My first day in Mexico City

I've had a fantastic first day in Mexico City...people are so friendly and helpful, the weather is nice and there's so much to see in the city. I went exploring around the Zocalo (the picture is on my last blog entry). I watched a number of performances in the center square, visited the Cathedral, walked around the markets and went to the Technotitlan Archelogical museum. Technotitlan was the capital of the Aztec Empire, prior to the Spanish invasion. This is a picture of me inside the Technotitlan site with the Cathedral in the background.

In front of the Cathedral were a number of performances by Aztec or Mexicas dancers. When not ceremoniously dancing, some of the older men would draw a chalk circle on the ground, burn a sort of sweet grass and welcome people into their circle. Once in the circle, the men blew the smoke over the persons body and spoke some words. This reminded me of Canadian First Nations smudging ceremonies: burning sage and cleansing yourself of bad spirits by wafting the sage smoke across your body.

Here are some pictures of my day...

Kids learning how to use a metate and the traditional way to make tortillas.