Week 9, 10, 11: Diego Rivera, Doctor’s Visits, and Día de los Muertos

This week was our midterms week, and I think everyone in our group was feeling at least some pressure of academics. However, we all got through it and were looking forward to a nice weekend to relax from the tests, essays, and presentations.

Part of the group went to Veracruz to spend two days at the beach; however, I had a field trip back to Mexico City with my political history class and got to spend some time getting to know Puebla better!

We left Friday morning for our history trip to Mexico City. In attendance were the five Notre Dame students in our class and just two of the Mexican students in the class. The first place we went was to this statue depicting the image by which Tenochtitlan (precursor city to Mexico City) was founded. As legend has it, the gods told the Aztecs that where they found an eagle sitting on a nopal cactus eating a serpent, there they should build their city. The statue depicting this sight sits in the place where the Aztecs supposedly saw it back in 1325.

Afterwards, we went around and saw many of the historical sights in the city: some we had seen the weekend before, some brand new to us! We saw Templo de San Felipe Neri, the church in which the Mexican Declaration of Independence from Spain was signed. We saw the first street built in the western hemisphere, which for centuries was the main street of Mexico City. We saw the Revolution Monument, which celebrates the 1910 Mexican Revolution which ended the 31 year presidency of Porfirio Diaz. The revolution ended with a new Constitution of 1917, which instituted a separation of church and state, government ownership of subsoil, public education for all, and instituted the rights of laborers to organize strikes (following the US example at this time), amongst other things. We also went to the Diego Rivera museum and saw one of his most famous murals, depicting three main eras of Mexican life: the Conquest, the Porfiriato, and the Mexican Revolution. It was very interesting and meaningful to see these places, especially in the context of our political history class.

After sight seeing for the day, we went to a nice restaurant near the Revolution Memorial for a late lunch (in typical Mexican fashion). By the time we got back to Puebla, it was already dark, and we were ready to rest before a day of exploring el centro de Puebla (downtown Puebla)!

Saturday, Brendan and I left mid-morning for el centro. We enjoyed further familiarizing ourselves with the 16th century Spanish colonial streets, especially since our families are coming soon and we’ll need to give a good tour! After lunchtime, Mary and Katie came to join us, as well. We explored all of the weekend markets and enjoyed a new churro place! Recommendation: get your churros filled with Nutella. We also wandered into this little cafe with live singer/songwriter music. Overall, we just enjoyed a day to get to know our city a little better.

Sunday was supposed to be a day when Rocío, our host mom, took Brendan and I sightseeing; however, I woke up with pretty intense pain in my abdominal area and spent all day at home. Unfortunately, I ended up going to the hospital on Tuesday. Good news was we figured out that a nice little cocktail of three bacteria was causing the problem. Once I was on antibiotics I was able to leave the hospital that Saturday! However, this would be why I’ve been *very* late with my posts from Weeks 9, 10, and 11 (and don’t really have much to report from Week 10 haha). While being in the hospital was definitely a bummer, I felt very blessed to have friends constantly coming to visit and had at least one person spending the night with me each night. Let that be Reason #759 why I absolutely love the people I am here with.

I was happy that Saturday night happened to be Brendan and Victoria’s birthday party, as I was thrilled to see everyone! We had a great time celebrating them and enjoyed playing White Elephant, followed by a little dance party.

In Week 11 I was excited to go back to my classes, even though we only really had class Monday and Tuesday. There was a Notre Dame trip to the mountain towns of Cuetzalan and Zacapoaxtla planned for Wednesday-Sunday. Unfortunately, although I felt like I was operating at 100% by Tuesday, the doctor had told me I couldn’t travel for a week, and I had to stay behind. To be honest, I was pretty bummed to be separated from the group for another week, but I tried to make the most of my 5 days of solitude! I went to my two classes that weren’t cancelled, went to All Saints’ Day mass, and spent a lot of time on the roof of our house (meant to be walked on) reading and writing. I also was able to do a little bit of cooking.

We also celebrated Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2! This holiday, celebrated throughout Mexico, celebrates the lives of one’s family members who have passed away. The celebration has roots in an Aztec festival, but also coincides with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, making it an interesting mix of indigenous and Catholic tradition. Although Día de los Muertos sounds like it could be a little gloomy, it is anything but. Traditionally, every household creates a colorful ofrenda (altar) with bright colored flowers, papel picado (colorful tissue paper cut with designs), candles, fruit, pan de muerto (a special type of sweet bread), chocolate and sugar skulls, and pictures of passed loved ones. They will also often put things that the loved ones enjoyed in life. On October 30, I loved getting to help Rocío make the ofrenda for her parents and grandparents. I also loved going into el centro de Puebla and seeing all the ofrendas there, as there was a contest going on in the city.

Overall, my 5 days of solitude were pretty relaxing, and it was definitely very, very cool to experience Día de los Muertos in Puebla. That being said, I could hardly wipe the smile off my face when Brendan walked in the door Sunday evening – I was so excited to see my friends again! Week 12 means back to normal school for everyone. Exciting news is that this Friday and Saturday Brendan, Mary, Hana, and I are going on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City! More to come 🙂