Popocatepetl

 (text in ENG, HUN)

The volcano in April (photo by Reuters)

  Popocatepetl has erupted!

   In Mexico, it is not such a startling news, as Popocatepetl is the most active volcano in the country. It had 15 major eruptions since the 16th century, the last one in 1947. However, the volcano woke up again in 1994 and since than, it releases steam from its crater every day. There has been two warnings and evacuations (in 2000 and 2005) since then. This time, the volcano`s activity has risen since January, with ash eruptions and lava ejection in March. By now, it seems that the activity has calmed, as there is only a small amount of ash and vapor eruption - nevertheless, the warning is still on (level yellow) with the preparation of evacuation immediately.
 By the way, as the volcano is an active one, CENAPRED (National Center of Disaster Prevention) is monitoring and reporting about the volcano 24/7 and there are 24 hour webcameras to check the activity (not only now, but all the time).  

The volcano in the beginning of April (on our way to Oaxaca)

  About the volcano: Popocatepetl is the 2nd highest mountain in Mexico (after Mt. Orizaba) with 5426 meters. It is located about 70kms to the south of Mexico City - in a good (i.e. smog-less) weather, the volcano can be seen from the capital. (It can be seen from our window if the weather is good!) Although the volcano is relatively close to Mexico City, it is said that an eruption wouldn`t be dangerous to the capital, as the lava would stream down on the other side - towards Puebla.
As the volcano contains glaciers and despite of the volcanic activity, snow covers the peaks all year through, it must be an ideal destination for climbers. However, since 1994, the crater is closed in 12kms distance. Since the activity has increased, the access to the mountain is more limited...

Popocatepetl on a "normal day" (photographed from our window)

  Popocatepetl kitört! 

  Mexikóban ez nem számít túlságosan megrázó hírnek, Popocatepetl ugyanis a legaktívabb vulkán az országban; a 16. század (a spanyolok megérkezése óta) 15 nagyobb méretű kitörést regisztráltak, a legutóbbit 1947-ben. A vulkán 1994-ben újra felébredt, és azóta mindennapos látvány, ahogy gőzfelhőket ereget. Azóta kétszer volt figyelmeztetés ill. kitelepítés a vulkáni aktivitással kapcsolatban (2OOO-ben és 2OO5-ben). Ez alkalommal a vulkáni aktivitás január környékén kezdett erősödni, amikor nemcsak gőzt de hamut is lövellt magából. Márciusban már láva kilövést is tapasztaltak. Mostanra úgy tűnik, hogy a vulkán kezd megnyugodni, a készültséget azonban fenntartják (még mindig sárga készültségi szint van kiadva), ami a kitelepítésre való állandó készültséget jelenti.

  A vulkán és környéke egyébként (természetesen) nemzeti park, és mivel aktív vulkánról van szó, a CENAPRED (Nemzeti Katasztrófaelhárítási Központ) a nemzeti parkban 24 órás kamerákkal állandóan követik és elemzik a hegy állapotát.

The volcano today - blurry by the smog over the city

  A Popocatepetl vulkánról: Popocatepetl az 5426 méteres magasságával a második legmagasabb hegy Mexikóban az Orizaba hegyet követve. A vulkán Mexikóvárostól kb. 7O kilométerre, délre fekszik, ezért jó időjárási körülmények (érsd alacsony szintű szmog) között jól látható a fővárosból is. (A mi egyik délre néző ablakunkból is látszik, de a szmog miatt inkább csak az esős időszakban.) Bár a vulkán közel van a fővároshoz, azt mondják, ha nagyobb kitörés lenne is, nem fenyegetné a fővárost, a láva ugyanis a másik oldalon (Puebla felé) folyna le.

  A Popocatepetl-ön gleccserek is találhatók, és a vulkáni tevékenység ellenére is egész évben hó borítja, ezért ideális célpont lehet a hegymászóknak. Sajnos azonban 1994 óta a kráter közelében 12 kilométeres körzetben a hegy le van zárva, az idei aktivitás miatt pedig még jobban korlátozták a hegy megközelítését.

