Thanksgiving this year, everyone was in town. So on that Saturday, we had a family photo shoot.  The following are some of our pictures of the entire Nielson Gang!

 L-R: Jaycie, Noelle, Hunter, Christian, Kavan on Jaren's lap, Kellan on Haley's lap, Charly on Tytan's lap, Haven, Ridge, Carter, and Paisley.  All 14 wonderful grandkids!

 Here are the adults L-R: Nick & Serina Haines, Peter & Meggan Nielson, Jace & Heidi Larkin, Jason & Carrie Nielson. Seated: Sandi & Curtis Nielson

Here is everyone! They are standing in family units. Heidi's kids are in front of Sandi and Heidi.

Puebla, Mexico

The city of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico. Being a colonial era planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main Atlantic port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two in Central Mexico.

The city was founded in 1531 in an area called Cuetlaxcoapan, which means "where serpents change their skin", in between two of the main indigenous settlements at the time, Tlaxcala and Cholula.  Due to its history and architectural styles ranging from Renaissance to Mexican Baroque, the city as named a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city is also famous for food: mole poblano, chiles en nogada and Talavera pottery (which we bought some pieces).

The city is also important because of its industry, with one of the world's largest Volkswagen factories outside of Germany located in the Municipality of Cuautlancingo. They employ over 60,000 workers. That is the size of Avondale, AZ! As a result, many supplier factories have opened in the city of Puebla.

 

So this is what we saw and experienced while in Puebla.

 

 

Street in Puebla all decorated for the Independence Day for Mexico.

We ate a restaurant called Villa Rosa that had a buffet. We found out it was the fastest place to eat when you only have 2 hours to spend there - less time eating and more time sightseeing on your own! This is what our food looked like. All the veggies were cold (I miss hot veggies!). Buffet was good - I could pick what I thought was SAFE.

 The streets were cobblestone, but they had the gutters built right next to the street and then the sidewalk on the other side. The gutters were like a trough. Curtis thought it was very clever!

Church of Santo Domingo in Puebla

Inside the church

 Open air markets of all kinds! We saw junk for sale,

artistry of all kinds, clothing, furniture, you name it!

This is Talavera Pottery (we went to actual factory).

Reminded me of going to the Blue Delft in Holland.

We drove down one street, it was all a fish market.

We saw signs for Shark, Shrimp, you name it. They are

really close to the Gulf of Mexico - so all of it was fresh.

While visiting another church we saw a limo drive up with a wedding party. These are people lined up with their noses against the fense waiting for the bride to get out of the limo!

 So I learned something interesting - read to the last line!

The 1857–62 Mexican civil war known as The Reform War had disorganized the country's finances and the new President, Benito Juárez, was forced to suspend payments of foreign debts in 1861. In late 1861 Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, under the Treaty of London (1861) sent a joint expeditionary force to Mexico, alongside Spanish and British forces, to protect their interests and collect the debts owed by the previous Mexican government. The allied troops occupied the port city of Veracruz on 8 December 1861 and advanced to Orizaba. Napoleon III wanted to seize the opportunity presented by the U.S. involvement in the American Civil War to set up a puppet Mexican regime. Napoleon's intrigues led to the withdrawal of the Spanish and British troops in April 1862 at the same time that French reinforcements arrived.

The Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May 1862 near the city of Puebla during the French invasion of Mexico. The battle ended in a victory for the Mexican Army over the occupying French forces. The Mexican victory is celebrated yearly on the fifth of May.

This holiday remains very popular in the United States where it is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo.  I didn't know why, now I do!

Great Pyramide of Cholula, Mexico & Volcano

Popocatépetl is an active volcano located in the states of Puebla, State of Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt at 17,802 ft.  it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after the Pico de Orizaba at 18,491 ft.  When it is a clear day you can see the volcano and the steam coming out of it. I saw it  in May from my hotel room very clearly.

When you are in Cholula, Mexico near the great Pyramid with the church on top -  you can see the volcano off

 in the near distance. So cool!

