Querétaro 2016

Our friends Manuel and Alejandra invited us to visit them in Toluca last weekend. Our first joy upon arrival was meeting their 8-month-old granddaughter Dana Laura. Here are photos of the beautiful young lady with Lois, and with grandpa Manuel (the mustache is a requirement for Mexican grandfathers, according to Manuel) and with the proud new mom, Ale:

Manuel and Alejandra took us to see the Centro Ceremonial Otomí in Temoaya, Estado de Mexico. We knew nothing of the place, and found it fascinating. Built in two years starting in 1980 by the Lopez Portillo administration, it is designed to honor a 9th century historical site. The entrance is guarded by a large statue of Botzanga, the Otomí warrior. The large site (50 hectares) is surrounded with beautiful green pine- and oak- forested mountains.

The 1st plaza (Plaza del Colosol) has an image of Tahaay, the messenger of fire and of life. The great mural of D-Mishi alludes to the nagual of the jaguar and the Glorieta del Centinela gives us the 4 cardinal directions. The Central Plaza – Plaza del Sagitario – features 45 guardian statues depicting intertwined serpents plus 7 additional sculptures on top of the Salon de Actos. 45+7 refers to the number of years in the cycle of the Aztec calendar, possibly because the Aztec culture was predominant for so long. The 3 flames within a circle formed by a snake in the center of the Central Plaza symbolize ‘eternity’.

The generations of Otomís are immortalized in a “Line of time” consisting of 12 conical structures at the top of the complex. The massive figure with them is Tata Jiude – el Sol – also called Hyadi.

At least one Sunday each month, an Otomí chaman conducts rituals at this site

Here is a super aerial video of the site someone posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ii0MOhezCI

On our way back to Toluca we stopped by a shop where a family of Otomí artisans make some of the famous Temoaya carpets (alfombras)

Here's a video of the weaver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IcIi9dFE-o