Monte Alban and around Oaxaca

(text in ENG)

Monte Alban

  As we went by car, we drove around Oaxaca in the next two days. Our first destination was of course, Monte Alban - another place we were learning in high school`s history class!
  Monte Alban is just outside the city, on the top of a hill - about 10 minutes by car. We had some flashbacks of Teotihuacan as straw hats were sold in the entrance for cents - just as in Teotihuacan. And similarly, everyone wore one inside the ruins. And as it turned out, it was good to buy a hat (and to bring water with us), as it was steaming hot that day (over 30 degrees)!
  Anyway, after a long queue for the tickets, we entered this amazing ruin! As everywhere, next to the ticket office was a museum with the dug up objects from the ruin, and outside was the nicely renovated ruin itself.
  What Monte Alban was different of Teotihuacan: first of all, it is smaller, so easier to walk around. (Teotihuacan takes a day to see corner to corner, while you can walk around in Monte Alban in 2 hours.) It is also covered with lawn and there are benches which makes the sightseeing more comfortable. And although there are no such huge pyramids as in Teotihuacan, it is still quite remarkable! The most amazing thing is that the city was built on the top of the hill - however, the top of the hill was completely scalped to be flat in order to build the 500 meters long city!
  It might not be appropriate to compare Teotihuacan and Monte Alban, as the two ruins are far away both in time and space - Teotihuacan was founded around 200 B.C by the Teotihuacan people, followed by the Aztec, while Monte Alban was founded around 500 B.C by the Zapotec people followed by the Mixtec. However, Monte Alban and Teotihuacan`s history is connected, as the economical and religious importance of Monte Alban started to decline around 800 A.C as Teotihuacan`s became more powerful.

A pyramid of Monte Alban

    After Teotihuacan we went to a little shopping - San Bartolo Coyotepec, the most famous place of the black pottery. You can find these pottery everywhere in Mexico - even in the markets of Mexico City, but surely they were the cheapest and with most variety in San Bartolo Coyotepec. This type of pottery (usually the vase) is famous of having round bottoms and cut out ornaments. After long hesitation we bought a round bottomed vase, a cut out vase and two little candle holders. (All this was 500 pesos!)

  The next day we headed to the Tlacolula Valley - this 50kms long valley is populated over 2500 years by the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec and Aztec people. It is very convenient by car as there is one road going all the way and the historical cities, villages are on the side of this road.
  We started with the furthest, Hierve de Agua - this is not a city but a natural spa. The road was amazing and dangerous - it took 13 kilometers on a narrow, bumpy dirt road going up and down the mountains. We made a mistake not bringing swimming suits, as you can swim in that spa. On the top of a huge rock, warm water is coming up and gathers in small, round pools. I guess the main pool (where you can swim) was created by the help of manpower, but it is still amazing. The side of the rock looks like petrified waterfall - the sight was really worth of the one hour bumpy ride! Not to mention that we got to see really small villages on the road; it seems that in that area people use cactus as fence!

Hierve de Agua

Hierve de Agua

  Descending from the mountains from Hierve de Agua, our next stop was Mitla. Mitla is again, famous of its ruins: this city of 10 thousand (Monte Alban`s population was 25000) became the area`s economical center after the decline of Monte Alban. It was ruled by the Zapotec and Mixtec people, who added the spectacular geometric ornaments to their architecture. Most part of the city was destroyed by the Spanish and the Iglesia de San Pablo church was built by its stones, but some part of the city can still be seen and visited.

Mitla`s geometric ornaments

  After Mitla, we went to see another ruin in Yagul. Similarly to Mitla, this city was founded by the Zapotec and later ruled by the Mixtec people. Here the most interesting thing for me was the labyrinth (maybe wasn`t labyrinth originally, but definitely it seemed so). Also, with a little walk on the hillside, there is a viewpoint to the ruin and the surroundings which gave a spectacular view.

The ruins of Yagul

  Our last stop in Talcolula Valley was Tule - here we went to see a tree. But not only a tree, one of the world`s largest tree! It is a type of cypress and although its over 2000 years of age doesn`t make it an old tree (the Japanese cypress in Yakushima is thought to be over 3000 years old), but with its 60 meter of thickness, it definitely makes it one of the largest trees in the world! The tree stands in the garden of a church, although more people were around the tree than inside the church. It was really amazing to see such an old and huge living creature, but it was more amazing to see how it give other lives - the tree`s foliage was full with hundreds, thousands of birds, it was like a metropolis for birds! This tree reminded me of the movie Avatar...

Tule`s cypress

All tree, tree, tree in the panoramic photo

  Driving around in Oaxaca, we saw many mescla maker (alcohol made of agave, like tequila): crashing the agave leaves with horse pulled millstones. I regret that I didn`t take any pictures of it... Also, we encountered with many many interesting plants, that I have never seen in my life! Here is just a few of them:

strange plant no1

strange plant no2

it`s agave - and its flower!

