A 900 Page Novel

It's been quite a while since I have written a review of a book that I have read.  That's because since before Christmas I have been reading a massive, historical novel called "The Memoirs of Cleopatra".  I finally finished it last night.

Don't think that the length of time that I took to read it is an indication that I didn't enjoy it.  I most certainly did.  However the book is over 900 pages long and is in small type.

Historical novels are my favorite genre, and the author, Margaret George, is one of the foremost writers of historical fiction.  I have read two other books that she wrote... "Helen of Troy" and "Confessions of a Young Nero".

George's novels are painstakingly researched, and this one is no exception.  She took two and a half years to write it, and made four trips to Egypt to research it.  She has provided a vivid depiction of  Egypt in its last days before the Roman conquest by Octavian (who later took the name of Caesar Augustus).  And she provides a sympathetic portrait of the Queen that Roman propaganda portrayed as a scheming seductress, a femme fatale who used men to her advantage.  The author said the Cleopatra was not the "bimbo that the Romans would like you to think she was."  She was in fact an extremely intelligent and astute ruler who spoke at least nine languages.  Her affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony were based on genuine love, and were not just politically expedient sexual adventures.

Of course, the reader knows from the very beginning how it is going to end with Cleopatra's carefully planned suicide, but in the meantime it's a fascinating journey.  I found myself wishing that Cleopatra and Mark Anthony would have defeated the forces of Octavian and wondering how the course of history would have been different if they had won.

Death of a Camera

I checked my old blog posts, and it was eleven years ago that I bought the Sony compact digital camera that I have been using.

It has served me well... through innumerable trips to Mexico, several trips to Europe, and during the two and a half years that I have lived in Mexico.  However, in the last few months, it has been acting strangely.  Sometimes, if I pressed the button to take a video, the menu would appear instead, and if I wanted to go to the menu, I would sometimes have to press that button several times.  I figured that the poor thing was probably on its last legs.  Then the other day, the on / off button would not work.  The only way I could turn the camera on was to access the old photos, and when I left that mode, the lens would open.  The only way to turn it off was to let the battery-saver feature turn it off automatically after a few minutes.  The old Sony was definitely not something I would want to use any more.

If you have been reading this blog for a long time, and have a really good memory, you might recall that a number of years ago, I forgot to bring my camera with me on a trip to Mexico.  Fortunately, Alejandro had a Samsung digital camera that he had hardly ever used.  I was able to use it for that trip.

I figured that when my camera finally died his Samsung would be my backup. Alejandro uses his cellphone exclusively for taking photos.  (The camera on my cellphone is not that great, and I only use it in a pinch.)  So, I now have a new camera without having to buy a new one.                    

A New "Anglicismo"

In Spanish there are many, many words that are easily recognizable to the English speaker because they come from the same origin in Latin, Greek or other languages.  These words are known as cognates.  Just a few examples are... accidente, chocolate, elegante, familia, insecto, música, pirata.  

(However, be careful because there are also "false cognates".  "Ropa" does not mean rope; it means clothing.  "Fábrica" does not mean fabric; it means factory.  And potentially most embarrassing of all, "embarazada" does NOT mean embarrassed.  It means pregnant!)

Beyond cognates, there are also words that have been taken into the Spanish language from English.  These are known as "anglicismos".  The Royal Spanish Academy, which sets the rules for the language, looks down its nose with disdain at some of these "anglicismos", but others have been accepted even by the snootiest Spanish scholar.

Sometimes the "anglicismo" is spelled exactly like the English word.  For example, "jeans" or "golf".

Other times the spelling might be altered or an accent mark added to adjust to Spanish phonetics... sándwich, fútbol, básquetbol, champú, suéter.

Sometimes, the "anglicismo" might not even be recognizable at first glance to the English speaker...

The ball player hit a "jonrón" out of the park.  

The boxer won by a "nocaut".

I bring all of this up, because the other day I saw an advertisement with an "anglicismo" that I had never seen before.  (That's not to say that it's new.  It was just new to me.)

When I saw the word "pines" for a split second I thought of pine trees.  But, no, "pines" (pronounced "PEE-nays") means pins.  In Spanish an "es" is added to make a word ending in a consonant plural.  This advertisement from Coca Cola is about commemorative pins that you can collect for this summer's World Cup.

"¡Coleciónalos (oh, there's another cognate) todos!"

"Collect them all!"

Postal Experiment

Since I moved to Mexico, I have made out my Christmas cards early, and I have given them to a friend when I have visited Ohio.  He then would send them out after Thanksgiving.

My opinion of the Mexican postal service has long been very negative.  However, since I moved to Mexico, I have had some positive experiences receiving mail sent to my apartment address.  This year, I am toying with the idea of sending my cards from here.  So, this past week, I sent some cards... three to friends in Ohio, and one to my cousin in England.  I wanted to see if they arrive to their destinations and how long it takes.

