Mexico City's Sunken Park, Parque Hundido

During a visit to Mexico City before moving here in 2011, we were taking the Metrobus down Avenida Insurgentes. The Metrobus is a double bus, styled rather like two joined subway cars, with two wide doors on one side of each car. It has its own, dedicated lane and raised platforms for passengers to exit and enter at designated stops. Avenida Insurgentes is lined with trees and many modern office buildings, stores and restaurants, so we enjoyed a pleasant ride.

Traveling along, we glimpsed what appeared to be a wooded park, but strangely, it dropped below street level, out of sight. This piqued our curiosity, but during that visit to Mexico City, we didn't have time to return and investigate it. After we moved to Coyoacán in southern Mexico City, we had many other parts of the metropolis to get to know. We finally passed by it again while exploring the original pueblo of Mixcoac, but our focus then was on the landmarks of the Spiritual Conquest, the churches established during the evangelization of the indigenous residents by Spanish friars in the 16th century.

Eventually, we did return and get to know the park below ground level. It is, in fact, popularly called Parque Hundido, the Sunken Park, and it has become one of our favorite parks in Mexico City. It provides a wooded, therefore shady, cool retreat from the urban barullo (hubbub) and the Mexican sun. It is much smaller than Chapúltepec Woods, so it can be explored in its totality during a leisurely walk. There are many benches for resting and people watching. It is never crowded. Like Parque de los Venados (Deer Park), also in Delegación Benito Juárez, it is more of a neighborhood park, used by the people living around it.

From Brick Factory to Good Night Woods

Parque Hundido's below street level setting is the result of the transformation of a site, now in Delegación Benito Juárez, that was occupied by the Nochebuena (Good Night) Brick Company during the 19th century. Near the beginning of the Porfiriato (dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, 1876-1911), the company moved away, likely because it had dug out all the clay from the former lake bed. It left an empty depression.

Near the end of the Porfiriato, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several species of trees were planted there, creating the Bosque de la Nochebuena, the Good Night Woods. This was likely under the direction of Miguel Ángel de Quevedo, an engineer and architect who worked in the Secretariat of Agriculture and became the champion of reforesting the then Federal District and, later, the Mexican countryside. He also created los Viveros de Coyacán, the Coyoacán Tree Nursery, to grow trees for transplanting around the City.

(La Nochebuena, the Good Night, is the Spanish name for Christmas Eve and, hence, also of the poinsettia shrub, native to Mexico, which flowers at Christmas time. The poinsettia derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first U.S. Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the United States in 1825. See our spouse's post in Jenny´s Journal of Mexican Culture: From Nochebuena—"Christmas Eve" Flower—to Poinsettia).

In the late 1930s, having paved and widened Avenida de los Insurgentes, a main road to the south, the city government decided to turn the woods into a park. In 1972, the space was redesigned. It is now a wonderful, jungle-like, quiet escape from the urban bustle above and around it. (Wikipedia)

A Walk in the Park

The main entrance to the park is a wide, formal stairway
descending from Avenida Insurgentes.
At the bottom is the park's signature floral clock.

Our favorite entrance is from a small plaza at the corner of Insurgentes
 and Avenida Porfirio Díaz.
A few stairs, made of rocks, descend to a pathway into the woods.

Park's northeast corner, seen from below.

Reaching the bottom, one finds a network of curving paths
which make it easy and inviting to walk around the park
and experience various perspectives.

On the west side, a small hill adds visual interest and an opportunity for stair-climbing.

Outdoor Sculpture Museum

Around the oval path are full-scale reproductions of a number of Mesoamerican
(prehispanic) sculptures.
This is an Olmec head from Veracruz.

Chaac, Maya god of rains and waters.

Things to Do in Parque Hundido

An oval path that circles the park has a rubber track for jogging or power walking.
It´s also kind to those with back problems or mobility challenges.

The park is a favorite for dog walkers.

A "train" provides rides around the oval for those choosing not to wallk.

                

Left: Trying out his "wheels" (Bikes are not allowed.)
Right: Go, girls, go!

Doing homework.

Doing the teenage thing.

The southwest corner has tables for playing chess. 