 

The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl (Nahuatl for "artificial mountain"), is a huge complex located in Cholula, Mexico. They felt you had to build a pyramid and on top place their temple. It is the largest archaeological site of a pyramid (temple) in the New World. The pyramid stands 180 ft above the surrounding plain, and in its final form it measured 1,300 by 1,300 ft. even larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.  The pyramid is a temple that has traditionally been viewed as having been dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl. The architectural style of the building was closely linked to that of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, although influence from the Gulf Coast is also evident, especially from El Tajín. The Toltec-Chichimec History, a codex from the Cholula region, relates that an Olmec-Xicalanca lord with the title Aquiyach Amapane resided at the Great Pyramid. When the Spaniards came and conquered the people, they built this Cathedral at the top of it which stands today.

We were able to walk around the base. You can see part of the steps of the pyramid. They also had lots of vendors selling their wares.

Some the food for sale are Grasshopper legs! The front bucket with the glass upside down in it had them roasted, the other side of the bucket had chili powder on them! They were supposedly full of protein! I did NOT try them!

These guys climb the pole, tie a rope around them, while one guy sits on top and spins the wheel, these guys unwind while hanging upside down and flying through the air until they reach the ground. Very dizzing, but fun to watch!

 

While walking around shopping, seeing the pyramid, etc... we kept hearing what sounded like gun shots, cannons, or something. I had enough! Every time it went off (every few minutes) I would jump out of my skin. As we left you could see one area where the smoke was where they were shooting off ???? something!  When we asked, they said "there is always a party going on" - translation, gunshots or fireworks!

Randomness of Mexico

Our hotel lobby changes the foral arrangments every week. This past week these are the types we have seen - Green, White, Red, which are the colors of the Mexican flag. September 15th was Mexico's 202nd anniversary of independence. Hence the flowers.

 

When we go out walking around the area we find signs from every state, and most major cities of the United States.  Here is the one we took a photo of.... Street Arizona

 This morning I was working at the desk in our room on our computer when I heard this banging noise outside of the window. I pulled the curtain back and grabbed my ipad to take a photo.  This was the window washer. We are 10 stories up and it didn't look like he had a safety belt on. I watched him for a while. He would swing away from the building and then slam back into it. Why???? I don't know. but my window is now clean - ready for the next rain storm!

Surprise!

Here you can see him going down another level. This is a job I would never feel safe doing!!!

Brighten the Sabbath Day

There is a spanish ward near our hotel, the one Curtis always attends when he is here. In May I was able to attend the ward and meet a few people. We absolutely enjoyed ourselves today. Even though there was a different language spoken, the spirit was so strong and I was able to get a lot out of Sunday School class. The lesson was on comparing the signs of Christ's first coming as the same that will be for the second coming.  Then we went into combined Priesthood/Relief Society/Young Men class. The Stake President introduced the Duty to God program and had one of the Young Men President's from another ward explain the program. I understood all of it...probably because I know the program.

 

So after the block, one of the brothers who speaks some english asked us to wait for him.

So we did, he came back with the floral arrangement that was used today for the Stake President's visit. He and his wife wanted to give it to us "for our home". Good thing we are staying in our Hotel Home for another week and a half so we can enjoy this beautiful work of art! Real Flowers!  He told us they truly enjoy our visiting their ward and want us to know of the friendship they extend to us.  Now, how can one not feel loved, accepted, in a foreign country with kindness like that! 

Bird of Paradise, Snap Dragons, Crysanthumum (sp?) and other sticks and decoration in a green foam you keep wet to keep the flowers alive.

Toilet Problem in Hotel

This is a posting my dad would get a kick of! Here in our hotel we noticed that we had water leaking from the toilet. We had visions of Jason's bathroom experience happening in our hotel, so Curtis lifted the lid and found the float valve with a serious leak. It was spraying water out and hitting the top of the lid and going over the edge of the tank onto the floor. So I called maintenance. Try explaining that to someone in another language!

 

The maintenance man showed up with a plunger! I said no, not that. And took his arm and pulled him into the bathroom where Curtis lifted the lid and flushed so he could show the guy. The guy said he would would repair it before we got back this afternoon. We went on an all day tour.

 

This is what we found when we got home! 

They just took a plastic bag and wrapped the float valve so the water sprays in the bag and then into the tank. They didn't repair it! It was a "fix". We died laughing!! Certainly not repaired the Gibb/Nielson way!

Xochimilco - Flat Boats on Canal

 

My favorite stop on the tour was Xochimilco. (This is a long blog with photos & videos)

 

It took me all week to learn to say the name (Zoe-chee-mill-co). Xochimilco is characterized by the existence of a system of canals, (think of Venice, Italy!)  which measure about a total of 105 miles. These canals, and the small colorful flat bottom boats float among artificially created land called chinampas and are internationally famous.    

