Trip to Toltec Capital (September 20, 2008)

For many years I’ve wanted to visit the ancient ruins of Mexico and especially the city founded by Quetzalcoatl (the Plumed Serpent). It was he who was the light skinned god who prohibited sacrifices of humans and was recognized as the priesthood leader of the ancient peoples of middle-Mexico. He was considered one of the gods of the creation (being given the name of the “God of the Morning Star” and he was the god of the resurrection). It was he who promised to return one day from the East. 500 years later, the Aztecs confused Cortes with Quetzalcoatl when Cortes arrived from the East on the shores between Vera Cruz and the Yucatan. So, our trip to Tula, on September 20, 2008, was an important trip for me.

As the Teotihuacan empire began to crumble (i.e., Pyramid of the Sun—see our trip to Teotihuacan in August), another empire was rising—the empire of the Toltecs. This was about 750 AD. The capital of this empire was the ancient capital of Tollan or Tula. During the height of Tula's power, somewhere between 900 and 1100 AD, it included an area of some five square miles, with an occupation perhaps as high as 60,000. Tollán or Tula, was the reputed place founded by Quetzalcoatl. Though relatively small, the main pyramid is highly decorated and contains large statues on top (called Atlanteans). The sides of the five terraces are covered with sculptured and painted friezes of felines, birds of prey devouring human hearts, and human faces extending from the jaws of serpents. A stairway on the southern side at one time led to a highly ornamented, two-room temple at the summit.

We came upon the main temple from a distance and could see the massive Atlanteans atop. At one time, they held up the roof of a large structure on the top of the pyramid. The picture above hides most of the pyramid which was about 60 feet in height (or the height of a 5 to 6 story building).

Above, the kids and I climb the stairs up the steep pyramid.

On top, one sees the large stone figures. The figures dwarf any human and are very impressive.

As mentioned, the ancient city consisted of 3 pyramids, 2 ball fields, a large palace, etc. Here, Mike and Emily are atop the main pyramid looking toward some of the other portions of the city.

Aaron is starting to descend from the top of the main pyramid. The stairs are very steep and there is nothing to hold onto when descending.

Columns are all that remain of the king's palace.

This frieze may be difficult to see but it shows a human being being eaten by a serpent. The only portion of the person that can be seen is the head. Immediately behind the head (to the right) is the mouth of the serpent gaping open with the eye of the serpent in the middle of the jaws. The serpent is coiled and one can see the rattle on its tail in the upper right corner. There are many such carvings around the base of the pyramid. They still have coloring on many portions of them: red, yellow, blue and pink.

Aaron and I are at the base of the king's palace and next to one of the columns. The plaster has decayed on almost all of the pyramids. However, originally, the plaster was white and covered the pyramids in their entirety. The Spanish conquistadores were astounded when they arrived in "New Spain" to see shining white pyramids shimmering in the sun.

This was the last sight we saw as we said good-bye to the main pyramid at Tula.

One more shot of one of the smaller pyramids in the ancient city.

A final picture looking toward one of the ball fields and a portion of the king's palace.

Well, that is it! We had a wonderful day looking at the city founded by Quetzacoatl. It would sure be nice to have a time machine to go back in time and see these palces at the height of their civilization.

El Zo'colo

Yesterday, we took a trip to the Zocolo to
celebrate Independence Day. Independence Day in Mexico is next Tuesday, September 16th. The Zocolo is the heart of Mexico City and has been the heart of Mexico since Tenochitlan, the ancient capital of the Aztecs. It is the third largest plaza in the world. The first is Tiennenmen Square in Beijing, the second is Red Square in Moscow and the third is the Zocolo in Mexico City. The picture to the right and below are of a portion of the square. The square and the flag are HUGE. The picture does not do it justice.

On one side of the Zocolo is the Metropolitan Cathedral. After the Spanish conquest of Tenochitlan, Hernan Cortes began the construction of a church on this site. I'm not certain what happened to the original structure, or the one that came after it, but the cathedral to the right (and the following pictures) was begun in 1626.

After touring the Zocolo and the Cathedral, we stopped for a bite to eat. Here is a picture of the street where we ate. It is typical of a street in this part of town.

