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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Aug 30 2010, 12:22am
Post #1 of 16
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Mexico from A to Z: Letters T, U, V
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  Hello all! It’s time for the new installment of Mexico from A to Z, this week showcasing letter T. As I have said before, T is the third and last of the most extensive letters in the series. T is one of the most used letters in Nahuatl, so places and characters starting with T are numerous in Mexico. This 21st entry in the series contains several interesting things, and as what happened with Letter S, things start to draw from previous entries, making richer entries in terms of information. So without further ado, let us begin with Letter T.
T is for Vitamin T
Vitamin T is a colloquial term we use in Mexico for what we call, also colloquially, “antojitos”. Antojitos mean, literally, little cravings, and the term is related to many different foods made with tortilla, or corn flour, in general plus some other whose names also start with T. Vitamin T foods are generally cheap, with lots of flavor, but also loaded very far from light, so hearing that someone is “cutting down on Vitamin T” is not uncommon.
Vitamin T foods include, tacos, tostadas, tamales, tlacoyos, chilaquiles, tortas, gorditas, sopes, picadas, among others. I’ll try to explain some of them.
Everybody knows tacos. However, everybody knows sushi as well, but we tend to think of it in the California Roll fashion. Something similar happens to tacos, due to the Tex-Mex world famous influence. When you go to an average Mexico City Taco Place, the star will always be the “Taco al Pastor”. Pastor means shepherd, but nobody really knows why the tacos are called that way. At first glance, the “trompo”, “piña” or “bola”, from where the tacos are served, will look like that of a kebab or gyro place, like a big bulk of meat. However, this one’s pork and it’s red, because of the sauce it is marinated in. It has a strong flavor, but it isn’t hot. It is served on small, soft corn tortillas, with onion, cilantro and pineapple. That’s the commodity, but as you go through the menu, you will generally find plain, grilled and diced meat on tortillas, be it steak, pork, chicken, or other kinds of meat, like cecina, which is salted pork or beef; chorizo, spicy sausage; and arrachera, which is a popular beef cut, which I would be amiss to describe at detail. You can, of course, combine them with cheese.
 
Al Pastor Tacos
There are two other large groups of taco places in the country: those who sell carnitas and barbacoa, and those, mainly of the street and markets, who sell innards. Carnitas are baked pork meat, and barbacoa is mutton baked in ovens dug out in the ground. Both are very good.
The interesting thing comes here: Taco Bell tacos are, by most accounts, Tostadas. The only difference is that tostadas are flat, and Taco Bell’s have a horseshoe shape. Tostadas generally have beans, some kind of meat, sour cream, cheese, sauce and lettuce, which is mostly like a traditional Taco Bell.
Tostada
Tortas are other Mexican commodity. Torta means cake is Spain. Here, we take a piece of bread we call bolillo or telera, and essentially make a sandwich. However, tortas are generally hot, and include any ingredient of a variety of meats, cheese and vegetables. There are some particular tortas that are quite famous: Milanesa, with breaded meat or chicken and tamal Torta, which frankly is way too much mass.
A tamal is a pre-Columbian dish that has obviously undergone quite a transformation, but we could say it’s mainly dense corn dough with chile salsa and stuffed with some chicken or meat. They’re quite good actually. There are two main varieties: those that are wrapped in corn leaf, and those wrapped in Banana leaf, from the coastal regions.
 
Oaxacan Tamal in Banana Leaf / Tamal in corn leaf
Chilaquiles are chopped fried tortilla dipped in red or green chile sauce, often containing chicken.
Green Chilaquiles
Almost all other Vitamin T foods include some form of fried tortilla, beans and sauce.
T is for Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztecs, and was the foundation on which modern Mexico City was built.
Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325, when the Aztecs finally finished their pilgrimage from Aztlan upon the find of Huitzilopochtli’s sign, the Eagle eating a Snake on a nopal, the Mexican cactus. Tenochtitlan means “The Place of Tenoch”, who was the last Aztec leader before finally becoming entirely sedentary.
Tenochtitlan was one of the great Metropolises of the world in the 15th century, having as many as 300,000 inhabitants at its highest point. This was achieved by the wonder of engineering that was the chinampa, artificial platforms of soil built on the lake. Agriculture on chinampas was extremely productive, allowing the sustainment of such amounts of people.