 

These canals are all of what is left of what used to be a vast lake and canal system that extended over most parts of the Valley of Mexico, restricting cities such as Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and Xochimilco to small islands.  This system of waterways was the main transportation venue, especially for goods from the pre-Hispanic period until the 20th century.  

In the pre-Hispanic period, parts of the shallow lakes were filled in, creating canals. Starting in the early colonial period, the interconnected lakes of the valley, including Lake Xochimilco, were drained. By the 20th century, the lakes had shrunk to a system of canals that still connected Xochimilco with the center of Mexico City. However, with the pumping of underground aquifers since the early 20th century, water tables have dropped drying  some canals, and all that are left are the ones in Xochimilco.

The canals are fed by fresh water springs, which is artificially supplemented by treated water because water tables are still dropping, human expansion and the filling in of canals is still occurring, threatening to have the last of these canals disappear despite their importance to tourism.

So the following are some photos and 3 videos of our tour at Xochimilco.

 As we were getting ready to board the boats (way wider than the

 Gondolas of Venice, Italy), each of the ladies were given a rose.

The men were given the OPTION of having a free shot of Tequilla. Curtis passed!

This is our boat, named Carmelita.  The people sitting on the right side were from Brazil. They loved their beer and drank a lot! We had water. There were two oarsmen (back in blue and white shirt) who took turns shoving a long long pole to push and guide the boat along the canal. They did not sing or say "Oi Oi" as went along as they did in Venice. Our guide took this photo.

The photo above was amazing. These roots are left from the original Aztecs who built the city (started in downtown Mexico City called Zocallo) and all the way out here. History came alive! They planted trees and then would add dirt and fill as the roots took hold. The entire lake was islands interconnected with canals.

This is the entrance to the canals. It was a traffic water way. You can see each boat had a name and was decorated brightly. Then there were other boats (much more narrow) that were merchants trying to sell you wares, food, play music for you. I told Curtis "imagine Nogales on water!"

 We knelt at the back end of the boat to be in the sun for this photo. We hung onto each other, we didn't want to fall in! It was about 12 foot deep. I didn't want to swim!

 This was one vendor who was trying really hard to sell me a tablecloth or blanket. They were $45 US dollars. I had enough at home already. We did take this photo - that was what prompted his attention and persistence!

 Our guide did say that the roasted corn was wonderful! So we waited until she saw the vendor she liked and we all bought for 20 pesos (about $2.50 US dollars) a white corn on the stick. It was roasted - with butter and lime on it. It was a ONE TIME thing to try.

This is the video Curtis took as we started out on our 1 hour boat ride. You can see how the mariachi's play hoping you will ask for a song. It was 100 pesos ($12 US for a song).

 Finally on our boat ride back, we decided to all pitch in money and buy one song. The oarsman whistled and they moved their boat next to ours. The singer hopped over to our boat and sang (this is my version of what was sung "eye eye eye eye, I am the frito bandito" or that is the tune). Listen and you can hear it.

At the half hour mark on the boat ride, we pulled alongside a greenhouse. We were given a tour of all the plants and herbs growing. They were beautiful and amazing! One plant was called the "sensitive plant". When you touch it, it closed up and shrunk away from you. Reminded me of the flowers in Avitar. Watch the video and you will see it.

These following 3 photos are just some of the beautiful flowers we saw. Curtis took pictures of them all! But these are some interesting ones.

Cuicuilco Temple Mound

We had a stop at Cuicuilco which is a round temple mound. Cuicuilco is an important archaeological Mesoamerican Middle and Late Formative (c. 700 BCE – 150 CE) period site located on the southern shore of the  Lake Texcoco in the southeastern Valley of Mexico. Today, it is a significant archaeological site that was occupied during the Early Formative until its destruction in the Late Formative. Based on its date of occupation, Cuicuilco may be the oldest city in the Valley of Mexico and was roughly contemporary with, and possibly interacting with the Olmec of the Gulf Coast of lowland Veracruz and Tabasco (also known as the  Olmec heartland).  After studying some on the Olmec, they had a lot of the same teachings and understanding of the gospel as we have, so this place was fascinating.