A teenage boy takes after-school care of a group of younger kids.

A little fútbol (soccer) practice is always in order.

A quiet walk by one's self.

Wooded Retreat Near City Centro

Parque Hundido is quite centrally located, not far south of Centro Histórico and easy to reach via the Metrobus on Avenida Insurgentes or via taxi. This makes it possibly the most accessible and enjoyable park in Mexico City for anyone seeking a quiet retreat. 

Delegación Benito Juárez
Parque Hundido (green/yellow star) is in
Colonia Extremadura Insurgentes, west of Avenida Insurgentes.
Just north of it is la Colonia Noche Buena (small purple rectangle)
The park is a short walk north of the original pueblo of Mixcoac, 
(orange) about which we have written. 

Delegación Benito Juárez
is bright yellow in north-center of Mexico City. 
It is just south of Delegación Cuauhtémoc (taupe),
the location of Centro Histórico.
and north of Delegación Coyoacán (purple).

Mexico City Climate: Seasons, Sun, Sky, Clouds and Rain

People, both estadounidenses (United Statesians) and Mexicans, frequently ask us why we moved to Mexico. Since we have been asked often over the past ten years, we have developed a very succinct answer (in both English and Spanish), "For the three Cs: climate, cost and culture. (el clima, el costo y la cultura.)" This blog is very much about the culture, particuarly that of Mexico City and its many, very different colonias, pueblos and barrios, i.e., in over-simplified English, its neighborhoods. The cost factor is totally a pragmatic one, and with the present currency exchange rate for U.S. dollar conversion to Mexican pesos, much in our favor.

Climate we list first because that it what first attracted us, along with the culture, to visit Mexico. It only took barely escaping back-to-back snowstorms in New York one February and landing in Cancún, with its intense blue sky, aquamarine waters and warm sun, to convince us: "No more Winters!" However, Cancún, on the Caribbean coast, and both coasts of Mexico, beautiful and warm as they are in Winter, are extremely hot and humid in the Summer. Having lived with Northeast summers all of our life, we didn't need more of that!

So in looking for a place to live year-round, permanently, in Mexico, we headed for the hills, i.e., the high plateau of Central Mexico know as el Bajío (5,500 to 6,000 ft., 1,700 to 1,900 meters above sea level) and the cross-country mountain chain called the Eje Volcánico, the Volcanic Axis or Trans-Mexico Volcanic Belt. Most of the valleys between the volcanoes, where cities and larger towns are located, are about 7,000 ft (2,150 meters) above sea level.

We found Pátzcuaro, a small, charming, tranquil Spanish Colonial city on Lake Patzcuaro, in the pine covered mountains of the State of Michocán, fell in love with it and moved there in August of 2008. Three years later, as former New Yorkers, we decided we needed a more urban environment and moved to Mexico City. Both are in the Volcanic Axis, at virtually the same altitude, with the same climate.

The Seasons in Mexico's Central Highlands

Here, in the midst of the high mountains, Spring, interestingly, is the hot season. Afternoon highs are in the 80s Fahrenheit (27 Celsius and up), occasionally hitting 90 (32 C), but because of the altitude, the air is dry, so the heat is not oppressive during the day, and the air cools rapidly after the sun goes down.

Summers are actually somewhat cooler because, from May through September, it is the rainy season. The frequent late afternoon or evening thunderstorms, triggered by the day's heat, act as natural air  conditioning, cooling the evening air and usually keeping the next day's afternoon temperature in the mid to upper 70s. As the sun is usually out summer mornings and into the mid-afternoon, who could ask for anything more?

The "Winters" (November through February) in this highland part of Mexico can have chilly nights, in the 40s, even an occasional frost in December or January. When the sun comes up (earlier than in northern latititudes), it quickly warms the air and by afternoon, temperatures are in the upper 60s to low 70s. (Because temperatures can rise and then fall as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit each day, Mexicans say they have four seasons in one day.) There are occasional cloudy days, once-in-a-while with some sprinkles or light showers (called las cabañuelas), when day-time temperatures only reach the 60s. With no central heating in homes, those days are a challenge to be met with gas or electric space heaters and sweaters.

