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Showing posts with label Iztaccihuatl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iztaccihuatl. Show all posts
Friday, March 4, 2011
Way back in the beginning of February I spent the long weekend in Puebla with friends.
Saturday we went to Puebla -- the capital of the state (to see post from my visit with my parents to Puebla click here). Our "tour guide" for the weekend (Chang, a new friend who is from Puebla and was kind enough to invite us to stay with his family) introduced us to cemitas -- a Puebla standard. It's a (huge) sandwich differentiated mostly for the type of bread (sesame seeded egg roll according to wikipedia?).
Saturday we went to Puebla -- the capital of the state (to see post from my visit with my parents to Puebla click here). Our "tour guide" for the weekend (Chang, a new friend who is from Puebla and was kind enough to invite us to stay with his family) introduced us to cemitas -- a Puebla standard. It's a (huge) sandwich differentiated mostly for the type of bread (sesame seeded egg roll according to wikipedia?).
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| enjoying the (huge!) cemita |
From there we spent some time in the artisans market and then wandered around downtown Puebla.
Coming down from the hill/mountain, we continued our tour of Atlixco.
We went back to Chang's house and enjoyed some more delicious food and a great view of Popocateptl at sunset.
We watched the Superbowl -- it wasn't the same without the commercials! I also realized my vocabulary to talk about American Football is rather limited. We left during the 3rd quarter to go to the bus station, but were able to watch more at the terminal and got the final score on the bus.
For me, one of my favorite aspects of the weekend (besides exploring Atlixco of course) was spending time with the family -- Chang's mom and niece and nephew. They were so sweet, welcoming, generous -- all the best of the Mexican stereotype. It was interesting to see and hear about the migration experience from those that stay behind. I have worked with migrants in the US and studied migration, but hadn't really seen it "up close" on this side of the border. Chang's niece and nephew live with their grandmother because their mom lives and works in the US. They've grown up with their grandmother and know her better than their biological mother. They even call her mom. Along with other stories, it was an interesting first-hand view of how migration affects families.
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| Puebla was originally called Puebla de los Angeles and is sometimes referred to as Angelópolis |
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| So. Many. Balloons. (Zócalo, Cathedral in the background) |
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| Municipal Palace |
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| church |
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| church |
That evening we headed to Atlixco, which is the third-largest community in Puebla. We met Chang's family and enjoyed a delicious meal, including home-made mole! Puebla is known for it's food, but his mom's cooking was definitely the best I've had of the various Puebla staples. Case in point: From my previous experiences I would probably describe mole as interesting, but his mom's mole was delicious!
Sunday morning we had tamales and atole and/or coffee for breakfast with his family. I had a sweet tamal, but there were also tamales with rajas or mole. Once again, the atole his mom made was the best I've tasted so far.
From there, we set out to explore Atlixco. On our way into town we saw:
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| A cat with clothes.... |
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| Cutting flowers, with the Popocatepetl volcano in the background. Atlixco (and Puebla in general?) produces a lot of flowers |
Chang's mom bought Tati and I ceramic pots to cook with, similar to the type she uses. We climbed up to Capilla de San Miguel, a chapel on top of a large hill (small mountain?) to get a view of Atlixco and surrounding areas.
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| view of Atlixco. Climbing up to the Capilla de San Miguel (with the pots his mom bought us) |
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| view of Popocatepetl in the background |
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| view of Popocatepetl |
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| Plaza of the Dance of the Huey Atlixcayotl (like the Voladores de Papántla). Since it's high up on the hill, "flyers" can be seen from all around down below |
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| flowers on a cactus |
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| view of Atlixco |
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| Capilla de San Miguel |
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| Atlixco |
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| Atlixco |
Coming down from the hill/mountain, we continued our tour of Atlixco.
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| Franciscan Convent, built around 1550 |
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| Franciscan Convent, built around 1550 |
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| Franciscan Convent, built around 1550 |
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| Temple of the Third Order |
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| selling flowers in the Zócalo |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco (ceiling) |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco The tree where the eagle landed, which was the sign to build the city there. We saw the actual tree earlier in the day (the spring has dried up) but I didn't get a photo. |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco Day of the Dead and Independence Day |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco |
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| talavera |
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| mural of the history of Atlixco |
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| Mural of Liberation from the Oppression Porfirio Diaz's Regime |
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| Mural of Liberation from the Oppression Porfirio Diaz's Regime |
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| church |
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| Zócalo |
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| Zócalo |
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| lime nieve with red wine |
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| enjoying our nieve and sorbet and (don't remember what its called, but its sweet and made out of seeds) out of our pots |
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| view of Popocatepetl + the Franciscan Convenet + the Capilla de San Miguel |
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| church |
We went back to Chang's house and enjoyed some more delicious food and a great view of Popocateptl at sunset.