Click here for more pictures - Oaxaca

Oaxaca

  (text in ENG, HUN)

Iglesia Santa Domingo

  So, on the long weekend of Semana Santa, we went to Oaxaca. Oaxaca is a good 500kms to the south of Mexico City. Adding the traffic jams to this distance, it took us 7(!) hours to get there, but after a long-long drive, we finally arrived to Oaxaca.
  Although the way to Oaxaca was very long, it was quite enjoyable (the only pity is that in Mexico there are no parking areas, so one has to drive almost continuously): we got to see the 3 highest mountains in Mexico - Mt. Orizaba, the still active and smoking Mt. Popocatepetl and Mt. Iztaccihuatl. Also, as Oaxaca is to the south of Mexico City (and much lower in altitude - about 1500ms as the capital is 2200), the flora was totally different: on the way we saw endless "forests" of cactus and other, "strange" plants.

The cactus forest

  After the long 7 hours drive, we checked-in our hotel which was on zocalo (the main square) just next to the Cathedral. The location was perfect, everything in the historical city center was just a few minutes walk away. As it was Semana Santa, the city was full with people - the main square was packed with people chatting, eating-drinking or just strolling, band were playing music all day and children were playing with balloons. Zocalo was just as everywhere - a big square with many green, fountains and benches in the center and stylish houses with cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops in the arcades. The houses all along in the main square and street were lit-up, and as the weather was nice (19 degrees even at night), it was beautiful to stroll around in the city among the souvenir shops. As there are many native inhabitants (from the ancient mixtec and zapotec tribes), the handicrafts (embroidery, pottery, textiles etc.) were very nice and interesting.

Night in Oaxaca

  Although there are many sightseeing spots in Oaxaca (churches, markets, squares), we just strolled around in the historical center - the houses are as were built in the 16th century, another colonial town with colorful, one-story houses and cobbled streets. What I most like in such colonial towns is that as the houses are relatively low, you can see the blue sky over the roofs. Some view that you can`t really enjoy any more in metropolises as Tokyo or Mexico City.

Square next to Iglesia Santa Domingo

  While walking around, we entered some markets (the black, green pottery are very famous in this area) and went to see the Santa Domingo church from the inside. The church was jawdropping! From the outside, it was just as any other church, but as soon as one enters, gets amazed by the beautiful ornaments inside. The columns, the walls, the ceilings were full of statues and ornaments, the altars -of course- heavily decorated with gold. No wonder, as the building operations started in 1572 and finished only 200(!) years later.

The ceiling of Iglesia Santo Domingo

  The next two days we were driving around the surroundings - Monte Alban, Tule, Hierve de Agua etc. The weather in Oaxaca was amazing even in April (over 30 degrees in the daytime), it was hot to walk around in ruins but was worth it! But about these towns, let me continue the story in my next letter!

（Ｆor more pics, click on the main title above!)

   Semana Santa hosszú hétvégéjét ismét utazással töltöttük - a 4 napos ünnep alatt Oaxacát látogattuk meg. Oaxaca Mexikóvárostól több, mint 5OO kilométerre délre van, amihez hozzájött még a hosszú hétvégével járó dugó, így Oaxacáig több, mint 7 órába telt az út. Azon kívül, hogy nem tudtunk sok megállót csinálni útközben (a mexikói autópályákon a benzinkutakon kívül - amik persze tömve voltak - nem igazán vannak pihenők), az út nem is volt olyan rossz, mint ahogy hangzik: útközben láttuk Mexikó három legmagasabb hegyét, az Orizabát, a még most is aktív és füstölgő Popocatepetlt és az Iztuccihuatlt. Bár Oaxaca éghajlata ugyanaz, mint Mexikóvárosé (mérsékelt égövi szavanna), valószínűleg a magasságkülönbség miatt (Oaxaca 15OO méteren van, míg a főváros 22OO-on) a terepviszonyok és a növények teljesen mások voltak, mint Mexikóvárosban. Az úton rengeteg pozsgást és igazi kaktusz-erdőket láttunk, ami magyar szemmel fantasztikus látvány volt. A mély völgyekről és meredek hegyekről nem is beszélve.