Late Winter day

Personally, we call the season from November through February "Fling", a merging of Fall and Spring, because the deciduous trees (yes, there are many in addition to the palms and other siempre verde, always green ones) tell us the two "seasons" are happening simultaneously.

"Fall", i.e., the yellowing and fall of the leaves on deciduous trees,
happens from November through February.
Note the tree, mid far left, that already has its new, chartreuse green Spring leaves.

Each deciduous tree loses its leaves on its own schedule.
This one does so in January.

Three weeks later, it is sprouting its new "Spring" leaves.

By mid February, full "Spring" has occurred.

"Fling" (officially Winter) ends
with the glorious eruption of lilac blossoms of jacaranda (hah cah RAHN dah) trees in March.

Sun

It was the sun, with its winter warmth, that drew us to Mexico. The sun is central to Mexico's climate and thus, its culture and national identity. Of course, the sun is critical to all life in all parts of the planet, but here in Mexico, as in all of the tropics, its strength, on the many days that have clear skys, is potently, directly felt. Even in late December, it is toasty warm. From March through October, for eight months of the year, it produces a de facto Summer.

Of course, one cannot photograph the sun. But, from our wonderful, East-facing living room window, we (actually our early-rising spouse) can watch the sunrise. Amazingly, given our nearly 180 degree view, we can watch from day to day, week to week and month to month as the sun moves north from its most southern point at the winter solstice (meaning when the sun "stands still"), through the spring equinox (equal length of day and night) to the summer solstice in the north.

Sunrise at winter solstice, December 21.
It rises at the southern "foot" of the volcano Iztaccihuatl, the White or Sleeping Woman.
Popocatepetl, "Smoking Mountain", is to the far right.

Sunrise at mid Winter, February 2,
having passed north over Iztaccihuatl.
Also rises here at mid Autumn, November 2.

Sunrise at Spring (March 21) and Fall (September 21) equinox,
far north of Iztaccihuatl..

Zenith.
Because much of Mexico lies south of the Tropic of Cancer (23°26′12.8″ North),
the sun actually arrives directly overhead, at zenith, at noon on two days of the year.

In Mexico City (19°26′N) this occurs on May 15 at 1.35pm Central Daylight Time.
Then, for ten weeks the sun moves through northern skys.
It returns to zenith on its way back south, on July 26.
At the zeniths (and days close to them),
shadows fall directly below the object casting them.

After the sun reaches its northern most point on June 21, we then spend the next six months watching it return south. The sun's movement along such a horizon constitutes humanity's first calendar (think Stonehedge). (Oh, and we can watch sunsets from our bedroom window, although the range of our view to the north is restricted, so summer sunsets aren't visible.)

Rain

The rainy season in Mexico usually begins with what we call "practicing" or the "run up" in April when, in late aftenoon, rain clouds form over the volcanoes to the east, but nothing more happens. Then, as the days progress, big, towering cumulus thunderhead clouds and lightening and thunder will be added and, perhaps, some sprinkles and finally, usually in May, a full-fledged thunderstorm, which can become torrential in mid-summer through September.

Towering cumulus cloud forms over the eastern mountains,
hearlding the approach of the rainy season.

Thunderstorm approaches

This year (2018), the clouds started forming at the end of February and by mid-March, we had a few sprinkles. Then, one afternoon, lightening and thunder were added, and we had an actual short shower. But it also brought the first rainbow of the year! They appear frequently, as the storms from the east often coincide with sunset. Our east-facing picture window and balcony provide the perfect viewing place, and the time coincides with wine and cheese before dinner!

Rainbow (with a faint double)
The Mexico City International Airport is about five miles northeast of us,
so we frequently see planes ascending.
(We call this photo "Why, oh why, can't I fly... Over the rainbow?")

Subsequently, we had thunder storms three nights in a row. One night, there were three waves of storms, with strong winds. Then, a sunset reflected against the dissipating storm clouds.

That onslaught was followed by two weeks of straight, hot sun. No rain. Then, one evening, when no rain was in the day's forecast, we had a sudden, intense thunderstorm. So goes the start of the rainy season: erratic and unpredictable (even for the weather experts).

So That's Why We Live in Mexico

Any more questions?

