Tuesday, October 02, 2012

and i thought i had a long trip


I am now back at the beach.

Babs asked me how the weather was this afternoon, but I wanted to avoid looking at the readings in the hope I could pretend it was not too bad.

It was.  Heat index of 101.  And it felt like it.  I guess that is why they call it "feels like."

The cooler weather was one of the things I enjoyed about the highlands.  And I guess I misjudged when the weather would cool down in Melaque.

The photograph at the top is the main street at 5:30 in the afternoon yesterday.  Usually a bustling time.  The lack of movement is a good indication of just how hot it was.

But the weather is not the only thing I will miss about colonial Mexico.  I am also going to miss the cultural events.

I sat next to a Mexican gentleman -- and I mean that in the kindest hidalgo sense of the word -- at several of the concerts in Pátzcuaro.  His knowledge of Mexican music shamed mine.  And his knowledge of European music was just as impressive.

His name is Edmundo Árciga. A relative of a local archbishop in the 1800s.  He is now retired.  But he has an interesting background.
 

He invited me to a lecture on his new book -- Iré Ticátame, El Pajaro Azul, Un Epopeya -- in Pátzcuaro on 13 October.  That is him on the right.

I would have enjoyed staying in Pátzcuaro solely for the lecture.  Señor Árciga has an interesting theory about the origin of the Purépecha -- the local tribe that ruled an empire centered on its capital at Tzintzuntzan on the shore of Lake
Pátzcuaro when the Spanish arrived.

Based on similarities of the Purépecha language and the Quecha language of South America, he argues that the Purépecha migrated to Mexico from South America.

The South America connection is not new.  A minority or archaeologists have argued there is an Incan connection with the monuments at Tzintzuntzan.  The style of buildings appear nowhere else other than the Inca culture.



But that is not Árciga's theory.  After all, monument similarities have been conjured up for years with very little evidence other than a common perceived look.

Unfortunately, the book is only published in Spanish -- for now.  There may be an English translation in the offing.  If there is interest.

I know I am interested.  For years, anthropolgists thought they knew exactly how the Indians traversed a Bering Strait land bridge and then spread through the Americas.

We now know that there were several migrations.  And not just north to south.  There is also some proof that the Indians encountered other settlers when they arrived in some areas.

This book will be another bit of spice to add to the ongoing discussion.

I just wish I could have been there.

16 comments:

John Calypso said...

It is 63 F here in the casa at 6 AM or so - burrrr!  Time to head to Puerto for those mid 80's highs and 70ish lows; wonderful restaurants and lots of entertainment (more Jazz, Blues and Rock - less classical - but all the same entertainment.  I doubt if any one place would suit you - pick two and work out the best times to be where.  Bottom line.

Felipe Zapata said...

Nice and cool where I am.

Andean said...

The book sounds very interesting, I just looked it up and read an intro to it. 
And a coincidence, I was telling someone that "Quechua", is still spoken in South America, by many of the natives, and how different it sounds and is than Spanish. There are some typical phrases I still remember hearing.

Christine Dubois said...

Why don't you translate it? All it would take is time...

MarcOlson said...

How interesting. As an Alaskan and student of anthropology, I always have been interested in the theories of migration. It's a lot more complex a subject that once was thought, that's for sure.

I enjoyed seeing the photo of Tzintzuntzan. It's been several years since I visited the Patzcuaro area, which is one of my favorite parts of the country...and more so when the weather is hot in the lowlands...like Melaque, or Merida.

DonCuevas said...

The overcast sky of Monday has cleared away and the sky is clear and blue.

Edmund Arciga will be giving a talk on Saturday Oct 5 at  a private home on the outskirts of Pátzcuaro.

Saludos, Don Cuevas

Steve Cotton said...

The drive between Melaque and the highlands is just about right.

Steve Cotton said...

We had a rain storm last night that cooled things down nicely.  Probably until the afternoon.

Steve Cotton said...

With your background, the book would be doubly interesting.

Steve Cotton said...

Funny you should mention that.  It would certainly be a good exercise to improve my abysmal Spanish.

Steve Cotton said...

We should plan on getting together in Tzintzuntzan on a summer in the future.

Steve Cotton said...

Had I stayed another week, I could have heard what he has to  say.

Thomas OBrien said...

Steve, 
You were right to go to the highlands for the summer, but you shouldn't have come back until November 1.  I have been coming down from the Bay Area since 1997 & I have noticed that the weather in Melaque begins to cool down about that time.  I return home to CA at the end of April,because I find the hotter summer weather coming on.

Kim G said...

Why not move to Ajijic?  There you'd have the waters of Lake Chapala, AND cool weather. Guadalajara is a 45 minute drive away if you need big city amenities.  I've heard it's wonderful both climate-wise, and with regard to the expat community there.

Don Árciga's work sounds interesting. I'll have to look into it.

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where summer is over, but the leaves are only beginning to turn.

Steve Cotton said...

 Ajijic has never had much allure for me.  But I once said that about San Miguel de Allende, as well.

Steve Cotton said...

Last year I returned from the highlands in September.  That was a mistake.  September was our hottest month of the summer in 2010.

Tonight I went to dinner with friends in Barra.  It reminded me why this time of year can be special.