After classes on Thursday we headed off to Xochicalco! It only took about 40 minutes to get there but it seemed like we were transported to a different world!
The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl to "in the house of Flowers". On the way to the ruins, there are thousands of roses growing next to the road and therefore there are flower stands every 100 feet! I've never seen so many roses in my life!
Xochicalco was founded by the early Mayan and Aztec cultures around 200 AD and becoming a thriving city between 700 and 900 A.D. The ancient city wasn't discovered until the early 1800's.
There is a museum on the grounds so we first toured that to see some of the ancient artifacts up close.
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| A model of the grounds to give you an idea of how huge it is! |
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| El Señor de las Serpientes |
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| Our amazing guide Bernardo! :) |
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El Señor Rojo
I loved this piece because the curved ribbon structure
on the bottom means beginning and end.
Everything has a reason or an interesting story behind it! |
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| Zodiac Calendar |
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| View of the ruins from the museum |
After a short hike up the side of the mountain, we made it!
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| Agave plants around the ruins (same plant that tequila comes from!) |
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| Amazing scenic views everywhere you look! The manicured area is a ball court! |
One of the most popular structures is the Temple of Queztzacoatl (Feathered Serpent) due to its intricate carvings. Each carving represents a date in history. The side below represents the fourth of July (a much different meaning than the one we celebrate!)
Below are more pictures from around the ruins. It was a bustling city, with over 20,000 people at its prime. It was also really hot here! The sun was beating down on us and climbing up and down ruins made for some great exercise!
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| View of the city below |
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| This was a swimming pool, even back then the women wore bikinis! |
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| This was part of the school or "tlamachtilcalco" in Nahuatl. |
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| Another view of the school- can't imagine teaching here! ;) |
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| One of the many ball courts. They loved sports! |
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This is a "palo mulato" tree. Bernardo called it the foreigner tree because it's red on the outside and the
skin peels off and it's white- just like when foreigners like me get sunburnt! Hah! |
After climbing the ruins at Xochicalco, we went to visit an orphanage in town. I have never seen a real orphanage so I was really interested in visiting one! We visited Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH). We visited the first NPH, started by an American priest, Father William Wasson. It all started after a fifteen-year-old boy was arrested for stealing from the poor box of a small church in Cuernavaca. Father Wasson didn’t press any charges, instead asking for the boy’s custody. By the end of the year he had 32 children living at a small rented house, which became known as Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos.
Now there are nine different NPH branches throughout Latin America. The branch we visited has around 450 kids ranging from infants to teenagers. Once they finish high school, they can choose to continue and go to a university and stay at a branch in Monterrey, Mexico.
The orphanage is housed in an old hacienda (sugar cane factory) and is like a little city. They are extremely self sufficient. The kids all have different roles or chores. They have their own fields, farm, and pond where they get their food. They harvest their own grains (they make something like 1,000 tortillas a day or something crazy.) They slaughter seven pigs a week to feed this compound and the one in the city by the high school. They have a pond full of tilapia and have fish once a week. It is a huge operation. They have different dorms depending on gender and age. They have a swimming pool, church, dining hall and sport courts. They even have a primary school on the grounds.
We got to play with some of the toddler and younger kids for a short while before dinner. They were so adorable and fun to play with! It reminded us of why we are here and got us really excited to start teaching.
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| Library |
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| Disney characters were painted all over the toddler area |
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| Where the toddlers and young kids sleep. |
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| Dining Hall (reminded us of a Mexican Hogwarts!) |
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| The Primary School |
After a long and exciting day, we got dropped off downtown again. We treated ourselves to some refreshing beverages before heading home for cena.
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A "Michelada" is a cerveza clara (light beer, usually Corona) with lime juice and salt.
Extremely delicious after a day of climbing ruins! :) The word chela is a popular term for a beer in Mexico. When you ask for a chela, you are asking for a cold beer; therefore the phrase mi chela helada means "my cold beer." |
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| Another busy night en el zocalo! |
Ancient ruins and micheladas....just a typical Thursday here in Mexico! ;)
-Estefani
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