Mexico 2022 - The Round Pyramids

 The Teuchitlan culture worshiped 4 main gods represented by the elements of earth, water, sun and wind, wind being the most revered. The round shape of the pyramids represented wind. 

Our first stop was a small museum where we were treated to a video which gave us an overview of the culture and prepared us for what we would visit. There were an estimated 25,000 to 45,000 inhabitants in the area in ancient times. This was, for the period, an enormous amount of humanity. A young goth kid working at the museum reminded me, once again, of the cultural homogenization of our present world. The ancient culture constructed shaft graves with different levels. The priests, the highest order of the society, were interred at the lowest level so that their journey to the underworld and after life would be easiest. Middle classes were interred at the midpoint, the poor highest up. One could also gain the high burial status of the priests by reaching the age of 52.Obsidian from the dormant volcano nearby provided the people with a trade good, evidenced by shells and other objects, discovered during excavation, only available from distant areas.

Early morning clouds had given way to bright sunshine and hot temperatures as we began our walk up the steep rock road towards the site. Unlike some other sites I have visited on my travels this one is rather rough, it requires a moderate level of fitness to fully appreciate it. Paths are little more than tramped down areas of grass and the heat, at least at this time of year, can be brutal. 

The video we saw before we began our trek was essential to me in helping visualize the site as it was 2000 years ago. The most well preserved of the pyramids is an imposing structure. It was not only a place for religious rituals but also a lunar based calendar, each of it's steps representing a cycle of the moon. Stone platforms surrounding it once held the houses of the priests. Middle class homes stood a little farther off with  the poor relegated to the farthest distance away. 

In 1969 UNESCO came to the area and declared it a world heritage site. Part of the designation required that restoration was only allowed if the structure was at least 70% intact. As the area had been looted of some of it's stones over the centuries by local residents this meant that some original structures could not be reconstructed. Hence, some of the platforms are missing and one of the larger pyramids stands as a grassy hill covered by the local flora. Still, the idea that I was standing on ground where religious rituals and dances took place over 2000 years ago was a deeply humbling experience. 

Mexico 2022 - The Round Pyramids of Teuchitlan - The Trip There

 Researching things to do in Jalisco that I hadn't done before I came across an article on the ancient round pyramids of the Teuchitlan culture which flourished from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. I was picked up at 9 by my driver and tour guide and we were off to pick up the others I would be sharing the trip with that day. 

We drove deeper into the Colonia Americana district with it's grand homes lining both sides of the avenues. In one intersection, during rush hour, a man was performing hula hoop stunts in the middle of the street. One of the homes had been transformed into a shop specializing, as did several shops in the city, in evening dresses with extraordinarily wide tulle skirts. Resembling bells, I wondered how a woman might use the restroom while wearing one of these fantastic creations. They also seemed as if they might double as effective birth control as no one would be able to get close enough to reproduce. Even an innocent peck on the cheek would prove challenging. We drove past soaring monuments in the middle of traffic circles that seem ubiquitous in the city.

As we moved further away from the metropolis of Guadalajara we passed hillsides of the distinctly blue green of blue agave waiting to mature and be turned into tequila as well as sugar cane fields. Eventually we reached the town of Teuchitlan, population approximately 1000, founded in the 16th century. The town's name in the indigenous language translates to "place of all gods". Its sign depicts one of the pyramids we would be visiting. 

The tour guide quipped that the town was too small for a man to have both a wife and a girlfriend on the side. Apparently the women of the town gather together to do laundry and are not adverse to engaging in gossip.

Mexico 2022 - Orozco

 One thing this trip gave me was a fuller understanding and appreciation for the Mexican artist Orozco. I had some familiarity with him. I had seen his mesmerizing mural work in the Hospicio Cabanas on a previous visit and had discovered a small work of his in the collection of Chicago's Art Institute.

I was somewhat disappointed that the galleries surrounding the courtyards of the Cabanas I had spent time exploring on my previous visit were closed, perhaps because Tuesday is a free day at the museum. As I was leaving I spotted a doorway to an open gallery and entered. What I discovered was a sizable exhibition of Orozco's sketches and studies for his murals, including several studies for the murals at the Cabanas. It is always interesting to me to see a single artist's work grouped together. It gives me a deeper and clearer understanding of their overall vision and creative process. 

He was an excellent draftsman, many of his mural studies were sketched over grids and perspective lines. He experimented with how best to locate and create his frescos, a time consuming and laborious process. In his work he was able to suggest raw emotion and muscular power with a great economy of strokes.