The city was a representation of the Universe, according to Nahua cosmology. The Center of the Universe was the Great Temple, whose ruins can still be seen in Mexico City. The great pyramid, dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc was a representation of the Sacred Hill in which Huitzilopochtli was born and defeated his brothers, the Stars, and her Sister, the Moon. It faced West, as all major temples In Mesoamerica do. The City was then divided into four quadrants, one for each direction of the Universe. In each of the quadrants, large avenues lead to one of the cities in the shore of the lake. These avenues still exist today.
Codex Mendoza shows Tenochtitlan, its quarters and avenues.
Tenochtitlan was legendary for its order, and cleanliness, something that wasn’t the rule in the 15th century. Aztecs were good citizens, both by formation and by force, which meant Tenochtitlan has been traditionally regarded as a safe and model city.
Spanish Conquistadors saw the city with awe, as can be seen in Cortés’s Letters to King Charles and Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s True Story of the Conquest of the New Spain. It was said that the Market al Tlatelolco was one of the largest in the world at that time, that the great Temple was taller than any Spanish Cathedral and that the City was greater than Seville and Granada.
Artistic representation of Tenochtitlan
It is also worth mentioning that, even if the city was razed in the 16th century, Cortés never meant to destroy it, his lieutenant Alvarado being the one who openly began the hostilities.
Tenochtitlan was a great and beautiful city, the chief proof of the greatness of the Aztec. It also determined where the Spanish Capital would ultimately be placed, and where the capital of modern Mexico would endure. Back then, it was one of the largest cities of the world, and it remains so to this day. A romantic place on which to look today, such as Solomon’s Temple or the Pyramids of Gizeh, Tenochtitlan is one of those places that, even though disappeared, it endures in ruins, writing and the imagination of people.
Diego Rivera's Tenochtitlan
T is for Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan is the City of the Gods, or The City where the Gods were made. Teotihuacan is the name given by the Nahua tribes to this mythical City, one of those places where legend, myth and history are inextricably confounded, to the degree where not much can be said of one of the three without alluding to the other two.
Teotihuacan was founded before our era, and remained for centuries the largest, greatest and most important city of the Western Hemisphere, and certainly much greater than many of today’s millenary cities such as London or Paris. For many centuries (its decline came in the 7th century of our era) Teotihuacan was New York, or more fittingly for the time, it was Rome. All paths lead to Teotihuacan, everybody wanted to have something to do with Teotihuacan nobility. Even the most important Maya cities, Tikal, Calakmul and Palenque went to great lengths in order to have favorable relations with the City, and of course to document and brag about those relations.
The Promenade of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun to your left, taken from the Pyramid of the Moon
Nobody knows the ethnicity, the language or the name of the city according to its own inhabitants… it was already a legendary city when the Nahua arrived in the Valley of Mexico, and by all accounts, it inspired the same awe then, as it does now. According to the Aztec, as I’ve written before, Teotihuacan is the place where our Sun, and our era began. It is the dwelling of the Gods. It isn’t hard to imagine why they said so. The sheer magnitude and magnificence of the city is something that cannot be found anywhere else in the Americas. To date, the ruins stand impressively in a plain north of Mexico City, attracting millions of visitors every year, all of whom leave amazed by the grandeur of the city. As most Mesoamerican settlements, Teotihuacan is aligned with the stars, and it is a display of geometrical perfection, the city, and its main avenue, the Promenade of the Dead, being exactly 15° removed from the North –South World Axis
When I say Teotihuacan was Rome, I kid you not. There is archaeological evidence there were sections in the city we could call today “Zapotec Town”, for example. People migrated to the City, and products identified as original of the Teotihuacan area can be found all over Mesoamerica.
Landmarks in Teotihuacan are the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, as well as the complex devoted to Quetzalcoatl.
 
Pyramid of the Moon / Pyramid of the Sun
Whenever you visit Mexico City keep a day open for an excursion to Teotihuacan. It is worth every peso and every minute.
 
Teotihuacan Mural Paintings
T is for Tlacaelel
Throughout the series, I have stressed the point of Mesoamerican Dual Thought. Once, I mentioned the Aztec Tlatoani wasn’t even a monarch, but one of the two elected functionaries that shared power. The Tlatoani was in charge of foreign affairs, international policy, and war. The Cihuacoatl, on the other hand, was in charge of Internal Affairs, education, etc.
