Mexico City, the capital, has the second largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the third largest population in the world. It is commonly referred to as the D.F. (Distrito Federal or Federal District).
Mexico City is built on an island and Lake Texcoco, which was drained after the city grew to big. Since the beginning of the 1900s, the city has sunk as much as 9 meters in certain areas.
Mexican cities are built around the central square (the zoczlo), where the main church and the municipal or state palaces are located. The zoczlo usually has benches, a bandstand and a fountain. It is a gathering place for vendors, political rallies and leisure activities.
The Virgin Guadalupe illustrates the predominance of Roman Catholicism and is viewed as the “mother” of all Mexicans.
Since colonial times, wearing sandals has been associated with the rural areas, poverty and Indians.
Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) commerates the Mexican victory over the French invaders near the city of Puebla not Mexico’s independence day, which is September 15. It is celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico.
Tuxpan is home to one of CFCI’s two bases in Mexico; the other is located in Tijuana. Tuxpan or Tuxpam (pronounced Tijpan in Nahuatl) means “Place of Rabbits.”
The city is the closest port to the capital and has become an important link for commerce.
It is headquarters to the Mexican Navy’s Gulf fleet.
Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevara, and other Cuban Revolutionary fighters departed from Tuxpan, MX for Cuba to overthrow the regime of Fulgencio Batista.
This entry was posted by Anji
on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 10:45 am and is filed under Mexico.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Anji is the Short-term Mission Teams Coordinator in CFCI's Central Office. She loves spending time at the local house of prayer, horse back riding, writing, traveling.... and of course, blogging about our missionaries!!
Comments