Discovering My Mexico

Saturday, May 25, 2019

🚗: Aeropuerto de la CDMX

Last Few Days in Cuernavaca, Mexico

🚗: Cuernavaca

The last days were a whirlwind of activities. Trini took us to go see a live benefit concert with a singer who had been on the Voice Mexico and she was insanely good. The artist had a lot of energy and really projected kindness and compassion. She was eternally grateful for everything. 

Then Trini took us to the World premiere of a Cannes film about space at a film festival  called Cinema Planeta, which focuses on conservation issues. This is a yearly film festival at which many world renowned documentaries and short films are shown that deal with saving the planet. It was an amazing event. 

Monday, May 20th, 2019

🚗: Class at Sue’s

The day after the Temazcal we got to have another bonding moment as a class at Sue’s apartment. We had a moment ot free write and reflect on our experiences. This was a very cathardic class and it allowed to reflect a lot about our lives. We had a long discussion about guilt and what it felt like to be in Mexico, when some of our family cannot and will not step foot back into their home country. It was painful to hear and see the stories of my classmates, but this is not a topic that I get to discuss often. I have never been in a class full of so many 1st generation Mexican-American students. I felt comforted that most of us truly could understand how hard it is to have undocumented family members.  It was sad but beautiful class. 

Sunday, May 19th, 2019

🚗: Temazcal 

Pictured here is the the base of the Temazcal, where the wood is fed into to fuel the steam inside of the small building. When we arrived at location of the Temazcal, this is the first thing that I saw. I was terrified to say the least and it didn’t help the nerves that I was already feeling about the whole experience. We spent the first twenty mintutes upon arrival making sure we were hydrated and fed before heading in. 

Saturday, May 18th, 2019

🚗: Convento en Tepoztlan

These were some of the photography collection found inside of the convent. The first picture is of Emiliano Zapata. We learned a lot about Zapata during our trip. He is an important figure for the fight of Indigenous rights and the Zapatistas have adopted his name to represent their fight for their rights.

Saturday, May 18th, 2019

🚗:  Convento en Tepoztlan

Here are some more pictures of the convent. I took the first three pictures because they all depicted the same scenery, but in the different style of what I think might be three different artists. All three pictures depict the empty tomb of Jesus, as well as all three crucifixion crosses where the thorn crown is hung over the middle one. It doesn’t appear that these painting are too old, but they may just be really well preserved. 

Saturday, May 18th, 2019

🚗: Convento en Tepoztlan

Saturday, May 18th, 2019

🚗: Tepoztlan Day 2

We finally got to return to Tepoztlan with our class and it was time to climb the mountain to the Tepozteco. I woke up with a really bad stomach ache that day and I wasn’t able to climb up, but we got to visit some really special places while the others got to climb up. 

We got to visit an ex-convent that was attached to the old church we got to see last time we came up to Tepoztlan. The convent was beautiful and the decorations along the wall were beautiful! 

We also got to a museum close to the convent with a ton of pre-colombian art pieces and then we headed toward the town center to peruse the shops!

Friday, May 17th, 2019

🚗: Cilac Freire 

Corrido Day!  On this day, the lecture was about corridos and their cultural significance in Mexico. We got to learn two really corridos and we got to sing them as a class. This was by far the most fun lecture. I love learning through music. 

I have never been a huge fan of modern corridos, but right before the trip I started listening to some corridos and I really enjoyed them. I loved learning history through these songs and it kind of makes me wish we had a whole genre dedicated to history and politics in the english language. 

Wednesday, May 15th, 2019

🚗: Ahuatepec, Morelos 

This was a celebration for San Isidro in Trini’s neighborhood in Ahuatepec, which was about 30 minutes from the city of Cuernavaca. This was a very important celebration for me and Claudia to be a part of since most of these celebrations are due to the cooperation of everyone in the neighborhood. We were invited and asked to join them while they communed. We got to eat a very tasty celebratory meal of carnitas, rice, beans, and aguas frescas. 

We got to listen to the local band, comprised of school aged children, play a couple of songs and speak to a lot of the local people. We got asked a lot of questions about where we were from, but overall it was a very fun experience. Too bad we had to leave before the dances could start. 

