Day 4 - The Wonders of Maguey
We packed up, but before we left, we interviewed Lucia, the owner of the home’s mother about La Malinche and her role in the conquest. She took the view that La Malinche had no choices. She was a slave betrayed three times, once by the Aztec rulers that most likely murdered her father for not bending the knee, once by her own people by being sold into slavery to the Chontal Mayans, and once more by the Mayans after their defeat against the Spanish when she and 19 other young women were given away as gifts to the invaders. She wishes the people of Mexico would empathize more with La Malinche as a human being and believes that sexism and Mexico’s traditionally machista culture is partially to blame for La Malinche’s legacy being cast in such a negative light, or simply not talked about at all.
Before leaving town we got some great breakfast
then stopped at the Regional Anthropological Museum which boasts the largest collection of Mesoamerican artifacts
On our way out we bought some reading and visual resources to use back in our classroom with the kids!
As we drove away from Xalapa and towards Tlaxcala, we entered a mountain range where the lush green of the southeast was replaced by a more rocky and arid landscape. Strange desert trees dotted the craggy hills, giving the landscape an alien quality.
Up ahead, the volcano named La Malinche loomed nearer, and we saw signs inviting hikers to its daunting peak.
We arrived in Xalapa and put down our bags for our next overnight stay - a gorgeous country home that looked like it came from the 1500′s.
I asked the woman who handed over the keys about the city’s legacy in regards to the conquest. She paused. I asked her if Tlaxcala’s role in aiding the Spanish to overthrow the Aztec had some kind of significance to the people who live here. She took issue with my suggestion that the Tlaxcalans helped the Spanish, sharply replying “in a way” to this suggestion and ignoring the rest of the question.
Her response was intriguing. It was almost as if the suggestion that the Tlaxcalans helped the Spanish was offensive. It’s true of course. Cortes’ force numbered 500 at most. He made a peace offering with the powerful and militant city-state of Tlaxcala since the Aztec were their sworn enemies, and 3,000 Tlaxcalan warriors followed them into battle. So did my question seem to imply that her town had a history of treason? Who did they betray? The Aztec overlords who ruled through military dominance and fear? There’s a discomfort when talking about the conquest for many Mexicans, myself included. Whom do we identify with? We are a product of mestisaje (Native and Spanish), after all: children of the conquest for better or worse. We are a mixed people. Our culture is a melting pot of Spanish and Indigenous tradition. While the trauma of colonialism is still strong, many people reject colonialism and the Spanish conquest in the historical sense, pining for the ancient days of Aztec rule, but in their daily lives, Eurocentrism and whiteness is worshipped and indigenous voices and influences are cast aside.
This is a tangle of thorns nobody is equipped to unravel, so I won’t pretend to try, but it is interesting where this aspect intersects with our investigation of La Malinche.
Anyways... the house was amazing and we played a lot of ping pong, blasted Mariachi ballads and sang along at the top of our lungs
Then we head out into the center of town where the municipal palace wowed us with the most impressive mural I’ve ever seen. The mural showed snippets of the region’s history, from the first people cultivating the precursor to corn, Tlaxcala’s rocky history with the Aztecs, their eventual alliance and peace with the Spanish (as brokered by La Malinche) all the way to independence and the revolution.
Tlaxcala is a unique place for a very significant reason. Since they were the most essential allies to the Spanish in taking down the Aztec empire, they were allowed to keep their sovereignty and its rulers were awarded the status of nobility. This meant more independence for the Tlaxcalans and more privileges than other native peoples. I thought that perhaps this would mean the locals would feel pride at this, but again, the muddiness of conquest politics makes in difficult.
After soaking in the mural and taking many pictures to use as visual sources in the classroom, we visited a pulqueria. Here we sampled some pulque, an alcoholic drink that goes back thousands of years made from fermented agave pulp. It had a slimy viscosity that puts many off, but I enjoyed it overall. To accompany it, we had some bugs that like to call the plant home: escamoles (ant larvae and pupae made with butter, minty herbs, and chiles), and fried maguey worms that were served with grilled panela cheese, guacamole, green and red salsas, and fresh corn tortillas. Roberto and I made quick work of these pricey delicacies. Glen and Greg had some, were satisfied, and were gracious enough to let us eat the rest.
We ended the night at a mezcaleria in a winding alleyway where we sampled some of their wares. Mezcal is a popular drink in the south made by wrapping and smoking maguey pulp, often with fruits, herbs, or nuts, then letting it ferment. It has a smokey flavor that pairs well with worm salt (exactly what you think it is) and orange slices.
HARDSTYLE
We drove back to the country home and were startled when the groundkeeper suddenly appeared in the doorway when he heard us come in, asking if all was well. Greg was convinced it was the start of a slasher flick, but we woke up with all our blood and limbs.
It’s a good thing too, because before we went to bed we challenged ourselves to climb to the top of La Malinche volcano early in the morning.









