la premiera dia

i really like mexico. i woke up this morning very grateful to be here. the country, or maybe just this city, feels much more open and breathy than el Salvador did, and i like that more. i like bigger cities where there is an airy feeling to it; a wide open under the great blue sky sort of feel. i’ve just spent the past few hours poolside, and now we’re going to the pyramids. ta.


**

the pyramids were at once lifeless and thrilling. the first one was built in 600 b.c. and was buried under 6 successive pyramids before all of that was ultimately covered by the Spaniards with a good ol’ god fearing catholic church. as human nature goes, the majority of the tunnels through the pyramids were blocked off, so we were relegated to an uninspiring brightly lit triangular tunnel. Josef, our tour guide, wasn’t very good at explaining how the whole thing came to pass, and my companions were busy enough snapping photos to detract a bit more. the entire area of these pyramids covers some 42 acres, and 5 miles of tunnel traverse underground. it wasn’t until we came above ground and meandered into a field that i began to feel the energy of where we were. partial bits of a pyramid were unearthed and cordoned off, and snaking deeper on the grounds we came into a huge field, big enough for a soccer match, flanked on three sides by altars: east was for sun, north for wind, and west for rain. there was another altar, northeast, for fertility. large stone heads were plopped between sun and fertility. standing in the middle on this field, keene flip flops settling in the dust, i felt vibrations in my chest, yet when i tried to engage Josef in a dialogue to see whether he felt what i was feeling, and a simple yes, i love it, was all i gathered from him. indeed, no more elaboration was needed. the three of us then climbed to the top of a 53-step portion of pyramid, took stupid tourist photos of each other with Cholula in the distance, and headed out.

our next stop was santa maria something church, the only Indian church left by the Spaniards. when they came to mexico, and cholula originally, the Spaniards covered every relic of religion the Indians built, and replaced them with chrisitan churches.

why?

because no one expects the Spanish inquisition!

ahem.

so the walls and ceiling of this church are adorned with 4000+ carved faces. plus a boatload of crying jesus figures, and it was absolutely breathtaking. the energy in this place, too, was overwhelming. it took my breath away. while i sat in reverie, Laverne and Shirley snapped digital photos like they were preparing for a slide show. i was so mived, i even crossed myself after prayer. i hope that’s ok.

i feel safe here. i have had pause to contemplate, once more, how i feel about Hispanics in general, and my understanding of them as a culture and as a people is growing ever deeper. in America, i believe the pervading feeling is that Hispanics, Mexicans in general, are lazy and slow and dense and the women wear tight clothes and the men cheat on the women in tight clothes with white women and they have no class and are willing to scrub the bourgeoisie’s dishes for two dimes to rub together.  what my 24 hours in puebla has shown me is that, holey moley, is not the case. i feel goofey admitting that i have fallen victim to the former mindset time and again. all it takes is a little exposure to stir things up a bit. one of my dinner companions put it quite succinctly: people are more alike than they are different.

given that i, for whatever reason, did not pack my running shoes, and i had a terrible mole dish for dinner topped with a decent dessert, i returned to my room feeling full and restless. not having had sufficient time to digest for yoga, and not wanting to hit the treadmill barefoot, i swallowed my fears and headed to the mall behind the hotel. i am finding that he only time i want to spend money is when i don’t have any. then it all looks good. tonight i found no sneakers, no cute dresses, and only one shirt that caught my eye but ended up being totally unflattering. every time i shop, i feel like Stacey and the guy from what not to wear are going to jump out of the racks and say No No Don’t take that a-line skirt off the rack if you know what’s good for you, miss hips and thighs! so i wandered for a while, and now i’m here. i need to get some sleep, as i’m going to be on Mexican radio tomorrow morning. Buenos noches!