactive display about the life and work of Diego Rivera, which was specially designed for children. It provided a fun time for all members of the family. The open space had been divided into smaller “rooms,” each with a different theme from Rivera’s life. Most rooms had something for a 1 and a ½ year old. There were tiles you could move around to make a tile mural and hats to wear. But the most fun of all were masks and costumes of characters from one of his murals. We spent a lot of time putting on masks and peering at ourselves in the mirror provided just for that purpose.
Muros is more of a success story than you might guess because it was first conceived as a kind of olive branch to certain members of the Cuernavaca community. It is situated to one side of a large grocery store/parking lot complex developed on the site of what had previously been the Casino de la Selva. Casino de la Selva (Jungle Casino) was a distinctive entertainment location at the heart of today’s Cuernavaca since the 1930s. It was surrounded by tall walls and had fallen into severe disrepair over the years since its closing. For many years, only trespassers saw the grounds inside the walls, but the thick tree canopy on the property was obvious to all who passed by. When construction began on the property, many Cuernavacan’s were outraged that two huge grocery stores, a restaurant, and extensive parking lot would replace the Casino and its trees. Long, intense protests were staged to try to stop the development and suggestions were made that the property would better serve the community as a park. In the end, the grocery store chain was allowed to develop the site, but the idea of the community center was generated as a way to try to respond to the community outcry.
So far Muros has delivered to Cuernavacan community of all ages of the. Laura Perez, who is in charge of the program Muros para los Niños de Morelos (Muros for the Children of Morelos) plans many guided visits and workshops for school children. Her goal, she says, is to connect the children’s activities and particular pieces of art with something that they are currently studying in school, usually in the subjects of history, art, or civismo (loosely translates as civics, but with a more sociological focus). When I asked her which was her favorite children’s activity so far, it was hard for her to pick because they have been so varied and unique.
One activity she mentioned was for children learning geometry. They were shown pieces of art that exemplified geometric features and the students were thrilled to find the triangles, circles, etc. that they were learning about in school. Another workshop involved sitting in front of a mirror and doing a self portrait just like Frida Kahlo did. Laura said that she enjoyed seeing how some kids noticed and depicted tiny details, such as wrinkles on their faces while others exaggerated certain features like a large nose.
The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and admission costs 30 pesos; children under six years old and older people with a special card are free. There are teacher and student discounts that reduce the price to 15 pesos with an I.D. Admission is free for everyone on Sundays and Tuesdays. There is a convenient, centrally located elevator just in front of the spotlessly clean restrooms so that wheelchairs can easily access the second floor. Take a look at the museum’s web site.
Don’t worry about parking, because there is plenty available. To get to the museum, enter the parking lot from any of the three Mega Commercial/Costco entrances. The museum is to the left of the California restaurant as you face it from the parking lot. There are a plethora of buses that will get you to the three entrances including any routes that say Plaza (for Plaza Cuernavaca, the mall almost directly across the street from one of the parking lot entrances) on them, as well as the 2 and 7 that say Tunel (enter near the grocery store named “Mega“), and the 18 (enter near the hospital).
I learned many new things on my visits to Muros. I’ll leave you with one of them. Guess how many names Diego Rivera had? Ten. That’s right. His full name was Diego Maria Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Banientos Acosta y Rodríguez.
There are two reasons you might want to go to Zacatepec, Morelos. The first is to warm up your frozen bones after a few months of northern winter – it’s hot in Zacatepec, really hot. The second is to be in a place off of the beaten tourist track, seeing the “real Mexico” as many call it.
It was October and still sweaty in Zacatepec. I was finally visiting this town because I had been invited to give an English as a Foreign Language presentation. After the presentation, a colleague generously took a few hours to give me a whirlwind tour of the zócalo of Zacatepec and to visit a church in nearby Tetelpa. My colleague is from Cuernavaca, and has recently become director of a branch language school in Zacatepec – in “the hot lands” as the southern part of Morelos is commonly called by morelenses. Apparently, he’s had some time to think about the hot lands.
