Mexico - January 2020 Monarch Butterflies
In January 2020 my husband and I went to Mexico to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Having raised Monarch butterflies for many years I had wanted to see where they spend the winter. Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world and with that large population comes extreme air pollution.
This sign was found in Parque Chapultepec, a very large park in Mexico City. CDMX stamds for "Ciudad Mexico".
Seeing the poor air quality in the city made us not want to breathe! We were glad to get up in the mountains for fresh air and butterflies!
The taxi driver who took us to our hotel from the airport told us about native dancers who hang upside down on ropes and spin around from a 30-foot pole. One voladore plays a flute and a small drum while flying around the pole. We were excited to get to see this exhibition at Chapulltepec Park in Mexico City near the Museum of Anthropology. "Volar" means to fly in Spanish.
Wrapping the ropes a the top of the pole
These guys must have nerves of steel to be able to sit at the top of this pole then hang upside down as they spin around until they reach the ground.
The Voladore on the right is playing a flute and a small drum as he spins around upside down.
An unusual snack in Chapultepec Park!
I didn't know what these snacks were, they didn't look very appetizing! The ones labeled "purgante" look like that was what was used to make them, it means "laxative" in Spanish! "Ajo" is garlic flavored. Sabor picante means hot flavor.
Lucha Libre souvenir masks at the market
The Mexican wrestlers do wear these masks during their matches. My husband and I watched a match on TV one evening, the matches are much more animated than WWF matches in the US!
One of the "barrios" in Mexico City
This was just one small section of a hill side that was packed with colorful houses. Neighborhoods in Mexico are called "barrios". Mexico City has 20 million people.
This was a display at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Even the Aztecs appreciated butterflies over one thousand years ago. Butterflies were thought to carry the spirits of dead to the afterlife.
This was an Aztec skull in the museum. The upper canines and inscisors had been decorated with jade and a black stone. I can't imagine how painful it must have been to have that decorative work done!
This is one of the most famous artifacts in the museum.
After visiting the ruins at Teotihuacán our guide took us to an Obsidian museum / shop. Here the guide is demonstrating how to cleave pieces from a large stone. The pieces were used as stone knives and arrowheads. Nowdays obsidian is used for trinkets and jewelry. Obsidian is an igneous stone found near volcanoes.
Obsidian keeps its sharpness, it is like a razor blade.
In Mexico people don't celebrate Halloween, but on November 1 they celebrate "Dia de los Muertos" to commemorate loved ones who have passed on. Colorful skeletons (las catrinas) and skulls are found in many shops in Mexico, these were at the "La Catrina" restaurant.
Agave has many more purposes that making tequila. Our guide at the obsidian shop showed us some of the uses, it can be eaten, fibers used for making rope and baskets, etc.
The guide showed us the fibers from the agave leaves and how they were attached to their own "needle".
The "worm" in the bottom of a mezcal bottle is actually a beetle larva. Tequila is made from the liquid in the leaves of Agave plants.
