la puerta a México

It's been three weeks since our return and I have been missing Mexico intensely--the landscapes, visual arts, architecture, history, food--all of it, but most especially, the people. From Mexico City, to Oaxaca, to the Sierra, to a small lagoon on the Pacific coast, we constantly encountered kindness, patience, warmth, deep intelligence, and soul-touching creativity. And even though I learned about my own Mexican heritage 16 years ago, I realized during our time there that I understood so little about Mexico and its people, along with their challenges, hopes, concerns, and rightful pride. So much to learn and I am grateful this door opened.

father's day, zócalo, Puebla

Miguel Angel Leyva Hernandez, artist and philosopher, Oaxaca

Juana Chávez, weaver and chocolatier, Teotitlán del Valle, Estado de Oaxaca

Rudilio Jimenez Garcia, proud of his Zapoteco heritage, Oaxaca

Angel, grandson of Señor Jimenez Garcia

tourist from Veracruz, singing on top of Monte Albán

teotihuacán, valley of mexico

After having reached its peak of a quarter million residents, this once thriving and diverse metropolis was abandoned around 750 CE, but it was never lost or forgotten. Because of the enormity of the pyramids, some 600 years later the Nahuatl-speaking Mexica peoples assumed the site had to have been built by the gods, and so they named it Teotihuacan, "The Place of the Gods."

Temple of the Feathered Serpent

Pyramid of the Sun, one of the largest structures in prehispanic mesoamerica. Aligned with the mountain beyond.

Pyramid of the Moon, as seen from the Pyramid of the Sun