“It’s as hot as Acapulco, but the problem is that it’s without the beach,” he told me, sweat gathering on his forehead as we left a small store where we’d purchased ice-cold pop and bottled water. Later, as he guided a borrowed car toward Tetelpa, he explained the main reason for the differences in the temperatures, “Cuernavaca has an altitude of 1500 meters and Zacatapec only 910.”
The third claim to fame is a large soccer stadium adjoining the zócalo. During the ’50s the team won two titles in the First Division League Championship. The Cañeros (sugar cane growers) of Zacatepec are now Third Division, but it’s still fun to watch a game in the stadium. If you are in town, check for signs indicating upcoming games.
The polluted Apatlaco River supports Zacatepec, allowing for the irrigation of rice, corn, peanut, watermelon, melon, and especially sugarcane fields. Surrounded by sugarcane fields, Zacatepec is accessed by a wide highway leading from the toll Acapulco-Mexico City highway or from nearby Jojutla. All along the highway there are motorcycle-taxis pulling little passenger wagons behind them.
Zacatepec isn’t usually a tourist destination, but my colleague knew of a recently opened museum in Tetelpa that he’d wanted to see since he had missed the opening ceremony due to work obligations. We made the 15 minute drive to the San Esteban church in Tetelpa and parked in the shade on the street. We were greeted by a 
uniformed police officer and young local man, casually guarding the church and museum. The church and museum were closed, they informed us, but the young man would take us to the home of the curator, who lived nearby, to see if he would come and open the museum just for us. A few blocks away, we stood in front of a long driveway and the young man shouted for Edgar. Eventually a young woman came out and told us that Edgar wasn’t home, but that she could send someone for him if we really wanted to see the museum. We told her that we’d better come back some other time and thanked her very much.
Our young companion, Jorge Maldonado Hernandez, who gave me permission to include his name in my article, gave us a personal tour of the church grounds, ending with a spectacular visit to the rooftop where we saw the bells and enjoyed the view of the land surrounding Tetelpa, Zacatepec, and Jojutla.
The view from the churchyard is inviting, since the church is built on top of a small hill. Pedestrian streets lead up to the gated entrances from the four cardinal directions. In addition to our voices, the only sounds in the churchyard were birds chirping in the trees and music from a house adjoining the yard on the other side of the whitewashed wall.
Jorge told us that the church had recently been the victim of vandals (probably the reason for the uniformed guard we had encountered). The wooden door had been broken and this allowed us to peek inside. Jorge knew a bit about the history of the church and told us where priests had been buried in the yard; he also pointed out the stained glass windows on all sides of the lovely little church.
and encouraged us to climb into the small bell tower. Once he had us all safely stationed on the roughly warn stones of the tower, he extracted a small nail clipper from his pocket. He wouldn’t ring the bells for real, he told us, but he would show us the different sounds of the bells. He tapped lightly on each bell so that we could hear the difference in the sounds. 
His favorite is the bell called la campana reina (the queen bell), made of bronze, gold, and silver. Another bell, the largest of the four, had a gaping crack in one side. This one had fallen from its mount about six years before, and luckily nothing had happened to the man who was ringing the bell at the time.
blue-green plants. Someone has planted a field of agave and plans to produce tequila, though the agave hasn’t quite matured yet. To the southeast we could see the aqua colors of the pools at the Iguazu aquatic park and, much further in the distance, the church in the center of Jojutla and, to the north, the swimming pool of a club for rich people who come from Mexico City and other places to spend time relaxing.
and 4:00 to 6:00, daily through Sunday. The cost of the museum is $10 pesos (about 1 dollar) and is a guided visit. For information about the museum write to museosanestebantetelpa at hotmail.com (Replace the word “at” with the @ symbol and remove the spaces when you enter the address). A brochure about the museum that Jorge removed from the locked ticket office outside the entrance to the museum says that the museum consists of five rooms - a traditional kitchen used by the formerly resident vicars, archeological pieces and models of the original inhabitants of Tetelpa, 
information about four centuries of Catholic presence in Tetelpa, historic archives including regional records of births, marriages, censuses, deaths, and even mass deaths caused by cholera, and finally a multiuse room for art and cultural exhibits that are changed monthly.