The one prominent Cihuacoatl remembered to this day is Tlacaelel. Son of Tlatoani Huitzilihuitl, brother to Tlatoanis Chimalpopoca, and Moctezuma I, Tlacaelel was 50 years in office, being the Cihuacoatl to three Tlatoanis: Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I and Ahuízotl.
He began and saw through the reform of the Aztec ideology and society. It was him who managed to take the Aztec from a submitted people to the Imperial Power it became later. It was also him who, burning old codexes, created the new Aztec history, making them the people of the Sun, changing sacrificial rituals, and creating the Flower Wars, which were fought to obtain prisoners for sacrifice. In short, Tlacaelel singlehandedly created the Aztec culture we know today, that in which they were sure they were the Chosen People to rule the world; in which their city was the center of the Universe; and where larger amounts of sacrifices were needed in order to feed the gods and prevent the Sun from dying.
Tlacaelel, little known as he may be, might be the single most important figure of the Aztec civilization.
Tlacaelel as seen in codexes
T is for Tlachtli
Tlachtli is the Nahuatl word for the Mesoamerican Ball Game. This has been one of the most studied aspects of the Mesoamerican culture, and with good reason: some cities in the Totonaca and Maya areas have as many as 16 courts in the city, many of which still survive today, and are some of the most interesting tourist attractions.
While the shape of the courts are varied, and the rules and finality of the game are arguable, Capital “I” shaped courts are the most common and famous, and it is commonly said the players scored when they introduced the rubber ball in hoops attached to the walls of the court. It is also said the ball could be hit with the hip, the head, the shins and the forearms.
Tlachtli as depicted in codexes
It has been discussed that the game was a ritual, in which the ball is the sun, and the players are gods, playing with it. It has also been said (alternately) that the winners or the losers were sacrificed. It is all quite debatable. I personally think there’s a tendency to say everything that happened in Mesoamerica had a ritual and religious side to it, which could of course be an exaggeration.
Representation of a game
That aside, Tlachtli courts are a great sight, and definitely worth taking a look whenever you visit Mesoamerican archaeological sites.
 
Wall of the court at Chichén Itza / Close-up of the scoring ring
T is for Toltec
The Toltec are the inhabitants of Tollan, another city that was semi-mythical to the Aztec. It was here that the struggle between the Black Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl took place.
The ruins of Tula, as Tollan is also called, still stand today in the state of Hidalgo, its most famous monument being the Atlantes, large pillar shaped as warriors that once held the ceiling of a temple.
The Atlantes at Tula
The Toltec were the most powerful people of Mesoamerica in a period called the Epi-classic, following the Fall of Teotihuacan, but prior to the great Nahua cities of the Center and the Maya-Toltec cities of the Southeast.
An interesting thing to say is that the Aztec called their culture, the collection of their beliefs and ideals, their “toltecayotl”, the Toltec way. Aztec nobility traced their beginning, and legitimized their power in their relation to the Toltec Royalty of old, which naturally related to Quetzalcoatl. The Toltec, were, thus, highly regarded in the Mesoamerica of the Post-Classic, which ended with the Spanish Conquest.
T is for Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca is the first of the four Tezcatlipocas: The Black, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and Xipe Totec. Son of Ometeotl, the Dual Creator Couple, he is arguably the most important deity of Mesoamerica, which is not something to wonder about when even Quetzalcoatl was one of the Tezcatlipocas.
As I have mentioned before, deities weren’t good or evil by nature in the Aztec way of thinking, however, Tezcatlipoca did encompass several properties that have led modern anthropologists to compare him a bit with gods like Loki, of the Norse Pantheon.
Tezcatlipoca means “Smoking Mirror”, a mirror he possessed in which he could look anywhere in the world, meddling with the affairs of Men and Gods alike. Tezcatlipoca was the trickster, the source of Magic and Patron of Sorcerers. He deceived and confused men, and induced them to wrong actions. His nahual, alter ego, was the Jaguar, which means Tezcatlipoca was the Night, Darkness, and the Earth. However, Tezcatlipoca was also the Patron of Mesoamerican Royalty, the giver of Music to Men, and was known to help his worshippers in War.
