Sometimes my kids surprise me in ways that make my heart smile. My son Mateo is spending the week in Mexico City. He has joined a long time friend there to just play. A couple of weeks ago he shared with me about this upcoming journey. This opened up conversation about the six weeks I spent in Mexico, during the winter of 1970, on an Interterm anthropology course taught by one of the finest teachers I ever had—Bob Rhodes.
It was the third week of the class when Professor Rhodes called all 30 of us together and said, “Ok, you have three more weeks here. I will make you all a deal. You can go wherever you want for the remainder of the class. All I ask is that you keep a journal and meet me back in Laredo on February 3rd. If you do this you will get 6 credit hours of A, because I figure you will have learned as much as I could teach you”. Game ON!!! We were in Mexico City staying in this classic old hotel off of Reforma Ave. Three of us decided to head out to Tenochtitlan, the ancient capital of the Aztec empire founded in 1325. In its center stands the Pyramid of the Sun.
Things have really changed over the years, but in 1970 we had the space almost to ourselves. We decided to climb to top of the Sun. It was allowed back then. So, on this warm winter morning I sat on the huge rock that was the center of ritual sacrifice, while looking out over to the Pyramid of the Moon. We had brought our lunch and there I sat peeling an orange as I experienced a significant paradigm shift. I realized that my education was based on an East/West narrative. While looking south, it dawned on me that my education so far had ignored the reality of the amazing civilizations that existed in the Americas before any Europeans showed up. This singular event changed how I approached my whole education.
So the very next decision I had to make that day was, whether to watch the greatest bull fighter in Mexico at the arena, or to go back to the hotel and watch the Kanas City Chiefs/ Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. I chose the football game. So much for my immediate pursuit of higher learning.
Two days later the four of us took off for beaches of the Pacific Ocean. We spent the next weeks there body surfing and eating seafood. Okay, we also sampled a lot of tequila and Acapulco home grown. Hey, I was 20. A week later we caught the Aztec Eagle for a 24–hour train ride back to the states. We walked over the bridge to clear customs and standing there was our gathering class. And I got my A.
Two days ago I got an homage photo from Mateo, sitting on a stone fence with the pyramids in the background. Proudly in his hand was a big orange he was preparing to eat. He was sporting a big smile for his dad.
Sometimes our kids do pay attention.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
Lyfting Me Up 