Taxco and Xochicalco

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Hola Amigos,
Estoy en escuela. (I am in school) After four hours of Spanish class mi cabeza is exploding. Coming to Cuernavaca and attending the language classes at Cemanahuac has been a great experience. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Spanish or about Hispanic culture. Since I posted my last blog we have visited Taxco, a small community in the moutains known for their silver mines and silver works. The hills of this town reminded me of San Francisco - very steep! At the top of the mountain is a plaza with an incredibly beautiful church. It was built by a young Spanish man by the name of Borda who came to Mexico to seek his fortune. He discovered a rich vein of silver and used some of the money to build this beautiful cathedral. Yesterday we went to the Nahuatl ruins at Xochicalco. The most interesting thing we saw there was the astronomical observatory that dated back to the 700s. It is believed that around 800 CE the Mayan astronmers who were known for extrememly exact calendars, discovered that their calendar was wrong. A meeting of all of the top astromers in Central America was called to assemble at Xochicalco to recalulate the calendars. The story is told of this meeting today, written in stone on a large pyramid. Some of you already know that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on Dec. 23, 2012, so do not put off doing things you want to do because according to the Mayans none of us have much time left. There are also tres ball courts that have been uncovered here. Historians believe that from this game Europeans got the idea of team sports. The ball they played with was solid vulcanized rubber that weighed 8-10 lbs. Europeans did not figure out how to vulcanize rubber until Goodyear came along in the late 19th century. This is also the site of the temple of Quetzecoatl, the two headed serpent God. Xochicalco was a trading satellite of Teotihuacan which we will visit on Sunday. The mountains surrounding the ruins are covered in additional ruins that have yet to be excavaed. Well, enough of my history lecture, hope this note finds you all well. Will try to attach a few photos in the few minutes I have left. Hasta Luego. Patty

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Photos

We Made It!
Heather and I both managed to make it to the top of the large pyramid. Going up was one thing, going down a different matter all together. I was lucky to still have the seat in my pants.

At the top of the world
The view of Taxco from the top of the mountain. We had lunch on a patio with this view.

Cathedral in Taxco
The interior of this Cathedral is as ornate as anything I saw in Europe or South America. There are some incredible portrait paintings and murals.

Streets of Taxco
Hopefully climbing up and down these streets worked off some of our lunch!

Ball Court at Xochicalco
I found that I had relayed false information to students for many years. According to our guide here, the losers were not sacrificed, but probably a player who volunteered for the honor. The game was seen as a way to communicate with the Gods.

Cistern
There was an extensive water system that involved storing water in large storage areas. If you look carefully you can see where the water came in. On the opposite side there was an opening for the water to go out.

Quetzecoatl
The two headed serpent God got its name from a plumed bird in Guatemala, whose tail feathers were highly prized.

Mayan Astronomer
Mayans can be indentified in Mesoamerican art by their flat foreheads. As infants they were tied to boards to shape their heads in this way.

Comments

[Shauna]

Looks like fun
Patty, I am glad you have this opportunity to brush up on your Spanish and see so many new things. I love reading your entries to see what adventures you are having. Shauna