Yesterday, August 13, 2009, my friend Bertha Granados, from Dallas called.  She was on a stop over in Mexico City on her way to a wedding.  So I went to her hotel across the street from the park Alameda Central.  We walked across the street to have her cards read by a lady I know.  But the lady was not at the park, in fact none of the card or palm readers could be found – they were all gone.  Weird, but then Bertha reminded me that it was the 13th of August.  Oh yes, the 13th of the month – I guess some people do take it serious.

But also the 13th of August is also the anniversary of when the Aztec Empire fell on August 13, 1521, which was 488 years ago.  Leaving Bertha I went to Tlatelolco also known as the Plaza of Three Cultures. This is the site where the Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc and his men fought off the Spaniards, lead by Hernan Cortes, trying to save their civilization.  Of course the Aztecs were defeated, losing at least 40,000 men. A plaque makes reference to this final battle of the Aztecs and the birth of the new people the “Mestizos,” a mixing of the Spanish and Indian blood.

When I got to the site there was no one really around except for a few tourists.  There were one or two Mexican kids on skateboards, bikes and a person walking their dog but no one was paying too much attention to the date. Although someone did place a wreath at the site commemorating the anniversary.

I went into the Church of Santiago, a church that was built on of the Aztecs final battle.  The church to Santiago (St. James) was built here BECAUSE some of the Spanish soldiers said they had a vision of Santiago during the battle and this was a factor in their winning.  OK.  A Catholic saint came as a vision to kill people whose land Spaniards had invaded. Something is wrong with this picture!  I lit a candle in the church so I also could commemorate the date and to also remember those that had lost their lives.

Later this evening as I talked to some of my Mexican friends and they asked me what I did today.  I told them I went to Tlatelolco to take pictures and they asked me why?  I told them to remember the fall of the Aztecs, the final battle of Cuauhtémoc.  And the four Mexican friends I spoke with didn’t even know of the date and were surprised that I, as an American, did.

Click here to see a slide show of my visit to Tlatelolco.