Just a short walk from my apartment there is a post office in the World Trade Center.  So I went there to mail the cards.

The clerk in the post office was very congenial.  He said that the cards should arrive in four to six weeks, but during the Christmas season I should allow more time.  In the United States, first class postage to any foreign country is $1.70 US.  In Mexico, however, different regions of the world have different postage rates.  The cards to Ohio cost 18 pesos each ($1.03 US) while postage for the card to England was 21 pesos ($1.21 US).  I have informed the recipients that they will be receiving mail, and that they should notify me when the cards arrive.

We will see how my postal experiment works out.

Floral Opening

If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you have been following the story of the orchid that I bought a couple years ago.  After its original blossoms had dropped, it did not rebloom for over a year.  Then, not long after I had it repotted by a professional at a nursery, a flower stalk emerged, and it finally rebloomed last autumn.  The flowers lasted into January,  After just a couple of months, another flower stalk sprouted this year.  I have been watching the buds develop and grow larger.  This week one of them opened...

And by the way, my late-blooming poinsettia, which I bought three Christmases ago, is still full of red leaves.  I almost wish that it would finish blooming so that I can cut it back and prepare it for next season.  (I noticed that one of the red leaves dropped a few days ago, and that some of the green leaves are starting to yellow, so perhaps it is nearing the end of this year's late bloom.)

One Less Autocrat

I am sure that you have seen the bizarre picture which the "Pendejo-in-Chief" posted... the one in which he was portrayed as a Christ-like figure.  Just when we think that his administration could not be any more "loco", he manages to surpass himself.  The image was demented and disgusting; even people who are not religious found it blasphemous.

At least we had one piece of good news this past week.  Victor Orban, the autocratic prime minister of Hungary and good buddy of the "Orange Mussolini" and "Putin the Terrible" was decisively defeated in last Sunday's election.

One political cartoonist used the infamous picture to comment on the downfall of the autocrat...

 

(image taken from the internet)

One less wanna-be dictator on the world stage...

Hopefully the beginning of a trend.

A Museum Reopened

The Dolores Olmedo Museum was located in the far south of Mexico City in the district of Xochimilco.  It has been closed since the pandemic, but its reopening at the end of May of this year was recently announced.

(Images taken from the internet)

Dolores Olmedo was a wealthy Mexican businesswoman and art collector who was a personal friend of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  Over the years she purchased 145 Rivera paintings and 25 by Kahlo, making her collection of works by Diego and Frida the largest in the world.  She also acquired paintings by other contemporary artists as well as pre-Hispanic, colonial and folk art.

In 1962 Olmedo bought a former hacienda known La Noria, and she lived there until 1994 when she turned the property into a museum to house her collections.  She died in 2002, and in her will she left her house, its gardens, and her enormous art collection to the Mexican people.

Many years ago, I visited the museum, although at the time of my visit, the paintings by Frida Kahlo were on tour.

In 2024, the amusement park, Parque Aztlán, opened in Chapultepec.  It was announced that the Dolores Olmedo Museum would be moved to the park.  Parque Aztlán's website said "coming soon" in reference to the museum, but it never materialized.

The fact was that the transfer of the museum to Chapultepec was tied up in legal battles.  Dolores Olmedo's will clearly stipulated that the collection was to remain at the hacienda.  Mexican intellectuals and cultural figures as well as the museum's neighbors in Xochimilco have protested that the museum must remain intact.  

Finally last month, it was announced that the museum would open its doors once again on May 30.  (I just checked the Parque Aztlán website, and there is no longer any mention of the museum as a coming attraction.)  I am looking forward to revisiting the museum, although I will wait until the likely crowds and hubbub of the reopening have passed.

Kitchen Fiasco

I found a recipe on the internet that I wanted to try.  It was a dish from Spain called "tortilla de pisto"  

In Spain, a tortilla has no relation to the Mexican tortilla made from corn dough.  It is a kind of omelet very similar to the Italian "frittata".  The most famous Spanish tortilla is "tortilla española" which is made with eggs, potatoes and onions.  It is a dish that I have made numerous times. This "pisto" variation contains bell peppers, onion, zucchini, garlic and a can of drained diced tomatoes.  ("Pisto" is a Spanish vegetable stew similar to the French "ratatouille".)

I sauteed all the vegetable in a large frying pan.

It seemed that there were a lot of vegetables in relation to the number of eggs called for in the recipe.  So, I whisked ten eggs instead of six.

When the vegetables were cooked I added them to the bowl of eggs.

The mixture was put back in the frying pan and cooked over medium heat.

