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Huatulco

The Street Names of La Crucecita

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By Julie Etra

The cross streets of La Crucecita are almost entirely named for trees, and the vertical streets for flowering plants. Some are scientific names, some are common names, some are native species – the origins of some are not clear. For the most part, the names were chosen from the species of the dominant native plant community along the coast, known as selva seca (dry jungle). Selva seca is a winter deciduous (caducifolio) tropical forest. The decision to name the streets for native plants was apparently made by Juan Carlos Campillo Ojeda, an engineer working for FONATUR (Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo) at the time the Bays of Huatulco resort was developed in the 1980s.

Bahías de Huatulco is the last of five federally planned resorts developed by FONATUR, which was created in 1964 to promote tourism through, among other things, resorts like Huatulco. The five major resorts developed by FONATUR are Cancun, Loreto, Los Cabos, Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo, and Huatulco. FONATUR has recently been relieved of its custodial responsibilities for Huatulco, which now falls under the aegis of the state and municipal governments.

The Grid

La Crucecita, even though a relatively new town (1985), was not laid out on a precisely north-south axis; the street grid runs northwest/southeast beside Blvd Chahue as it runs up to Route 200. It is easier, however, to think of the streets as being north-south and east-west. The grid is centered around the main square (zocalo) with its prominent kiosk, and fronts the town church, the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y de la Santa Cruz.

There are four major north-south streets – Jazmin on the west (two-way), Gardenia on the west side of the zocalo (one-way south), Bugambilia on the east side of the zocalo (one-way north), and Carrizal on the east (one-way south). There are 16 east-west streets, and then there a few small streets that continue bigger streets or have names of their own.

The Street Names, Explained

Of course, walking is an outdoor sport, and so you should be thinking of the actual trees that the street names represent. The following is a very brief summary of the plant characteristics, a little natural history, and some interesting factoids. For the nerdily inclined readers of The Eye who are interested in botany, the common name of the tree, shrub, or flower is followed by the scientific name – Genus – followed by the name of the species. When genus is followed by the word “species,” it means that there is more than one species or type.

North-South Streets (West to East)

These streets are all named for ornamental plants.

Violetas (Viola species). This refers to violets. The Violaceae family does not have any native representatives on the coast, as the climate is too hot, nor have I (yet) seen any ornamental plants in the local nurseries. If you go farther north and higher up, the Ponderosa violet (Viola umbraticola) ranges from New Mexico in the U.S. to the state of Tlaxcala, east of Mexico City.

Plumbago (Plumbago species). This is a very common tropical ornamental plant with numerous species. The classic blue plumbago’s scientific name is Plumbago auriculata. It is native to South Africa (as is the calla lily, made famous by Diego Rivera, and agapanthus, the Lily of the Nile); all three are common around Huatulco. Plumbago does well in clay pots (macetas) and attracts pollinators, such as butterflies and bees, but all parts, including the bark, fruit, pollen, roots, sap, and seeds irritate the skin and eyes and can be harmful if ingested.

Jazmin (Jasminum grandiflorum is the most commonly planted), or jasmine in English. This vine is native to southern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, northeast Africa, and the Yunnan and Sichuan regions of China, although it grows well in many tropical and semi tropical climates. Its flowers are white and aromatic, and the vine appears delicate.

Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides). This aromatic, evergreen, ornamental shrub is spelled just as it is in English. A fun factoid, it is in the same family with coffee. It is a small shrub and does well in macetas. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Pacific Islands, and Australia.

Bugambilia (Bougainvillea glabra). English speakers call and spell it by its scientific name Bougainvillea. This plant is native to Brazil, and it has an interesting French connection. It was first described by Philibert Commerçon, who was the first botanist sponsored by a national government to accompany an exploratory voyage. The voyage, intended to circumnavigate the globe, was led by the French admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville, so the newly-discovered plant was named for him. The name was included in the Genera Plantarum, the first published classification of plant materials, put together by the French botanist Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789; the name was finally codified in the 1930s in the Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, the reference work maintained by Kew Gardens outside London.

Another interesting story – it is possible that the first European to describe this plant was actually the botanical expert Jeanne Baret, Commerçon’s partner and assistant. Because women were not allowed on ships, she disguised herself as a man and thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. Women were at the time forbidden to be botanists, as plants are primarily identified and described by their reproductive parts, and that was considered scandalous.

Bugambilias thrive in full sun and sandy, well-drained soils. The colorful petals are not petals at all but bracts, or modified leaves; the central flower itself is small and inconspicuous. It has been cultivated for decades, with over 300 varieties available. This versatile, thorned plant can be pruned as a hedge, bush, or tree. Here in Huatulco, I planted two called sorpresa (surprise) since bracts are both pink and white. Although it is a tough plant, like many tropical ornamental plants, it is vulnerable to predation by leaf-cutting ants, known as hormigas arrieras, or muleteers, since they carry a burden of chewed off bracts and leaves back to their nests.

Carrizal means “place where the carrizos grow,” which would be a wetland or floodplain. And what indeed is carrizo? This is a type of large, stout grass and may have referred to several different plants, including grasses, rushes, cattails, and bulrushes, found primarily along riverine or riparian areas. Was this area indeed at some point a wetland? Not from what I have seen and read. It is considered an invasive plant in the U.S., controlled by fire and flooding along the Rio Grande.

East-West Streets (South to North)

Acacia (Acacia species). Acacias are a large group of trees and shrubs in the pea family, characterized by fern-like leaves and small ball-like white or yellow flowers. Plants in the pea family generally have a pea-like pod called a vaina in Spanish. There are a number of native species in Huatulco; some have spines, like the common Acacia cornigera (cuernitos, or “little horns”), which occurs at slightly higher elevation than the coast. This tree has prominent hollow spines in which resides a tiny ant with a nasty bite; they protect the tree from other plant-eating predators (herbivores) while receiving nutrition from the tree.

Ceiba (Ceiba pentandra). The ceiba tree, aka kapok, is in the same family with the pochote and the bailador (dancer), which we know in English as the shaving brush tree. In some places in Mexico, the ceiba is also known as pochote, but botanists see them as distinct in both genus and species, although both are in the Malvaceae family (see Pochote below).

The ceiba tree described here is a huge tree upon maturity, with a spiny, stout, single trunk, large fruits with tasty corn-like kernels/seeds that mature into a cotton-like fluff. The leaves are palm shaped. It was sacred to the Maya of eastern Mexico and Central America, as they believed it connected the heavens to the underworld through the earth. Along with the Guanacaste, this is one of the first trees you see in the median when approaching Huatulco from Highway 200. It is bat-pollinated and can live for hundreds of years. It is the national tree of Guatemala.

Cocotillo. I could not find a plant that corresponds to this common name, although it can be argued that it means “cultivated coconut.” Coco for “coconut” and tillado for “tilled” or “cultivated.” Might be a stretch.

Colorin (Erythrina coralloides). Like the acacia, this plant is in the pea family. It has a lovely almost tubular red flower that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. The seeds are very poisonous.

Chacah (Bursera simaruba). Chacah is the Mayan name for this tree, aka gumbo limbo, with its peeling bark. This is a very interesting family of trees represented by 13 species in the Cacaluta watershed. They can often be distinguished by their peeling bark and berry-like red fruits, and large featherlike leaves. They are easily spotted in the landscape. The whimsical Oaxacan sculptures known as alebrije are from a related species, copal; the word copal originates from its Náhuatl name Copalquahuitl.

Flamboyan (Caesalpinia pulcherrima or Delonix regia). Like many common names, this one could be referring to two different plants. I am assuming it is the Caesalpinia pulcherrima, also known by another common name, tabachin. This colorful native tree has red/orange flowers and fern-like leaves, a long pea-pod fruit, as it is in the pea family. It attracts many pollinating insects and birds.

Guamuchil (Pithecelobium dulce). As the species name implies, this pea-family native has a sweet (dulce) fruit, pinkish on the inside, which attracts many species of birds, squirrels, and insects. It tends to grow near drainages and riparian areas. It can be found growing next to the huaje (Leucaena leucocephala) trees across the street from the Bladu’Yú restaurant near the entrance to Chahue beach.

Guanacastle (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). Also spelled guanacaste, this is a very large tree with a huge, broad, saucer-shaped canopy seen when entering La Crucecita south from Highway 200. It has a smooth bark, and unique ear-shaped fruits. With difficulty the seeds can be removed from the fruit and ground to produce a flour and then baked into delicious cookies (if you have a lot of free time). It is illegal to harvest here without a permit, and the wood can only be obtained through supposedly legal means and after natural senescence. The wood is beautiful, very hard, and bug resistant, even to termites. When cut and sanded it produces a somewhat toxic sawdust. It is the national tree of Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Guarumbo (Cecropia obtusifolia). Although there is one in the garden of the Binniguenda hotel in Santa Cruz, this tree generally begins to appear in the next ecosystem north and away from the coast at a higher elevation, where vegetation is tropical and green all year (siempre verde = always green, like the Italian or Mediterranean cypress, Cupressus sempervirens). For house plant fans, it looks like a schefflera on steroids; if you visit Hagia Sofia or Pluma Hidalgo, you will see the tree shortly after leaving Santa María Huatulco on your way north. It is tall, with large leaves, and is easily distinguished from the surrounding landscape.

Macuitle. This appears to be a Hispanicized version of the Náhuatl word macuahuitl, which was a weapon of war, a wooden club with several embedded obsidian blades; the name means “hand-wood.” It was effectively used by the Mexica (Aztecs) against the invading Spaniards, as chronicled by Bernal Díaz de Castillo, a soldier in the army of Hernán Cortés, and the author of Historia Verdadura de la Conquista de la Nueva España (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain). Although I do not find that it corresponds to a particular tree, it was no doubt made of hardwood. According to Díaz and several other commentators, Aztec warriors could kill a horse with a single slash of the macuahuitl.

Macuil (Handroanthus impetiginosus, Tabebuia chrysantha, Tabebuia rosea). Ay yay yay yay. There are at least three of these magnificent flowering trees native to the area, all known as macuil, also spelled maquil, and all members of the Bignoniaceae family. They bloom at different times, with the yellow flowering trees lining Blvd Benito Juarez in the vicinity of La Bocana in January, and the pink/purplish flowering tree (Tabebuia rosea) dominating in March. The bright pink Handroanthus impetiginosus blooms in late October to mid-November. It is the national tree of Paraguay. All of them attract birds, particularly orioles.

Ocotillo (Cordia eleagnoides). This tree is locally known by another common name, parota, and is not to be confused with the cactus-like plants of the southwestern deserts of the United States of America. This native, moderate-sized tree lines Benito Juarez Blvd. east of La Crucecita from approximately Balcones de Tangolunda to La Bocana. It has a broad canopy with white flowers, and blooms twice a year. The wood, sometimes known as bocote, is hard, heavy, and insect resistant and is used in construction, particularly for the support structures of palapas.