Viewpoint on the way

   A jó 7 órás út után végre megérkeztünk Oaxacába, és rögtön be is csekkeltünk a szállodába. A hotelünk a főtéren volt, a történelmi városnegyed szívében, alig pár percnyi sétára minden látnivalótól. Azért is, mert a Semana Santa időszaka volt, a főtér (és a város egyébként) tömve volt: gyerekek játszottak lufikkal, a főtéren zenekarok mulatatták az embereket, akik az árkádok alatti éttermekben, kávézókban ültek vagy csak sétáltak a szökőkutak között.

The Cathedral on the main square

 Mivel a szállodánk közel volt a városközponthoz, a 7 órás vezetés ellenére egy rövid pihenő után már az utcán is voltunk felfedezni, készen felfedezni Oaxacát. Bár rengeteg látnivaló van a városban (templomok, kézműves árukat áruló piacok), mi csak cél nélkül ténferegtünk az utcákon - Oaxaca 16. században épült koloniális stílusú város, ezért csak sétálni is elég élvezet a macskaköves utakon, a színes, alacsony házak között. Amit én legjobban szeretek ezekben a régi koloniális városokban, hogy a házak egyemeletesek, ezért a házak tetői felett mindig látni a kék eget. Egyszerűen hangzik, de manapság igazi luxus az olyan metropoliszokban, mint Tokió vagy Mexikóváros. (Arról nem is beszélve, hogy a 3O fokos melegben az egy szál felhő nélküli kék ég gyönyörű hátteret ad a sárga, piros, narancssárga házaknak.)

One story houses in Oaxaca

   A városban való csavargásunk közben betértünk pár piacra (a helyi fekete és zöld kerámia , valamint a festett fa figurák nagyon híresek az egész országban), és a Santo Domingo templomba. Ez a templom egyszerűen gyönyörű volt! Bár kívülről semmi különleges nem látszik az egyszerű homlokzaton, belépve azonban eláll az ember szava! Az oltárok arannyal gazdagon díszítettek, a falak, oszlopok, de még a mennyezet is tele van gyönyörűen festett, fa díszítésekkel és szobrokkal. Nem is csoda, hogy gyönyörű, a templom építése ugyanis 12 millió aranypesot és 2OO(!) évet emésztett fel!

Iglesia Santo Domingo

Night in Oaxaca

  Oaxacában az éjszakák is fantasztikusak - a város biztonságos (a főtér és a történelmi negyed tele volt rendőrökkel), a hőmérséklet még napnyugta után is kellemes (19-2O fok volt még este is), az épületek pedig szépen ki vannak világítva. Nem csoda, hogy este még több ember volt az utcákon, mint nappal. Semana Santa alkalmából este is rengeteg programmal találkozott az ember az utcákon: nappal általában húsvéti felvonulások, passiójátékok voltak, este pedig kezdődtek a "fiesták": tánc, zene, felvonulás.

Oaxaca dance

  A következő napokban Oaxaca környékét autóztuk körbe - Monte Alban, Tule, Hierve de Agua stb. De erről majd a következő levelemben írok...

(További képekért kattints a főcímre!)

Semana Santa - Easter in Mexico

 (text in ENG, JPN)

   As everybody knows, last week was Easter. In Hungary (as I guess in most of Europe) Easter Monday is national holiday and is connected with traditional spring festivals. Easter is about the lamb, chickens, rabbits, eggs and (the Hungarian specialty) "sprinkling". "Sprinkling" (or in Hungarian: locsolkodás) is about men water the girls at Easter (when spring and good weather comes) as girls are like flowers and they must not fade. In the tradition it was literally watering - boys took a bucket and poured its content to the girls. However, nowadays it has been tamed - watering is done by perfumes. (Still by the many types and scents of perfumes, by the end of the day, a girl might rather wish for a bucket of water...) In exchange, the girls traditionally give the boys nicely painted eggs, nowadays chocolate and/or money for the kids and pálinka (Hungarian schnapps), ham, cakes for the adults.
  On my first Mexican Easter, I wasn`t expecting such, of course. And I was right. Actually, I think it is wrong to say Easter, as there is no Easter in Mexico, rather they call it Semana Santa (Saint Week). What was rather odd for me, is that not Monday, but Holy Thursday and Good Friday (the ones before Easter Sunday) are taken as national holiday. So, it is a 4 day long weekend, when half of the country goes on holiday.


