Cristóbal Velázquez
Hayley Siegle
Cristóbal Velázquez
Born in 1400, during the height of Aztec civilization, I grew up on an island located near the western shore of Lake Texcoco, in the city of Tenochtitlan, the capital and major trading city of the Aztec civilization. My family was of the middle class, so our home is very modest and is only one story high. Only the noblemen and valiant warriors are allowed to own two-story homes, displaying their great wealth and superiority. There is a rigid class system, and consequently, there are strict punishments imposed if one steps out of place. Our appearance and possessions are a direct reflection of our wealth and status. My family is known as a macehaultin, a commoner family, and we are a part of a larger calpulli, or clan, consisting of many small neighborhoods. My family is extremely close-knit and very involved in our community. My father works in the city building temples and other buildings, while my mother stays home and looks after our home. I attended school as a young boy, as each neighborhood must have a school or temple to educate the youth, a policy mandated by King Montecuhzoma I to assure that people would be fit to work in various occupations as they mature. When I got older, school became more specialized according to gender. While the females were taught cooking, and housekeeping, myself and other boys learned to fish, farm, hunt, and fight. The city in which I grew up in, Tenochtitlan, is an extremely intriguing place with many sights to see and history to learn. Despite the fact that I have lived here for much of my life, I still do not know half as much as there is to learn about this fascinating city! Come on, follow me on my trip through the land of the bald eagle and home to the cacti!