El Tajin #2

                                            El Tajin was a most interesting place to visit.

 We were there in the morning and escaped many of the crowds that visit this place. We had a fun time walking the grounds and seeing the ruins. One of the main attractions is Los Voladores or The Flyers. These 4 men climb a 80-90 ft pole, wrap their ropes around the pole and then tie the ropes arounds their waists. After they have done this another man, who in ancient times was a priest, climbs the pole and then stands and dances on top of the pole on a little platform while playing his flute! This ritual is hundreds of years old and was originally performed to please the god of fertility Xipe Totec so they would have rain and an abundant harvest.

At the signal of the priest they all lean  back off the platform and slowly spin around the pole 13 times each until they reach the ground. While they are revolving down the priest stays at the top playing a flute. The interesting thing about the men is that at least 2 of the men are probably in their 50's or 60's and the others probably in their 30's or 40's! It took them about 2-3 minutes to swing all the way down.
As usual all of our outings have to have a meal and shopping in them. This was no exception, and we could eat and shop at the same time! As we sat down at this little outdoor cafe we were joined shortly by people selling vanilla, vanilla pods, replicas of the Flyers, scarves, and of course jewelry!

This is how we will always remember Javier and Bonnie Zapata...buying jewelry!He has a fun time with all the people and this young lady was no exception.


 She had a wonderful smile but it was hard to capture as she would always pose. We did finally get one that showed her wonderful dimples and the sparkle in her eyes



An interesting place El Tajin, with the ruins, birds
and jungle all around.Different flowers on these trees..they make for unique decorations!

After we ate we walked through the little shops and visited with the people. The people in this area are a very short and tiny people. As can be seen by the size of the man selling shirts.
There were not many people the day we visited, so we could visit with the people. They are always so nice to us and willing to show what they are making..of course they always are hoping that we are buying too.

El Tajin

March 12th saw us on the road with the Bingham's,  Zapata's and Brother Moroni Gonzaga and his wife to El Tajin, in the state ofVeracruz about 150 miles and 4 hours driving from Mexico City. Again Hermano Moroni was our chauffeur and companion. Like we have mentioned before, it is so refreshing and necessary to get away from the city. To be able to breath clean air, see open spaces, and enjoy the peace and quiet. Now to say hear quiet may sound like a contradiction in terms, and it may be, but it is so nice to be able to hear.  We could actually hear birds singing!

The ruins are quite impressive. Very different from the pyramids by Mexico City. El Tajin was a major civilization that flourished from 600 to 900 bc to the 1500's.  It is a very beautiful place and we were impressed by the cleanliness of the area.  The Mexican government has recently been making new facilities around the area (bathrooms, a small museum etc.) which made it feel comfortable.  It is green and beautiful.  Surrounding the ruins are many small "shops" where the local people sell their goods and Papantla, a nearly city, is famous for its vanilla.  We found many people selling the vanilla pods, and many sizes of vanilla bottles.

Over 120 buildings or so

These pyramids had a very different type of construction than we have seen at several other sites.

Too steep to climb even if they allowed it!
Well, it looks like we will finish this one on a new page....too much fun!

Butterflies!

In the middle of February, we were able to visit a Monarch butterfly sanctuary with the Zapatas(office couple in the West Mission), the Binghams (office couple in the North Mission) and Hermano Moroni and his lovely wife, Veronica, our drivers.  

Here is a little background information from the internet on the migration of these butterflies:

Monarch butterflies cannot survive a long, cold winter. Instead they spend the winter in roosting spots. Monarchs west of the Rocky Mts. travel to small groves of trees along the California coast. Those east of the Rocky Mts. fly farther south, to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico. The monarchs' migration is driven by seasonal changes: daylength and temperature. Monarchs are the only butterflies to make such a long two-way journey every year! They fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the same exact trees. Individual monarchs only make the round trip once. It is their children's grandchildren, that return south the following fall. Noone knows exactly how their remarkable homing system works. This is one of the many unanswered questions in the butterfly world!   http://missionbf.tripod.com/info.html

We left on a Friday night and stayed in the mission office of the North Mission with the Binghams.  Leaving early the next morning, we drove for several hours through countryside that had clean air and small towns.  It was wonderful to not see the air that you breathe! We climbed higher and higher until we found ourselves in the mountains.

