Mexico 1939

I thought you might like to see some images of Mexico City thirty years before the economic boom. This is definitely in the poor area. I will send some other videos too which show how our grandparents lived, just on the other side of town,

Difference Between the Mayans and the Aztecs

I have a video here describing (briefly) the difference between these two Mexican powerhouses of pre-Columbian times. I have the closed captions turned on so you can read what the guy is saying in Spanish. I hope you enjoy it!

Videos about Spanish-Aztec Culture

Here are the videos I tried to embed yesterday.

The first is a flamenco dance from Spain.

The second is an Aztec dance from pre-colombian Mexico

The third is a video showing a history of Mexican and Spanish culture coming together, a process known as Mestizaje.

Map and Trip

My idea, ladies, which I still have to run by our hosts, is to do the following:

- Monday, June 29 - fly from St. Louis/Washington D.C. to Texas, where we catch the connecting flight to Guadalajara, Jalisco (which has the red banner on it in the map). (stay at José and Blanca's house)
---From here we drive counterclockwise on the map---

- Tuesday, June 30 - spend the day in Guadalajara, Jalisco (Blanca's house)

- Wednesday, July 1 - Guadalajara, then leave for San José de la Paz, Jalisco (Alicia's house)

- Thursday, July 2 - spend the day in San José de la Paz (Alicia's house)

- Friday, July 3 - San José de la Paz, then leave for Guanajuato, Guanajuato (stay in Silao)

- Saturday, July 4 - Guanajuato, then spend the afternoon in León, Guanajuato (stay in Silao)

- Sunday, July 5 - León, then leave for Aguascalientes (stay in Aguascalientes)

- Monday, July 6 - Aguascalientes, then leave for Zacatecas (stay in Zacatecas)

- Tuesday, July 7 - spend the day in Zacatecas and the afternoon in Jerez (stay in Jerez)

- Wednesday, July 8 - Jerez, Tepetongo, Tlaltenango, then return to Guadalajara (Blanca's house)

- Thursday, July 9 - spend the day in Guadalajara, Jalisco (Blanca's house)

- Friday, July 10 - fly from Guadalajara to Texas, then St. Louis/Washington D.C.

I will get more details as we go along as to which hotels we will stay in, how much money we should bring with us, how to pack, etc.  The plan currently has us staying in a hotel five nights, and the other days in the homes of friends. So what do you think? 😃😃

Driving distance from Guadalajara to San José de la Paz: 2 1/2 hours
Driving distance from San José de la Paz to Guanajuato: 2 hours
Driving distance from Guanajuato to León: 1 hour
Driving distance from León to Aguascalientes: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Driving distance from Aguascalientes to Zacatecas: 1 1/2 hours
Driving distance from Zacatecas to Jerez: 45 minutes
Driving distance from Jerez to Tepetongo: 30 minutes
Driving distance from Tepetongo to Tlaltenango: 1 hour 15 minutes
Driving distance from Tlaltenango to Guadalajara, Jalisco: 3 hours

The Meeting of Cultures

I. What is culture?

- Culture is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities and habits of the individuals in these groups. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies.

- What is American culture, in your experience, and according to this definition?

II. What factors contribute to culture?

- food

- land

- music

- temperament of the people

- language

- philosophy and religion

- understanding of law and order

- social order

III. How did English culture become "American culture"?

- A culture that was Christian (Catholic for about 1500 years)

- Kings, knights, nobility, class - lots of war and revolution, bloodshed

- Cold, rainy

- Bland food

- Protestant revolution under Henry VIII

- Searching for religious freedom

- Contact with America, native Americans 

- Fending for themselves, rugged, survivalists

- Creating something new, hopeful attitude, independent

- Revolutionary War

IV. What is Spanish culture? What was Spanish culture at the time of the Conquest?

- Catholic, very Catholic

- Almost completely surrounded by water - what does this mean?

- influence from North Africa, France, Italy

- influence from the Gypsies (who are they??)

- Ferdinand and Isabela, the "Spanish Kings"

- the "Reconquista"

- the "Conquista"- from 1492 until 1530

V. What is/was Aztec/Meso-american culture at the time of the Conquest?

- Essentially the Stone Age/Bronze Age

- warring tribes over whom the Aztecs (Mexica) reigned

- warm environment, warm and heavy rain, desert land, cactus

- chocolate, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, peaches, maize, 

- religion of human sacrifice (worst of paganism)

- well developed system of writing, astronomy, irrigation, architecture 

VI. What do you imagine the meeting of these two culture would be like?

- 

An example of Spanish Flamenco music and dance:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vhg7ND0_yiA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

An example of Aztec music and dance:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kw1_RSRGbcI?start=194" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

An example of Mestizaje, mixture of Spanish and Aztec culture, music, dance:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jpVzYVYw9pg?start=30" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hi Checa and Teddy!

Hola chicas! I decided to make a blog, and as you can see, I haven't put anything on it yet. I figure we can all add things, if you wish, but I will use this platform for communication between us regarding the Mexico stuff in general. Once I get going I will share the passwords and so on, so you can get on the blog and make additions. Las quiero mucho (I love you a lot)!   ~Toto