🚗: Cilac Freire 

Having Class poolside! After having an afternoon swim, we decided to have class in the pool. It remember that it felt very nice out that day. We got to talk about ways of knowing and we got to listen to From now on from the Greatest Showman. 

🚗: Robert Brady Museum

Frida Kahlo! I’ve never seen or learned more about Frida Kahlo than on this trip and I’ve never been happier. We didn’t get to go to the Frida Kahlo house in Mexico but we did get to see this replica at the Robert Brady Museum (the real one is locked up). We have also been able to see a lot of murals by Diego Rivera throughout the trip. Frida has become a feminist and sexual icon in the United States among young Women in the last five years! It was pretty awesome to get to see this self portrait and Diego’s sketch of Frida. I also learned that Madonna owns 5 Frida pieces, that’s wild! I definitely bought some Frida memorabilia to bring back home. 

Tuesday, May 14th, 2019

 🚗: Robert Brady Museum, Cuernavaca

The Robert Brady Museum houses a plethora of stunning art pieces from what feels like every inch of the world. The American art collector spent his final years in Cuernavaca after having lived all over the world. His private collection has many special pieces collected from other artists and even some of his own work. In the first picture we see a sculpture from India adjacent to the asian/Indian inspired bedroom. In the second photo from two completely different countries. The little birds on top are from Nayarit Mexico, made by the Kora indigenous tribe and the small stool was made in Africa! What is astounding is that even though both pieces come from such different places, they are both made from the same colorful seeds and have similar patterns. The third picture is a depiction of Christian art, the museum even has a whole wall dedicated to Mexican Jesus art. The last picture is a group of figures that are called “the family” because they each represent a figure in Robert Brady’s life and himself. 

Sunday, May 12th, 2019 

🚗: 1st trip to Tepoztlan w/ Trini and Claudia

On our first day off, our house mother Trini took us out de paseo to Tepoztlan. This city is often called magical because of it’s beauty and historical significance. It also a popular spot for tourists. I knew that we would be coming back to this city with our large group later in the week to climb up to the tepozteco, so I was glad that we got a preview of the beautiful city beforehand. 

While we were there, we got to explore the market and the artisanal crafts; the large church, and a small bar tucked in the middle of the outskirts of the city. We didn’t get to go inside of the big church because the integrity of the construction was compromised after the 2017 earthquake that reached a magnitude of 7.1!

Saturday, May 11th, 2019

🚗: Museo de Murales Teotihuacanos 👩🧑(L to R): Beth, Jorge, Claudia

This is such a cute picture of these three in front of an eagle stone carving. I found this picture in my camera and I couldn’t not post it. Throughout our whole trip, Jorge translated for Claudia and for Beth. They built a wonderful relationship and the girls even bought Jorge a gift for doing such a great job helping them with Spanish. I am not sure about Beth, but I know that at times Claudia would struggle or get frustrated by her lack of Spanish speaking ability. I saw her breath a sigh of relief each night when she could finally settle down and speak to her family in english, a language she feels in full command of. 

Saturday, May 11th, 2019

🚗: Reconstruction in Teotihuacan

Saturday, May 11th, 2019

🚗: Teotihuacan

These photos depict my own personal journey throughout the day. The first picture is the first picture that I took of the pyramids before any of us had climbed them. In those beginning moments I was extremely excited to be where I was. I had never seen these types of massive constructions in all of my life. They were such a contrast to the massive skyscrapers that we have here in Atlanta, but their age and their tie to my culture made me feel proud.  

Going in, I knew that I wanted to climb the Moon Pyramid because of its ties to the Great Goddess. As a massive feminist and as a Mexican woman, it was important for me that I honor such an important figure head. Sitting on top of that pyramid I soaked in the view and reflected on the meaning of being there on the top. Because of the elevation of the land, the Moon Pyramid techinically has the highest point in Teotihuacan, but it isn’t the largest pyramid. This reminds of the role that Mexican woman play in their families. Much like the second photo, Mexican woman have a clear view of the rest of the family and while they are technically not in charge, they often wield the most power.