Palma Real (Roystonea regia). As its common Spanish name implies, we know this tree as the royal palm, a tall, stately palm with a whitish trunk. It is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, and parts of Central America. It is the national tree of Cuba.

Palo Verde (Parkinsonia aculeata). The name means “green stick” in Spanish. Here we go again with confusing common names. Referring to my bible, Cátalogo de Nombres Vulgares y Cientificos de Plantas Mexicanas by Maximino Martínez (México: Fondo de Cultura Económico, 1979), there are eight trees that correspond to this name. The La Crucecita street name Palo Verde is most probably the one that grows in hot areas of Oaxaca, and not the one commonly found in southwestern United States. What the species have in common are the green trunks and branches, where photosynthesis occurs, providing essential carbohydrates (sugars) when the leaves drop from this deciduous plant.

Pochote (Ceiba aesculifolia). The multiple stemmed trunks have spines, but they are not as prominent as those of the ceiba. The flowers are large and before they emerge, the buds resemble those of the shaving brush tree, to which it is related.

Sabali. This was a tough one. Saba or sabal is a type of fan palm tree, or palmetto, found in tropical and subtropical climates (South Carolina, US, is called “The Palmetto State”). Sabalí, with an accent over the ‘i’, may be referring to a species of fig, or Ficus. The street name is NOT Sábila, so forgive me while I digress – you are sure to encounter sábila plants in Huatulco.

Sábila is Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller), native to the Arabian Peninsula but happy in many tropical surroundings. “Aloe” comes from the Arabic alloeh, which means “bitter and shiny substance,” or from the Hebrew אוהלים ahalim, the aloes mentioned in the Old Testament. Aloe vera has medicinal properties and is applied externally to heal skin due to its mucilaginous texture and antiseptic properties. Taken internally it may improve digestion and support healthy blood sugar levels, but it can also cause digestive problems. It can also be used to seal cuttings of woody tropical plants, prolonging their storage, until they can be propagated directly in soil or in water.

Note: Mostly unrelated, but I wonder whether readers of The Eye have noticed that the National Park (Parque Nacional) has a new name. Recently big green signs have appeared along Highway 200 and other major thoroughfares with the new name for the park, Ricardo Flores Magón. Flores Magón was a well-known anarchist, socialist, activist, writer, and a major figure in the Mexican Revolution. Look him up.

Huatulco

Lorena Ramírez: Top Runner of the Rarámuri

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By Julie Etra

Who is this Lorena Ramírez? And why are she and her people such exceptional runners? To understand why Lorena and her family are so exceptional, we first need to understand who they are and where they come from.

Who Are the Rarámuri?
First, a little background. The Rarámuri, or Tarahumara as the Spanish called them, live in the Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in southwestern Chihuahua, a state in Northern Mexico; in 2017, there were about 120,000 Rarámuri.

The word rarámuri means “foot runners” in their language (rara = “foot,” muri = “to run”), which follows their ancient tradition of running “on winged feet.” Now mostly confined to the Copper Canyon, the Rarámuri had previously occupied much of Chihuahua, but sought refuge from the invading Spanish in the 16th century. The majority still practice a traditional mostly self-sufficient lifestyle, using little technology, cultivating traditional crops and many, like the Ramírez family, raising livestock. Their homes in the canyons can be pretty basic; some families live in caves or cliff overhangs. They also produce lovely basketry, for sale at major tourist destinations in Chihuahua like Divisadero and Creel.

When Rarámuri runners head off for ultra-distance runs, their choice of sustenance is not energy bars or electrolytes, but rather pinole (a maize-based powder used in a variety of recipes) and tortillas, and they don’t train for these events in any typical sense. Despite their storied fame as endurance runners, they have only recently gained attention on an international scale, competing against world-renowned runners.

As part of a traditional rarájipari event, which is largely spiritual, the male competitors kick a komakali, a baseball-sized wooden ball. The women may compete in a race called ariwete, using hooked sticks to flick a hoop as they run. Although the Rarámuri hunt with bow and arrow, and (rarely) firearms, anthropologists believe the tradition of running may have evolved from “persistence hunting,” with the prey – particularly deer and turkeys – pursued on foot until the animal collapses from exhaustion or heat stroke. Anthropologists have also concluded that running has both social and spiritual significance for the Rarámuri.

The Copper Canyon

The canyon actually consists of six distinct canyons – Urique, Sinforosa, Copper, Tararecua, Batopilas, and Oteros – within the Sierra Madre Occidental (literally, the western mother mountain range). Together, they cover 65,000 sq. km. (±25,000 sq. mi.), more than four times the surface area and almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona. The average altitude is 2,275 meters (±7,465 ft) above sea level; the highest point, Cerro del Mohinora, is 3,306 meters (±10,845 ft.) and the lowest point, at the confluence of the Septentrion and Chínipas Rivers, is around 220 meters (±725 ft.). The average yearly rainfall is 38 cm (±15 inches). The topography is dramatic, with rocky outcrops and vertical, sheer slopes, and has been described as one of the most extreme landscapes in the world.

With the exception of the very bottom of the canyons the rocky formations resulted from explosive volcanic ash flows, ash falls, and mudflow breccias (sharp-angled rocks cemented together), all deposited approximately 20 to 40 million years ago and subsequently carved into canyons by the six rivers that drain from the western flank of the mountains, merging into the Rio Fuerte which flows into the Gulf of California in the state of Sinaloa. The Batopilas River flows through the bottom of the Batopilas (= place of the closed-in waters) Canyon; the small community of Batopilas was founded in 1708 when a large silver ore deposit was discovered by the Spanish explorer José de la Cruz. Although there is a reddish-copper hue in the geologic formations, the area was, and still is, mined primarily for silver and to a lesser extent, gold. Mexico is the largest silver-producing country in the world.

El Chepe

The Copper Canyon is remote, and access to the bottom of the canyon is poor; there are no paved roads and the few dirt roads are not well maintained. After many years of planning and construction, starting in 1861, interrupted by the Mexican Revolution (1910-21), and completed a century later in 1961, the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico (Chihuahua-Pacific Railway) runs 650 km (±400 miles from Creel in the Canyon to the coast at Los Mochis. The train is called El Chepe (a contraction of Chihuahua al Pacifico), and crosses 37 bridges and travels through 86 tunnels.

The trip is particularly spectacular between Los Mochis and Divisadero. Vegetation is diverse due to the highly variable topography, with oak/pine/fir woodlands dominating at the higher elevations and herbaceous pastures in the riparian areas deep in the canyons, accompanied by subtropical vegetation. Species of agave and cactus dot the landscape in the rocky habitat. El Chepe recently added a new luxury train, mostly intended to accommodate tourists; it features a bar car with panoramic views.

María Lorena Ramírez Hernández

María Lorena Ramírez Hernández, better known as Lorena Ramírez, is a remarkable indigenous marathon runner who gained worldwide renown in 2017 after winning two gold medals in tough Mexican mountain races. One medal was for the UltraTrail Cerro Rojo in the state of Puebla (just over 50 km [±31 mi]), which she ran in 7 hours, 20 minutes, barefoot; the other gold medal was for the UltraMaratón de los Cañones, a brutal 100 km (±62 mi) in Guachochi, Chihuahua, near where she was born. Her time was 12:44:25. She had won the silver medal in the UltraMaratón in 2016, and went on to win a silver in the Ultramaratón Caballo Blanco, in Urique, Chihuahua, in 2018. In 2023, she placed first in the Ultratrail Sierra del Laurel in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, a distance of 42 km (±26 mi) in 5:58:17.

In June of 2017, on the heels of her two gold medals, Lorena became the first Rarámuri woman to compete in a European ultra. The Ultramaratón de Cajamar Tenerife, the “Bluetrail,” is the second-highest race in Europe and a distance of 102 km. (63 mi.). She placed third in 20:11:37.

A Family of Runners

The Ramírez family lives in Guachochi, an isolated valley with no neighbors in the bottom of the canyon. Lorena and her siblings Juanita, Talina, Mario, and Antonio walk five hours to the nearest school and four hours to the nearest grocery. Her brothers attended school while she and her sisters tended to the goats, the center of their pastoral life, while also cultivating corn, beans, squash, and greens among other crops on their farm. The family are for the most part self-sufficient. A perennial creek runs through their property, providing a clean source of water. The women of the family sew their own traditional dresses – Lorena dons a lighter version of the traditional skirt when she competes.

Lorena’s father, Santiago Ramírez, took her to compete in her first race of 7 km (4.3 mi) in the municipality of Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, which she won, having no idea of her capabilities at the time. Although she never dreamed of being a runner or marathoner, she was born into it. She comes from a family of runners, as they run everywhere around their rural property. Her father has won the Ultramaratón de los Cañones three times, the brutal 102-km cross country trail that gave her that second gold medal.

The Ramírez family members have won various races without the government’s help, commercial sponsorship, or professional training; they have achieved success due to their talent, perseverance, and lifestyle, which is very physical. To support travel to various events, they receive donations through their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/mario.ramirez.71066700.

When Lorena first started winning races, she and her family saw the prize money as a way to buy food. They have moved on – in 2019, when she was 22, she was profiled in the excellent 2019 Netflix documentary Lorena, Light-Footed Woman. The executive producer for this 30-minute documentary was the well-known Mexican actor, director, and producer Gael García Bernal (If you have never seen his breakout movie Y tu mamá también [2001], do so. Playa Cacaluta makes a cameo appearance). In 2019, Lorena was also the cover story in Vogue Mexico; in June 2022, she began marketing her brand of running outfits, called Lorena imparable (unstoppable Lorena).

Quiet and unassuming, Lorena says she does not think about anything when she runs, that it just feels good, and she stays focused on the objective of the race: getting to the finish line.

Upon receiving a gift of high-tech running shoes, she rewrapped them, placed the box back in the plastic bag and explained “I don’t think I will use them. The people who do are always running behind me.”

The next Ultramaratón de los Cañones will take place on July 5-7, 2024. Vamos a ver – We shall see.

Huatulco

I Heart Axolotls

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By Julie Etra

The first time I saw the salamander called axolotl(s) (Ambystoma mexicanum, aka ajolote) endemics of the remnant lakes of the Valley of Mexico and now confined to Xochimilco, was in Xochimilco at one of the tourist ‘museums’ along a main canal.

The pinkish creatures on exhibit are commercially produced, and not native to the polluted waters of Xochimilco, the wetland system in the heart of Mexico City. and they exhibit the pinkish color of domestication. Wild populations are brown/tan with gold speckles and an olive undertone. This critically endangered species lost most of its habitat centuries ago due to the draining of the valley by the conquering Spaniards, with Xochimilco now a vestige of its former self. Axolotls have a lizard-like head, described as “friendly-faced,” surrounded by feathery gills, four legs, and a tail. They range in size from 6 to 18 inches.