The Travels and Travails of La Virgen de la Bala, The Virgin Who Took the Bullet

A while ago, we attended the patron saint fiesta of San Antonio Abad (St. Anthony the Abbot) in the Barrio San Antonio Atípac, in Pueblo Culhuacán, Delegación Iztapalapa. A main event in the fiesta was a procession that went from the church to an intersection that forms one corner of the barrio. There, residents of the other barrios of Culhuacán, as well as other nearby pueblos, were waiting to join the procession back to the church for the celebration of a Mass honoring San Antonio.

Under the Calzada (Avenue) de Taxqueña viaduct, which passes over Eje 3 Oriente (Axis Road 3 East),
a gathering of Saints and some of the faithful of Their barrios
await the arrival of San Antonio. 

In the middle, San Andrés from the neighboring Pueblo Tomatlán;
we were at His fiesta in November 2017.
San Simón, of Barrio San Simón, is at the left.

We recognized some of the saints from prior Ambles to various of original pueblos. Some were new to us. One, in particular, caught our attention, a small version of the Virgin Mary, crowned as the Queen of Heaven and dressed in white. She was contained in a metal-framed glass box. Such small, encased versions of saints, we have learned, are called demanditas, literally 'little demands', i.e. little (therefore easily portable) 'petitions' or vehicles for prayers to the saint. 

La Virgen de la Bala, the Virgin of the Bullet
The crown and circle of stars around Her head
and the crescent Moon of clouds at Her feet
identify Her advocación (role) as Queen of Heaven.

A young woman was holding her. We approached, introduced ourselves and asked what advocación of the Virgin this was. The word advocación (from the verb advocar, to advocate, to speak up on behalf of someone) is used in Spanish to describe each particular "forms" taken by the Virgin Mary to carry out her role as an advocate for the faithful, an intermediary speaking up for them to Her Son, the Christ, and God the Father, the father of Her Son. Some major examples in Mexico are:

• Virgin of Guadalupe, adopting and protecting all the peoples of Mexico;
• Virgen de Candelaria, presenting the Infant Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem;
• Virgen de Dolores, (of Sorrows), bearing Her Sorrows during Holy Week; and  
• Virgen de los Remedios (Remedies), a statue believed to have been brought by one of the Spanish conquistadors, hence Her first presence in the New World..

The woman replied, "She is la Virgen de la Bala" — "the Virgin of the Bullet."

Virgin of the Bullet? We were taken aback by the very peculiar name. In all our Ambles to saints' fiestas, we had never heard of this advocation of the Virgin and wondered how she came to have such a strange name and what advocatión it represented.

The young woman added that this Virgin was not the original statue. The original, she said, resided in the Santuario del Señor de la Cuevita, the Sanctuary of the Lord of the Little Cave, in nearby Pueblo Iztapalapa. We were familiar with the Sanctuary from our attendance at the Passion Play of Iztapalapa the previous Holy Week, as the play developed in the 19th century to honor this figure of Cristo enterrado, Christ buried.

At this point, the procession headed back to the church of San Antonio Abad, and we were left with many unanswered questions. We thought that, at some point, we would have to research more to try and find out the story and significance of this new, to us peculiar, advocación of the Virgin.

The Saint of a Spanish Lady Takes a Centuries-long Path to Turn into a Santo Popular, a Saint of the Common People

In subsequent weeks, we were occupied by other fiestas, including Carnavales (Carnivals), leading up to Lent and Holy Week. Nevertheless, having discovered in the past year that many pueblos in Mexico City have Facebook pages, including for their various saints, we came across not one, but two pages dedicated to la Virgen de la Bala. One stated it was sponsored by the Confradía (Brotherhood) of Santuario del Señor de la Cuevita in Pueblo Iztapalapa, confirming that the Virgin resides there. The other was La Virgen de la Bala Pueblo de Culhuacán, apparently the one we had met below the overpass in San Antonio Atípac. On both pages, the Virgin is photographed visiting private homes in the respective communities.  

