Mexican Cartoons

The same Zapata subway station that I wrote about yesterday also contains a passageway covered with drawings from numerous Mexican cartoonists.  Understanding humor in another language is not always easy, especially when it deals with current or political events, or if the language employs slang or puns.  But here are a few of the cartoons that I "got"...

The poster on the Palace of Fine Arts says... "Today only, 9 P.M."

The street musician's sign says... "Daily at all hours."

"It is true that Aztec heart-removers ("sacacorazones" is a play on the word "sacerdotes"... priests.) were the first Mexican cardiologists."

The priest is asking for an obsidian knife instead of a scalpel.

Here are a couple that deal specifically with the subway...

"The Indifferent"

A rather universal criticism of our modern world. 

Everyone is so absorbed with their cell phones that can't be bothered to give their seat to the little old lady.

The gorilla asks the subway driver "Are you passing by Chapultepec?"

(Chapultepec Park is where the zoo is located.)

The humor may fall flat in translation, but they gave me a chuckle, and Alejandro laughed out loud when I showed these to him.

¡Viva Zapata!

Earlier in this trip I wrote about the "Metro Museum" located in the Mixcoac subway station.  Just a few stations down Line 12 from Mixcoac is another subway stop that has quite a display.  The Zapata station is named after Emiliano Zapata, hero of the Mexican Revolution who fought for "Land and Liberty!".  The station is decorated with dozens of images of the man with the big sombrero and the big moustache.  Some are serious portraits; many are caricatures, some, in spite of Zapata's tragic end, are humorous.

Here are a few of the many faces of Zapata...

"Saint" Emiliano

A winged Zapata atop the Independence Monument

  

With a subway car on his knee and tracks across his chest

"I'm going to the Zapata subway station."

Dot Dash Dot Dash

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week I paid another visit to the National Museum of Art in Mexico City.  The museum is housed in an ornate building from the early 20th century that used to be the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works.  Within that building is another museum, the Telegraph Museum, located in what was once the Telegram Hall.  I  knew about this museum, but I had never visited it.  When I noticed that there was an entrance going directly from the Museum of Art into the Telegraph Museum, I figured that I might as well take a look.  Admission is free.

The small museum contains showcases with antique telegraphic equipment.

There are displays on the history of the telegraph in Mexico, including some historic telegrams from the era of the Mexican Revolution.

There is also a recreation of a telegraph office from the early 20th century.

But the best part of the museum is above you.  Look up and see the ornate ceiling paintings that stretch across the expanse of the hall.

At first glance they look like the Baroque, mythological paintings that you might find in a 17th century European palace.  But look closely and you see the telegraph towers, poles and wires.  These paintings are in praise of the new invention that had revolutionized communication.

Mérida... Not the City, but the Painter

Last week I paid a visit to the National Museum of Art in Mexico City to see a special exhibit.

The show presented a large collection of works by Carlos Mérida, a painter with whom I was completely unfamiliar.  He was born in Guatemala, but he spent most of his life in Mexico.  (The show commemorates the 100th anniversary of his arrival in Mexico in 1919.)  It was interesting to see the different styles he used during the 75 year span of his painting career.  For example, compare these two self portraits which he did, the first in 1935, the second in 1945.

Mérida went to Paris in 1910.  There he met many influential artists and was exposed to new movements in art.  However, judging from the paintings on display from that period, his style was rather conventional.

 Portrait of Renoir - 1913

In 1914 he returned to Guatemala, and he viewed his country with new appreciation.  His artwork, done in a two-dimensional style, focused on the folklore of the Guatemalan countryside.

Indian Girl with Parrot - 1917

When Mérida moved to Mexico, he was inspired by the folklore of his adopted nation.

Feather Dance - from a portfolio on Mexican dances 1937

Drawings from a portfolio on Mexican costumes

Mérida became best known for his abstract artwork.

Ana Dancing -1954

The Sorcerers -1958 

untitled mosaic - 1970

Anthology of Forms - 1973

Although I am not into abstract art, I did find Mérida's art to be interesting, and I enjoyed the exhibit.

Star Mountain

On our drive from Tehuacán back to Mexico City we had a clear view of Mexico's tallest peak, el Pico de Orizaba.

The mountain is also known as Citlaltépetl, which in the Aztec language of Nahuatl means Star Mountain.  It has an altitude of 18,491 feet which makes it the third tallest peak in North America.  It is located on the border of the states of Puebla and Veracruz, and it can be seen from ships in the Gulf of Mexico approaching the port of Veracruz.  El Pico de Orizaba is a dormant but not extinct volcano.