Cute, But Critically Endangered

The axolotl is only found in the wild in the waters of Xochimilco. A 2003 study by the Mexican Academy of Sciences found an average of 6,000 axolotls for each sq km of Xochimilco, about 1,020,000 axolotls; by 2015, it was down to 36 per sq km, or about 6,120. A more recent study found fewer than a thousand in all of the 170 square kilometers of Xochimilco.

The ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City, was founded in the early 1300s CE on an island in Lake Texcoco. Texcoco was connected with four other lakes in the Valley of Mexico, one of which was Xochimilco. After the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs in 1521, they drained much of the valley, leaving Xochimilco a vestige of its former self.

Habitat for the axolotl was sharply reduced but still existed up until about the 1950s. Since then, habitat degradation has accelerated as rapid urbanization has changed the distribution, movement, and management of water systems in the Valley.

In addition, the water system has been degraded by pollution from urban runoff and uncontrolled development, raw sewage, agricultural waste, and land use conversion, and has been reduced by drawdown of lake levels to supply water to Mexico City and the surrounding environs. Today, most of the water in Xochimilco’s canals comes from a water treatment plant in nearby Cerro de la Estrella, but supplies are inconsistent.

Predation is also a factor in the axolotl’s decline. Carp and tilapia were introduced in Xochimilco in the 1970s in an effort to increase food supplies; unfortunately, they prey on axolotl eggs and young. Loss of shade cover and food – they eat mollusks, worms, insect larvae, brine shrimp, other small crustacea, and small fish – also continue to accompany loss of habitat.

Why is it so important to “bring back” the wild axolotl? For the same reason preserving all species is important – genetic variation. As noted below, the axolotl is very important to biological research, as it is one of the few animals that can regenerate lost body parts. Commercial breeding technology reduces genetic variation, thus weakening the organism’s ability to adapt. This affects the animal’s ability to survive in the wild, and to respond to changes introduced in research.

Physiology and Morphology

This rather large salamander has a number of physiological features that make it unusual. Although it is one species of tiger salamander, it is unique in its “neoteny,” a zoological term that means the retention of juvenile features into adulthood, that is, the axolotl never undergoes metamorphosis, for example, the process of a tadpole changing to a frog. The axolotl’s gills remain external, and they retain their tail fins. Unlike other salamanders this one never makes it to land, completing its life cycle entirely in the water.

The axolotl is important for research because it has can rapidly regenerate parts of itself, making it useful for studying the potential for tissue regeneration in humans. In just a few months, they can regenerate not just their tails, but their skin, muscles, bones, blood vessels, central nervous system, heart, and brain.

What other animals can regenerate body parts? In fact, quite a few. Other species of salamanders can regenerate their tails; starfish can regenerate their “arms” and their bodies from arms; sharks regrow their teeth throughout their lives. The Mexican tetra, a fresh water fish, can regrow heart tissue. Many lizards, including iguanas, skinks, anoles, and geckos, can regenerate their tails. But none of these can do as much as the axolotl.

Despite remaining juvenile all their lives, axolotls reach sexual maturity at 17-27 months and can breed several times a year. Because their habitat is entirely aquatic – that is, no drought conditions – they can generate more offspring per breeding event (salamanders do not reproduce well, often not at all, under drought conditions). After the courtship dance, the female axolotl takes up the sperm capsule deposited by the male. Fertilized eggs are laid individually on aquatic vegetation.

The Axolotl in Mythology

The axolotl loomed large in Mexica (the Aztec group that built Tenochtitlán) mythology, and they were included in their art and creation myths. The name axolotl (from the Nahuatl atl = “water” and xólotl = “monster” or “dog”) means water monster or water dog, and is the aquatic form of Xólotl, the Aztec god of fire and lightning and the twin brother of Quetzalcóatl (the feathered serpent deity).

According to Aztec legend – and there are many versions of each legend – when the sun was created, it did not move. Each god was supposed to sacrifice a body part to make the sun move and to begin life, but Xólotl did not want to sacrifice any part of himself. To hide from fellow gods (would-be assassins), Xólotl transformed himself into a variety of plants and animals, including the xoloitzcuintle, the hairless pre-Columbian dog. The axolotl was his last camouflage before he was captured and killed.

The Axolotl in Literature

An obscure short story, written in 1954, was brought to my attention by a good and extremely literate friend from Pluma Hidalgo. “Axolotl” is by the French-Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar (1914-84), and was published in his 1956 collection End of the Game and Other Stories. The story is told by a lonely man visiting the aquarium at the zoo (ménagerie) at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. He becomes fascinated and obsessed by the axolotls and eventually believes he has been transformed into one of them. Although I read it in English, I found it to be dark and depressing, and overly descriptive. (Available through the University of Kentucky at http://www.ambystoma.uky.edu/teachers_materials/axolitbook/AxolotlByJulioCortazar.html.)

Another read is Axolotiada: Vida y mito de un anfibio mexicano (Axolotiada: Life and Myth of a Mexican Amphibian), by Mexican anthropologist Roger Bartra Murià (2011). An anthology of works about the famous amphibian, the book includes texts from the Mesoamerican codices to the work of authors such as Cortázar, Satoshi Tajir, Aldous Huxley (“A Fetal Monkey”), Primo Levi (“Angelical Butterfly”) and Octavio Paz (“Salamandra”), among others, along with graphics from street graffiti to the scientific illustrations of landscape painter José María Velasco and the murals of Diego Rivera.

Axolotls for the Laboratory

The majority of commercially-bred axolotls in the world today trace their ancestry to a shipment of 34 axolotls from Xochimilco to Paris in 1863, delivered to the zoo at the Museum of Natural History, the very place that inspired Cortázar to write his strange tale. The amphibian is easy to breed in captivity and prolific. Animals were then supplied to various labs throughout Europe for research purposes.

Axolotls came from Europe to the US in 1935; five of those eventually made it into the hands of Dr. Rufus R. Humphrey, who bred more at the University of Buffalo. When he retired in 1957, Humphrey and his axolotls moved to Indiana University (the axolotls arrived in Bloomington by truck). When the head of the Indiana lab retired in 2005, the US axolotl collection relocated to the University of Kentucky and became the Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center (AGSC), but the genetic material has apparently bottlenecked from inbreeding. Thus the importance of saving the wild axolotl population in Xochimilco.

The Icon

The salamander has become so popular that in addition to being kept as pets, it recently won a 2017 contest to develop an “emoji pack” to represent Mexico City. There’s a Frida Kahlo axolotl, a Mexican flag axolotl wrapped in a snake, etc., etc.

If you look online in Mercado Libre or Amazon Mexico, or pretty much anywhere, you’ll find multiple axolotl accessories, particularly for children – charms, stuffed animals (peluche), coloring books. There are tee shirts for adults, not to mention beer (www.monstruodeagua.mx/)! In 2022, the Bank of Mexico issued a new 50-peso bill with a depiction of the now iconic salamander among the chinampas of Xochimilco on one side. On February 1, 2023 (National Axolotl Day in Mexico, in case you were wondering), the Chapultepec Zoo opened Anfibion, the Axolotl Museum and Amphibian Conservation Center, dedicated to the amphibian’s remarkable history and efforts to preserve the species.

Axolotls as Food

The Mexica fished and consumed axolotls – they were a supposed mainstay on the banquet tables of Aztec kings. And how did the Mexica prepare them? Pretty simple. First, the “hairs” (presumably the gills) were trimmed. Then the guts were removed, the remaining carcass washed and dried, seasoned with salt and dried chiles, wrapped in corn husks, and finally steamed. Provecho!

Some Xochimilco natives grew up eating axolotls in a type of tamale, combined with fish and vegetables.

I find this particularly interesting since the skin, in particular, of most salamanders, including other tiger salamanders, is toxic. Contact can numb some parts of the body, starting from the lips, tongue, the whole face, then going down to the arms and legs. Numbness can be followed by dizziness, muscle weakness, excessive drooling (no kidding), and finally to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Axolotls, however, lack the skin glands that secrete the toxic mucus that protects against predators and poisons those who eat the skin.

Saving the Axolotl

Recently, serious efforts have focused on an ecosystem approach, restoring habitat at a very small scale. To support a native, successfully breeding population requires that you restore water quality and reduce, if not eliminate, any introduced predators. The revival of the ancient, traditional system of chinampa farming in the floating gardens of Xochimilco is the key to preserving the axolotls. For more on the chinampas, see my article “Chinampas, Calzadas, and Aqueducts,” in the February 2023 issue of The Eye (https://theeyehuatulco.com/?s=chinampas).

Political will, accompanied by active participation by the chinamperos, is obviously essential as symbiotic restoration of traditional farming provides the needed habitat.

In late 2023, The New York Times ran an article, “What It Takes To Save the Axolotl,” describing the comprehensive, albeit painstakingly slow and incremental, approach being implemented by the government and a team of biologists and farmers. High-quality sanctuaries are being recreated in isolated waters to support axolotl growth and reproduction while limiting predatory attacks by exotic fish (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/science/mexico-axolotl-biology.html).

In the early 2000s, the Mexican government had approached Dr. Luis Zambrano, an ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), to survey the declining population. His UNAM lab is home to 150 axolotls from wild bloodlines. In 2017 he released 10 animals into an artificial lake on the campus to observe their behavior and collect data. This research continues. In addition to Dr. Zambrano, another team headed by biologist María Huitzil is studying the animal’s microbiota e.g., bacteria, fungi, viruses etc.; an additional group of researchers is being led by Dr. José Antonio Ocampo.

Dr. Zambrano recently released 12 animals in bamboo cages lowered into excavated soils in the artificial lake. The keys to creating successful isolated refuges are surprisingly simple and elegant: semipermeable volcanic rocks filter the water and block predators (the rock is readily available given the volcanic activity in the area), and vegetation provides habitat. Revived techniques of organic farming are becoming more accepted by some chinamperos, thus reducing contamination. Carlos Sumano, a UNAM agronomist, has for the past 11 years personally promoted traditional farming methods on his own chinampas.

And what happened to the 12 axolotls Zambrano released? After two months one of the 12 had died “of causes yet to be determined, and a pump had to be installed to improve oxygen levels in one canal. ‘But that’s all part of the experiment, right?’ Dr. Zambrano said. The rest of the axolotls were fat and happy.”

For more reading:

“A Tale of Two Axolotls” (www.academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/12/1134/223981)
“Axolotls in Crisis: The fight to Save the ‘Water Monster’ of Mexico City”
(www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/04/axolotls-in-crisis-the-fight-to-save-the-water-monster-of-mexico-city)

Huatulco

Popocatépetl and Family

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By Julie Etra

With 38 volcanoes, a dozen of them active, Mexico still only has the eighth most volcanoes in the world. It’s not the world leader in earthquakes, either. However, the mutual potential for for volcanoes and earthquakes to cause disaster hangs over the country like a pall of smoke.