There are over 350 sq. miles of mountaintops that are protected sanctuaries by the Mexican government, but only several spots where you can actually gain access to trails to go to see the butterflies.  The trails are quite steep and about 10,000 feet in altitude.  We picked up a guide that flagged us down in a small town at the entrance who showed us where to turn and where the trail started.

Horses were available to rent to ride up the trail, but we chose to walk up because I was nervous because I used to be allergic to horses.  Being so close to them the entire hike, I didn't notice any allergies at all though....we should have tried it just for the fun of it!

The further we traveled along the trail, the more butterflies we could see until finally, we reached an area that was roped off as the "end of the trail" where butterflies were everywhere!

Beautiful!

On my arm!

 On cold days they cluster in bunches in the trees and bushes for warmth, but when it is warm they take to the air.  They also die there and the ground was covered with their little dead bodies.
We tried to take pictures of the myriads of butterflies...everywhere, but the camera just couldn't capture them.

It was almost a spiritual feeling, etherial, as the group of people reverently watched the Monarchs as they hovered everywhere!  One landed on my arm and I hardly dared to breathe until it floated off.

As the crowd grew, it was our turn to leave, so we hiked to the bottom, stopping occasionally to look over the rocks at the valley far below.  The regional people have stands and eateries at the bottom of the trail.  We enjoyed a great meal and bought a souvenir or two, then Hna. Bingham, Dave and I tried out the rather rough zipline.  We had a ball!

Whoa!

Anything you could want!

One more thing off the bucket list!

New Year....One Year!

Today is January 31, 2016..we arrived here in Mexico City one year ago yesterday! Hard to believe that a year has passed...so much has happened...so many good memories...and opportunities.
We have been blessed in so many ways, especially in that we have met so many good people and
have made many good friends.
Our good friends the Zapata's were able to come back here to Mexico City after having gone home to Arizona fo
r a short time to help Elder Zapata recover from some health issues. We are glad to have them back and look forward to spending more time with them. They were reassigned to the Mexico City West mission office and will be entering baptismal records and referrals. They have decided to stay here in these apartments as they are bigger and much cheaper and will make the trip to their offices every day by taxi. We were able to find a member of the church who has a taxi business and is transporting them and giving them a very good price break.
One of the customs here and in other parts of the world is the 12 days of Christmas. This is different than what we do in the states. We celebrate the 12 days before and they do it the 12 days after Christmas. January 6th is the day they celebrate el Dia de los Reys ..with what is called El Rosca de  Reyes. On this day they have a special bread that is baked in a circular or wheel shape.

Inside the bread is hidden 1 or more little plastic baby Jesus. The person who gets the baby in his slice of bread is blessed in that he or she is to treat the family or group on Feb 2 to a party..most specifically with a tamale and atole party. Atole is a hot drink much like our hot chocolate but is made from either ground up corn or rice with either milk or water and different flavors such as chocolate, strawberry, etc. February 2 is significant in that it is el Dia de la Candelaria or Day of the Candles or Candelabra. This is 40 days after the birth of the Savior and is the end of the purification period of Mary and is supposed to also be the day that Jesus was presented in the Temple.  The candles are to remind us that Jesus conquered the darkness and brought us light.The day January 6th is also important to the children as it is also a day of gift giving from the Wise Men or Kings..that sought out the Bay Jesus. They awake to find gifts that have been left by the wise men. The Rosca bread traces it origin back to France and has spread to other parts of the world.
We bought Roca bread at the bakery and had it there for missionaries as they came by...and the good fortune was ours in that both Brother and Sister Anthony got the little baby in their slices of bread!

This after we also bought the bread! So we will have to have some tamales on hand in the office on Feb. 2.
We met a new missionary couple, the Binghams from Arkansas, who are serving in the North mission. We showed them part of the historic district the other day and got to know them a little. We look forward to spending more time with them.
Elder and Sister Rojas, the directors at the Visitors Center, completed their mission and left January 19th. We wish them well, they have served here in Mexico city in different calling for 4 or 5 years. They were excited to get back to their family in Gilbert. We also welcomed Elder and Sister Lines from Arizona who will be the directors at the Center. They are excited to be here, they returned from being the office couple in Argentina about 6 months ago and are now here. Interesting to talk to them and see how things were run in their old mission. We are learning that so much depends on the mission President and how he wants to do things.
With our last changes here Elder Dillon was transferred out after having been in the offices for 9 months...we will miss him. He was here for half of our mission!
We are having fewer and fewer missionaries leaving...and getting fewer and fewer in return. We are getting mostly latino missionaries now which is gratifying to see. This is a slow time for missionaries in that many potential missionaries are in school and just waiting for semester and term ends. As we were making out the schedule for arriving and departures we were shocked to see our names there!
Time is getting short!