 This is where things get tricky.  Traditionally, you are supposed to flip the tortilla onto a plate and then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side.  Back in Ohio, instead of flipping the tortilla, I would put it in the oven under the broiler to cook the top.  (The recipe even mentioned this as an alternative to flipping,)  The problem is that ovens in Mexico (at least the ones that I have seen) do not have a broiler.  So I had to do the flip.  What a disaster.  I had uncooked egg running all over the counter.  Furthermore, even though I had cooked it for four minutes per the recipe, the bottom was almost burnt, and much of it was stuck to the pan.  I was ready to throw it all in the garbage, but I scraped the stuck portion onto the plate.

As my mother would have said, "It looked like slop."

To make it look better, I covered it with slices of Manchego cheese and put it in the microwave just long enough to melt the cheese.

I tried a slice, and it tasted good.  However, I must say that without the cheese it would have been rather bland.  I served it to Alejandro for supper.

I don't think I will be making this recipe again.

Birthday Time

 In Alejandro's family, a bunch of birthdays are clustered together.  You may remember that a couple weekends ago we celebrated Alejandro's sister's birthday.  This past week marked the birthdays of Alejandro and of his favorite aunt.

On Saturday we went to his aunt's home to celebrate.  The apartment was filled with her children, grandchildren and even an infant great-grandchild.

Then on Sunday, we had a smaller celebration of Alejandro's birthday.  His dad, sister, nephew and I went to a nearby restaurant, a burger joint that bills itself as a 60's / 70's retro cafe.  It's a fun place decorated with all sorts of music and movie memorabilia from the era, and the food is good.

After we took the rest of the family home, we then went to a nearby bakery.  I bought Alejandro a chocolate raspberry cake.

  

Dinner at the Top... Again

You may recall that a few weeks ago, we took my cousin's son and his girlfriend to the revolving restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center while they were visiting Mexico City.  The restaurant, called Bellini, is the largest revolving restaurant in the world, and its location on the 45th floor of the World Trade Center offers spectacular views of the city.

The Saturday before Easter, we returned to Bellini.  Alejandro's friends Andrés and Tonio wanted to get together with Alejandro for an early birthday celebration.  In earlier posts I have mentioned Charles whom we have been showing around during his vacation in Mexico City.  It was his last night here, so I invited him to join us.

Unfortunately, I never seem to have good luck with the weather when I make dinner reservations.  I always make the reservation for early evening hoping to have a nice view of the sunset.   But it always turns out to be overcast.

  

This is the closest we had to a sunset view.

Our leisurely meal stretched on until after dark, and we had a view of the city lights.

Even if the weather was not entirely cooperative, it was an enjoyable evening of good company.

The Furniture Expo

Every year there is a furniture exposition, supposedly the largest of its kind in Latin America, at the World Trade Center.

It's always held during Holy Week.  Yes, even on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the expo is open.

Alejandro and I have been there the last two years.  Last year we bought a new chest of drawers for the guest bedroom.

Admission is free, so even though we didn't plan on buying anything, on the Saturday before Easter, we decided to check it out.

Actually, there was something that I was looking for.  In my house back in Ohio I had two black, rectangular pedestals on which I had a couple of pieces of decorative pottery.  I should have had them shipped down here when I made the move.  They would have looked good with the other pieces of black furniture that are in the living room / dining room.  I did not see anything like them at the previous two expos, and I really didn't expect to see anything similar this year.  I kept my eyes open, but saw nothing.  

However, we did not go home empty-handed.  As we reached the last row of displays before reaching the exit, we saw these door mats which I thought were cute.

I bought one, not to put outside the entrance to the apartment, but inside where we take off our shoes.

Then we saw these stuffed animals which are hand crocheted by women in Mexican prisons.  I bought the duck for the daughter of a friend, and Alejandro bought the tiger for the grandson of one of his cousins.

So, our trip to the furniture expo was not a complete waste of time.

Back to the Anthropology Museum

For the second time in less than a month I played tour guide at the National Museum of Anthropology.  I previously mentioned Charles, the law partner of one of my high school friends, who was visiting Mexico City.  I had told him that I would be happy to give him a tour of some of the highlights of Mexico's greatest museum.  So last week, we spent a few hours there, and I gave him an overview of some of the country's pre-Hispanic civilizations.

Here are a few random photos from our visit...

Charles stands next to a colossal stone head carved by the Olmecs, the oldest civilization of Mexico.

A life-size replica of a Mayan temple in the garden outside of the Mayan Hall

A Mayan "chac mool", a messenger of the gods 

The hearts of sacrificial victims would be placed on the bowl that the figure holds over its belly.

A skull carving from Teotihuacan, the archaeological site north of Mexico City that we had visited just a few days before.