Mexico’s Big Three Volcanoes

Popocatépetl, an active volcano, is the second highest peak in Mexico at an elevation of 5,393 m (17,694 ft), following the highest peak, Citlaltépetl (Pico de Orizaba) at an elevation 5,636 m (18,491 ft). It is affectionately known by its nickname “El Popo.” Its name is derived from the Nahuatl popōca, meaning “it smokes” and tepētl, meaning “mountain” or “smoking mountain.” Citlaltépetl is also derived from Nahuatl: citlal means “star” and of course tepētl = mountain. (There is a stationary store on Gardenia called Papeleria Citlalli, so now you know what it means.)

At an elevation 5,230 m (17,160 ft), Iztaccíhuatl is the third highest mountain in Mexico and occurs just north of El Popo. Its name means white woman in Nahuatl (iztāc = “white”; cihuātl = “woman”), since it resembles a woman lying on her back and is often snow-covered.

The three volcanoes are located to the east of Mexico City: Popocatépetl is about 70 km (43 miles) southeast of Mexico City, where the states of México, Morelos, and Puebla meet; on a clear day, it is easily seen from the city. Iztaccíhuatul is about 90 km (54 miles) from Mexico City. Pico de Orizaba, about 200 km (120 miles) from Mexico City, rises just west of the city of Orizaba at the border of the states of Puebla and Veracruz. Those who drive to Huatulco from the north easily see Popocatepétl and Iztaccíhuatul looking south from 150D; Pico de Orizaba is on your left as you leave the state of Puebla and enter Veracruz.

All three volcanos are steep-walled stratovolcanos, generally symmetrical and cone-shaped and with a 400 x 600 m wide crater. Stratovolcanoes are sometimes called composite volcanoes because of their composite layered structure, formed from successive eruptions (strato = layer in Latin). And all three occur along the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, aka the Mexican “Ring of Fire,” which stretches across central Mexico from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico – route 150D runs right through the middle of the volcanic belt.

El Popo is geologically connected to Iztaccíhuatl, 12.9 km (8 miles) to the north through the Paso de Cortés; this is the high pass that Hernando Cortés and his men followed after their conquest of Cholula in 1519, on their way to conquer the capital of the Aztec/Mexica Empire, Tenochtitlán.

The two volcanoes are protected as they lie in the Izta-Popo Zoquiapan National Park, which runs north and south within the Sierra Nevada range (Sierra Nevada means “snow covered” [nevada] “mountain range” [sierra]). On the west side of the range the watershed provides snow melt and creek water to the Valley of Mexico (formerly Lake Texcoco). Until relatively recently, the three volcanoes were the only instance of glaciation – they had year-round snow/ice cover – in Mexico; in the 1990s, however, both the Glaciar Norte and the Glaciar del Ventorillo of Popocatépetl began to retreat, due to both warming conditions and increased volcanism. Although ice remains in some places, Popocatépetl’s glaciers were gone by 2001.

Popocatépetl is Mexico’s most active volcano with 15 eruptions recorded since 1519. On May 20, 2023, both Mexico City airports (Benito Juarez Mexico City International Airport [MEX] and Felipe Angeles International Airport [NLU]) had to close temporarily due to increased volcanic activity and ash fall. Most recently, on November 1, 2023, the cone exploded with gray ash. This activity is not unusual, and in fact we stopped to watch it smoking on our way from Mexico City to Puebla a few years ago, with the sun setting behind it. Spectacular. Iztaccíhuatl is dormant and has not erupted since 1868. Pico de Orizaba last erupted in 1846.

Legends of the Mexican Volcanos

The Legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. Legend has it that these two mountains represent a young warrior and a young princess. Once upon a time in Mexico (but after the rise of the Aztec empire), a beautiful Tlaxcalan maiden princess named Iztaccíhuatl fell in love with a young Tlaxcalan warrior, Popoca. (Tlaxcala is now a small state southeast of Mexico City.) She was the most beautiful princess who ever existed, and he was one of the most handsome and brave warriors of his village.

The Tlaxacans sided with the Spanish during the conquest of 1519-1521 in an effort to end the costly tributes they paid to the sprawling Aztec empire with its centralized, wealthy capital of Tenochtitlán (basically, Mexico City). Before departing for the ongoing wars with the powerful Aztecs, Popoca asked the cacique (chief) of the village for the hand of the princess. This was granted under the condition that the young man return safe and sound.
Popoca left for battle, presumably with the forces of Cortés, while the princess waited impatiently for his return. Meanwhile a jealous, poison-tongued rival, also in love with the princess, lied to her, fabricating a story of how her beloved had died in battle. Overcome by grief and inconsolable through this treacherous deceit, she died from a broken heart. A short time later, Popoca returned victoriously from battle ready to take the hand of his betrothed, only to find that she had died.

It is said that the young man, dejected, wandered through the streets for days and nights contemplating a way to honor their great love for each other. He decided to build her a large tomb under the Sun and compiled 10 hills to build an enormous mountain. Once built, he took the inert body of his beloved and laid her on the top of the mountain. As he kneeled over her with a smoking torch in one hand, he kissed her one last time, watching her dream eternally.

Since then, they have remained together. Eventually snow covered their bodies, becoming the two snow-capped enormous volcanoes that will remain unchanged until the end of time. When the warrior Popoca, now the mountain Popocatépetl, remembers his beloved Iztaccíhuatl, his heart, which maintains the fire of eternal passion, trembles, and his torch ignites again. That is why, even today, the Popocatépetl volcano continues to spew plumes of smoke from its fumaroles.

The Legend of Pico de Orizaba. At the peak of the Olmec civilization lived a beautiful and brave warrior named Nahuani. She was always seen in the company of her best friend, an eagle named Ahuilizapan (in Nahuatl, the “place of the happy waters,” pronunciation reduced to “Orizaba” in Spanish). Their friendship was legendary, and Ahuilizapan was always with her in battle. Finally, Nahuani died in battle and such was Ahuilizapan’s sadness and pain, the eagle flew as high as she could and plummeted back down to earth, where she eventually became a mountain and then a volcano. After many years of relative tranquility, Ahuilizapan remembered the moment she lost her best friend and began to spew lava. This is the reason that even now people climb this peak as high as they can, leaving offerings to keep the eagle calm.

Geology and a Brief Lesson in Plate Tectonics

Or, why the southern coast of Mexico is particularly prone to earthquakes.

The rigid outer shell of the planet, known as the lithosphere, is fractured into seven or eight major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates (“platelets”). Where the plates meet, their motion in relation to each other determines the type of plate boundary, known as faults and fault zones. They can move side by side, known as a strike slip, and under adjacent plates, called subduction, and in all kinds of combinations of movement. The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 10 cm annually. Faults result in earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation. The Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and associated volcanoes result from the the Pacific Plate and the smaller Cocos Plate subducting beneath the North American Plate.

Oaxaca lies over the convergent boundary where the Cocos Plate is subducted beneath the North American Plate. The rate of convergence in this part of the boundary is 60 mm per year, or six times what is typical. This boundary is associated with many damaging earthquakes along the plate interface, within the descending Cocos slab, and within the overriding North American Plate

The frequency of earthquakes along the Pacific coast of Mexico is increased by geologic activity in the Middle American Trench, a submarine depression that runs from below Baja California in Mexico to Costa Rica. This oceanic trench is a major subduction zone, containing the Pacific, Cocos, and Nazca Plates on the ocean side and the North American and Caribbean Plates on the inland side. The trench is 2,750 km (1,700 miles) long and 6,669 m (21,880 feet) deep at its deepest point.

The Tehuantepec Ridge runs straight (an unusual configuration) across the Cocos Plate and under mainland Mexico near the Oaxaca-Chiapas border. The ridge is an old fracture zone, a place where plates stick; many shallow subduction angles result in perfect conditions for frequent, strong Oaxacan earthquakes. Indeed, Oaxaca has had over 14,000 earthquakes in or near the region since 1995; a quarter of all the earthquakes in Mexico occur in Oaxaca, and no, there is no homeowner’s earthquake insurance that I know of.

Notable Mexican Earthquakes
Oaxacan earthquake of 1931. On January 14, 1931, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck the state capital, Oaxaca de Juárez. Oaxaca City was pretty isolated at the time, with only 35,000 inhabitants versus the current population of 300,050 (2014 census). The quake lasted about four minutes. Archives reported that 80% of the homes were destroyed, but a number of weaker tremors, or foreshocks, increasing in intensity, preceded the major quake, as opposed to aftershocks (replicas in Spanish). This tectonic warning allowed residents to flee their homes, resulting in only about 60 fatalities.

Mexico City earthquake of 1985 struck on September 19 at just after 7 a.m. with a magnitude of 8.0. (For reference, the strongest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5; the Great Chilean Earthquake occurred in Valdivia, a town on the southern coast of Chile, on May 22, 1960.) The Mexico City seismic event caused serious damage to the Greater Mexico City urban area and at least 5,000 fatalities. A foreshock of magnitude 5.2 had occurred the prior May, the main quake was September 19, and there were two large aftershocks whose epicenters were in the Middle American Trench – more than 350 kilometers (220 mi) away.

The event caused between $3 and $5 billion USD in damage. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed and thousands more were seriously damaged. The degree of damage was due to the large magnitude of the quake, the size of the urbanized area, the lack of engineering in old structures, and the ancient, wave-amplifying lake bed on which Mexico City lies. This unstable substrate proides one of the ostensible reasons that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador halted construction of a new Mexico City airport in 2018).

Oaxacan earthquake of 2108. The hypocenter of this magnitude 7.2 earthquake was located 24.5 km (15 miles) deep, and the epicenter was about 37 km (23 miles) northeast of Pinotepa de Don Luis in northwest Oaxaca near the border with the state of Guerrero. (The hypocenter is where IN the earth the quake starts; the epicenter is ON the surface). The epicenter was in a rural area, with little reported damage to structures. A total of 14 people were killed as a result of a military helicopter crash surveying the damage, and not from the earthquake itself.

Oaxacan earthquake of 2020. The last big earthquake in Oaxaca occurred on June 23, 2020, with a magnitude of 7.5. The epicenter was between San Miguel del Puerto (north and west of Copalita) and the small village of Santa María Zapotitlán on the Isthmus. While it shook here in Huatulco, with over 200 replicas, it devastated the town of Juchitán de Zaragoza on the Isthmus of Tehauntepec, where older structures were not engineered to withstand strong earthquakes. The quake was felt by an estimated 49 million people as far south as Guatemala, with some tremors felt as far away as 640 kilometers (400 mi). Thousands of houses in Oaxaca were damaged and ten fatalities were reported. A tsunami warning was issued for southern Mexico and as far south as Honduras, but the tsunami did not occur.

Mexican construction requirements have been strengthened to avoid earthquake damage. When we designed our house in Huatulco almost 15 years ago, the plans had to be approved by FONATUR in Mexico City, at the federal level, and withstand an 8.0 quake. That’s a lot of rebar but we had no damage to the house other than a few superficial cracks.

