Pyramid of the Sun

The day we climbed the Pyramid of the Sun was also the balloon ride day. So we left the guest house at 6:15AM for the balloons, came back and had breakfast and crashed for a 1/2 hour or so, and then off we went back to Teo!

Even though there were several more levels on the Sun Pyramid, I found it easier to climb than the Moon. For 1 reason: The Moon was the first that I climbed and at first, I was not sure how to handle the steep steps. I eventually learned that going up, I would lean very far forward, and actually touch the step above as a way to steady myself. Coming down, I learned to either walk in a sideways-zigzag down, if there was open space on the stairs, meaning I was facing to the side, and moving forward a bit each time I went down a step -OR- I just went directly down but sideways. Partly that is because I have a weak knee, but also, the steps were just steep and I had a heavy-ish backpack on!

The story the leader told was of seeing a woman once, probably from Mexico City, arrive in stiletto heels and a white tube dress, who climbed the Pyramid of the Moon as easy as if she were out for an every day stroll! Very impressive and with lots of style!

The leader asked us to pick someone to climb the Sun Pyramid with, presumably to call for help if we fell or something. By this time in the trip, I had already buddy-ed up with a particular guy for these kinds of activities, and this same guy and I ended up hanging out in the airport on the way home since we had the same flight back to the states -- it turned out we traveled well together.

We climbed and climbed again, rested at a level, then climbed and climbed again. I was somewhat out of breath, but it wasn't too bad. There were butterflies at the top -- the leader said they were drawn to the energy of the pyramid, but I suspect it was the wildflowers growing on the sides of the pyramid.

Lots of space to walk around on the top level, and there is a further climb of jumbled rock / concrete to climb to the 'very top'. This is where we ran into a dude from Italy, who had already pegged us for gay because he asked if the buddy and I were together, and then proceeded to tell us how he was in a long distance relationship with a guy from Chicago. Diego was his name, and evidently Diego and his boyfriend travel transatlantically once a month to see each other -- that's a very hard thing to do, and I think eventually a couple has to decided to fish or cut bait. Diego was cute and softspoken. Seemed a nice guy!

This is a shot of the Sun Pyramid a couple days before, on a Sunday when the site is free for Mexican citizens -- it was PACKED! The shot is taken from one of the plazas in the center of Teotihuacán.


The day we were there to climb it, things were less crowded. Here is the approach --


The top was fairly crowded, but not horribly so. Here's a pic and of me and the buddy --


I found the view to be less impressive than the Moon. I think that's because it is slightly offset from the rest of the site. Here is a view (looking towards the Moon) from the Sun --


Compare that to this view from the Moon (looking towards the Sun), where you can see other buildings in the site --


So we climbed 2 actual pyramids -- the Moon and the Sun -- and we climbed what is termed the 'citadel' up one side and down the other to get to the foot of Quetalcoatl.

So, my bucket list item of seeing pyramids is definitely checked off!

Dreams

So...I was in Teotihuacán...and I was hanging with a new age group...and I was staying in a place called the Dreaming House...and the proprietor of the guest house suggested that all the water underneath us (Mexico City is built on an lake) was moving around, and that energy has to go somewhere...and the leader of the group did encourage us to record our dreams...so I dreamt!

I don't usually pay much attention to my dreams unless they repeat, but here they are.

Dream 1

A large mass of protesters were coming down Calle Liberdad (the street where the guest house is located). Voices, yells. Then, the police tear-gassed the protesters and stopped the demonstration.

--End of that dream---

Dream 2

I was working in the Trump administration (gosh -- I have trouble even typing that). Then, I betrayed and embarrassed him (yay me!).

Then, I reconnected with a former friend, who was now working in the resistance. I remember in the dream that we didn't connect as friends again -- more that we were working together. I also made a note that she was doing a fair amount of lip-smacking at me, lol.

Another friend from Atlanta (who I still keep in touch with) made a cameo appearance, but I don't remember much about that.

I remember driving in some sort of van with her and a team of developers who were writing and testing "information security" code as we rode, and I remember being frustrated at the slow pace of traffic and taking detours to try to speed the trip up.

And then we turned left onto a country lane that very much reminded me of a lane on my family's farm. It wasn't quite the same -- just had the same white quartz grit covering it, and the same large, erosion-preventing ditches across it that my dad digs with the tractor. I noticed the trees were not correct -- more jungle like, and not like the trees in the mid-Atlantic.

The dream had an expectancy to it, and also the feel of the beginning of a war.

---And that was the end of what I remember about that dream---

Dream 3

I was sitting having brunch with myself. Well, actually, I was having brunch with my Teotihuacán self -- a large see-through shadowy figure, with squarish shape, and a face like the carvings on the Quezalcoatl temple.

But he was me -- just a different version of me. I remember him being a very pleasant brunch partner, and being amused as he held a small tea-cup in his large, square, hard-to-see-hands, lol.

Then, the husband of the group leader (who was also a participant in our trip) plopped down and started having brunch with us.

---Then, I woke up because I had to go pee---

Murals

I was surprised by the variety of murals that are still on the walls at various places we visited. Many of these were not part of the main Teotihuacán site, and many of them are in pretty bad shape, some still exposed to the elements. I believe that many of the murals have been transferred to museums for safekeeping.

A friend thought this one looked like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and I don't disagree!


The one below is said to represent human genitals, and I could clearly see the Fallopian tubes...but I had to ask about the others. I was told they are stylized testes -- or like the vas deferens --