T is for Tlaltecuhtli
This is actually a bonus. Tlaltecuhtli was the god/goddess of earth; He/she from whom life emanates and who end up eating everything. Thus, the usual representation involved fertility signs but also fangs and blood in the mouth. The interesting thing of this deity’s representations is that they were meant for the deity itself, not for the eyes of men, so the incredibly intricate carvings depicting it were almost always placed upside down, towards the earth. Although several representations have been found before, the one found in 2006 and just recently (three months ago) put in display, is one of the most important archaeological finds in Mexican history.
The monolith, which measures 4 meters by 3.5 meters, is larger than the Aztec Calendar, the Stone of the Sun; and the Coyolxauhqui. It is also outstanding because it retained its original colors, the only known example so far. I was at the Great Temple Site Museum a couple weeks ago, and I can tell you it’s something impressive to behold.
Visit Mexico from A to Z! This week Letters R and S.
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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weaver
Gondolin
Aug 30 2010, 11:27pm
Post #2 of 16
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that's quite a list of T's....
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First, I'm now very hungry after all of those food shots...thanks for educating us on the variety of food and the distinctions between them.
I also did not realize the extent of those ancient cities or their significance -- just looking at the pictures was impressive, it must be amazing to see them, or to walk in areas that trace their roots back to them...I have lived in parts of the US where there are Indian mounds, and it was very profound to experience that landscape, but they are on a much smaller scale and are now part of park systems, etc. That's the closest I can get to the scale you have there...
Have you visited those sites? What is it like to see them in person?
Thanks for this series -- though I've not commented on all of them, I've certainly enjoyed reading them and learning from you!
Weaver
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Aug 31 2010, 12:23am
Post #3 of 16
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They are truly amazing displays of civilization... Teotihuacan is something else. I've been there 4 or 5 times in my life, and you never cease to me amazed by the scale and precision of it. It is truly one of the archaeological sites with the easier accesses, under two hours from Mexico City, which makes it a wonderful Saturday activity.
Chichén Itza is impressive too, that's far from the capital, though, so it's an activity to do when going to Cancún, rather than Mexico City. 
I don't remember Tula much, to be honest, I must have been there at least 17 years ago, when I was very little, so I couldn't tell you particulars. However, I can tell you those warrior-shaped columns are ever present when we speak of pre-Columbian imagery.
Tenochtitlan, by all accounts is no longer there. You can visit the ruins, which are a very nice visit, by the way. The site is next to National Palace, where the President works, and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The Site Museum houses the Coyolxauhqui and the Tlaltecuhtli, which makes it worthwhile by themselves. I guess it's one of those places I visit once every two years, going for the temprary collections.
I am glad you're liking it, this week I'll be working hard to ensure its proper conclusion. Very few letters to go! 
Visit Mexico from A to Z! This week Letters R and S.
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
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Aug 31 2010, 12:26am
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is on my 'must see' list if I ever visit South America. It's history is fascinating - and I didn't realise there was so much of it left to see! Those are amazing photos Compa.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Aug 31 2010, 1:53am
Post #5 of 16
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Let us continue with one of those letters for which it was hard to find enough info! Letter U.
U is for UNAM
UNAM is the acronym for the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which we call the Maximum House of Studies.
UNAM is a mixture of myth and truth, of excellence and full display of all that’s wrong with our education system… all at the same time.
The University was founded in 1910, with the objective of pursuing and developing “Mexican” knowledge, to educate and prepare people for the continuous changes that the 20th Century would bring. At least, that was what Justo Sierra, Minister of Education back then, envisioned for the Institution.
Historically speaking, the University has been incredibly successful, educating entire generations of professionals, carrying out most of the research done in the country, housing the 1968 Olympic Stadium, having the professional soccer team Pumas, the fourth most important in the country, from which many of the most important Mexican players hail, creating at least one Chemistry Nobel Prize, being the scientific arm and consultant of the government, and being a center and reference of culture for the country. It has also actively helped to bridge the social gap, being one of those excessively patriotic and democratic institutions: to date, the semester costs 20 cents of a Mexican Peso, which accounts for around 1.5 cents of an American Dollar. That has allowed many people with no means to pay for a college education to have a superior education. Last year, 315,000 students were enrolled in courses in UNAM, ranging from High School all the way to Ph.D.’s.
Today, the University, like Mexico, is a matter of contrasts. It is highly politicized, and is sadly swarmed with bums who pretend to be students (for years!), of supporters of the ill-conceived Mexican socialism, often related to Central and South American guerrillas, and people of similar ideologies. Programs are outdated in many disciplines, and the poor fame it has built makes many private sector employers openly against hiring UNAM graduates.