Huatulco

Papel Picado

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By Julie Etra

The first time I saw them, I had no clue what these colorful and seemingly whimsical hanging, decorations were. Perforated placemats? Rectangular doilies?

Papel picado (literally, perforated paper), also known as banderitas (little flags), is the traditional hand-crafted, brightly colored decoration seen throughout Mexico. Papel picado is hung from wooden dowels or string, a bit like laundry on the line, during numerous celebrations and holidays, including patriotic/historical events, coming-of-age parties for girls (quinceañeras), baptisms, Christmas, and Day of the Dead (more about that later).

Amate – Early Mexican “Paper”
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, “paper” was derived from thin bark, called amate (amatl in Nahuatl), and was used primarily to create codices (pre-Hispanic manuscripts) common in the Aztec and Mayan cultures. Painted codices depicted history, customs, land ownership, sacred rituals, and a variety of other painted symbols. Most of the pre-Hispanic codices were destroyed by the Spaniards, although the creation of codices by both indigenous peoples and the Spanish continued.
Amate is derived from various fig trees; several species were used depending on the location. These included Ficus aurea, strangler fig, and Ficus cotinifolia, predominant in the Maya civilization. The oldest known amate paper in Mesoamerica was made in what is now the state of Jalisco from Ficus aurea, and dates to 75 CE. Other species of Ficus were used in what is now Morelos.

Pre-Hispanic peoples also used amate to decorate religious shrines and accompany burials – these decorations are thought to be the early antecedents of papel picado, and its use in Day of the Dead celebrations, although there is mixed evidence on whether their makers used cutouts as part of these decorations.

Today, amate is used not for papel picado, but in bark paintings, an artisanal, handmade traditional art form. Bark paintings depict culture and rural and folkloric life through colorful and vivid landscapes. Scenes portrayed include parties, parades, weddings, cock fights, and bucolic farms. No doubt you have seen these paintings for sale in Huatulco, in the zocalo in La Crucecita or Santa Cruz, and in many shops.
Historical records indicate that the bark from the small Jamaican nettletree (Trema micranthum) was also used to make paper; its use has been recently resurrected by the Otomi people of the altiplano (high plain) of central Mexico. Volcanic rock was and still is used to beat the bark, which is then soaked overnight to soften in preparation for painting or applying embroidery.

Papel Picado of Today
Forty-odd years after conquering Mexico and other areas of Latin America, Spain colonized Asia, ruling the Phillipines from 1565 to 1898. From there it began trade with China; one of its most interesting imports to Spain, and then Mexico, was papel de china, colored Chinese tissue paper, or papel de seda, silk paper from Japan.

Papel picado surged in popularity in the colonial era (19th century) in the state of Puebla. Indigenous workers on large haciendas, who were more or less indentured servants, were forced to buy what they needed in the “company store” on the hacienda. Tissue paper was often a form of payment to the workers, or they bought it themselves. Imported Chinese cut-paper stencils were also popular; Mexican craftspeople used them as the Chinese did, to create designs for painting and woodcarving – and for papel picado.

Papel picado in its current form most likely originated in the town of San Salvador Huixcolotla in the state of Puebla, east and south of Mexico City (Huixcolotla means “place of the curved spine” in Nahuatl). At least four artisans from San Salvador Huixcolotla are known to have developed designs and produced the cut-paper banners; as the Mexican revolution came to an end, papel picado production spread beyond Puebla into next-door Tlaxcala, and then beyond. On September 22, 1998, the state of Puebla published a decree that declared San Salvador Huixcolotla a Cultural Heritage site and the cuna (cradle, or birthplace) of papel picado.

San Salvador Huixcolotla is no longer the only town in Puebla where the papel picado artisans and workshops are located; other Puebla centers of production are San Martín Texmelucan, Zacapoaxtla, and Tehuacán. Indeed, papel picado is made in many Mexican cities and towns, as well as in the southern and southwestern United States.


Making Authentic Papel Picado
While mass-produced papel picado is often cut by machine, particularly when made in the U.S., and some papel picado is now made of plastic film for added durability, there are dedicated artisans still practicing the art of hand-made papel picado. Outstanding papel picado is characterized by the density of the cuts and the elaborate, diverse designs, which commonly include legends, flowers, animals, patron saints, and other religious figures depending on the event or holiday.

Up to 100 hojas (sheets) of tissue paper, or other thin papers such as rice paper, can be stacked up; sometimes they are folded, which makes matching patterns. The stencil pattern (patron) is drawn on sturdy manila paper, derived from hemp, which is placed on the top of the stack of hojas.
The stencil is then cut into the sheets with mallets and chisels (fierritos), which provide greater accuracy and more detail than scissors. Once cut, the sheets are separated and glued to threads, which can reach more than five meters (16.5 ft.) in length; these are called guides, strips or pasacalles (pass over the streets).
For Día de Muertos, papel picado is hung over streets and on the ceilings of shops, in homes and draped over ofrendas (altars commemorating deceased loved one). For this holiday, patterns of skulls and other objects typical of ofrendas, such as food, flowers, and alcohol (particularly tequila) prevail. Of the four elements (fire, water, earth, and air) that appear on the Day of the Dead altars, the banderitas represent air.
Red and green paper dominate Christmas papel picado, while weddings are dominated by white hojas, representing lace, and frequently depicted with doves, hearts, and other appropriate figures.

If you ever put on parties or events that reflect your Mexican experience, you really need to include some banderitas – you can buy a 14-foot plastic “paper full of wishes” banner on Amazon for $7.99. As for the bark paintings, we purchased two a few years ago in Oaxaca City. They are inexpensive and a lot of fun – and, they’re earthquake-proof since they don’t shatter and can be hung safely anywhere.

Huatulco

COTTON: Politics and Production in Mexico

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By Julie Etra

Did the Mexican Revolution start with a prohibition on “underwear”?

Cotton, Coercion, Morality, and Modernization

Porfirio Díaz, the 33rd president of Mexico, was a complicated and controversial character; by the end of his seventh (and last) term, many considered him a dictator whose policies led directly to the Mexican Revolution. His successive administrations focused on modernization, economic development, and trying to “Europeanize” Mexico.

In the late 19th century, Díaz prohibited men from wearing the traditional white cotton clothing known as calzón de manta. This very Mexican clothing originated in pre-Hispanic times, particularly in the warmer regions of Mexico. It consists of loose-fitting, long-sleeved white shirts and pants, woven from 100% cotton and often tied with a colorful red or blue belt. The design promoted cooling airflow next to the body, and Porfirian administrators saw it as peasant underwear – immoral and definitely not modern.

Calzón de manta was worn particularly by campesinos (rural farmers), and Díaz associated these clothes with the backward, uneducated, and unrefined lower classes; from his perspective, calzón de manta symbolized a Mexico that prevented social and economic growth. Some urban communities, including Guadalajara, required that men arriving from the countryside remove their calzon de manta and rent more appropriate pants, including a type of denim, before entering the city.

Historian Florencia Gutiérrez, Ph.D., of the Colegio de México, ties the prohibition on calzón de manta to the Porfiriato’s concern with eliminating alcoholism and improving personal hygiene; as for calzado (footwear), huaraches were bad, too.

All about Cotton

But cotton, it turns out, is not just a peasant fabric despised by 19th-century elites. Cotton is called algodón in Spanish; the word is ultimately derived from the Arabic name al-qutun. Cotton is known as ixcaxíhuitl in Náhuatl, and taman, piits’ in Mayan.

The scientific name for the species cultivated in the western hemisphere is Gossypium hirsutum; its origin and evolution may be parallel to that of Gossypium barbadense, a cotton that emerged near eastern Sudan in the Middle Nile Basin around 5000 BCE.

The first cultivated cotton fabric of the species G. barbadense appeared around 3000 BCE in the Indus River Valley (present-day Pakistan). Around 2500 BCE, Chinese, Egyptian and South American civilizations begin weaving cotton fabrics. Although Mexico claims to be the origin in the western hemisphere, the oldest cotton fabric was found in Huaca Prieta, an archeological site in Peru, and dated to about 6000 BCE. It is hypothesized that Huaca Preita is the western hemiphere’s site of domestication; cotton seeds and rope dating to about 2500 BCE have also been found in Peru.

Some of the oldest cotton bolls (the mature flower) were discovered in a cave in the Tehuacán Valley in Puebla, Mexico, dating to about 5500 BCE. By 3000 BCE, cotton was being grown and processed in Mexico and the southern United States (the town of Algodones on the Arizona-Mexico border is currently dedicated to dental tourism). In the 1700s, cotton was grown in the Keres and Tiwa native American pueblos in southern Arizona, then sold to other pueblos. Drought and lack of arable land, combined with raids by the Apache led to the demise of cotton cultivation in the area.

Columbus found cotton growing in the Bahama Islands in 1492, and by 1500, cotton was known generally throughout the world. In the United States cotton is said to have been planted in Florida in 1556 and in Virginia in 1607. By 1616, colonists were growing cotton along the James River in Virginia.

Cotton’s Cousin – the Lovely Hibiscus

Cotton is closely related to hibiscus and they both reside in the mallow family, Malvaceae, which also includes the common hollyhock (Alcea rosea), globe mallows (Sphaeralcea), and checker mallows (Sidalcea).

Hibiscus plants are tropical ornamental shrubs, common around Huatulco, and one of my favorites, given all its varieties and showy flowers. Hibiscus is not native to Mexico, with India and Africa the disputed origins. However, we do have a beautiful native with sealed petals, Malvaviscus arboreus, found along trails and the forest edge. According to a 2007 article in the Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México (Bulletin of the Botanical Society of Mexico), the Malvaceae family comprises 2.7% of all species in the Huatulco National Park, with 11 genera and 18 species. (You can learn more from Diagnóstico de los Recursos Naturales de la Bahía y Micro-cuenca de Cacaluta (Assessment of the Natural Resources of the Bay and Micro-Basin of the Cacaluta River), available at the UMAR bookstore for 258 pesos).

The Malvaceae family also includes Hibiscus sabdariffa, aka flor de jamaica, whose fragrant and sticky calices are steeped to make the delicious beverage, agua de jamaica; this plant, however, is native to Africa, having found its way through trade routes to the West Indies and on to the tropics of Mexico and Central America.

Much to my irritation, hibiscus is also a favorite food of iguanas, and in my stubbornness, I continue to replant them and try to protect the younger plants, usually to no avail. I sometimes catch the athletic reptiles devouring the flowers and tender shoots. Our friend Juan just laughs at me, gestures, and points at his stomach, indicating that they make a fine stew and medicinal soup, at least the black and white iguanas.

