Cholula, Mexico

Outside Puebla is the little town of Cholula. They have a pyramid temple here that they believe was possibly used for record keeping purposes between 600 B.C. and 1,000 A.D. It is the largest pyramid (by volume) in the world. Other groups of people eventually took over the temple and used it for the worship of their god, Quetzalcoatl, which translates to "Great White God."  It was a cultural destination for a wide geographical area. When the people heard the Spanish were coming they assembled here to greet them. The Spanish slaughtered them and covered up their temple. At the top of the temple hill they placed a cathedral in the late 1500's. In the last couple of decades work has been done to uncover the temple, however not all of it can be uncovered because it would weaken the foundation of the cathedral. 

Inside the temple. 

Elaine and Shannon (light box not original to the building!). 

They believe that the inside of the temple was used to store records. Sound familiar? 

Coming outside the temple. Lots of vendors waiting to sell their wares!

Lady making pressed grass pictures. 

The volcano Popocatepetl (pronounced popo-cay-teh-pull). The local legend is that he is a warrior who watches over his lover who died of a broken heart when she thought he had been killed. Whenever there is trouble in the world he "acts up" by spewing ash. In the picture below is his 'lover.' It's in inactive volcano and said to resemble the image of a sleeping woman. 

Can you see the faint line of the sleeping woman (faint blue volcano in the clouds)? Her head is on the right, her belly rises in the middle, and her little feet poke up at the left. 

View of Cholula/Puebla from the cathedral. 

This cathedral honors the saint of remedies and people come here to be healed. 

In Mexcio, historic or cultural towns are referred to as 'magic.' I have to agree!

The following pictures are excavated ruins at the base of the pyramid temple. 

View of the cathedral from down below. 

Me and my head at the ruins!

They designed the acoustics of this square so that when you clap it sounds like a bird that they worshiped. 

an alter

I climbed up these steps. I felt a little dizzy. The steps are made for tiny feet. 

The town of Cholula

Bees love fresh fruit! People ordering from this vendor didn't seem to mind the bees. A lot of people were eating those jicama 'lollipops.' They had them dipped in..what else but lime and chili powder.

This lady, Sandra, rents our bedroom from Celia. She is a member of the church and graciously gave up her bed for Shannon and me. She was so nice and I am a better person for having met her. I want to learn Spanish just so I can talk to her. She works as a maid and she came home from work one day with a bag full of traditional Pueblan candy for my kids. 

Celia buys jugs of water because her water supply was so intermittent. Sometimes it would be shut off, sometimes it was only cold water, sometimes it came out in just a trickle, sometimes her toilet wouldn't flush, tap water isn't safe to drink....Shannon was draining the last bit of water.