Taxis, anthropology, politics, and more taxis

From Hotel Hacienda Cocoyoc we took a loonnngg bus ride back to Mexico city, first dropping off some people at the airport, and the rest to a hotel downtown by the Zocalo and the central Cathedral. We hit Friday rush hour so it took over an hour to get through Mexico city. That night we went to a dinner party hosted by one of the organizers of the conference. It was a lovely meal, except that it was a long taxi ride from the downtown hotel to our host's house, exacerbated by traffic as many, many people left Mexico City for the weekend, heading to Cuernavaca and other outlying areas.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and rode the metro to the famed Museum of Anthropology, filled with fabulous artifacts, sculptures, monuments, and even recreations of massive temples from Mexico, all in the heart of Chapultepec Park. I only had a few hours, but I took a nice walking tour of the exhibits. Since my Spanish is weak, I didn't spend much time reading. It was spectacular.

Afterwards I headed back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and, I planned, a quick taxi ride to the airport. And that is when the adventure began. I didn't know there was going to be a massive political rally down town...in the Zocalo...and heading down the street right past my hotel. The hotel bellmen were very kind and led me down the street to find a taxi. And then another street. And another. Because of the chaos, there were few taxis to find, and although the bellman tried phoning for a taxi, it couldn't make it through the traffic. Nearly an hour later, I finally got in a taxi, heading for the airport. I still had 1 hr 45 minutes to my flight. If there were long lines for a boarding pass--I had only carry on luggage--or through security, I was doomed.

Luckily the lines were extremely short, somewhat surprising for the Mexico City airport, but I was grateful. I got to my gate with over an hour to spare. Donna had been a few days in Little Rock, visiting her Aunt Joan. We met up in the San Diego airport, picked up our car, and went home.

Leaving Cocoyoc

The conference is over. The last lunch is over. Next we go on the bus back to Mexico City. The Hacienda Hotel Cocoyoc is a beautiful location, although the food was not as good as I had hoped, and the bed somewhat uncomfortable. But it was a good conference, saw many friends, made some new connections, got some good ideas. Tonight one of the organizers is holding a party. Tomorrow morning I'll take the subway to the famous Museum of Anthropology, and then after lunch share a taxi with others from the conference to the airport. My camera battery is running low (and I forgot my charger) so I don't know that I will have more pictures. But I'll tell you about it, probably after I get back home.

Xochicalco

Yesterday we took an excursion to Xochicalco, ruins about 1.5 hours drive from Cocoyoc. Xochicalco was a religious and political center roughly around 1000 AD. They were precursors to the Aztecs, though I think the exact relation to the Aztecs is unlcear. At least it is to me. Keep in mind there were many cultures that rose and fell in Mexico between roughly 700 BC and the arrival of Cortes. Even today there are around 150 surviving languages: Nahuatl is the best known and most famous, with multiple varieties, but there is Mixtec and other languages. Xochicalco means "place of the house of flowers" (co = "place of", as in Co-coyoc, "place of the coyote or coyoc), although this may be a misunderstanding of some of the sculptures, which were perhaps actually of starfish. Despite the significant distance from the ocena, there was abundant trade and people living here were aware of the sea, although probably few went to it for holidays.

The Xochicaltecs shared with the Aztecs and other mesoamerican cultures a ball game, whereby one tries to hit the ball with one's arms or hips through a big stone hoop. Much harder than it sounds. Several of the arenas and the stone hoops had been excavated. Also excavated was a solar observatory, basically an underground chamber with a narrow hole pointing up. Only during the fairly short agricultural season (which coincides with the rainy season, which is just begining), does the sun shine down the hole. Although we visited the observatory, we had to leave by bus back to Cocoyoc before the sun shone down the hole. My favorite part however was a massive stone frieze of Quetzlcoatl, the Mesoamerican god represented by a feathered serpent. The SF writer in me can't help but note: we now know dinosaurs had feathers, probably originally to help kee them warm. What if a few species had survived into ancient Olmec times?

Banquet

Here's a picture of one of the many pools.

Last night was the formal banquet. Classic Mexica fare, including ropas viejas (I think), chicken mole, and a chile relleno. Some of the people complained the chile rellano was too hot, but I thought it modestly warm myself. After the banquet there was entertainment by a mariachi band (I'm afraid I hear them quite a lot in San Diego) and then speeches in honor of Franco Iachello.

Talking and swimming

I gave my talk last night, which went off fairly well, especially considering I was presenting a very different way of thinking about things. At lunch today we had nopal (cactus) salad followed by chicken mole (which originates from this area of Mexico), which was delicious, although I had to explain both dishes to European visitors. After lunch I went for a swim. As I mentioned, this is a resort mostly for Mexican families. The last time I came here, in January 2006, there were a lot more people here. Perhaps they come here in winter more than summer, or perhaps they haven't yet gone on summer vacation. I was virtually the only one in the pool; a couple of people from the conference later joined me. Tonight is the conference banquet, and tomorrow the conference excursion. Stay tuned!

Bienvenidos a Cocoyoc!

I'm down in Mexico, in the Hotel Hacienda Cocoyoc in the state of Morelos, about an hour south of Mexico City. Very tranquil here. "Cocoyoc" means "Place of the coyote".

My reason for being here is a conference in honor of the 70th birthday of the mathematical physicist Franco Iachello, where I will give a talk on random matrices with symmetries. I know a lot of the participants here, and have known many of them for over 20 years. I've been to this conference site before, about six years ago.

It's very bucolic and beautiful, set in the ruins of an old sugar cane plantation--we spotted some sugar cane on the way in. Mostly this is a relaxing spa for Mexican families on holiday, with swimming and other amenities. I'll be busy, however, with the conference and not much time for relaxing. I'll probably take a quick swim after lunch however. Most important is I'll have nice conversations about mathematical physics with old friends. Well, it may not sound like fun to you, but it is fun to me!