Recently, we wrote a blog page on what we call santos populares, a group of saints of the Catholic Church that we have encountered at various fiestas who, instead of being patron saints assigned to a parish, are ones that have been adopted by the people of a pueblo after some miraculous event had occurred, often when they were visiting the pueblo from elsewhere.

El Señor de la Cuevita is one such santo popular, the de facto predominant saint of all of the barrios of the ancient pueblo of Iztapalapa. It struck us that la Virgen de la Bala was evidently also such a santo popular, a saint adopted by the common people. That motivated us all the more to try to find out her story and why she is associated with a bullet.

The contemporary miracle of the Internet led us to the tale. We found a website written by an art historian who had done his undergraduate thesis on la Virgen de la Bala. (Such a thesis of original research is required in Mexican universities to become "licenciado", the equivalent of a bachelor's degree.)  Naín Alejandro Ruiz Jaramillo now holds a Masters in Art History. Here is our translation of his telling of the origin, travels and travails of la Virgen de la Bala.

"Tradition and legend say that at the beginning of the seventeenth century, there was a Spanish couple who lived in the pueblo of Iztapalapa, right on the shores of Lake Texcoco. Their marriage was distinguished by living in harmony and being a great example of sincere love, until the Devil, the enemy of all Christian unions, attempted and managed to sow discord between them, managing to ignite in the heart of the husband the infernal fire of jealousy.

One day, the husband, crazed by hate, decided to kill his innocent wife, took a gun and shot at her. The only thing the helpless woman could do to safeguard herself was to take as her defense and shield a small image of the Virgin under the advocación of Her Immaculate Conception. She had possessed the image since time immemorial and professed great devotion to it. At the moment of the shooting, the bullet was miraculously stopped by the base of image.

According to the Jesuits Fray Francisco de Florencia and Antonio de Oviedo, who later wrote of the miracle, the bullet was embedded in the base 'so firmly that, although it can be rotated, it has never been possible to remove it'. This event was taken as irrefutable proof of the fidelity of the woman, and the husband was thus set straight. It was in this way that the sculpture was named Our Lady of the Bullet.

After this first miracle, the pious tradition narrates that the image was offered in a lottery among the churches of Mexico City. The lot was drawn three times, and each time the hospital for lepers in San Lázaro won the prize. It is recalled that at the precise moment that the Virgin was brought into the hospital, a woman for whom last rites had been said, and for whom a vigil was being held, suddenly revived. For this reason, other wonderful miracles are attributed to Her.

(Translator's note: San Lázaro, St. Lazarus, is the saint of lepers. The hospital was the second one founded by Hernán Cortes in 1524. The neighborhood, which still takes its name from the hospital, is on the east side of what was then the small colonial City of Mexico. It is now the site of the Chamber of Deputies of the federal Congress, commonly referred to as 'San Lazaro'.) 

Several chronicles report one of Her greatest and most improbable marvels: in the year 1666 a woman who had severe problems delivering twin babies, by intervention of the Virgin of the Bullet, managed to deliver them through her mouth. It is obvious that knowledge about pregnancy and human conception was precarious at that time, only in that way can we explain such a peculiar story.

It is also known that the Virgin a cured a typhus fever suffered by the daughter of Francisco de Córdoba, the corregidor of the City of Mexico (mayor, appointed by the King). In honor of the Virgin of the Bullet, a famous confradía (brotherhood) was founded, dedicated to assisting the leprous poor.

Fray Francisco de Florencia was the one who thought that Mexico City was protected by the Virgin Mary on all sides (the archetypical cardinal directions in all primal cultures) by means of four sanctuaries and images of Her: 

'The city of Mexico is favored by the Most Holy Mary with four sanctuaries that surround it: on the

• North by [the Virgin of] Guadalupe; on the

• West by the Virgin of the Remedies; on the

• South by the Virgin of Piedad (Compassion); and on the

• East by the Virgin of the Bullet.'

For this reason, in the viceroy era there were those who invoked Her as a protective Virgin and spiritual bulwark on the east side of the capital of New Spain. During the epidemic that struck Mexico City between 1736-1737, She was included as one of the miraculous images that helped to mitigate the plague. Fray Francisco de Florencia, the priest Cayetano de Cabrera y Quintero, Fray Ajofrin, José Antonio Villaseñor and Mariano Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia, were just some of those, among other writers in Nueva España, who wrote about the Virgin of the Bullet.

