mattersofthemoment

In 1957 or 58, I briefly attended Hilson Ave Public School in Ottawa’s west end near Island Park Drive. We were living on nearby Northwestern Ave while our new house on Georgina Dr further west was being completed. I was in grade 2 or 3.

After school I would walk home east along the sidewalk. I remember very clearly a tall stone wall that sheltered some kind of institution behind. You could not see anything at all – just the big wall. I remember wondering who is in there and what are they doing? It was a big mystery until recently.

The other day I drove by. The area has been developed now, the wall is gone and you can walk right up beside what I have since learned was the Monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary. It’s very interesting history is documented here.

Wow, a cloistered group of nuns – as many as 60 of them – spent their whole adult life in total silence, dedicated to the love of God. In today’s secular world, it is hard to believe that just a generation ago, religion was that strongly embedded in our culture and that many of these places existed and thrived.

I found an absolutely fascinating video where in 1981, local journalist Charlotte Gobeil visited the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood contemplative monastery also in Ottawa, to show to the outside world what these sisters’ life was like. A little long, and sometimes awkward due to the language issues, it is well worth the watch here.

All this makes me wonder how important religion still is to Canadians. Very much so it seems when it comes to baptisms, weddings and funerals. Less so in terms of regular church attendance. Religion is largely a private affair in Canada and nowhere as culturally embedded or as participatory as it is in Mexico where there are religious festivals, shrines and images everywhere.

The Sisters of the Visitation of Mary were a beautiful Order but largely gone now. But so too is that wall. Hopefully the site will be preserved.

I am posting this link to series of blogs in 2013 in France and Spain I wrote entitled The Path is Made in Walking: click here.

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e52bf5c769d52bebc64c0cc2b8f1793e9f1eacb45ce5a4c47490d98d9e88b63a/ZYRNRL5HAJDMVLI3YDDMABCCDM

We certainly agree with this article.

Well, I didn’t know this. Have to get some.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/food/mexico-modelo-especial-has-become-americas-favorite/

In honour of International Taco Day March 31.

Read about it here.

We were at Teotihuacan 2 weeks ago. It was magnificent. I agree with the ban on climbing the pyramids here and at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan.

Why can’t you climb the pyramids at Teotihuacán anymore? https://t.co/Ea62Io4MoA via @Mexico News Daily https://x.com/morgandw1/status/1905959740561076477?s=66&t=Gbbsz_2CYn_ArIs7lIDizA

In 1978 I visited Guatemala City briefly on my way home from Brazil. I remember researching places to stop at and for some reason, I chose here. It was a short interesting stay.

I remember being at a restaurant where some other tourists were loudly complaining that the Coca Cola was different here lol. I remember asking the hotel concierge where is a good bar to go for the evening. He directed me to a place that I went to where I was the only one there. I was probably too early as Latin Americans are notorious late nighters not eating dinner until 10 or later at night!

The third thing I remember was while walking around the city, a number of public buildings were damaged and under repair. When I looked into this, I found out there had been a major earthquake in Guatemala two years earlier.

Here is that tragic story:

I must admit it was an interesting place to visit but my whirlwind stop was too short to get to know the place and its people. The few photos I took are reproduced below. Enjoy

Read this article about CDMX air quality in 1978. I was there briefly then and can attest to the problem. I remember walking by the Palacio des Bellas Artes and literally choking. I was a smoker then and it was impossible to smoke because the air was so polluted. Lol but not really.

On our most recent visit, the air was not noticeably polluted however due to the elevation of 2240 m above sea level, the air is thinner. One can get winded pretty easily when climbing a hill or several sets of stairs.

Another peculiarity is that there are no visible bugs like flys, bees or mosquitoes in CDMX, at least when we were there in March. Why is this so? Well here is the answer.

We had our windows open with no screens and never a bug or fly did we see. Same in Nuevo Vallarta. We leave our screen free balcony door open 24/7 and only extremely rarely would a fly or bee be seen inside the condo.

So another nice thing about Mexico – no bugs for the most part. However there are no see ems on the beach that bite that Marie can attest to. Hasta luego.

Dave

• 5th largest metro area in the world at 22 million; 9 million in city proper
• they sweep the sidewalks by hand
• no bugs anywhere (how can that be?)

• no garbage pails
• we saw trash on the street which was subsequently raked up and removed
• indigenous names and monuments everywhere
• cheap transit e.g. 35 cents for subway ride
• crowded subways with lack of clear signage
• Uber works great here
• great bus network, 50,000 buses!
• street food everywhere
• restaurants everywhere
• shady streets, beautiful trees
• streets run at all angles with hundreds of roundabouts
• very noisy usually
• you can get by in english usually
• bicycle lanes everywhere
• no one bugs you
• vendors lay out their items and patiently wait a sale
• police presence everywhere often with machine guns in the Centro area
• people eat standing up outside a lot
• two can eat dinner for $10
• traffic is heavy; you have to really pay attention
• our best hotel room ever (a large suite with a kitchenette at $110/night taxes in)
• loved the neighborhood
• excellent service everywhere
• felt safe
• would come back again and learn Spanish
• we had a tremendous experience of teeming humanity here
• Last thoughts: Mexico seems more like an indigenous based society with major European (Spanish) influence; Canada seems more like a European (and now multicultural) based society with less visible indigenous influence

If you have been following along, you will be happy to know we will not be writing up about days 4 and 6. We took a break these days to recover… On day 5 we went on a great tour.

We made our way to the pickup spot and joined 15 other pax, mostly young people including some students on March break. They were from India, France, Germany, Montevideo, Bulgaria, Lithuania and America (2 only). We had front row seats in a Mercedes van and a wonderful tour guide named Itsel.

Our first stop was the Plaza of Three Cultures. We saw the pre Columbian ruins of Tlatelolco, a city state founded in 1338. On another side of the square is the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas and on the third side, a modern office complex. Itsel explained that in 1968, military and police forces gunned down hundreds of protesting students in front of the office complex, claiming they were provoked. Very sad!

Next we stopped at an artisan workshop where they make jewelry and artifacts out of smooth volcanic glass. We learned about other types of decorative stones used locally. The many uses of the agave plant to produce food, fibre and alcoholic beverages, was demonstrated. We sampled pulque, tequila and mezcal… to great fun.

Then we visited the amazing pyramids in Teotihuacán. There are 3 of them – the sun pyramid; the moon pyramid and the pyramid of death. Built as offerings to the gods, they are very impressive. You can’t climb or go inside them. No one actually lived there; it was a huge religious site. It was very hot with UV index of 13! Dave got a bit faint at one point and Marie reminded him to drink more water which worked.

The highlight was eating lunch in a beautiful cave restaurant nearby. Originally a homestead, the family turned it into a fantastic hospitality place. The service, music and food were really top notch. We had a great time as you can see below.

Finally our last stop was the Basilica of Guadalupe, this time without the crowds. We got up close to the venerated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe associated with the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531. We toured two older basilicas – one built in the 1700s and the first in the 1500s. After a group photo we headed home after 9 hours of touring, satisfied and exhausted.

Itsel was a great tour guide giving us enough information at each site without drowning on. Little gifts of a tequila shot at lunch and a prayer card at Guadalupe were a nice touch. She was very approachable for questions and said she was proud of our group that no one got separated or lost. We highly recommend her tour company xplora world.