A replica of a mural painting from a palace in Teotihuacan

An enormous column in the shape of a warrior

It held up the roof of a temple in the Toltec capital of Tula.

A stone hoop from a pre-Hispanic ball court

Most of the civilizations played a ball game in which they would try to hurl a rubber ball through the hoop... without using their hands or feet!

A monolithic statue of the Aztec mother goddess, Coatlicue

Her head is composed of two serpent heads and her feet are eagle's talons.

She wears a necklace of human hands, heats and skull, and a skirt of snakes.

A model showing what the ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, looked like.  Behind it is a mural showing the city which was built on an island in the middle of a lake.

Present-day Mexico City stands atop the remains of Tenochtitlan.

More from Teotihuacan

I suppose that there are more than a few tourists who come to the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, see the pyramids, and think that is all there is to see.  In fact there is much more to Teotihuacan than just the pyramids.

After climbing the Pyramid of the Moon, Alejandro, Charles and I continued our tour.  To one side of the plaza in front the Pyramid of the Moon there is a structure which archaeologists named the  Palace of the Quetzalpapálotl (Feathered Butterfly).  It is thought to have been the home of a high ranking priest or dignitary.

The head of a feather serpent, the god Quetzalcoatl, is by the entrance to the palace.

The buildings of Teotihuacan were all painted and decorated with murals.  Amazingly after more than 1500 years there are still traces of paint and decorations.

In the center of the palace there is a courtyard with intricately carved pillars.

Archaeologists at first thought that the carvings represented feathered butterflies, hence the name that they gave to the palace.  However, now they are of the opinion that the carvings represent owls.

The palace was built on top of an older temple, known as the Temple of the Feathered Conches because of the carvings on the walls of the subterranean chamber.  It is thought that the conch shell was a symbol of war since they were blown when armies went into battle.

There are also murals which portray birds, perhaps macaws.

Another feathered serpent head

Another structure is known as the Palace of the Jaguars.  In its courtyard are murals showing jaguars wearing headdresses and blowing conch shells.

At this point, Alejandro, Charles and I left the archaeological site to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.  We still had one section of the ruins to see.  At the far southern end of the site there is a large enclosed plaza named the Citadel and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.  It was only 4:30 in the afternoon when we got there, but they had already closed the gate.  We thought that was quite strange.  Even though Charles did not get the full tour, he was very impressed with the ruins of Teotihuacan.

A Trip to the Pyramids

Long-time readers of this blog may remember my high school friend Duffy who lives in Puerto Rico and works as a lawyer there.  A month or more ago, Duffy wrote me that his law partner Charles was planning a vacation to Mexico City.  He asked that I offer his partner advice in planning his trip.  Charles and I exchanged numerous emails in which I gave him pointers for his trip.  Alejandro and I offered to take him to the pyramids of Teotihuacan outside of the city while he was here.  So, on the Saturday after his arrival, we met him at his hotel for breakfast and then drove him to the archaeological site.

Teotihuacan was the first great city of the Americas.  It reached its zenith prior to A.D. 500, and probably had a population of over 100,000.  It is a city shrouded in mystery.  We don't know who built it or exactly why it fell in decline.  It had been abandoned for centuries when the Aztecs came into the region.  They saw the impressive ruins and thought that it must have surely been built by the gods.  It was they who gave it the name by which we know it today... Teotihuacan... the place of the gods.

We arrived at the archaeological site, paid for our admission and parking, and parked at the lot closest to its grandest landmark, the Pyramid of the Sun.

The name was given to it by the Aztecs, but we do not know what deity was worshipped atop the structure.  It was probably built around A.D. 200.  It is one of the largest pyramids in the world with a height of 215 feet, and a base measuring 720 by 750 feet.  It has been closed to climbing since the pandemic.  However, Alejandro noticed some workers on the pyramid, and he wondered if they might be getting ready to reopen it to climbers in time for the World Cup.

Stretching the entire length of the site is the Avenue of the Dead.  Again, the name comes from the Aztecs.  They thought that the earth-covered ruins along the street were burial mounds.  We walked along the Avenue of the Dead to the other great structure, the Pyramid of the Moon.

On the wall of a building along the avenue, there are the remains of a painting of an animal, most likely a puma.

The Pyramid of the Moon was built between A.D. 200 and 450 over a pre-existing pyramid.  It is 141 feet high and stands in front of a large ceremonial plaza.

This pyramid was also closed to climbing during the pandemic, but last year the first flight of stairs was once again opened.  From there, you have a superb view looking down the Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Sun.

It's been a few years since I have done any pyramid climbing, and this old man found the climb a little more difficult, particularly the descent.  However, all three of us made it.

With Charles

Carefully making my way down the steps

More from Teotihuacan in the next post