Mexican Cotton Today

Today, all cotton is obtained from four domesticated species; of these, the Mexican highland cotton (G. hirsutum) comprises 90% of world production. Countless traditional Mexican clothes – way more than calzon de manta – and fabrics are woven from cotton. It is also used in the production of rope/twine, paper, banknotes, cooking oil, packaging, cosmetics, hammocks, and even livestock feed.

Cotton production in Mexico occurs primarily in the border states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and the centrally located Durango. Cotton requires both water and some fertilizer, along with a warm climate and full sun – these northern Mexico states provide ideal growing conditions. In 2021 approximately 164,000 hectares were under production, with the primary market being the U.S., followed by El Salvador.

In terms of world production, India and China vie for producing the most cotton worldwide, with India in the lead for the moment, followed by the U.S., Brazil, and Australia. In the 2018-19 growing season, Mexico was the world’s 9th-largest producer, but as Mexico has outlawed genetically modified (GM) cotton seed and the herbicide glyphosate, it has dropped back to 13th in worldwide cotton production. Press reports indicate that some Chihuahuan cotton farmers are looking for alternative crops, because non-GM cotton seeds don’t produce well enough to be profitable.

Mexican Cotton for Your Home

For excellent quality hand-woven cotton tablecloths, napkins, bedspreads, etc., you can look in any number of weaving shops in La Crucecita, mostly in the south end of town – for example, Casa Textil Escobar is located on the corner of Cocotillo and Bugambilia, while Textil Arte Huatulco is closer to the central square, at Flamboyan 116.

Huatulco

We Are, Indeed, Stardust

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By Julie Etra

We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion-year-old carbon
And we got to get ourselves
Back to the garden.
― Joni Mitchell, chorus to the song “Woodstock” (1969)

We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe
to figure itself out—and we have only just begun.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017)

It is totally 100% true: nearly all the elements in the human body
were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas.
― Ashley J. King, Ph.D., planetary scientist at the Museum of Natural History, London

Most of the elements of our bodies were formed in stars over the course of billions of years and multiple star lifetimes. It’s even possible that some of our hydrogen (which makes up roughly 9.5% of our bodies) and lithium, which our body contains in very tiny trace amounts (sorry, Elon, not cost effective), originated from the Big Bang. All this may be hard for some people to accept, the fact that we consist of elements of recycled stars. As visitors to or residents of Mexico, how do Mexicans think of this?

What did pre-Hispanic cultures think about the stars?

Numerous ancient (and not so ancient) cultures looked to the sky with wonder and perhaps puzzlement; the sky of course was the source of many origin stories: gods, goddesses, legends about the stars, what or who they were, and what they represented. In many ancient cultures, people believed that gods dwelt outside the realm of human experience, and that temples bridged the gap between the human and the divine, expediting access to their deities. This was true in Mexico, particularly among the Aztecs. In their architectural design, they mimicked what happened during the creation of the world as they knew it.

The Mayans had a sophisticated sacred calendar based on the stars. Days and months were represented by small glyphs (“the specific shape, design, or representation of a character”) and drawings. Chichen Itza, one of the most famous Mayan communities, included an observatory perfectly oriented towards the stars, the planets, and the cosmos. They believed that the history of their people was cyclical and was repeated according to the position of the stars in the sky. The 260-day calendar sacred to the Maya was governed by the path of Venus.

In the Aztec civilization, centered around the capital of Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City), three basic types of pyramids existed: the Twin Stair Pyramid, the Single Stair Pyramid, and the Round Pyramid. Twin and Single Stair Pyramids were four-sided constructions with a single or double staircase on one side. This staircase always faced west, which the Aztecs believed was the place where the sun descended into the underworld. These pyramids comprised four main platforms and a final fifth level containing one or two temples.

The temples were set back from the stairs and impossible to see from ground level, creating an illusion that the temples resided in the heavens. They were enormous in order to be as close as possible to the gods residing in the heavens. The Nahua people, who included the Aztecs, Chichimecas, and Toltecs, believed that the heavens had13 levels, usually called topan (“above us” or “the beyond”), with one to many gods living on any given level.

Closer to home (Huatulco)

The Zapotec culture’s preeminent population, agricultural, and religious center, Monte Alban, located in the Central Valleys on the outskirts of present-day Oaxaca City, was inhabited between 500 B.C.E. and approximately 900 C.E., when it was abandoned. At an elevation of 1940 m (6400 ft) above mean sea level, Monte Alban rises 400 m (1300 ft) from the valley floor. It was one of the first urban centers established in Mesoamerica. In the pre-Hispanic era, the three valleys were settled due to the rich soil and numerous productive rivers and intermittent drainages descending from the mountains. The valleys and eventually the flanks of the man-made plateau of Monte Alban were cultivated to support the growing population. Eventually, an estimated peak population of 35,000 resided among the temples, residences, and ballcourts.

Last winter, we learned from our elderly and sage local guide, Nezahualcóyotl (named after the scholar/poet/engineer who appears on the 100-peso bill), there was also a medical facility. Nezahualcóyotl referred me to some supporting documentation that postulated that the figures known as the danzantes (dancers) were in fact patients at a clinic, and their antic postures represented various maladies.

The ancient city was built on a site conducive to observing the celestial heavens, innately tied to the culture, since agriculture and other activities of daily life depended on the study and understanding of the stars. In Oani Báa, (Zapotec for Monte Alban), one of the first buildings to be built in the main square was Building I, a Mesoamerican observatory, erected to follow the movement of the stars, the moon, and the sun. The majority of the temples faced east or west, aligning with the sun’s path. The entire city was itself a great astronomical observatory, and for about1400 years the population observed the constellations and planets and perfected their calendars.

The Zapotecs, particularly the priests or shamans, were aware of alternative “realities,” discovered through the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs, particularly mushrooms, that allowed for communication with the gods. They were purported to practice “astral travel” and to be able to predict the future. The first time my husband and I visited the ruins in 2007, our guide explained (or hypothesized?) that priests would demonstrate their superhuman powers to the masses by disappearing through one of the underground tunnels and emerging on the opposite side of the temple. This would support the Zapotec belief that the sun, after hiding in the west, passed through the interior of the Earth and came out in the east, and thus the priests were able to follow or accompany the sun. (I have read several references to this “spectacle,” and if true it would have helped ensure the commoner’s awe of, and respect for, the ruling religious class.)

Around 1325 CE, the Mixtecs, coming from the north, invaded the valley of Oaxaca and re-occupied the site, along with the city of Mitla to the east.

Off topic, but interesting, the current conditions in the Central Valleys do not even vaguely resemble what it looked like in pre-Hispanic or post-Conquest/colonial time. Today the valley is somewhat denuded, and prominently marked by erosion; there are large stands of agave (mezcal or tequila, anyone?) and numerous large greenhouses.

When the Zapotec civilization emerged, although the climate was semi-arid as it is today, oak and pine woodlands covered the surrounding mountains (now decimated by logging). During the dry season from November until May, cultivation continued along the rivers, employing sophisticated systems of irrigation canals. It was through these systems, connecting to small streams, that water was provided to Monte Alban; archaeologists have found remains of a small irrigation system consisting of a dam and a canal on the south-eastern flank of the mountain. As there were no domesticated beasts of burden at that time, water and other supplies were most likely carried on the backs of peasants from the flanks of the mountain up to the city.

A little about the Zapotec inframundo (underworld)
A recent archaeological discovery about the underworld has been made in Mitla, a Zapotec religious center located east and south of present-day Oaxaca City (see Brooke O’Connor’s article elsewhere in this issue). A consortium of researchers discovered an extensive labyrinth beneath a colonial Catholic church – the temple of Lyobaa (Zapotec for “place of rest”). This ancient underground site is thought to be what the Zapotecs knew as the entrance to the underworld.

The ARX Project, a member of the research consortium, issued a report on the first year of investigation (2022); the report contains a description written by Francisco de Burgoa, a Dominican historian, at the time the church was built atop the Mitla ruins, noting that the site was

a vast subterranean temple consisting of four interconnected chambers, containing the tombs of the high priests and the kings of Teozapotlán. From the last subterranean chamber, a stone door led into a deep cavern extending thirty leagues below ground. This cavern was intersected by other passages like streets, its roof supported by pillars.

Although it was sealed off by Spanish missionaries centuries ago as part of the conquest and efforts to eliminate perceived pagan practices, rumors of its existence persisted for centuries. Recent high-tech methods were used to re-discover this archaeologically significant site.

An ancient legend of the stars

Finally, as a bittersweet ending, I have translated a Zapotec legend about the stars and cosmos, El Principe y la Estrella (The Prince and the Star). The original appears on the website Mexican Myths and Legends maintained by anthropologist Sonia Iglesias of the Mexican government’s General Directorate of Popular, Indigenous, and Urban Cultures (https://www.mitos-mexicanos.com/tag/xtagabne).

In the pre-Hispanic times of the Zapotec kingdom, there lived a warrior prince who was known for being very handsome and brave. His fame was not only known on Earth but also in Heaven. Alba (Dawn) learned of the extraordinary princely feats and related them to the daughters of the Lord of Heaven, who were actually stars.

The most beautiful of the goddess-daughter-stars fell madly in love with the warrior prince and descended to Earth, sitting patiently next to the river that flowed through Juchitán, waiting for the handsome young man to pass by. He arrived at the place where the star was waiting, and captivated by her beauty, immediately fell in love with her. Without thinking twice, he took her into his arms and swept her away to the royal residence.

Upon realizing the absence of one of his daughters, Heaven became very sad, the sky darkened, and the gray clouds rained tears. The divinities of Heaven, the stars, wanted at all costs to prevent their sister-star from marrying a mere mortal, no matter how brave he was, and they met to develop a plan to prevent the perceived disastrous romance. And so continues the story of the origin of the beautiful xtaga be’nye, the water lily.

The wedding between the goddess-star and the prince was held with many accompanying grand celebrations. One of the stars transformed herself into a breeze, descending to the earth and attending one of the celebrations. Stealthily, she entered the bedroom intended for the newlyweds. Once inside, she abandoned her disguise and turned to the now-married goddess-star to relay to her what her father, the Lord of Heaven, had decided: Sister Star, because of what you have done, our father, Heaven, has decided that you will remain forever on Earth and become a flower that will float on the waters of the lagoon. Your petals will remain closed during the day so that humans cannot see you, but at night they will open so that you can receive a visit from your sisters, the stars!

The star goddess then disappeared with her sister star, and no one would see her again. Moments later, a blackish green flower with a beautiful, slender stem appeared in the Chivele lagoon, which people began to call mudubina (Zapotec for water lily).

The prince, upon realizing the disappearance of his wife, began going crazy with grief. His father, seeing him so desperate, summoned his vinnigenda, travelers from all the winds, to go look for the missing goddess-star. Despite the Zapotec Lord being extremely powerful, he could do nothing against the power of the Lord of Heaven. One of the oldest vinnigendas told the Zapotec Lord that it was not possible to defeat Heaven. Then the old vinnigenda, seeing the suffering of the young warrior, turned him into a flower as well. This new flower was named xtaga be’nye, the water lily (nenúfar in Spanish).

