#chaxel

Station #11: Latinoamérica

This station is named for the circle and park surrounding it: Plaza Latinoamérica (Spanish), Praça Latinoamérica (Portuguese), Place L’Amérique Latine (French). All three of these Romance languages are spoken in Latin America and I felt the park had to have all three names officially. This neighborhood also shares the same name with the station. To the southeast of this park and station is the main university of the city: Universidad de Cháxel. It’s not the largest university in the city, but it’s the oldest and most important—I like to think. Bulevar Latinamérica runs right through it.

Back to the station, the roads that intersect here are Amīr Al-Mu’minīn Road, Carrer Els Castells, Bulevar Latinoamérica which goes around it, and Avni D’Ayiti (Haiti Avenue) which also goes around the park. I wanted to make sure that Haiti had a prominent place when speaking about Latin America as it’s typically forgotten—sometimes on purpose.

Five lines stop at this station:

- Imam Ali (brown)

- Sarajevo - Latinoamérica (blue)

- Third Ave - Haiti (olive)

- Castells (green)

Station #12: Karl Marx

This station is located at the intersection of Imams Road (طريق الأئمة) and Carrer Els Castells. There’s a park named after Karl Marx here along with the Workers’ Mosque and Workers’ Synagogue. This is a major station just outside of Centrum (downtown).

Four lines pass through this station:

- Imams (carnation pink)

- Castells (green)

- Sarajevo - Latinoamérica (blue)

#12: Filastin (Palestine)

Oh, Palestine. My heart breaks for you!

This sheet was created in, I believe, May of 2021. Isr*el was bombing Gaza...again. I decided to draw this map and name its streets and parks and religious structures and lake after Palestine.

There are more than 400 depopulated and "extinct" villages in all of Palestine. This neighborhood which spans over four sheets memorializes those places. Many places on this sheet and the neighborhood are even of places that still, defiantly and proudly, exist.

The lake in this neighborhood and the parks that surround it are some of my favorite places in all of my city. I originally named it Nakba Lake, but ultimately decided to name it after the Galilee region of northern Palestine with Lake Tiberias.

We have the Grand Palestine Mosque just north of the main roundabout in the center along with two other major mosques and several minor ones. We have three major synagogues. We have three major cathedrals with several minor churches.

I'm very proud of this sheet. I didn't want Palestine to be forgotten about--not that it would, but that I wanted to make sure it was at the forefront of my mind. This was 2021. A horrible tragedy was taking place in Gaza...and now look at where we are. A genocide. Subhan'Allah.

In this sheet we have depopulated and extant villages and towns. Some of the depopulated ones are:

Rantiyya رنتية

Al-Kabri الكابري

Deir Yassin دير ياسين

Bayt Jibrin بيت جبرين

Al-Dawayima الدوايمة

Al-Birwa البروة (hometown of Mahmoud Darwish--the national poet of Palestine)

Indur إندور

Saffuriyya صفورية

Khirbat Qumbaza خربة قمبازة

Al-Majdal المجدل

Lydda اللد

Safad صفد

Idnibba إذنبة

Iqrit إقرث

Some of the extant places are:

Gaza غزة المعزة

Nazareth الناصرة

Sha'ab شعب

Stations #24 #25 #26: Tikal, Yaħyâ, Íñigo

Tikal station is located at Tikal Square which is at the intersection of Avinguda Catalunya, Calle Puerto, and Calle Rico. This would be like the central plaza in Latin American colonial towns and cities. It’s named after the Mayan ruins in northern Guatemala.

Yaħyâ (يحيى) Station is located where Calle Puerto and Calle Rico meet to create Calle San Juan at Mott Haven Road. There’s a mosque at the square named after the Prophet Yaħyâ (John the Baptist).

Íñigo station is located at Avinguda Catalunya and Bulevar Guatemala close to the park with the same name. I have always just really liked the name Íñigo so I kept the name for my city. I think it’s the double accent marks.

The lines that stop at Tikal station are:

- Buckeye East - Catalunya (light blue)

- Sarajevo - Latinoamérica (blue)

The lines that stop at Yaħyâ station are:

- Sarajevo - Latinoamérica (blue)

- Mott Haven - Columbus (bronze)

The lines that stop at Íñigo station are:

- Buckeye West - Guatemala (pink)

- Farah - Isabel (lavender)

Station #21: Jnoub

Meaning “south” in Arabic, this station is named after the southern region of Lebanon. The valiant and steadfast people of Lebanon! This station is at the intersection of Intifada Way and Beirut Boulevard. May God have mercy on the martyrs!

This station is in the Filastin neighborhood as well! The surrounding streets are all named after depopulated (and extant) places in Palestine.

Two lines stop here:

Beirut North - Gràcia (yellow)

Station #20: Lamees Najim

This station is at the intersection of Ghassan Kanafani Road and Beirut Boulevard. Ghassan Kanafani was martyred and assassinated in Beirut in 1972 with his niece, Lamees. Kanafani was a very important and famous Palestinian writer whose family was forced to flee Palestine in 1948 during the Nakba. Please look up his writings and novels. They're worth the read!

Two lines stop here:

Ghassan Kanafani - Gaza (orange)