Across the street from where we ate was a street muscian. They are fairly common and always very good with the violin. I was impressed with the guy to the right. While we were eating, a TV camera and reporter appeared. He played for the TV audience and for us!

I took the next picture through the bars on a fence to show the difference between street level and the entrance to a cathedral. The difference was about 5 feet. There is a sidewalk that goes from the street into the entance of the church. Inasmuch as Mexico City was built on a marshy lake bed, large buildings have a tendancy to sink (and they continue to sink). For this reason, many of the roads and the sidewalks are in difficult conditions. It takes a lot of effort to keep up the infrastructure.

Our last stop was the park next to the Metropolitan Palace for the Performing Arts. There were hundreds of street vendors and the kids wanted to do some shopping. After shopping we stopped outside the Performing Arts buildng for a couple of pictures.

Well, that's it for another beautiful day in Mexico. We miss the family and friends but we are doing our best to see all the wonderful things this Country has to offer. Love, David

Church and Office

I thought that some of you may be interested in seeing where I work every day. Here are some pictures of my office.


The first picture is of my desk and map of Mexico. When I am seated at my desk, the entry way to the office is to my left and a large window to my right. I don't have a picture of my large window because it does nothing but open up to the building across the street.

The second picture is of the other half of my office. I have a large desk at which I hold conferences with attorneys from around Mexico when they come to visit.

The next picture is of Wendy Acuna. She is a paralegal in the office and is extremely helpful with real estate (and many other) matters.

The next picture is of Tere Hidalgo. She works as my secretary and is extremely helpful also. I don't know what I'd do without Wendy and Tere!

I'm still tring to figure out the spacing on this blog spot. In "edit"mode, the text and pictures look good but when I finalize the posting, the spacing gets all messed up. Regardless, the next picture is of the chapel where we attend church meetings on Sundays. It is our ward building and is called the Las Lomas Ward, Chapultepec Stake. It is the only English-speaking Ward south of the U.S. border. Cindy has been called as 1st Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency and Ward Organist.

Here is another view of the outside. All chapels in Mexico have fences. The fences are little protection against persons intent on breaking into the chapel and stealing stuff--which happens too regularly.

Here is the view the speaker sees from the pulpit. The curtains are opened each Sunday as the chapel is full. The chapel has two levels.

Here is the view from the pews. Each Sunday morning, the sun shines through the circular window behind the speaker and casts a wonderful glow or light throughout the chapel. It's a very nice place to attend church meetings and we are very grateful to have such a nice building.

Well, I guess I better go. However, now you have a better feel for where we attend work and church.

Casa Channer en Me'xico

I thought it may be helpful for others to see where we live. We live in the South West portion of the city, more or less in the foothills. The place is called Interlomas or Lomas de Tecamalchalco.

One arrives at the top of the hill (which is about 8,500 feet in elevation) and enters the gate that is shown to the side. The gates are about 18 feet high and they are manned 24 hours a day with numerous security guards. The picture to the right was taken out our front room window, looking to the left.

There are 5 or 6 towers in the complex and we live in one of them. Our view is decent in most directions. The picture to the right was taken from our bedroom window. It is also the same view from our formal living room and Michael and Aaron's bedroom. Below are tennis courts, swimming pools and "jalapas." Jalapas are like grass huts that have a place for gathering and barbecues.

The next picture was taken out Emily's bedroom. Her window looks over a residential area. I'm not aware of the name of the tall building in the background but I suspect it's a residencial unit.

The next view is out the rear of our condominium.
These are some of the more unique buildings. They can be seen quite distinctly from the GoogleEarth website. Below is an area that is undergoing major excavation and construction. It is supposed to be the location of the largest mall in Mexico, Central and South America. I suspect it will take years to build.

Although this is not a very good picture, due to the time of day it was taken, it gives you an idea of the interior of the apartment. This is our formal living room and formal dining room. I'm certain it's going to recieve tons of use!! Ha!

Finaly, the last picture was taken looking into the family room. Beyond the family room are the bedrooms. We are fortunate to have a bathroom for every bedroom. It sure makes our getting ready in the mornings a lot easier. Speaking of getting ready, we normally are awake by 5:30 a.m. and on the road by 6:30 a.m. I drive Emily and another student to Seminary about every other day. On those days, we leave the complex at 5:45 a.m. Yikes! Those who know me, know that I have arisen early my entire life--and I can't say I've ever really enjoyed it!

