Ancient Pyramids & Bullfights

Pyramid of the Sun

Roomies from L to R (Malcolm, Nils, Yan)

I made it!

Pyramid of the Moon from the Pyramid of the Sun

The crew

The Pyramid of the Sun from the Pyramid of the Moon

 

Jaguar Lime Fresco

Pastry Present

This guy was my boyfriend through the whole bullfight!

Me and the Ring

Denver look! Jon found a beer with his new nickname!

Saturday 2/25/12

Today we woke up at 6am to take 3 subway trains and a 50-minute bus ride out of Mexico City to Teotihuacán.  This ancient city is the site of the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, the Avenue of the Dead and many fresco mural paintings. It is said that the city had been established around 100 BC and the continued to be built until about 250 AD.   

Today was a glorious day, as our British chap and roommate Malcolm likes to say.  It was Jon and I along with three of our roommates: Malcolm (of the glorious England), Nils (our Aleman buddy we like to call Haansel) and Yan (of the Asian Persuasion).  When we arrived at 8am the sun had not yet burned off the mist.  We immediately scored some breakfast Tamales and Tamale Tortas then headed inside.  I tried to use my old CSUSB student ID to get the gratis admission but was again informed it was estudiantes nacionales sólo.  One day it will work!

We toured the whole area of 2km in about four hours.  This included the two very huge pyramids and we had to walk up many very steep stairs.  The pyramid of the sun is the larger of the two, but the pyramid of the moon was still enormous.  There were many other smaller buildings in the community and even mounds of yet to be excavated sites.  This was the first of many pyramid sites that Jon and I have on our list to visit and it was definitely very impressive.

After the pyramids we took the bus and the 3 subway trains back to the city and had lunch at the local market with the roomies then came home to rest for a little while.  For dinner Jon and I tried to attend a Cuban club that was going to have music but they didn’t really serve food, so we headed over to a Lebanese place that we have been wanting to try, El Jamil.  The food there was excellent and we even got personal recommendations from the owner Mohammed Jamil before he had the valet bring around his late model BMW sedan and he zoomed off into the night.  Tomorrow, el corrida de toros. Buenos Noches.

2/26/12

This morning we woke up later than usual and went to get some breakfast with Hansel and Russellmania.  We walked to the Pasteleria Suiza (Swiss Pastry Shop) and purchased Quiche, Fruit Tarts, and various filled pastry pockets.  These were wrapped up very nicely in classy paper and tied with string in a European fashion.  Then we went next door to purchase some café americano con leche.  We took all our purchases and walked to across the street to Parque de España to sit on a bench in the sun and talk about important things like Jehova’s witnesses and other cults while we ate our breakfast.  It was a really pleasant ways to spend our morning.

Then we went grocery shopping and came home to relax before the bullfight.  Jon, Russellmania and I went up on the roof to do some yoga de Marcie.  It was good exercise but very relaxing as well.  It was the first yoga class that I’ve taught but I think I did a pretty good job.  We listened Ravi Shankar and the sun was toasty so it was almost like Hot Yoga.  The cleaning lady of our flat also lives in an apartment on the roof and her grandchildren were peeking at us over the edge of the wall and giggling. As usual, we are quite a spectacle in Mexico meriting at least a whisper, point and giggle.

~Marcie

We then went out to the bullfight, “Corrida de Toros” en Espanol.  To get there it was a walk, a subway ride and a walk.  When we arrived it was a very festive atmosphere with people selling everything from cigars and tequila to matador souvenirs and of course tacos.  It was starting to rain so we bought a couple of what we thought were ponchos but turned out to be only plastic capes. 

All kinds of people were trying to sell me tickets in front of the arena, which is one of the largest bullrings in the world.  But I didn’t know exactly how the ticket system worked or how much they should cost and it is always a little questionable buying tickets off of scalper in the US, so in Mexico when the transaction is going down in Spanish it is definitely a no go.  While we held out on the purchase for a little bit to see what the rain would do we got some street cart food and sat under their tarp.  As usual I’m not exactly sure what it was that we ate, but as usual again it was very tasty.

 

When we eventually got tickets from the box office for 70 pesos each (approximately $5.75 US) and went into the arena, one bull had already been killed.  We sat way up in the highest (cheapest) section but it was still a good view of the action.  If you have never been to a bullfight before here’s how it works:  There are 3 matadors (bullfighters), and they each get to fight (kill) 2 bulls.  Each battle takes place over 3 rounds.  The first is when two guys on armor-plated horses ride in to the ring and stab the bull with spears.  Next the matador comes in to much applause and dodges the horns of the dilemma on foot while he sticks 6 short spear/swords into the bulls back.  In the third and final round the matador takes his red cape and “ole’s” the bull while the crowd cheers, until he decides the time is right and on one of the bulls passes he tries to stab it in the heart with one thrust of the his long sword.  This usually kills it.  If it does not, the bull is allowed to live. 

Today the 3^rd and final matador, the headliner, Uriel “El Zapata” Moreno, who has a bull-fighting lineage that goes back to the 1800’s, was gored in his leg by the horn of his first bull while showing off for the crowd.  He still came back to kill the bull before going to the hospital.  But there was still one bull left, “Palmito”, and there was a little controversy about who was going to fight it.  I thought about volunteering but Marcie said no.  So out came the first matador from earlier in the night, Fermin “El Joven” Rivera, who had already fought and killed two bulls.  So there is a lot of drama at this point.  We had this aficionado, Javier, who moved a couple of rows back so that he could clue us in, en Espanol, and he was laying it on thick as if this was unprecedented.  Now what does this bull do but absolutely slam into “El Joven” sending him yard sale style straight up in the air.  Before the kid hits the ground “Palmito” has already bucking bronco’d it with a horn thrust and sent him cartwheeling back up into the air.  When this poor boy finally landed awkwardly on his back on the ground Palmito was viciously on him instantly with a combo horn spear, hoof trample that would have killed a lesser man.  But not El Joven.  After he was rescued by all of the Mexican rodeo clowns, Mr. Rivera got up, pulled out his sword and put it right thru the bull’s heart.  Dios Mio!