The other day the Elders came running into the office to get their cameras all the while yelling there's a lion outside a baby lion! So off we went and sure enough there was! Right there in the parking lot! We had a fun time petting the lion...and by the way they have really rough tongues..like being licked by 120 grit sandpaper!

We picked a good winter to be away from Utah as this year they have gotten lots of snow! This winter has been very nice here, it has been cold(high 40's) a few nights and only in the upper 50's some days, but for the most part in the 70's most days and beautiful sun rises! 

Lots of beautiful flowers too.

We have been blessed to be here with such wonderful missionaries,  other couples, and the friendly people of Mexico! We love our friends and family at home and feel their support too, so we are doubly blessed!

Christmas...Come and Gone

     It has been a month since we have posted and the time has really flown by!  The office work is always constant and December was filled with so many other fun activities that we can hardly report all of them.
     To begin with, the Hermanas at the Visitors' Center had begun practicing for a Christmas Program in early November with Hermana Zapata at the piano and Hna. Anthony was going to lead the singing.  It was quite an undertaking because neither Hna. Zapata or Hna. Anthony really spoke a lot of Spanish.  Then Élder Zapata had heart problems and they had to go home.  With a Christmas Devotional with the area 70's, Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics a week or two away, we talked an Elder in our mission, Elder Koerper who (by the way) was an excellent pianist, into playing the two songs and we sang our hearts out.  Things turned out well.

     Elder Koerper went home the week after the Devotional, so we asked Brother Mendoza from our ward, the Allende ward, to play.  He was extremely helpful as he had a background in music and leading choirs.  We were so thankful for him.  The Hermanas had their program on the Sunday before Christmas and it was so well-attended that extra rooms had to be opened up to broadcast it to more people.  All agreed that it was a success and everyone quickly forgot all of the early-morning practices.

President and Sister Anaya were really proud of their Hermanas from the CV (Centro para Visitantes)

It was really a time for festivities.  Many grand feasts were held, not just in the Visitors' Center, but the mission held two different meals and talent shows.  President Anaya stole the show with some games he played with the missionaries.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Packages from home!

Nothing like FOOD!

It's always fun to get the missionaries together!  They really enjoy each others' company!

Christmas Lights!

The Christmas Season is here!
Just like on Temple Square in Salt Lake the Temple bock here in Mexico City is adorned in lights and something that they don't have in Salt Lake....thousands of Noche Buena or Poinsettias planted in the beds. They are beautiful and are every where. The grounds people here do a wonderful job and are always working to make the flowers and trees look their best.

 Here are a few photos of the grounds...they are really pretty. It seems so strange to see poinsettias outside and Palm tress with lights and "icicles"!

  

 

 

 We saw these two  little girls and couldn't help but take their picture! They were bundled up with warm clothes since it was cold out side ( about 55degrees!)

What would Christmas time be without cookies! We had 3 Elders over the other day on their P Day to make cookies. They made chocolate chip, a no bake chocolate cookie and snickerdoodles. 

Elders Tribett, Dillon, and Sanchez

 The two assistants had birthdays this past week...so Marilyn made a cake for them to share...I think their faces tell the story!

Elder Norman from Washington  State and Elder Matos from the Dominican Republic. 

  Like every month we say goodbye to some of our missionaries and welcome new ones! It is an exciting time filled with happiness and sadness and the same time. We do get close to these missionaries and wish then the best as they return home. Some of them are the only members of the church in their families and returning home has some challenges for them.

 

  We have been here almost 11 months now and see the changes that have come over those missionaries that we welcomed here right after we got here. What a change in them. We look at the new missionaries and see expressions that run from excitement to WOW...this is really different from home!

 

Love the sunrises here!