Plan your visit during one of Tetelpa’s local festivals so that you can enjoy the awe-inspiring hospitality of Morelos’s traditional townspeople. Jorge carefully reviewed with us the important festival dates which are as follows.
Conchita and is celebrated with castillos (fireworks on a temporary tower, a wonderful Mexican invention that you’ve got to see to believe). Comidas (traditional foods, such as mole are prepared in copious amounts and all who come to a family’s house are fed), and danzas (dances - each town will have its own traditional dances) are a part of the festivities.
If you chose to retire to this beautiful part of the world you may become less self centered and get better at living your life in a more holistic way. The discomfort of the initial culture shock soon burns out and left in its wake is a new set of social skills, a new sense of home.
Acapulco, the playground of the stars, is only 4 hours away for quick beach getaways. There are also plenty of opportunities to take classes in dance, exercise, handicrafts, languages, etc. You can also participate in community-oriented activities to broaden your horizon. Cuernavaca has actually been getting more fun over the years and has thrown its arms wide to embrace the new residents.
If you speak Spanish and want to get better at understanding Mexico’s famous “double meaning” humor, ribald clowns crack crass jokes in their smoothly performed routines. Even if you don’t speak Spanish you can enjoy watching the kids sitting in the front row, ready to run out to volunteer to be part of the show. The clowns give them things to do such as wearing rubber masks depicting political figures, or standing perfectly still while they run balloon “snakes” along their cheeks from behind. Like kids everywhere, their enthusiasm and innocence makes them a delight to watch.
To the left of the church is the old monastery (Exconvento de Tepoztlan), now open to visitors Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. free of charge. INAH (the National Institute of Anthropology and History) has been in charge of the monastery since 1939 and the recent restoration of the original paintings on the walls 
makes it a captivating place to visit.
over and, by 1580, the convent had been built and was in use. By 1857, religious life at the convent stopped and the monastery was abandoned. It was used avs an occasional barracks by French troops of Maximiliano de Hapsburgo between 1864 and 1867 and much later by Zapatistas and Constitutionalists.
display their impressive, international quality work in the upstairs hallways of the monastery. The gift shop is bursting with interesting, quality items and the views from upstairs are settling to tired travelers.
01 first from inside Mexico and 011-52 from the U.S. or Canada or write to medh.mor@inah.gob.mx
time in Tepoztlan. Named after Carlos Pellicer, a poet who fell in love with Tepoztlan and donated his private collection to the people, the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (cost $10.00 pesos).
in strenuous, high altitude exercise rewarded by a dramatic view, the pyramid hike is a perfect way to spend a few hours. The trail starts where the main street of Tepoztlan ends and the columnar basalt mountains begin. Hikers in all kinds of crazy footwear follow the wide, clean trail up and up and up a steep ravine in the mountain to reach the top where they can sit on the remains of a pre-Hispanic pyramid and take in the view of the Tepoztlan valley and the mountains beyond. Make sure that you have a little money with you because at the top you must pay a small fee to see the pyramid 
(and view.) Watch out for the raccoon-like animals at the top. They’ll chase you away from your lunch! Click here to see some photos of the pyramid and valley.
down to the flavor(s) you want. Just ask the attendant, “¿Me da una prueba de _____?” and they will give you a small scoop. Be sure to try the flavors that contain fruits currently in season. Some of them are so good they will knock your socks off. The author recommends the sorbets (de agua).
Start your tour on this street. The first place that you will see as you arrive in Tepoztlan is Tepoznieves on your left. A couple of blocks further along the road, the zócalo will be on your right. As you stand facing the zocalo, the craft market will be the road in front of you and to your right (it’s really obvious and you can’t miss it.) 