For the first time I was able to see his mural at the University Art Museum. 2 young, quite adorable college kids greeted me at the entrance desk. One, small, cute, the 3 top buttons of his shirt undone to display 5 of what were probably a total of 15 chest hairs, addressed me in Spanish. I guess he saw something in my face because he said "oh" and switched to English, explaining to me I would have to remove my, ubiquitous on this trip to save the skin on my balding head, baseball cap and check my messenger bag. I dutifully handed them over to his companion behind the desk, a muscular student in skin tight white pants and an equally tight tee shirt which emphasized his impressive chest and biceps. Both of them were obviously keenly aware of the image they were presenting. 

The mural was overwhelming and left me stunned. It is an explosion of anger, difficult to look at yet impossible to turn away from. Were I to see a speaker in the lecture hall where it is located I would probably have no recollection of what they said because the image is so consuming and powerful.

I went through the other galleries in the small museum. One contained works and objects dating back to the 15th century. Others held works by contemporary artists. 

I returned to the mural one last time before I left. The cute student at the reception desk spoke with me of how powerful the work was as the second seemed to consciously make his muscles ripple inside his tight clothing as he retrieved my bag.

As I was walking down an avenue back to my hotel I passed two structures on either side of the boulevard. One had been a convent, partially demolished in the late 1800/s  to lengthen the street. On the other side, in a lovely parklike setting with a fountain in it's center, was a church some regard as the most beautiful in the city, in a city full of beautiful churches. As I briefly stepped inside a single bird was fluttering around it's dome.

Mexico 2022 - Hotel Morales

 I had tried, on my first visit to Guadalajara, to stay at the historic Hotel Morales, but, as it was a trip planned at the last minute, wasn't able to get a reservation I opted for another venerable hotel a block away. 

Hotel Morales, first built in the late 1800's as a private hacienda, was changed to a hotel due to it's proximity to the train station and bullring once located in the area. It was later expanded and 2 floors added. Today it is a lovely and graceful oasis of old world elegance and charm. Small wrought iron balconies grace some of the rooms, including mine. It is a place of lush courtyards, well appointed public spaces and beautiful stonework. Yet it contains modern amenities such as a rooftop pool, small fitness room and a second rooftop terrace that over looks the city. 

I was spoiled by the excellent restaurant with its expansive breakfast buffet. The concierge that went to the arena box office to get my tickets for the Tuesday night Mexican wrestling show, which sucked by the way, but such is life, to keep me from having to pay Ticketmaster's outrageous fees. He also arranged for a masseuse to come to the hotel resulting in a stress relieving hour of bliss. I returned to the room early on a couple of occasions to find the house keeping staff doing her daily mopping of the floor, the room sparkling. I enjoyed bringing a cocktail to my room from the bar each night to end my day.

It is an easy walk to the cathedral and the historic treats nearby. If I return to Guadalajara it will be my first choice place to stay, Provided, of course, that I can get a reservation. 

Mexico 2022 - Guadalajara's Historic Center

 It's been awhile since I was last in Guadalajara. The memory of the beauty and romance of it's historic center had faded during that time. It is a place of centuries old buildings set among plazas and a multitude of fountains, both large and small. My personal favorite, Fuente de los Ninos, roughly translated, as far as I have been able to figure, Fountain of Boys Pissing, pretty much sums it up. 4 boys face each other. One holds a turtle, water spurting out of it's mouth, another a frog, water spouting water from the amphibians mouth as well, one of the boys spits water out of his own mouth and the 4th, well peeing. The innocence of the young boys, one engaged in a basic biological function, always makes me smile. After posting photos of it on Facebook one old friend remarked that it looked like an after party, I could not argue otherwise. 

I sat in the plaza of the Hospicio Cabanas watching a group of small school children, in their green and white uniforms, line up to enter the museum containing the murals of Orozco. It was the 2nd time I viewed the murals. I marveled at the artistry, draftsmanship and raw emotion of the work. Looking up at the painted dome I imagined the artist, like Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, day after day, ascending to the dizzying heights to create the images there. By good fortune I discovered an exhibition of Orozco's sketches and studies for both those murals and others. 

I shopped the exhaustive array of goods at the jewelry district along the plaza outside the Cabanas then had lunch at an outdoor restaurant I had enjoyed on a previous visit. As I ate lunch I people watched, the handsome, heavily muscled young Mexican in a tank top and tight jeans sitting at the table next to me in particular. I strolled past the stalls filled with colorful crafts, and gazed at the majestic cathedral and the historic buildings that surround the square where it stands. I ducked into a church and considered the amount of faith, devotion and money required to construct the elaborate interior of that one, and the thousands across the world, then wandered down the arcaded streets with the population of the city to my hotel.  