Thus, the two lovers were able to meet. The mudubina with its beautiful petals open only at night and with a red heart from the fire of her love, and the xtaga be’nye that lives by day and shows its yellow heart full of melancholy. They could never see each other, but perhaps one day, the Lord of Heaven will take pity on the lovers so that they can love each other again face to face, forever and ever.

Postscript for the botanically inclined. The plants have male and female parts making them “perfect.” When the flowers first open, the female parts dominate, and nectar pools in their centers. On the second and third day, the flowers produce pollen, the male parts. The Zapotecs gave the flower two different names depending on the flowering stage.

For an interesting read, check out this link:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220928-mexicos-ancient-unknown-pyramids

¡Adiós! ¡Padiuxhi!

Huatulco

The Chilies of Mexico

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By Julie Etra

While there are chilies – some of them (in)famous for their heat – from around the world, like the medium hot Hatch chilies from New Mexico, or hot Thai chilies, or even hotter Scotch Bonnets, this article focuses on the chilies of Mexico. Note, both spellings are acceptable: chili and chile.

The common name “chili” is from the Náhuatl word chilli. Chilies have been cultivated in Mexico for over 6,000 years. Although their precise origin is unclear, they no doubt come from Latin America. The Nahua (Aztecs) had various uses for the fruit besides consumption, including using the smoke to punish children or to combat military enemies; the smoke from charred chiles caused extreme eye irritation (anyone who has chopped a fresh or roasted high-Scoville-unit chili and then rubbed their eyes knows this firsthand).

Taxonomy and Biology

Chilies are in the genus Capsicum, derived from a Greek word meaning “capsule” (botanically speaking, that is incorrect since the fruit is a berry). They are in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), along with tomatoes and potatoes. Capsicum consists of 20–27 species, five of which are widely cultivated, with C. annuum being the most important. C. annuum includes chili de arbol, jalapeño and poblano, and others such as the domesticated sweet orange, red, and yellow bell peppers, Which are mature versions of the green bell pepper and not considered chilies.

The other four widely used chilies are C. baccatum (the domesticated ají pepper found in many South American countries), C. chinense (habanero chilies), C. frutescens (the Tabasco chili), and C. pubescens (the Mexican manzano, Bolivian locoto, and Peruvian rocoto). Many specific Mexican chilies have Náhuatl language equivalents (tlalchilli = chili de arbol).

Chilies found today have been bred from their wild ancestors, most likely the chiltepin or similar small but picante chilies that are found everywhere, since birds are one of the vectors and spread the seed with their waste. The chiltepin or pequin (or piquin) chilies that sometimes appear in the wild in Huatulco are consumed by the chachalacas (loud partridge-like birds with a red eye – chachalaca means chatty, which they are!). I have quit trying to cultivate these chilies, hoping to cut down on the chacalaca conversations in my yard! Wild chilies are pollinated by honeybees, bumblebees, other species of bees, and ants (and no doubt other insects).

What is the best way to describe chilies? Should we classify chilies by their heat? Fresh versus dried? By region? By size? By preparation?

CONABIO, Mexico’s National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, puts out a fabulous poster of Mexican chilies with the slogan “Si no le pusiste chile, no esperes que te sepa.” This is the short version of a quote from David Alonso López, a graduate of the International Gastronomy program at the Universidad Mexicana: “Si no le pusiste chile, no esperes que te sepa la comida, aunque hay de picantes a picantes”: “If you didn’t add chilies, don’t expect you know our food [culture], although there’s hot and then there’s really hot.”

Chiles are often categorized by their heat or level of picante (spiciness), measured in Scoville units. For example, the habanero pica (bites), so it rates as very hot at 350,000 Scoville units, while the proletariat poblano, typically associated with the chili relleno, is considered mild at 1000-2000 units. (This might not always be the case with individual peppers, since chilies cross pollinate and hybridize.)

How to Use Mexican Chilies

Chilies can be used fresh or raw in salsas (immature/green; mature/red). They can be smoked, pickled (as in escabeche, that dish of pickled chilies, carrots, etc. that appears on many restaurant tables), or roasted. I like to roast poblanos, chop them up and add them to a batch of pinto or black beans, along with other ingredients, of course. Roasting usually adds heat; a roasted serrano is hotter than its fresh form. Typically, when chilies are roasted, the seed and the membranes are removed.

Dried chilies can be used in many ways; the red chili de arbol flakes are often served with pizza; chilies can be dried and ground into powders; whole dried chilies can be reconstituted by soaking in vinegar or water for use in salsa, e.g., guajillo salsa.

Poblano chilies can be stuffed (chili relleno; relleno = “filled”), not just with cheese but with almost anything. The poblanos first need to be roasted to char and remove the skin, which is hard to digest.

My favorite relleno is the very complicated chilies en nogada – chilies in walnut cream sauce, stuffed with meat and fruit and garnished with the sauce, pomegranate seeds, and parsley, the colors of the red, white, and green Mexican flag. The dish originated in the city of Puebla, where the struggle for Mexican independence began. It is said to have been prepared for Emperor Augustín de Iturbide (first president and then emperor after the war of independence – a long story for another time). It is a source of pride for the inhabitants of the state of Puebla; people from Puebla are known as “poblanos,” although that really means “people of the pueblo/town,” and not people of the pepper! You can order this exquisite dish at Campestre Santa Clara in La Crucecita.

Here’s a list of the varieties of chilies mostly commonly available in Huatulco, in fresh, dried, or smoked form, along with a few unusual chilies you might look for. The most popular are available in the supermarkets, but you’ll have better luck checking out the baskets at the produce markets and the Organic Market held on Saturdays in Santa Cruz (Mercado Orgánico de Huatulco – MOH). The Saturday schedule varies by the season.

The bola chili comes from Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Jalisco, and Veracruz. When it is dried, it is called cascabel. It’s used in salsas and “jams” (paste form), and has a nutty flavor.

The chawa chili grows in the Yucatán, and is used fresh (green) in salsas or pickled in escabeche.

The chilaca chili is from the state of Chihuahua, and is used green or red. A dried chilaca is called pasilla. Use chilacas in stews or roast them with cheese.

Chile verde del norte is similar to the anaheim chili or perhaps the Hatch chilies; green is spicier than red, which can be almost sweet. If it is dried while green, it is called chile seco del norte; if red, chile colorado. It can be used for chilies rellenos, in stews, soups (especially posole, the broth made with pork, hominy, and chilies, plus all the chopped toppings you want), and marinades and sauces.

Chile de arbol grows everywhere, is used fresh, either green or red, and dried, usually ground (molido). It’s picante – hot – and is used in everything.

Chile chicuarote (sometimes criollo) comes from the Valley of Mexico, and is grown in the San Gregorio Atlapulco neighborhood of Xochimilco, the floating gardens south of Mexico City. It is used fresh (green/red) or dried in salsas and moles. It’s also the title of a 2020 film directed by Gael García Bernal that portrays two young chicuarotes – the informal name for Xochimilco residents, meaning “pretty spicy” – who go from unsuccessful clowning to armed robbery while riding public transportation.

Chile chilhuacle is a rare chili that grows in Oaxaca, and is used dried. Considered essential in mole negro.

Chile costeño is also from Oaxaca, also used dried in moles and salsas. It adds a fruity flavor.

The chile loco comes from Puebla and is available in the rainy season. It used fresh or dried in salsas, pastes, or roasted and sliced. Picante.

The rare chile tuxta or tusta is from Oaxaca. It is dried and used in traditional recipes.

The small Chiltepin chilies grow throughout Mexico and are used fresh in salsas and aguachile (chili-water), a shrimp dish from northwestern Mexico like ceviche but without the marinating time that “cooks” the fish. Picante.

Güero chilis (güero = blond) are basically the same as banana peppers. They are grown in northern Mexico and used fresh in yellow mole, salsas, and escabeche.

Jalapeño chilies are available everywhere. When jalapeños are smoked, they are called chipotle; the canned version is called chipotles en adobo (sauce). Because it is smoked for less time, the morita chili is a milder type of chipotle. Jalapeños have many fresh uses (salsas, pickled for escabeche), while chipotles are used in stews and moles, among other dishes.

Manzana chilies come from the state of Michoacán in the Central Mexican Valley. They can be roasted or grilled, and are often used in salsas.

The mirasol chili grows upright – its name means “look at the sun.” Mirasol chilies come from the central Mexican altiplano (plateau). The dried form is called guajillo, a mild, sweetish pepper that adds rich flavor to moles, salsas, and stews.

Pequin chilies come largely from Coahuila and are used dry, mostly in salsas. Of course, the supermarkets all carry shaker bottles of “chili piquin,” sometimes with lime, which is great for sprinkling atop corn, eggs, avocado toast, and tropical fruit.

Poblano chilies are grown, predominantly in the state of Puebla, but are available everywhere; once the fresh poblanos are roasted, they can be stuffed (see above – delicious for chiles en nogada). Smoked poblanos are called ancho chilies, and good in bean dishes and stews. Serrano chilies are widely grown and available across Mexico. They are used fresh, both green and red, especially for salsa. Dried, they’re called chile seco. For more information and fun, check out these sites.

Lila Downs’ fabulous tribute to the chili, Son del Chile Frito. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U1ZuI5rw3U.

  1. Conabio Poster: https://en.ihuitl.com/fullscreen-page/comp-jlojikxq/8c30da01-6084-4b6d-888b-80ebaafe6435/20.
  2. Scoville Chart: http://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/peppers-ranked-by-scoville-heat-units/.
  3. On bola chilies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zs-hZ22iyM
  4. On loca and poblano chilies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JUdreyC-XU
  5. On the chicuarote chili: http://www.mexiconewsdaily.com/culture/cdmx-pueblo-chile-chicuarote/?utm_source=jeeng&utm_medium=email&trigger=click.
Huatulco

Naming the Mexican Schools– with People’s Names

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By Julie Etra

When you started school, what was the name of your school? How about middle school? High school? I attended Roosevelt Elementary School in New York, but for which Roosevelt was it named? I’d like to forget junior high entirely – like many teens! My high school, New Rochelle High, was obviously named for a place. University of Colorado, Colorado State, places.

For years I have driven around Huatulco and its environs, up to Pluma Hidalgo, on to Oaxaca City through San José del Pacifico, out to Bahía San Augustín, and down to the Bajos de Coyula. In all these places, I have seen escuelas (schools) with specific names, the great majority named after renowned historical figures. While the schools I’m listing here are all in the vicinity of Huatulco, these names appear on schools throughout Mexico. They give us a picture of people recognized as important to Mexican history, philosophy, culture, and communication. To emphasize that history, they are listed in the chronological order of their lives.