When the San Lázaro Hospital and its chapel were closed in 1862 (at the time of the French invasion), the historic image of Our Lady of the Bullet was transferred to the chapel of the Hospital of Jesús Nazareno (Jesus the Nazarene) where it remained until 1901, when it was stolen. Her whereabouts were unknown for many years.

(Translator's note: The Hospital of Jesús Nazareno was founded by Hernán Cortés in 1524, ostensibly at the site where he first met Moctezuma the Younger in November 1519. It is still in operation. It is, thus, the oldest continuously running hospital in the Americas.)

Entrance to the modern Hospital of Jesus of Nazareth,
on Avenida 20th de noviembre, 20th of November.

Original inner patio of the colonial period Hospital Jésus Nazareno.

Plaque citing the foundation of the hospital
by Hernán Cortés at the site of his meeting with Moctezuma.
Founded in 1524, it is the first hospital in the Americas,
and in continuous service for more than 400 years.

In the year 1913, the priest Rosendo Perez Yniestra found her in Monte de Piedad. He paid the amount of the debt, and thus, he rescued the Virgin of the Bullet. He decided to attach to the base of the image a commemorative plaque with the name of this figure and the date on which he rescued her. 

Monte de Piedad 
on the Zócalo.

(Translator's Note: Monte de Piedad, Mount of Compassion, is the name of the huge, now national, pawn shop system that was founded on the Zócalo in 1775. It is based on the first Monte de Piedad, founded in 1702 in Madrid. It is used by many Mexicans to get what are, in effect, small loans using whatever they have of value as collateral.) 

As it happened, at that time he was pastor of the church of San Lucas Evangelista (St. Luke the Evangelist) in the pueblo of Iztapalapa, so he decided to return Her whence she had originated. Since that date, the people of Iztapalapa have venerated her and she is jealously guarded by the natives of the pueblo.

Church of San Lucas,
Barrio San Lucas, Iztapalapa.
The Passion Play starts here
on Palm Sunday.

Meanwhile, it was still believed that she was missing; nevertheless, she is now worshiped in the Sanctuary of the Lord of the Little Cave, to the great joy of all her devotees."

Historia de la Virgen de la Bala by Naín Alejandro Ruiz Jaramillo, Masters in Art History

A Santo Popular

Thus, with great thanks to Maestro Ruiz Jaramillo, we have been able to follow the trail and travails of la Virgen de la Bala from the home of a Spanish lady living in Iztapalapa in the early 17th century to Her serving for three hundred years as the saint of two hospitals founded by Hernán Cortés and as the bulwark protecting the East side of Mexico City from all kinds of harm.

These important functions were interrupted by Her disappearance, followed by her remarkable, if not miraculous, rescue by Father Perez Yniestra from Monte de Piedad and Her return home to Her original pueblo of Iztapalapa. In returning to Her pueblo, she became a santo popular, a saint adopted by the common people.

Sr. Ruiz Jaramillo tells us that Her original advocación was as a representation of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (i.e. Mary's ideal, heavenly image before she was born and to which, at Her earthly death, she was to return via Her Assumption into Heaven as the Queen of Heaven). 

He then goes on to detail the changes in her advocación over the centuries, resulting in Her helpfulness to everyday people in a wide variety of everyday, and not so everyday, circumstances.  

"Given the characteristics of the first miracle of the Virgin of the Bullet, She is considered a defender of marriages and helps to reduce marital problems or get a partner. In the same way, she is the patron of pregnant women and those in labor. For this reason she is also asked to bring good luck to their newborn children, or help in conceiving them if there is any problem of infertility.

Also, Her devotees believe that She protects those who have dangerous professions, for example police and soldiers, who are at risk of being hit by murderous bullets. It is believed that she diverts them."

Dare we say, that is quite a list of cargos, responsibilities! No wonder there are so many versions of St. Mary! Each has an equal, if not greater, number of duties. We are grateful that we have gotten to know la Virgen de la Bala and Her story. How Her replica came to be in neighboring Culhuacán, we still don't know. ¡Ojalá! God willing, we may come to meet Her again during our Ambles.