The market is to the left of and behind the zocalo. Just beyond the market is the entrance to the church and monastery. To climb to the pyramid, follow the main road all of the way to the foot of the mountain and it will gradually narrow and become the trail that leads to the top. You can’t miss it as there are lots of little stands 
selling things to visitors. Finally, to find the museum, follow the craft fair down hill (the church will be to your left). At the first street turn left. The museum is in a building that connects to the back of the church and monastery. How do you like that? A town in Mexico where you don’t have to ask directions!
Tepoztlan is about 45 minutes from downtown Cuernavaca (or 20 minutes if you take the toll road and pay 22 pesos). You can get there either by driving or on a bus. If you drive, the highway leads out of Cuernavaca from the Glorieta de la Paz, passing through Ocotepec, curving many times and finally arriving in Tepoztlan (to take the toll road, get onto 
the highway to Mexico City at the Glorieta de la Paz, then follow signs to Tepoztlan). Parking is easy to find on a side street or in one of the many family-owned parking areas in the small neighborhood surrounding the zocalo.
Cuernavaca. They leave every 10 minutes and cost $11.50 pesos, one way. The direct bus leaves every 20 minutes and costs $15.00 pesos. Both buses follow the same route, but one stops to pick up people along the way.
Spanish speakers or not, experienced travelers or newbies, adventurous or shy, shoppers, history buffs, outdoor enthusiasts-Tepoztlan, Morelos welcomes them all and still manages to stay Mexican. There’s something for everyone in Tepoztlan so feel free to bring the whole family. From the first winding descent into the
tiny valley nestling Tepoztlan the visitor feels intrigued. The town is a picturesque gridwork of sloping, narrow streets, paved with native volcanic stones. While the atmosphere is busy around the zócalo and market, the sounds are those of people, not traffic. Tepoztlan carefully routes its traffic away from the main pedestrian 
areas so that visitors can comfortably enjoy the sights, shops and atmosphere.
places in Mexico, you don’t get lost easily because the streets are laid out on a grid.
and Mexico City - and they all love Tepoztlan for its very Mexican-ness. This combination of backgrounds gives Tepoztlan an easy appeal that is hard to summarize. Basically it amounts to a greater feeling of ease and comfort than in most places in Mexico.
The slope adds to the ambiance because as you look up and down the street you see the colorful crowd and beyond it, the mountains that surround Tepoztlan. In the stands, people sell all kinds of wonderful hand crafts including embroidered shirts, embroidered wall hangings, wooden kitchen tools, wooden lamps and home décor, clay miniatures, jewelry, ice cream, knitted hats, natural materials for dried flower arrangements, skirts, blouses, and much more.
After working up an appetite shopping and seeing Tepoztlan every visitor should eat lunch. There are many wonderful restaurants in Tepoztlan serving both Mexican and other food types. You can sit and enjoy one of the local treats, micheladas (beer with lemon, chili, and salt) in a cool, quiet environment.
tortillas that a young lady was making. She quietly caught my husband’s eye and held out a fresh rolled tortilla, “for the baby,” she said. She touched our hearts with her thoughtful gesture and more importantly saved us from a few minutes of crying while we waited for our food.
There’s a section where they sell tacos. You can get steamed sheep meat with salsa in a tortilla and a pop on the side. The cooked sheep heads are right there on the countertop and I always wonder how they keep the hair from getting into the tacos.
section where they sell quesadillas, gorditas and the local tlacoyos and itacates. These are a Tepoztlan specialty and Cuernavacans sometimes go to Tepoztlan on their day off just to eat them for lunch. To see which fillings are available for your tlacoyos and quesadillas, look at the menu hanging above the stand and at the bowls of prepared 
fillings lined up along the edge of the table. Use the filling guide at left to help you interpret the menu. You can also get pozole and handmade blue or white corn tortillas.
fenced gardens. Some days the zócalo is a quiet place to rest and reflect; other days it’s packed with dancers and partiers.
mesmerized by the drumming, then inspired to run and dance. We spent at least an hour just being together in the zócalo enjoying the music and other people. That’s what being in the zócalo is all about.
Natividad
moving close, the viewer can see the variety of seeds used to create the artwork.