UNAM, however, remains King in research and in the top-performing special groups, where it is very hard to get in. Facilities are also beyond anything imaginable in Latin America, and even some parts of the first world. That has clinched it a place in the Top 100 World Universities Rankings in the last few years.
UNAM trivia includes the Cheer and “War cry” which is “Goya!”, that its colors are Navy Blue and Gold, that the Coat of Arms displays a Royal Eagle and a Condor as a demonstration of the Unity of the Latin Americans, both Northern and Southern, and that the University’s motto is “Through my race, the spirit will speak”, which is a modification from the original “Through my race, the Holy Spirit will speak.” That was changed because Mexican politicians are allergic to mention anything religious in public.
Coat of Arms of the Univeristy
David Alfaro Siquieros's Mural in the Main building of the University
U is for Usumacinta
River Usumacinta is one of the natural frontiers between Mexico and Guatemala. Meaning “Howling Monkey”, the Usumacinta is the river that carries the most water in the country, making the zone of the State of Tabasco, where it meets the sea, one of the very few areas in the country with excess water. Mexico is mostly a dry country.
Map of the Southeast. Usumacinta in blue.
Picture of the river.
U is for Uruchurtu
The Federal District (D.F.), where Mexico City is located, was created to house the Powers of the Union in a territory that did not belong to any of the 31 Sovereign States of the United States of Mexico. As such, it depended directly from the Federal Executive, and the President designated a Regent, who executed and governed the Federal District. In a pseudo-democratic effort (more of a demagogic ploy), popular election was installed in the Federal District in 1997, changing the figure of the Regent for that of the Chief of Government.
That said, Ernesto Peralta Uruchurtu was the Regent from 1952 to 1966. He ruled with an Iron Fist, but he had a knack for doing just what was actually needed. He developed the City in a very organized way. He was a true Statesman, and the City really lived a good period while he was in office. Uruchurtu is also famous for not allowing The Beatles to play in Mexico City, labeling them as troublemakers.
Coat of Arms of the Federal District
The only picture I found of Regent Uruchurtu
Visit Mexico from A to Z! This week Letters T, U and V.
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
(This post was edited by Compa_Mighty on Aug 31 2010, 2:02am)
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Alassëa Eruvande
Doriath
Aug 31 2010, 7:04pm
Post #7 of 16
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Is the UNAM subsidized by the government?
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I'm just wondering how they can charge 20 cents per semester and still pay their professors, maintenance personnel, janitors, etc. Or is the fee based on your income? Do wealthier students pay more? Or do wealthier students study elsewhere, since UNAM has developed such a poor reputation?
Fascinating stuff as always, Compa! Thanks!
And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame.
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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Aug 31 2010, 7:58pm
Post #8 of 16
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Is anyone else jonesing for some Vitamin T all of the sudden? /
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Aug 31 2010, 10:53pm
Post #9 of 16
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As you note, it would be impossible to do that otherwise. It's a flat fee, so everyone pays the 20 cents, regardless of any other circumstance. Also, as you say, wealthier students tend to attend private universities rather than UNAM. There are 6 major private universities in Mexico (4 in Mexico City, 1 in Monterrey and 1 in Puebla), which are in good to great Academic shape right now. That's where most of the middle and higher class people aspire to go. Of those six only one has enough techonological research, labs and facilities remotely comparable to UNAM, though. You have to make trade-offs, after all.
I am glad you liked it!
Visit Mexico from A to Z! This week Letters T, U and V.
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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weaver
Gondolin
Sep 1 2010, 2:11am
Post #10 of 16
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thanks for the further insights!
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Where I live, people are in the habit of tearing down things, or recreating things that were torn down...and we certainly have nothing of that kind of scale or antiquity. You are lucky to be able to see and touch the authentic past like that.
Weaver
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batik
Dor-Lomin
Sep 1 2010, 3:16am
Post #11 of 16
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tex-mex, taco bell...now we're talking :)
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...just for the record...Taco Bell sells the folded version as a taco and the unfolded version as the tostada. I have been to a more "authentic" restaurant and ordered tacos--which were delivered unfolded...so I guess *that* is the real deal taco! Flat as opposed to folder--whoddathunkit? To add to the confusion, I grew up calling a tostada--chalupa? No idea where that came from!