The tiny Virgen de la Bala stands beside San Antonio Abad,
the honoree and host of visiting saints at His patron saint Mass
in the parish church of Barrio San Antonio Atípac, Pueblo Culhuacán.
(The black píg is a reminder that St. Anthony, one of the first hermit monks,
worked as a swineherd to make a living. 

Original Villages | Culhuacán's Barrio San Antonio Atípac, Part II: A Gathering of the Saints of Culhuacán

Yesterday, we visited Barrio San Antonio Atípac, in Pueblo Culhaucán, Delegación Iztapalapa, to experience its patron saint fiesta. In every barrio we have visited on our Ambles, the people, el pueblo, have been muy amable, very kind, and open to our presence and picture-taking, but we were especially touched in San Antonio when la banda played not one, but three John Philip Sousa marches just for us! We were also touched by an offer to introduce us to the cronista, historian of Culhuacán. So today we return, looking forward to experiencing more of the hospitalidad, hospitality, of this humble barrio.

While, yesterday, it was a challenge to find the street the church is on, today we are familiar with the way. So, rather than have our taxi driver wind his way from the Calzada de Taxquena to Eje 3 Oriente (Axis Road 3 East), we get out where the two roadways cross but don´t connect and take a pedestrian footbridge across Eje 3, descending one of its several exits to the corner that puts us nearest the entrance to San Antonio.

Receiving the Saints of Neighboring Barrios 

The printed program for the fiesta says there will be a reception of Saints from the other barrios of Culhuacán (there are seven others) and their respective parishioners at this corner at noon. The attendance of saints from other barrios at a patron saint fiesta is a primary, symbolic way of  expressing their shared identity as original communities of Mexico City. The community of saints and their parishioners will then proceed to the church for a Mass. It's about a quarter to twelve, but we see no signs of any Saints or their bearers. So we walk a short distance up Eje 3 to Avenida San Antonio and on to the church.

La banda, "La Poblanita" ("Little One of Puebla")

Our beloved banda, "La Poblanita" ("Little One of Puebla"), is playing in front of the church. When they finish a tune, we greet one another and we tell them, again, how touched we were yesterday by their playing John Philip Sousa marches for us. They smile warmly.

Just about then, as happened yesterday, some parishioners emerge from the church, carrying San Antonio and the demandita of el Señor del Calvario, the miniature Lord of Calvary in His glass coffin. 

San Antonio and la demandita del Señor del Calvario
head for Eje 3 and Calzada de Taxquena.

Three men, the leader with small red flag, step into Eje 3
to direct traffic to move aside for the procession.
It is standard practice for processions to take over even the busiest of roadways.

The small procession heads down Eje 3.

Under the Calzada de Taxqueña viaduct, which passes over Eje 3,
a gathering of Saints and some of the faithful of Their barrios
await the arrival of San Antonio. 

In the middle, we recognize San Andrés from the neighboring Pueblo Tomatlán,
as we were at His fiesta in November.

(The stairway in the rear is the one we descended not many minutes ago.)

All the Saints head back up Eje 3.
No matter the size of a procession, the flowers are always profuse and beautiful.

Some of the Saints of Culhuacán
 From upper left, clockwise:

• Virgin of Candelaria, will be celebrated soon, on February 2. She is from Barrio Santa María Magdalena, Culhuacán;

• Virgen de la Bala, Virgin of the Bullet (demandita in glass container). She is a santo popular, saint of the people who travels from home to home in Culhuacán and neighboring Pueblo Iztapalapa. (We have yet to learn why she is "of the Bullet". Meanwhile, we love the real parasol protecting Her.);

• San José (St. Joseph), holding the Child Jesus, from Barrio San José Tula; the Tolteca from the city of Tula (north of the Valley of Mexico, now in the State of Hidalgo) were the first Nahuatl-speaking tribe to enter the Valley of Mexico; they took over Culhuacán in about 600 CE and then dominated the east side of Lake Texcoco.

• Apóstle San Simón, from the Barrio of that name.

Banda La Poblanita follows at the rear. 
(Love the bass drummer, whom we didn't see yesterday.)