The peak's smaller sibling, just to the left, is Sierra Negra.  With an elevation of over 15,000 feet, it is Mexico's fifth tallest mountain. You can clearly see the Large Millimeter Telescope on top of Sierra Negra.  With a diameter of 164 feet, it is the largest single aperture telescope in the world.

A New Archaeological Site

There was one more place outside of Tehuacán that I wanted to see… a new archaeological site which was only opened to the public last year.  It is often referred to as "Viejo Tehuacán" (Old Tehuacán), but its real name, in the language of the Popoloca tribe who lived there, was Ndachjian.  From the year 900 it was the most important religious and political center of the Valley of Tehuacán.

The ruins are located at the top of a hill overlooking present-day Tehuacán.  It was most likely inhabited by the elite of the Popoloca tribe while the peasants lived and farmed in the valley below.  The Popolocas were conquered by the Aztecs, but the site continued to be occupied until the Spanish conquest.

It was already four o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived, and the site closes at five.  We walked at a quick pace to try to see all of the ruins scattered across the hilltop.  The signage did not give much information, so we were left to conjecture about what we were seeing.

After passing some unimpressive remnants of structures, we came to a larger cluster of ruins around what appeared to be a temple.  The remains of columns suggest that the temple was surrounded by a colonnade.

Nearby were the foundations of what we assume was a residence.  We think that the plaster on top of the foundations is there to give us an idea of what the walls would have looked like.  It appeared that the base was built of stone but that adobe was used for the rest of the structure.  That might explain why so little is left of these buildings.

We then came to a complex of ruins built around the main temple of the site.  This was the most impressive area.

It wasn't until I googled Ndachjian afterwards that I found out that only one month ago archaeologists made a big discovery here.  At one of the structures facing the main temple (a structure that I did not photograph), they found images of the god Xipe Totec.  Xipe Totec was a fertility god that was worshipped by many of the tribes of central Mexico.  However, this was the first time that archaeologists have found a temple dedicated solely him.

XipeTotec, was known as the "Lord of the Flayed Skin".  According to Mesoamerican mythology he cut the skin from his body to give nourishment to humanity.   Human sacrifices in his honor were especially grisly.  The victim had his skin removed, and one of the priests would then wear the skin as a symbol of regeneration.

After nearly an hour of exploring the ruins, we returned to the new museum at the entrance to the site.  Although they were about to close, they allowed us to quickly view the collection.  

The recently discovered finds are not on display yet, but there was a carving of Xipe Totec that has been uncovered earlier.   The god is either portrayed without skin, or, in this case, wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim.

Some of the later sculptures show definite Aztec influence.  For example, this statue of a goddess, with her necklace of human hearts and skull, is very reminiscent of the famous statue of the Aztec goddess Coatlicue in the National Anthropology Museum.

These painted, clay images are more typical of the Popoloca culture.

Excavation at this site continues.  It would be interesting to return to Ndachjian in a few years and see what else has been uncovered.

Desert Eats

From the reviews that I read, and from the number of people at the restaurant, it would seem that THE place to eat after a visit to the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere is a little restaurant called Itandehui, Flower of the Sky.  It is located in the town of Zapotitlán Salinas just down the highway from the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden which I wrote about in my last entry.

The restaurant is noted for its use of native ingredients which have been used since pre-Hispanic times... including insects.  I am the sort of person who likes to try the local cuisine, but I draw the line at insects.  This page of the menu was especially unappetizing to me.

First we have "cuchumá" in chile / garlic butter.  "Cuchumás" are the larvae of a butterfly which reproduces on a local shrub known as the "manteco".
Next is steamed "teshcal", another type of insect of some sort.
Third is steamed "cocopaches", bugs that live on the mezquite shrubs.
Finally, we have "gusanos de maguey", caterpillars found in the heart of the maguey plant, a common species of agave (the worm that is sometimes seen in a bottle of mezcal).
Yummy!

Fortunately there were dishes using local ingredients other than insects! 

We started with "agua de pitaya", water flavored with the fruit from one of the species of columnar cactus.  It was quite sweet.

As an appetizer we had "tetechas", the buds of the flower of the "telecho", another species of columnar cactus.  I ordered chicken breast stuffed with cheese and "tetechas" and served in "saleita", a sauce made from the seeds of the "telecho".  Alejandro ordered a pork chop in "saleita".  The tortillas were handmade.  No tortilla press here.   We could hear the clap-clap-clap as the lady in back fashioned the dough between her hands.

I can't say that it was one of my favorite meals in Mexico.  However, the flavors were very interesting, and it was a unique dining experience that I would recommend.  Just stay away from the insects and larvae unless you are really adventurous!