Based on known facts, it was the first important civic-religious center of the Mexican Highlands, its population probably included all social strata and cultural traits that would characterize the Altépetl (city-state) of classical Mesoamerica.

Cuicuilco was destroyed and abandoned since the eruption of the volcano Xitle, causing migrations and changes to the population, it culminated with the Teotihuacán consolidation as classical period ruler of the Central Highlands.

At the site are 8 of the many housing and religious buildings that once existed, and the remains of a hydraulic system that supplied water the city. One of the pyramids was built in a strategic position, representing early prehispanic attempts to link religious concepts with cosmic events through building construction.

Following are some photos we took.

 

 Above, Cuicuilco Round Temple Mound. The steps and stone work

 are original. They don't let you climb the original steps, but go up next to them.

 

The building in the background was being built when they discovered this site. All this vegetation is also original and untouched. They did not dig any of it up but they let it grow naturally in the ravine aound the the area. It is now a botanical area to the mound.

 

 

You can see some of the layers or elevations around the mound. It is wide at the base and gradually narrows in three levels. The top level is flattened where they worshipped. The guide was telling us that originally this was all a valley, so the people who built the temple had to build the mountain by hand so they could put their temple on top! They believed you had to go to the top of the mountain to speak to God. Boy, does that sound interesting!

 

Above, you can see some of the original vegetation and trail around the mound. We saw two squirrels down in the ravine. There were prickly pear cactus with ripe fruit they were gathering and eating. Fun!

 

 

Curtis standing on the very top of Cuicuilco Temple Mound.  You can

 see buildings in the valley below around it.

 

 

From the top of the mound you can see an amusement park

in the distance. It is a Wet & Wild!  In the foreground you see the path

leading down from the mound.

 

Turning and looking another direction from the top is a freeway. But if you notice,

it is a 2 story freeway (like in San Francisco). Interesting thing is

 Ica Fluor who Curtis is doing consulting in Mining for ...

is the company building this 2nd level!

Sandi is on the left as she and the tour group are heading

 back to the bus. What a very interesting site to behold.

National Autonomous Univeristy of Mexico (UNAM)

We took a tour while in Mexico City one Saturday morning and part of the tour was stopping at the University of Mexico or "The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)".  This is a Mexican public university, the largest and very important to Mexico and one of the top 50 universities and 10 most popular in the world. It was founded on 21 September 1551.  The UNAM has the primary purpose to serve the country, humanity, train professionals useful to society, organize and conduct research, mainly on national problems and conditions, and extend, to the extent possible, the benefits of culture.

So here are some photos of the campus that were very interesting. 

 

Above is the scenery as we approached the University.  I asked the guide how

 many students attend here, and I was told 300,000 currently.

 

This is the main administration offices of the University.

 

The original city of Mexico City was founded by the Aztecs. They found an island with an Eagle sitting on a Cactus with a snake in his mouth. So they stopped and built their city right there! They took and planted trees on the boarder of the island and then filled in with dirt. They kept doing this until they had filled in the entire huge lake with islands and connecting canals. 

 

The photo above is the Mall on the main campus. If you look, the green represents all the islands and the sidewalks are the interconnecting canals of water! Very cleverly intertwining history into the modern day!

If you remember back to the 1968, the Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City. Well, the opening ceremonies (and track & field) were held in this Stadium on the University of Mexico campus!  The black circle you see on top is where the Caldron was.  The mosaic design on the front depicts the Eagle with the snake in his mouth in the center, two olympians lighting the cauldron on each side.  There is an Eagle Head (right side) and Condor Head (left side). The Eagle represents the Aztec people and people of Mexico, the Condor represents the Inca people who were of Peru and Bolivia.

 The photo above is Sandi standing in front of the Library. The design behind her is of Quatzequatel:  The Winged God, done in mosiac.  Every side of the Library, from the bottom to the top of the roof is done in mosiac.

Here is one side of the Library done in mosaic. Some show the Aztecs and other parts show the Spanish envadors forcing their religion on them.

 

Here is a photo of our little tour group: 4 people on the left were from Brazil, and us.

We are standing in front of the Library.

 

It was a lovely place. As we were walking from place to place I could see small groups gathered. I asked the guide what was happening. One group she said was a Brazilian dance class. I kept hoping they would practice moves or something, but they didn't.