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Published: June 27th 2006
the boats
here is a view from a bridge of our flat bottomed chariots!After our trip to the pyramids, we stopped by a town just out side of Mexico City called Xochimilco. We weren´t sure why exactly we were stopping, but it turned out to be my favorite part of the trip!
This town, like all of Mexico City, is constructed over a lake. Tree trunks are floated on the water, then layered with dirt, then tree trunks, then dirt, etc. Then, trees are planted on top of the last dirt layer so that their roots will solidify the structure. The ¨roads¨are merely parts of the lake that aren´t covered up. This makes for extremely rich soil and so this area is well known for its amazing agriculture of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Mom I was thinking of you was we floated past the greenhouses!
So, yes, floated past... Our group all got into these small, flat bottomed boats for a tour of the town. The merchants were still there as well, this time selling beer, roasted corn, and, of course, flowers. There were also mariachi and marimba bands floating along playing to the visitors. One mariachi band pulled right along side our boat and jumped right onto the bow for a
floating venders
a snapshot from the boat of venders on the water. the man with the smoking steel pot has roasted corn, and there is a man in the background with blankets and another boat with small dolls show. It was thrilling.
We had the same tour guid and he kept us filled in with interesting tidbits of information. One thing that stuck in my mind was the Christmas tradition of this town. They have a doll that represents Jesus that is housed in one lucky citizen´s house for one year. It is a huge honor to be allowed to house the baby. In order to get the honor, the hosting family holds a dinner for the community, feeding some 3,000 people in one night! That night starts their year of housing the baby.
Another interesting one is the importance of dogs in the Mexican culture. This could very well justify why there are so many dogs roaming the streets of Mexico: An ancient folklore of Mexico is that when one dies, they pass through nine worlds until their soul can rest. These nine worlds are represented on many pyramids of indigenous tribes through platforms. To pass into the last world, the person must cross a river, and legend has it that there will be a dog there to help you swim across. Our tour guide, Oscar, told us a story that one time he kicked
a dog and his grandmother flipped out. She was worried that the dog wouldn´t help him cross the river when he died.
I sort of crammed this into the last entry, but, right after we got off the boats it started to rain!! It didn´t seem to surprise Oscar at all. We checked into our hotel that night, which is right smack near the centro of Mexico City, and ate at a very cultural place for dinner: Burger King! The next morning we toured a big of the city. I will be posting more on that trip ASAP.
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Jamie
non-member comment
Great entry Sher! Amanda Lindahl and I had to do projects in our Spanish class in High School, and Amanda did hers on those boats! She actually constructed one. It's so cool to see the photos of them. Sounds like you're having a great time, but I can't wait for you to come home and move into our house! See you soon!