  We went to Oaxaca for Semana Santa and saw the Mexican traditions there. However, I think the most famous one is in Taxco. In Semana Santa, in the bigger cities the crucifixion and passion is remodeled and in many cities it is followed by processions. In Taxco, this procession is done by hooded people carrying not only the cross, but also huge, heavy and thorny piles on their backs, others whip their own backs, again others` legs are tied with heavy chains in order to feel the passion of Christ.

Statues of the Taxco Procession

Flower decoration at a church

  In other cities, the procession is rather a theatrical act: I`ve only seen on the TV, but there are some cities where the crucifixion is played as it was: from the judgement until the crucifixion with many people in Roman costumes. It seemed very interesting.
  In Oaxaca, there was a procession of crucifixion as well on Friday, followed by a rather cheerful procession (with Oaxacan dances) on Saturday. The churches of course were full on these four days. It was interesting to see that even in the small villages, where people couldn`t afford such festivals, the doors of the houses and the entrance of the churches were decorated with flowers (mostly the flower of the agave cactus!) and palm leaves.

Easter in Hungary

日本では習慣になっていませんが、キリスト教の国において先週末は大切な祝日でした。日曜日と月曜日はイースターの日でした。ハンガリーでは（ヨーロッパ諸国の大半と同様）イースターが春の祭りと関連している祝日です。イースターのシンボルは羊やヒヨコ、うさぎ、卵などです。（羊はキリスト教関連で、キリストの象徴ですが、その他は全部春や肥沃である事を表しています。）そして、ハンガリー独特の習慣として「水やり」（ハンガリー語で locsolkodás）という習慣があります。「水やり」は、女の子を花に例えている事から、春が来たら、女の子が枯れないように、水をやらないといけないという事で、男の子は女の子に水を浴びせる、という習慣です。昔は文字通り、バケツで水を持って女の子にかけましたが、最近（特に都会で）はバケツの代わりに香水を使っています。（しかし、一日中様々な種類と香りの香水をかけられたら、一日が終わった頃にはバケツのほうを望ましく思う女性も多いのではないでしょうか。）そして、男の子が心を配ってくれた代わりに、お礼として女の子は綺麗に描いた卵を贈ります。これも、最近はゆで卵よりはチョコの卵だったり、大人だと、パーリンカというお酒に変わったりしています。

   メキシコもキリスト教の国ですが、上記のような催しは期待していませんでした。それでも、びっくりしたのは、ヨーロッパではイースターの後に来る月曜日が祝日ですが、メキシコではイースターの前の木曜日と金曜日が祝日で、月曜日はそうではなかったという事です。

イースターは復活祭のことで、キリストの張り付けと復活を祝う祝日であることは周知の事でしょう。ヨーロッパで月曜日が祝日になっているのは、キリストが日曜日に復活したので、「振替日」として月曜日が祝日となっています。しかし、メキシコで祝日となっているのは、復活祭前の木曜日（聖大木曜日：最後の晩食の日）と金曜日（聖大金曜日：キリストの張り付けの日）です。そして、聖書によると、キリストが亡くなった3日後（日曜日）に復活したのだそうです。この4日間（聖大木曜日から復活日の日曜日まで）をメキシコではセマナサンタ（聖なる週）と呼んでいるそうです。

4連休になるので、日本のお盆のように、多くの人々は旅行に出かけます。私たちはオアハカへ行き、メキシコのセマナサンタをそこで体験しました。全国中、大きな都市でセマナサンタに様々な催しや祭りがありますが、もっとも有名なのはタスコの祭りでしょう。セマナサンタには、キリストの張り付けと受難が再現されることが多いですが、タスコの受難劇は少し変わっています。ここでも十字架を持って行く行進はありますが、行進の参加者はキリストの受難を自ら感じようと、フードをかぶって、重そうで刺が多く生えた植物の束を背負ったり、足首に重い鎖を結んだり、自分の背中を鞭で打ったりして、行進に参加しています。なお、他の町では受難劇はそこまで苦しそうではありません。多くの場所で金曜日にキリストの死刑の裁判から張り付けまでの出来事が当時のコスチュームで芝居のような形で演技され、その後人々は聖書の歌を歌いながら行進を始めます。

Procession in a village

オアハカでも金曜日にキリストの張り付けの行進が行われ、翌日はオアハカ伝統舞踊の行進がありました。面白いのは、立派な芝居までをするほど余裕のない村でも家の門や教会の入り口を綺麗に花やヤシの木の葉っぱで飾り、どこにでもセマナサンタのお祝いがされていました。

Oaxaca dancers