Well, I hope to add a few more pictures in the future. But, for now, this will give everyone a feel for where we live. David

Trip to Teotihauca'n (Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008)

Last week we visited the Nacional Museum of Anthropolgy. This week, we decided to visit the great pyramids of the Teotihaucan.

"Between 100 and 500 A.D, an ancient people built a flourishing metropolis called Teotihuacan on a plateau about 25 miles from present-day Mexico City. With its accurately aligned avenues and a huge plaza surrounded by 15 monumental pyarmids, Teotihuacan was bigger than any city in Europe at that time. It covered over nearly 8 square miles and 200,000 people lived there. Teotihuacan was built 700 years before the Aztecs began constructing their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Recently, archaeologists have excavated beneath the Pyramid of the Moon. The archaeologists are looking for clues to the history of this mysterious culture. Tunnels dug into the structure have revealed that the Teotihuacan’s citizens did not remain pleased with their architectural feats for very long. Over a period of several hundred years, the pyramid underwent at least six facelifts and each new addition was larger and covered the previous structure." (End quote--Wikipedia)

Here are several pictures of the family

with the Pyramid of the Moon in the background. We started climbing on the largest pyramid, Pyramid of the Sun, so...the Pyramid of the Moon is in the background.

After we finished climbing the Pyramid of the Sun, we descended and started walking up the Avenue of the Dead toward the Pyramid of the Moon. It is in the background.

When we finally arrived at the Pyramid of the Moon, we were then able to look back toward the Pyramid of the Sun.

"The name Pyramid of the Sun comes from the Aztecs, who visited the city of Teotihuacán centuries after it was abandoned; the name given to the pyramid by the Teotihuacanos is unknown. It was constructed in two phases. The first construction stage, around 100 A.D., brought the pyramid to nearly the size it is today. The second round of construction resulted in its completed size of 738 feet across and 246 feet high, making it the third largest pyramid in the world behind the Great Pyramid of Cholula and The Great Pyramid.

The second phase also saw the construction of an altar atop of the pyramid, which has not survived into modern times. The Adosada platform was added to the pyramid in the early third century, at around the same time that the Ciudadela and Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent were constructed.

Over the structure the ancient Teotihuacanos finished their pyramid with lime plaster imported from surrounding areas, on which they painted brilliantly colored murals. While the pyramid has endured for centuries, the paint and plaster have not and are no longer visible. Few images are thought to have been included in the mural decorations on the sides of the pyramid. Jaguar heads and paws, stars, and snake rattles are among the few images associated with the pyramids.

It is thought that the pyramid venerated a deity within Teotihuacan society but the destruction of the temple on top of the pyramid, by both deliberate and natural forces prior to the archaeological study of the site, has so far prevented identification of the pyramid with any particular deity. Some scholars have suggested that the deity of the pyramid was the Great Goddess, one of two major Teotihuacan deities and one of the few goddesses in ancient Mesoamerica. However, little evidence exists to support this theory." (End quote-Wikipedia)

After we visited the Pyramid of the Moon, we descended and visited the palace of the king. My camera battrey ran out of juice so we don't have any pictures of the palace. It was very interesting with murals still showing the paintings of the original inhabitants.

One thing that was quite aggravating, was the fact that there were many government-approved vendors who came up to us and asked us to buy their wares. They were very aggresive and wouldn't go away just because we said we weren't interested. At some point we will return and when we do, we'll know whether we should buy some souvenoirs or no.

By the time we left, the Avenue of the Dead was full of people and one could get a view of what the city must have looked like with hundreds of people in the streets. Also, there were lots of vendors playing flutes and the sound of the music with the setting was a special experience. The picture taken below was taken earlier in the day when there were few people in the Avenue of the Dead; however, it gives you a feel for the setting.

Well, that's about it for our first trip. We got home at 4:30 p.m. after being lost for about an hour in the middle of Mexico City. Driving in Mexico City is another topic for another day. Love, David