Inquisitive stares to walking like a...Teotihuacan?

OK this post will really be mostly pictures!

Thursday my friend Vickey braided my hair into a faux hawk. I got plenty of stares that night and Friday. Walking around campus nobody stared. Friday I had Vickey braid the loose ends. When I left her house Friday night a man walking in front of me looked back at me. He looked back a few times. As I passed him he continued to stare. I'm not really sure when it became polite to literally stare at someone while they are looking at you watching them be rude. Once at the bus stop a girl my age walked by with her boyfriend and she said, "Que padre!" Literally it means "what dad," but it is slang for "how cool!" I appreciated her comment even though she did not say it directly to me. Friday morning I even received honks and waves among the blatant stares. That was probably the first time I felt different. Yes, in high school I wore crazy outfits that I thought were creative and cutting edge, but nobody ever stared at me. This is the first time I did not feel comfortable in my skin. Even before my hair was braided people here stare me down as if I cannot see them. Friday when I got home I talked to Blanca (in Spanish) about the stares. She said people are curious and have not been exposed to such a thing. I know that...but that didn't stop me from exclaiming "really" out loud to the guy who kept turning around to stare.

 

Thursday's hair do

      Friday's hair do

Friday night's dinner. A traditional Mexican dish called Pozole (Pa-zo-lay). It is the consistency of chili except instead of beans large kernels of a specific type of white corn are used. It is usually made with pork but Blanca used chicken. On top you add lettuce, onions, freshly squeezed lime juice (my favorite), freshly crushed oregano, and radishes (I just put a few on the side).

CORRECTION: Initially I called these borrador. That was a mistake on my part. Borrador means eraser :D. The dish is called Benuelos.

Saturday the international students headed to Teotihuacan where the pyramids are (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan). Many students said they did not recognize me at first and that they like my hair. Granted I did have my contacts in so that is a decent transformation. Anyway, the trip to Teotihuacan was great! It was very hot yesterday too.I was pretty amazed by the complexity of the structures and the belief systems and rituals of the people at that time. They were very in tune with the sky - the water cycle, constellations. The pyramids were made to reach the sky. The structures on the ground were a reflection of what the people saw in the sky. I began to think about the pyramids in Egypt and how vastly different the materials are of each civilization and how you go inside the Egyptian pyramids and you have to climb the outside of the Teotihuacan pyramids. Then I got to thinking about how blessed I am to have experiences with the Egyptian and Teotihuacan pyramids that I can reflect on the differences between them. God has truly blessed me with great opportunities in life that many are not fortunate to have.

Adriana and I on the bus headed for Teotihuacan early Saturday morning with our breakfast in our laps

They provided us with breakfast which included a huge juice box, shaved carrots and a lime (of course packets of chili and salt were included for that), a puffed rice bar that was lightly sweetened with molasses, raisins, and nuts, then there was a sandwich with beans, cheese, and ham. They weren't tryin to play!

The tour started with a show of a ritual. Men climb up the pole and position themselves on mere rods of wood and tie ropes to their waists. The man in the middle plays a song while the men spin and gradually descend. There are 13 rotations.

What you see to the left when you first walk onto the park grounds.

I think this is the Temple of Quetzacoatl

My tour guide Aldo holding a solid piece of obsidian. Obsidian is found all around that area and is very plentiful. Many of the wares/souvenirs are made out of obsidian.

There is a small museum that breaks up the outside tour. Here is one side of the city layout. The pyramid closest to the railing is the pyramid of the sun and the furthest one away is the pyramid of the moon. There is another half to this map/layout! It is thought that 200,000 people inhabited the area.

It is a bit hard to see, but these are excavated men (left) and women (right). The people sacrificed and practiced cannibalism for their rituals. The men that are sacrificed have necklaces on and the women are adorned with earrings. I thought that was interesting.

The pyramid above is the pyramid of the sun. It took a serious climb up the aged stairs, but I made it all the way to the top. What a view! I did a little crappy 360 video as well. In my defense it was very crowded up there.

View of the pyramid of the moon as we walk down the Street of the Dead

At the hotel for lunch. You walk through a nice lobby of smiling attendants and see this beautiful patio and pool area with pretty green grass. It literally was like seeing an oasis in the desert.

We had a buffet style lunch. On my plate I have thin cuts of chicken, rice, chicken with potatoes and carrots, broiled pork, veggie salad - green peppers, onion, cactus, then there was a cold taco that was topped with lettuce and crumbled cheese which was really good. For dessert there was a rice pudding garnished with strawberries (fresas) and starfruit and I got cake that had something like ambrosia between the layers.

The Mariachi band playing and the singer waved for my picture, lol

Above is a picture and video of traditional dancing and drumming