Week 8: Part Two of My Trip
John H -
Last week, I went over the most important and memorable part of my trip to Mexico City, especially regarding Nahuatl. However, I had plenty of experiences on this trip that really shocked me and are worth discussing. This week, I’d like to finish going over what I saw on my trip.
I want to start with mentioning the time I spent in downtown Mexico City, what is known as el centro. Here, I walked around with my family for hours visiting the many stores and more historic buildings like el Palacio de Bellas Artes, a renowned cultural center in the heart of the city. Here, there was a book store where I found book after book on Nahuatl and Nahua culture, hardly expected. While visiting, Bellas Artes was holding an exposition of paintings including Van Goghs, Monets, and Matisses, so I never thought that several Nahuatl books would be available in their store. However, the surprises didn’t stop there.
A ten minute walk from Bellas Artes takes you to Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, an incredibly important and monumental church in Mexico – built on top of the center of the ancient Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. After walking around the church though, I came face to face with an area known as El Templo Mayor, the ruins of the largest pyramids and temples of the Aztec capital. While they are now in ruins and have been excessively built over, the bases of some structures and statues still stand – even some still coated with paint (see above). I had completely forgotten that the ruins were there and was shocked to encounter them head on while absent-mindedly walking about the city. Additionally, on a wall next to the ruins, I saw a mural with a Nahuatl poem and its translation in Spanish. Even though Nahuatl speakers were hard to find, Mexico still seems to care deeply about its roots.
A few days later, I was spending time with my family in an area of Mexico City called Iztapalapa, where my family is from, and was told about a nearby museum that had a lot of displays on Nahuatl. We decided to visit the museum which was a gold mine of information. The museum entrance was decorated with displays featuring Nahuatl vocab for a variety of plants, animals, emotions, and more. The museum itself was about the environment and environmental health, a big passion of mine. However, the museum curators clearly valued Nahuatl and Nahua culture to the extent that descriptions were written in Spanish, English, and Nahuatl. This was the only place in the entirety of my visit that I saw this. While most of the museum’s exhibits were centered on spreading awareness, one room in particular taught about the formation of life and the planets and also took the time to teach the Aztec creation myth of the five suns. Overall, the museum was an incredible experience and also free, highlighting their dedication to teaching and sharing this culture rather than selling tickets. If chance ever permits you to visit Iztapalapa, take the time to visit El Museo Yuncuic.
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