Mexico 2022 - Colonia Americana and a Breathtaking Church

 Late 19th century Mexican architecture is a curious mix of styles. Colonial influences, arches and thick stucco walls, perhaps a reaction to the climate, are wed to Baroque ornamentation that would not be uncommon in any number of European cities. My now Facebook friend with a real life face told me that a historic preservation movement had begun in 1980 when many citizens became concerned that the city was losing much of what made it unique. During my last visit I stayed in a hacienda dating from around 1880 that had been converted into a guesthouse. The owner told me that, before he did the renovations, the preservation committee showed up with original blueprints for the structure in hand. They eventually did approve, but did express concern, about a staircase in the back of the building that was not original to it. He found himself patiently explaining to them that it was there when he bought the place, he had not added it on. These preservation people are some serious folks. As we walked through the Colonia Americana neighborhood admiring the beautiful homes there my friend said that you would occasionally see a historic building in a sad state of disrepair. Whoever owned the property was not allowed to tear the structure down, but, if it collapsed, the ground underneath became fair game. Throughout the city a historic building abuts a more modern, faceless one. Some European cities, heavily bombed during World War II, have the same juxtaposition. My own home town of Chicago also bears a few architectural missteps, despite it's wealth of 19th and 20th century facades and interiors. 

We came to a plaza. At one end stood a 19th century cathedral designed in the gothic revival style. He pointed out the the steeple which, from the outside, looks as if it were carved stone. We entered. The steeple was not stone but stained glass. It was breathtaking. The interior space soared supported by thick, heavy hand carved stone columns. I found myself awed by the engineering needed to construct this place. Along the sides were a few more modern windows depicting religious figures that had been killed during the Mexican socialist revolution. On the outside, although we were not there at a time when we could witness it, when the hour strikes two small doors open on the bell tower and  religious figures parade out around a track that runs between them. 

Our last stop, before we parted ways, was the art museum of the University of Guadalajara, the Museo de las Artes. It is also housed in a late 19th century building. It has more of a Baroque influence, as opposed to the Gothic influence of the cathedral. Alas, the museum was closed as it was a Monday, but there was an exhibition of bold, muscular metal sculpture outside, some of which seemed to almost defy gravity. My new found friend told me there was an Orozco mural inside which was a must see. I made plans in my head to return on Wednesday. It, and the church, I would have been completely unaware of had it not been for his reconnaissance work prior to meeting up with him. We parted ways, he off to his daily Spanish class, I to walk back through the city to my hotel.

Mexico 2022 - Meeting Facebook Friends Face to Face

 I had met a man through Facebook about my age, who, by chance, was going to be in Guadalajara with his partner at the same time as I. I suggested we meet for lunch or dinner while we both were there. We settled on breakfast.  We met at a coffee shop he was familiar with. From there we would walk to a breakfast place he knew of. His partner was working remotely during their stay, he was retired, so he had his days free.  

A waifish young Mexican served us cappuccino. With his painted fingernails and tiny nose ring he looked as if he could have been walking down a Chicago street instead of serving coffee in Guadalajara. Many people, particularly  younger ones, are today becoming increasingly homogenized due, among other things, to the proliferation of mass media. I remember a discussion, decades ago, with a British couple in Europe bemoaning the creation of the common market because of this very thing. I remember them saying "You used to be able to tell the French child from the English child from the German one. Not anymore." This was in 1973, this has been going on for some time. The influence from the U.S. seems to be the strongest. Not sure that is necessarily a positive thing. 

We met in an area called the Colonia Americana, which I had intended to visit as I had not had an opportunity to do so, or the knowledge it existed, on my previous trips. He had done some research so was able to point out things of interest and cultural and historical factoids. The area is home to a number of mansions dating from the end of the 19th century. They had been built on what was, at the time, cropland outside the city center. 

We enjoyed a generous breakfast on the porch of one of the grand, old, repurposed homes. We shared our life stories and experiences, quite different from one another and discussed common interests. I thrive on conversation and he was easily my match in that regard. 

We spoke of age, travel and art as well as the changes we had witnessed in the world over our lifetimes as we walked and shared a meal before bidding each other adieu as he left for his daily afternoon Spanish class.