Close your eyes and imagine warm water rushing over your shoulders and massaging your back as you recline in the shade, leaning against a log. Open your eyes and you are at Las Huertas enjoying the artesian fed stream at the heart of the park. Paraiso Adventura Las Huertas (Adventure Paradise Las Huertas), located in southern Morelos along the Amacuzac River is both adventurous and relaxing. It is a relatively small park, of about 3 hectares (approximately seven and a half acres), with both man-made pools of varying depths and a cascading waterfall, with artfully enhanced natural pools.
Just after entering Las Huertas you see the aqua-colored eye of a warm spring. The spring is surrounded by a C-shaped edge that provides places for bathers to lounge. The mouth of the “C” is a stepped waterfall where people can sit and enjoy a warm body massage. The stream continues down slope forming a series of shaded pools and falls, 
all perfect for exploring and lounging with friends and family.
It is easy to access much of the stream from the bank, which is bare of vegetation, and on Sundays elderly women can be seen enjoying the warm, flowing waters. As long as you aren’t there on a weekend there are plenty of private nooks further down the falls, near where the spring joins the chocolate colored Amacuzac River where you can get a sense 
of solitude. As you recline in your choice location you occasionally catch a very faint hint of the smell of sulfur.
trees produce the squishy black fruit called zapote negro.
While I appreciated the falls for their natural look, shadiness, moving water, and sense of adventure Las Huertas also has three round swimming pools of various depths and one rectangular pool, ranging from less than a foot deep, to about four feet deep which are perfect for children’s rollicking games. The rectangular pool is surrounded by palapas for those who wish to sip their ice-cold drinks and read while the kids have their fun in the sun. The pools are clean and free of mysterious little yucky things, so you can fully enjoy them. Bring your water wings, inner tubes, and beach balls to enjoy these sparkling play areas.
Las Huertas provides picnic tables throughout the park stationed near the stream and pools so you can stake one of these out as your home-base. You are allowed to bring your own food and drinks, though glass containers are strictly prohibited. There are relatively few barbeques in the park so if you aren’t going on a weekday it would be smart to bring your own portable if you have one. I had to laugh at the sign at the entrance prohibiting microwaves! I guess the park staff has seen it all as Mexicans are used to transporting all sorts of equipment for work and recreation because electric hotplates, propane tanks, pets and weapons are also prohibited.
Camping is allowed anywhere you would like in the grounds on a first come first serve basis. Level areas are limited, so come early to get your spot. There are many small trees and if you have a hammock you can bring that along for a relaxing siesta. On the Sunday that we visited the afternoon smells of beef and longaniza cooking over hot coals made my stomach growl with longing.
I appreciated the noticeable lack of trash throughout the park. Despite the fact that on the day we visited there were easily 1,000 people packed onto the grounds, I only saw three Styrofoam cups all day long. Garbage cans are available in convenient locations and it is clear that staff members also move through the park, keeping it clean.
The park allows visitors to enter from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily and the entrance fee for adults is $50 pesos (approximately $5 U.S.) with reduced fees for small children. If you stay the night you can enjoy the park for two days for $150 pesos per person and $75 pesos each additional night.
Getting to Las Huertas is a real Mexican adventure that is best done in a private vehicle. From Cuernavaca take the toll highway, south, following signs to Acapulco. You pass through the first toll booth and pay $56 pesos for passenger vehicles. From the toll booth you travel an additional 31.5 kilometers through hot, grazed forest and occasional sorghum fields. Here’s the trick. The turn off is an unimproved cattle guard at the end of a cut bank. You can’t see this turn off as you approach it. The one and only warning that you have to flick on your turn signal and slow your speed is that about 100 meters before you will dive off the narrow highway shoulder you see the small kilometer marker (just like the mile markers we have in the U.S.) for kilometer 149. Keep your eyes on those kilometer markers and as soon as you see the marker for kilometer 149, slow your speed and prepare for a rough exit. 
Do not miss this because it will be many kilometers before you can turn around and you will probably be charged two more toll booths to do it.