Tamales (in Tex-speak) --people are mad for them here! Corn-leaf wrapped version, that is. My folks buy them by the dozens when they travel to South Texas though there are a few folk here that sell them out of their homes. Well, I have been approached a couple of times in the Walmart parking lot with a $.5.00 a dozen offer! 
The description of the chinampa--made me think of Laketown  ...well, actually those references to the West and Sun and Moon..of course, *Tolkien* popped into my mind!
And, my, a smoking mirror that allowed one to see other places.
There are four *main* streets here, too. Now I wonder what the significance might be...are these in the original locations? And,if so, why were they built in those particular locations/directions? What is *old* around here dates back maybe a couple of hundred years. Ha! I was a bit impressed walking around on the Alamo grounds. Cities and roads and buildings that have been around for much, much longer--sites I would love to spend some time in--old stones and all that.
thanks Compa
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Sep 1 2010, 3:39am
Post #12 of 16
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Hello all! Today we continue the series with the fourth to last letter: Letter V. Interesting things come with this letter, so let us begin!
V is for Veracruz
When Cortés arrived in Mexico, lured by the rumors and legends of the wealth of the nations of the continent, he arrived in a patch of land in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. He had a mass celebrated and he constituted the first European City in Continental America: La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, The Rich Villa of the True Cross. The first Major was Francisco de Montejo, who later became the conqueror of the Yucatán Peninsula. Today, Cortés’s Villa Rica is called Antigua and is actually a few kilometers away from modern downtown Veracruz. You can still see Cortés’s house in Antigua.
Cortés's House in Antigua
The Port of Veracruz also gave its name to one of the 31 states, which covers most of the coast of the Gulf.
Veracruz’s history is Mexico’s history. The port became, and remains to this day the most important port of the country, and for several centuries it was one of the most important of the world. All merchandise from the New Spain (and even that imported from Asia which came with the Nao of China to Acapulco) was embarked there to Seville and Cádiz, including what represented almost 90% of the world’s silver.
Aside from the immense economic importance of Veracruz, it has also been a site of battles and national happenings. This is home to the cruelest and most famous prison/fortress of Colonial Mexico: San Juan de Ulúa. It is built in a small isle facing shore, which provoked it to become flooded periodically. To date, you can visit the former prison, where you will be shown three collective cells, traditionally called Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. Heaven is far from Heaven, but it’s a larger chamber, in which fewer people were incarcerated, and where relatively little water came in. Hell is freakishly small; it was traditionally very crowded and flooded.
The Fort of San Juan de Ulúa
The Mexican government likes to add the word “heroic” to cities, groups of people, or events who did something to defend the country. Veracruz is thus, the “Four times heroic Veracruz”, having seen two American attacks (1847, 1914), a French attack (1838), and the final surrender of the Spanish Remnant after the Independence War in 1825.
Veracruz has also been the see of the Executive twice: when Juárez was escaping from Emperor Maximilian’s Government and with Venustiano Carranza, also on the move during the Revolution.
The Port of Veracruz
Speaking of the State, Veracruz’s capital is Xalapa, which is in the mountainous region of the territory.
The region was important since pre-Columbian times, being home to an important civilization called the Totonacas. They were one of the great tributaries to the Aztec Empire, and their greatness lives on in a beautiful archaeological site, called Tajín, famous for its pyramids with “niches”.
Tajín
Diego Rivera's Tajín
V is for Villa
Infamous Pancho Villa is one of those weird figures of Mexican history. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen elsewhere, after all Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake are “venerable” pirates, but they don’t qualify as national heroes exactly.
Pancho Villa was the alias of Doroteo Arango, a road bandit of the North, who profited of the Revolution to “clean up” his name, and to gain personal power. He was called “The Centaur of the North, as he led the campaign of his army, The Division of the North.
He joined Madero in his Revolutionary movement, but once Madero was overthrown and murdered, Villa and Zapata gained more power, as their numbers and terrain knowledge became indispensable to the fragmented Revolutionary forces to be able to overthrow Victoriano Huerta.
Once Huerta was removed from office, for which Villa was instrumental, Carranza called for a meeting of the various revolutionary factions. It did not go well, and Carranza ended up fleeing to Veracruz, while Villa and Zapata took Mexico City.
