Historical Symbolism

Puebla, Mexico, is the 4th largest city in Mexico and is about 100km east of Mexico City. (It's about 4 driving hours east of our house in Metepec/Toluca.) It is considered a very "colonial" town, which is a nice way of saying that it looks more like Spain than Mexico. It was one of the first big cities of "New Spain" 500 years ago, and Spaniards thought it may end up being the biggest/best city of "New Spain". Mexico City ended up being the capital, though, so Puebla's history has been largely preserved.

Puebla has a beautiful, traditional "zocalo" or central plaza. It is a big square plaza, full of fountains and gardens and trees and park benches. One side of the plaza is a large catholic cathedral; opposite of that is the munincipal palace and the other two sides are flanked by banks and restaurants and hotels and such. The entire city layout is spread out like spokes of a wheel, with the zocalo in the center. The zocalo fills up with couples kissing, old men reading, kids playing, women gossiping, and vendors hawking during the day. Very classic.

Not too far from Puebla is another small chapel, called "Cholula" which was built on top of a "mountain". That mountain was actually an ancient aztec pyramid, built on that site bc they thought there was holy water in the mountain. The legend goes that the Spanish didn't know it was a pyramid (sure...) because the earth had started to cover up the structure.

But this Spanish Catholic chapel built directly over an indigenous religious structure is very symbolic of Mexico's history. Nearly every brown mexican has a mixed heritage - part indigenous or "native american" and part European. This mixed heritage, shared by an entire culture, has created an inner turmoil for many Mexicans - which heritage should they be proudest of? The one that performed virgin sacrifices or the one that raped an entire society of women? Hmmm...

So normally, they just optimistically remember the best parts of each heritage, and merge it into a new identity. A Mexican identity. One that has a bright future.