Juan Jacobo Rousseau (1712-78) is the name of an escuela secundaria (grades 7, 8 9) in La Crucecita. This might seem a bit perplexing, given that the Swiss philosopher, writer, and composer never visited Mexico. However, Rousseau’s book The Social Contract (1763) – famous for the quote “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” – greatly influenced those who led the national wars of independence and revolutions of the United States (1775-83), France (1789-99), and Mexico (1810-21).

Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (1753-1811) was his full name, but he is known as Father Miguel Hidalgo. He is the famous Catholic priest credited with the Grito de Dolores, the “shout of rebellion” given at midnight on September 15/16 in the town of Dolores Hidalgo. The grito marked beginning of the movement for Mexico’s independence from Spain. Miguel Hidalgo is considered the Father of the Nation and was very progressive for his time, including being anti-slavery. On 6 December 1810, Hidalgo issued a decree abolishing slavery, threatening death to those who did not comply. He abolished tribute payments that indigenous peoples had to pay to criollo lords (Creole, a European born in Mexico). He was excommunicated and executed by the Spanish government. Suffice it to say that you will see many places named after Miguel Hidalgo, including states, roads, and schools – a kindergarten in Palo Grande, on route 175 north of Pluma Hidalgo, bears his name.

José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix (1786-1843)​​ was a Mexican general and political figure who fought in the Mexican War of Independence. He changed his name to Guadalupe Victoria after winning a battle in that town. After the adoption of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, Victoria was elected as the first President of the United Mexican States, an office in which he served from 1824 to 1829. There are at least two schools named for Guadalupe Victoria along the Oaxacan coast, a primaria (elementary school) in San Pedro Mixtepec, north of Puerto Escondido, and a primaria in Chahuites, near Salina Cruz.

Leona Vicario (1789-1842) was one of the most prominent figures of the War of Independence. From her home in Mexico City, she supported the insurrection by informing rebels of the movements of Spanish troops. She was wealthy, independent, a feminist, and a journalist, and provided substantial financial support to the insurgency. She received several postmortem recognitions, including the title of “Distinguished and Beloved Mother of the Homeland” by the Congress of the Union. Her name is inscribed in gold in the Mural of Honor in the lower house of the Mexican Congress. The year 2020 was declared the Year of Leona Vicario, Benemérita Madre de la Patria (Praiseworthy Mother of the Homeland).

Melchor Ocampo (1814-61) is one of the most intriguing individuals noted in this article. Ethnically he was a mestizo (mixed indigenous and European ancestry) and a radical liberal. He was abandoned as a child at the doorstep of a wealthy Mexican woman who not only raised him but to whom she bequeathed her estate. He was fervently opposed to the Catholic Church, reflected in his early writings that earned him the reputation as an intellectual. He served in the administration of Benito Juárez (the indigenous 26th president of Mexico) and negotiated a controversial agreement with the United States. The McLane-Ocampo Treaty, which dealt with transportation and commerce, gave the U.S. substantial rights in Mexico despite the recently fought Mexican-American War (1846-48), when Mexico lost 30% of its territory. In 1874, the state of Michoacán was renamed to honor Ocampo – its formal name is Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo (The Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo). Many schools throughout Mexico are named for Ocampo, including a primaria in Puerto Angel.

Agustín Melgar (1829-47), was a military cadet and major figure in the defense of Chapultepec Castle against invading American forces. The Battle of Chapultepec, one of the last major battles of the Mexican–American War, took place on September 13th, 1847. After finding himself alone, Melgar tried to stop the enemy on the north side of the castle, killing one American soldier and then taking refuge behind mattresses in one of the rooms. He was one of six cadets, aged 13 to 19, from the military academy located on Chapultepec Hill. All six died in battle that day. They are known as the Niños Héroes (Child Heroes), and are commemorated by a national holiday on September 13th. There is a kindergarten named for Melgar in Santa María Huatulco; several schools in the area named for the Niños Héroes.

Macedonio Alcalá Prieto (1831-69). For all the times I’ve walked the pedestrian corridor in Oaxaca City – the Andador de Macedonio Alcalá – I never really realized for whom it was named. A majestic theatre in the historic district – el Teatro de Macedonio Alcalá – was also named for him. Alcalá was born in Oaxaca City and showed an early interest in music, learning the piano, cello, viola, flute, and ophicleide (a keyed brass instrument in the bugle family), but he excelled on the violin.

He grew up to be a violinist, pianist, and composer. After completing studies in Mexico City he returned to Oaxaca, where he became a member of the Philharmonic Society of Santa Cecilia, an orchestra specializing in regional music and composers. Later he became the director of the Banda de Música de Oaxaca. Alcalá was said to be passionate and high-strung, characteristics that distinguished his playing and his compositions. He struggled with poverty, disease, and alcoholism. Few of his compositions survive since he was remiss in putting them on paper. Among the surviving works are “Marcha Funebre” (Funeral March), “Solo dios en los cielos” (Only God in Heaven), “El Cohete” (The Rocket), “Ave María,” and a well-known waltz “Dios nunca muere” (God Never Dies), which is the unofficial state anthem of Oaxaca. Oaxaqueños stand when they hear it. Macedonio Alcalá is the name of a preschool in Pluma Hidalgo sponsored by CONAFE (Consejo Nacional de Fomento Educativo, which sets up schools in rural areas); there is a Macedonio Alcalá primary school on Hwy 175, north of Pochutla.

Enrique de Olavarría y Ferrari (1844-1919). Olavarría was a well-educated Spanish attorney who emigrated to Mexico in 1865, where he became a journalist, publisher, and educator. He briefly returned to Europe but made his way back to his final home in Mexico where he died. He collaborated on the short-lived (52 issues in 1869) literary magazine El Renacimiento (The Renaissance), considered essential to “awakening the interest in literature all over Mexico” after the chaotic period of the Mexican-American War and the French Intervention (1861-67).

Olavarría founded and collaborated on La Revista Universal and El Federalista, and worked as a columnist for a number of other journals and newspapers (El Constitucional, El Globo, and El Correo de México, among others). His teaching career in Mexico City included literature classes at the Conservatory of Music; geography, universal history, history of Mexico and declamation at the School of Arts and Crafts for Young Ladies; and mathematics at the Municipal Normal School and was administrator of the Colegio de las Vizcaínas. Many schools throughout the country are named for him.

Filomeno Mata Rodríguez (1845-1911) was a Mexican professor and journalist during the Porfiriato (the presidency of Porfirio Díaz) He is particularly noted as an opposition writer during this period, which resulted in his being incarcerated several times. He supported the candidacy for president of Francisco I. Madero at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. A primary school in Erradura, just outside of Santa María Huatulco on the way to Pluma Hidalgo, is named for Mata Rodríguez.

José Vasconcelos (1882-1959. Passing a kindergarten in Santa María Huatulco, I wondered, “Hmmm, who is José Vasconcelos?” José Vasconcelos Calderón is often called the “cultural caudillo” (leader) of the Mexican Revolution. He was a writer, philosopher, politician (and presidential candidate), an influential as well as controversial figure in the history of modern Mexico. Although he was born in the state of Oaxaca (along with Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz) he was raised in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, on the Texas border and attended school in Eagle Pass, USA, where he learned English. Vasconcelos served as Mexico’s minister of education after the Revolution; he is credited with starting the Mexican muralism movement, in which artists created large murals to give a largely illiterate population an understanding of its history. The muralism movement made Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco international famous in their own right.

Vasconcelos is particularly noted for penning the book entitled La raza cósmica (The Cosmic Race), which expressed the ideology of a future “fifth race” in the Americas, an agglomeration of all the races in the world with no respect to color. Vasconcelos espoused an anti-Anglo philosophy; he was also a bit of a rake. In addition to the kindergarten in Santa María, there is a Jose Vasconcelos secundaria in Santa María, and a Jose Vasconcelos primaria in Sector H3 in La Crucecita.

Adolfo López Mateos (1909-69) was a Mexican politician who served as Mexico’s president from 1958 to 1964. Born in Atizapán de Zaragoza in the state of México, he began his political career as a campaign aide to presidential candidate José Vasconcelos (who lost the 1929 election). López Mateos was the first self-declared left-wing politician to hold the presidency since Lázaro Cárdenas del Rio (President from 1934-40).

López Mateos said his political philosophy was “leftist, but within the Constitution.” In 1959, his administration created the Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers) and La Comisión Nacional de Libros de Texto Gratuitos (National Commission for Free Textbooks). In 1960, López Mateos created the CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) during a time of economic growth, and opened the National Museum of Anthropology in 1964.

He was an advocate of non-intervention and settled a border dispute with the U.S. with the Chamizal Treaty, signed August 31, 1964. The treaty granted Mexico 630 acres of what was South El Paso. He advocated a course of independence from the U.S., but cooperated on some issues, despite his opposition to the hostile U.S. policy toward the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Along with Cárdenas and his predecessor, Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines (1952-58), he is considered to be one of the most popular Mexican presidents of the 20th century. Many schools throughout Mexico bear his name, including a primaria in Santa María Huatulco.

Huatulco

Las Nanacateras: The wild mushroom collectors

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By Julie Etra

Mushroom collection and consumption in Mexico go back thousands of years, predating the Spanish conquest. The Sierra Juárez de Oaxaca, the mountain range between the coast and the valley of Oaxaca, is known for its wild mushrooms, edible, hallucinogenic, and poisonous (the latter two can be somewhat synonymous). It is estimated that there are 250,000 species of mushrooms in Mexico. Produce markets here in the Bahías de Huatulco might lead you to believe Mexico has only introduced button, crimini, and portobello mushrooms (all different life stages of the same species, Agaricus bisporus), and occasionally other cultivated varieties, such as oyster mushrooms. But the many wild mushrooms found growing in temperate forested highlands are becoming more and more popular when seasonally available, particularly in urban areas, including the gourmet markets in Mexico City.

Otomi
In the State of Hidalgo, northeast of the state of Mexico, when conditions for growth are optimal during the rainy season, skilled, exclusively women, mushroom collectors known as nanacateras are busy. August is known as mushrooms month or hongosto (hongos = fungi, gosto short for agosto). The Otomi nanacateras (the Otomi are an indigenous group, with their own language, Otomi) apply their exceptional skills distinguishing the edible from the non-edible and teach the methods of both collection and preparation.

Elsewhere
Other well known nanacateras are also from Hidalgo, including the pueblo of Acaxochitlán. These women offer workshops on identification, methods of collection, and preparation. San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, a rural area southeast of Mexico City in a region known as the Milpa Alta, located on the steep slopes of an extinct volcano just east of the state of Morelia, is also known for its climate, ideal for wild mushrooms.

Sierra Juárez de Oaxaca
We have passed through San Jose del Pacifico on our way to Oaxaca on numerous occasions and have seen signs posted for identification and collection workshops. We don’t know if these workshops are taught by nanacateras or other skilled collectors, but, like other snowbirds, we are never here during the optimum period, the rainy season.