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| view of Popocateptl from a friend's house |
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| view of Popocateptl from a friend's house |
We watched the Superbowl -- it wasn't the same without the commercials! I also realized my vocabulary to talk about American Football is rather limited. We left during the 3rd quarter to go to the bus station, but were able to watch more at the terminal and got the final score on the bus.
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| watching the Superbowl at the bus terminal |
For me, one of my favorite aspects of the weekend (besides exploring Atlixco of course) was spending time with the family -- Chang's mom and niece and nephew. They were so sweet, welcoming, generous -- all the best of the Mexican stereotype. It was interesting to see and hear about the migration experience from those that stay behind. I have worked with migrants in the US and studied migration, but hadn't really seen it "up close" on this side of the border. Chang's niece and nephew live with their grandmother because their mom lives and works in the US. They've grown up with their grandmother and know her better than their biological mother. They even call her mom. Along with other stories, it was an interesting first-hand view of how migration affects families.
Monday, February 21, 2011
During my parents' visit (yes, a couple weeks ago) we took a tour to visit Cholula and Puebla, both in the state of Puebla.
Puebla is known, among other things, for its talavera pottery, la China Poblana, it's food (especially mole), and as the battle site of the unlikely victory against French forces on May 5 (Cinco de mayo) 1862 (note -- 5 de mayo is NOT Mexico's Independence Day).
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| view of Iztaccihuatl ("the sleeping woman") volanco on the drive to Puebla |
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| view of Iztaccihuatl (left, dormant) and Popocatepetl (right, active) volancoes |
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| view of Iztaccihuatl |
In Cholula we visited the Great Pyramid of Cholula. It is the largest pyramid in the world but it looks like a hill or mountain because it has been covered with earth and grass. Like other pyramids in Mexico, the Great Pyramid was built in various phases, in successive layers. There are various tunnels that traverse the pyramid (dug during excavations), but they are now closed to the public. On top of the pyramid is a church, built by the Spaniards. To me, the most fascinating part was that if you clap in the courtyard area, a sound "echos" (though not an echo) back that sounds like a Quetzal bird. It was believed that it was the gods answering back.
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| the "hill" is the covered pyramid |
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| the separate walls indicate different constructions at different times |
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| clapping in front of the stone results in the Quetzal sound |
From there, we visited Puebla -- the capital of the state of the same name.
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| the Cathedral |
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| the Cathedral |
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| the Cathedral |
We saw the house of the China Poblana ("the Chinese Pueblan" -- neither Chinese or from Puebla). I've heard/seen various versions of the legend, it's something along the lines that a young girl from Indian was stolen and eventually ended up in Mexico (was sold? escaped by hiding in a barrel that was sent on a ship?), where she was first a servant (but more like a daughter?) and later married a Chinese man (contributing to the idea she was Chinese, though the term "chino" is often used as a generalization for Asian). She is credited (at least in legend) with the creation of the China poblana style of clothing -- a white blouse and colorful embroidered red and green skirt -- which has become a folkloric, national symbol of Mexico.
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| house of the China Poblana |
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| house of the China Poblana |
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| statue of the China Poblana |
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| Museum of the Revolution, home of Aquiles Serdán, an opponent of Porfirio Diaz. Police assaulted the building and Serdán and his family fought back, until Aquiles was killed. |
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| Talavera workshop -- pottery Puebla is famous for |
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| talavera |
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| talavera |
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| talavera |
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| Church of Santo Domingo, Chapel del Rosario |
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| Church of Santo Domingo, Chapel del Rosario |
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| Church of Santo Domingo, Chapel del Rosario |
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| Church of Santo Domingo |
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| talavera in the Chapel del Rosario |
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| talavera in the Chapel del Rosario |
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| view from the outside of Church of Santo Domingo + Chapel del Rosario |
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