Henceforth, the relationship between Villa and the later President Carranza was strained, which meant whenever one was on top, the other struggled importantly. Carranza eventually called for the Constitutive Congress for the 1917 Constitution, and Villa lost importance in the Revolution.
He did not, however, lose media exposure. He was very friendly with the press, and according to Wikipedia, he even had contracts with American filmmakers to film his battles.
Villa is famous, of course, for being one of those isolated invaders of American soil, in events such as the sack of Columbus. He was a headache for Pershing, and as the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles show, Patton was under Pershing’s command in the never-ending quest to capture the elusive Villa.
Villa was ambushed and killed in Chihuahua, Chihuahua in 1923.
Villa is one of those romanticized and highly mediatized figures, mostly thanks to his dead-on coincidence with the Mexican stereotype… a macho revolutionary with a mustache, a sombrero, on a horse, shooting around to the air. I must say most Hollywood representations are laughable, even if you don’t look at Villa with a particular reference. Having Antonio Banderas do it was simply ridiculous.
Pancho Villa
V is for Venustiano
Venustiano Carranza was one of the leading figures of the Revolution, and his importance is immense to modern Mexico. After Huerta’s coup to the government of Madero, he was the first Governor (Coahuila) to stand against the new regime, and at different points in the Revolution, when everything was fragmented and order was elusive, he managed to keep things together with a concrete political and ideological line, lacking in the passionate but disordered fighters as Villa and Zapata.
I’ve talked much about the happenings of the Revolution, so let us just say that once he managed to keep Villa at bay, Carranza saw the need of consolidating all the fighting in a concrete political way, so he called for the Constitutive Congress. Months later, he was elected President, and on February 5, 1917, he promulgated the Constitution which lives on to this day. This Constitution was very modern, and ahead of its time, incorporating things such as Mandatory and Free Education, and robust articles protecting the rights of the labor force and agrarian matters.
Carranza was ambushed and murdered in 1920.
Venustiano Carranza
Visit Mexico from A to Z! This week Letters T, U and V.
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
(This post was edited by Compa_Mighty on Sep 1 2010, 3:41am)
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Alassëa Eruvande
Doriath
Sep 1 2010, 1:38pm
Post #13 of 16
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My father was born in 1912 in South Texas
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and had vague memories of Pancho Villa's raids in South Texas. Our family wasn't directly involved in any of the raids, living further north, but he remembered older people around him talking about them.
You're right about Villa looking like the Mexican stereotype, though. Who knows, maybe his friendliness with the media is what started it all.
A friend of a friend of mine collects old photos of the Mexican Revolution, especially those with guns depicted. He has a lot of Panco Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Eulalio Guitierrez, as well as the peasant-soldiers and had quite a few made into calendars which he gives out to local businesses in my home town. One photo I have always liked is this one, with Villa and Zapata and 25 of their BFF's hanging out in the palace. I always get a kick out of Pancho Villa sitting in that big fancy chair. 
And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame.
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Elvenhome
Sep 1 2010, 9:26pm
Post #14 of 16
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I remember meeting "la viuda de Pancho Villa"
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when I was a kid and we took that 6-week trip through Mexico in 1972 or thereabouts. She was a tiny little old lady who ran a museum out in the desert in Chihuahua. The only thing I remember from the museum was the bullet-riddled car--and of course the little old lady. At that time I'd only had two years of high-school Spanish, so I could only barely follow the conversation, but she and my mom chatted away like old friends.
According to wikipedia, he had several wives (or "wives") so I'm not sure which one this was. But it was so interesting to meet her.
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Elvenhome
Sep 1 2010, 9:50pm
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That's pretty cute.
When we went to Mexico, the food was waaay too spicy for me (my parents didn't use any spices in their cooking, not even salt. Very English, I guess.) I lived for a month on refritos and Bimbo bread. Even the MacDonald's hamburgers were too spicy for me to eat. I think now I'd have better luck with it. I do love our local version of Mexican food.
One of the things I remember being so struck by when we went to Mexico was the words beginning with TL. It's such a beautiful sound, and so alien to an English-speaker's ear. It's so much fun to say; it fills your mouth with music.
We did go to Teotihuacan, and it was magical, except for the wasps. That may have been just the luck of the draw; they might not be there all the time. I'll probably never get to Greece or Rome, so I was glad to see something so ancient and beautiful. (We do have things like Mesa Verde and Hovenweep here, which are also magical, but on a much smaller scale.)
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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