The Weeping Woman

Much of the valley where Mexico City is located was once covered by shallow lakes.  The pre-Hispanic inhabitants would build rafts, pile soil upon them and plant crops on the rafts.  These so-called floating gardens, known as "chinampas", eventually would take root and become small islands within a network of canals.  Most of the lake water of the Valley of Mexico was eventually drained to make room for the growing city.  However in the district of Xochimilco a remnant of those islands and canals have survived.  The Floating Gardens of Xochimilco are a popular attraction with the locals and with tourists.  Here you can rent one the flat-bottomed boats known as "trajineras".  The oarsman (a Mexican equivalent of a Venetian gondolier, you might say) will take you on an excursion along the canals.  The islands are still devoted to agriculture, grazing and the cultivation of flowers.  It seems hard to believe that you are within the city limits of one of the world's largest urban areas.

In October and November during the Day of the Dead season, there are special nighttime performances given here.  The dramatic and musical spectacle is called "La Llorona" (The Weeping Woman).  Alejandro got tickets for his sister, his nephew, himself and me.   Last Friday evening he battled the traffic and drove us across town to the "Embarcadero Cuemanco", one of the places from which the "trajineras" embark.

The colorfully decorated boats were lined up waiting to take the ticketholders to the performance.

Our oarsman guided the boat down one of the canals.

Torches marked the banks of the channel.

We arrived at an island where the stage was set up for the performance.

The boats all lined up around the island, and from there we watched the performance.  The story was a mixture of song, dance and dramatic performance.  It combined the history of the conquest of the Aztecs by the Spanish with the old Mexican ghost story of "La Llorona". "La Llorona" drowns her children and then herself after her lover abandons her.  She is then condemned to wander for all eternity weeping for her children.  In this presentation, the protagonist is a princess of Xochimilco who was taken by a Spanish soldier.

It was rather difficult to follow the story.  The sound system was not the greatest, and even Alejandro said that he couldn't understand much of the dialogue.  Also, because of the distance between the island and the boats, we often could not see which character was which, or who was speaking.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting and mildly spooky experience to be on the canals of Xochimilco at night.