The saints enter the sanctuary of San Antonio.
The bald monk is San Francisco, St. Francis, from the barrio of that name.

All the saints:

Center is San Antonio, St. Anthony,
(Noting the black pig with him, we learn later that
He is associated with pigs because he evidently worked as a swineherd to make a living.)

Second left is a Lord of the Miracles, from which barrio we don't know.

Far right is San Juan Bautista, St. John the Baptist, from the barrio of that name.

El Señor del Calvario, the Lord of Calvary, as the Saint of Culhuacán,
the major guest Saint of honor, rests in the rear corner.

To His right is the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Mother of Mexico.

Santa Anita,
St. Ann, the Mother of the Virgin Mary,
arrives a bit late to join the gathering.
She is from the barrio bearing Her name.

Standards of some of the Saints and their barrios.

The Mass

Music for the Mass is provided by a trio playing
what appears to be a type of dulcimer, plucked with the fingers,
an accordian and a simple, wooden drum.
It is another new combination of instruments in our experience.
The two women sing parts of the Mass.
It is very gentle, folk-style, melodic music.

The priest celebrates the Eucharist,
the Transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Some of the faithful of San Antonio Abad
and the other barrios of Culhuacán.

Passing of the Mayordomo

At the end of the Mass,
the mayordomos (head caretakers) of this year's fiesta, a couple (right),
pass a candle to the new mayordomos, also a couple (left), putting them in charge
of next year's fiesta.

¡Mariachi!

With Mass over, and many attendees leaving, we assume this part of the fiesta is over and we will head home. Going out the door, however, we encounter another musical group entering, mariachis.

Mariachi musician entering the church, singing.

What appear to be two mariachi groups, one in dressed in gray, the other in black,
play and sing as one.
They do not face the "audience" of parishioners;
they serenade the Saints!

Although the lyrical music is a gift to the Saints,
it is also another wonderful gift of the fiesta to its attendees and to us.

From Mexico, with Love
The young trumpeter, lower right,
played what we could only describe as a jazz riff worthy of the best.

La Gente, the People

We end, as always, enjoying and sharing los rostros, the faces of some of the people.

The couple, bottom right, are the new mayordomos.

And the Band Plays On

When the twenty-minute or so serenade of the mariachis ends, everyone finally leaves the sanctuary and as a group heads east on Avenida San Antonio. There is now a communal comida, meal. As frequently happens, one of the parishioners invites us to join them. As usual, we have to say "Thank you, but we are quite tired and it is time to head home." 

La banda plays on!

Not everyone joins the crowd headed to eat, at least not immediately. La Banda la Poblanita remains sitting in front of the church and once again, they begin to play. We wave goodbye. They nod and smile. And they go on playing, even though everyone else has left. Apparently, that is part of their contract for the fiesta. We trust they will soon get to join everyone else at comida, which is usually part of the exchange for their contribution.

The young mayordomo de la banda, whom we met yesterday, should be very pleased with his choices. All the music, from la banda, to the musicians at Mass, to the two mariachi bands have been absolutely wonderful!

We leave San Antonio de Abad Atípac feeling emotionally full and blessed. It has been another witnessing of how communal ties between the barrios of Culhuacán are maintained via their saints sharing in one another's fiestas.  And it has been another marvelous Amble to one of Mexico City's original barrios.

See: Culhuacán's Barrio San Antonio Atípac, Part I: A Humble Barrio With a Big Heart

Delegaciones of Mexico City
Iztapalapa is the large, medium green area on the east side.

Delegación Iztapalapa
with its pueblos and colonias.
Pueblo Culhuacán is marked by the green/yellow star.
Delegación Coyoacán, which contains four of the barrios of Culhuacán,
is immediately to the west.

The five barrios of  Pueblo Culhuacán of Iztapalapa are outlined in black.

Barrio San Antonio Abad Atípac (pink) is marked by the green/yellow star.
Its western border is the National Canal.
Its southern border is Calzada Taxqueña.
The line up its middle is Eje 3.

The dark green area to the far right is Cerro de la Estrella,
site of the Mexica/Azteca Temple for the Binding of the Years.