So much has happened since we got home from Mexico, and life has been so busy, that it almost seems like a dream now. In the evenings, when the kids are in bed, and Rick and I are catching our breath for the day, one of us will turn to the other and say something like, "just a little while ago, we were in Mexico together." I don't want the memories to fade. This blog will help. The date shows the post is from Monday, but that's really just the day I uploaded the photos. Now it's Friday and I'm finally able to sit down and type about DAY 3!!!
Day 3 was amazing!! We woke up early, and walked to the metro, which we took to the North bus station. There we got on a bus to Teotihuacan. The bus ride was about an hour, but it was a very interesting drive to me. The part of the city that we went through was largely Rick's mission, and then, north of the city, we were able to see a little of "rural" Mexico. It was fun to see the farmers out in the fields, and to see things like fields of nopales (cactus that is eaten in many forms). When we got to the pyramids, we got some tamales from some vendors outside the site. Yummy. The above photo is pretty cool. It was as we entered the site, on the ground. It is created entirely from seeds, except for the dried chilies used as whiskers.
I could go on and on about Teotihuacan. It is just amazing. I think I'll just provide a few links, rather than try and say too much myself. The second link has some cool ariel photos, from Google earth that show the magnitude of the site. The main avenue that runs through the city is the Avenue of the Dead. We were able to start at one end, and just walk along it, seeing all the ruins along the way. Here's Rick standing in front of the pyramid of the sun.
Here's a picture from part way up the Pyramid of the Sun. This shot helps you to appreciate the vastness of this site. There is much more than just the pyramids of the sun and moon, and the temple of Quetzalcoatl. There was an entire city, and much has been uncovered- dwelling places, as well as other small pyramids. It was amazing to walk through.
And, yes, we made it to the top. It was not an easy climb, especially with the high altitude that we were at, but it was worth it. It was amazing (I know I keep using that word) to look out over all the ruins, and imagine the city at its peak. By the way, the time period of this city was 100 BC-600 AD. Seem like a familiar time period to anyone? Definitely Book of Mormon time period. It was interesting to consider as we looked at everything.
This is from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon. This pyramid is at the end (or beginning, whichever way you want to look at it) of the Avenue of the Dead. You can see the pyramid of the sun off to the left. There were a lot of vendors selling handmade items at Teotihuacan. They just mill about, selling their wares to all the tourists. We found out from talking to a lady selling some things that they are only allowed to sell handmade items from the Teotihuacan area.
We rode the bus back to Mexico City, stopped by our hotel to drop off a few gifts, and hopped on the metro to go South of the city, where we needed to be for the cultural celebration. Because we had a little time before we needed to be at the stadium, we went through Coyoacan, the colonial section of Mexico City. It was very beautiful, and interesting to see yet a different part of the city. I told Rick it made me think of the Zorro movies. Here are a couple of pictures we took.
Next stop, Estadio Azteca, home of the Mexican National Football (soccer to us Yankees) Team. It seats 114,000 people, and was the site for the cultural celebration put on by the Mexican Latter-day Saints to celebrate the rededication of the Mexico City Temple. President Monson and President Eyring were there, and it was an experience I will never forget. 8500 youth performed dances from all over Mexico, as well as portrayed the history of their country. At the beginning, we all waved our white hankies to Pres. Monson, and he waved his back. The people did not seem to want to stop waving. We didn't get any good photos of the dancers, but this first one is a shot of what the field looked like when we first came in. These are a few of the performers, sitting waiting to perform. It got quite cold that night, and some of these costumes didn't have a lot of fabric (they were Aztecs), and we saw them jumping around, trying to keep warm as they waited for their chance to perform.
The last two things that happened were so neat. First, about 1500 youth came onto the field in lines. First, the Young Women, dressed in Sunday best, as they sang "As Sisters in Zion" (only it was in Spanish). Then the Young Men, in white shirts and ties came on singing "Army of Helaman". Then they sang the two together. It was powerful. Here's a picture of it, from way up where we were sitting (which I seem to have deleted, and at this point I've spent so much time on this post I'm not going to get it back on here- sorry). Next the missionaries from the 6 missions in and around Mexico City poured onto the field singing "Called to Serve". This was expecially neat since Rick had been a missionary there in Mexico City, 16 years before. The growth of the Church in that country is amazing to me and to Rick. What a blessing it was for the people of that country to have the prophet there for the rededication, and to have the Church so strong and thriving. It's obvious to me that it truly blesses their lives. I hope to always remember.
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