Tha face of full satisfaction 30 years on the make!!

So, what does a face expressing full satisfaction look like? I have no idea to be frank with you! Is it a face that brings an air of exhaustion for the time it took to reach full satisfaction? Is it a face that looks busily excited? Is it a face that looks bored because full satisfaction was achieved therefore the person is now bored? Is it a face that invites you to hear all about it or is it a face that looks tranquil?

Well... in my case I'll stick to the last option, "a face that looks tranquil".

Having just arrived back in the car with the Dutch couple who went in the same tour, all red and sweaty from the sun.

Leaving the site and having to hold down my shirt not to burst in satisfaction.

My stay here has been just spotless. I am enjoying every single second of it all. Exhaustion is the name of the game though. I had forgotten that this freaking city is at 2.200 mts high (7.359 ft high). Being the completely not fit person that I'm, any walk or climbing huge steps takes all my breath away... a bit not impressed with myself, I must say! The weather has been very kind and it rains only when I am already back at the hotel , oba! Diners have all happened as "room service" because I forgot to bring an extra pair of legs for the evening, ha ha ha. As I walked into the Museo de Arqueologia I needed to pinch myself to make sure it was not a fake scene (you know, after 9 years in China the "fake" aspect of things still speaks out loud in my mind) but rather a REAL scene... I was there actually in person, walking into the so awaited Museum. Obviously that as I write this to you, my eyes are wettish... silly me again...

Anyway, today was the day dedicated to the Teotihuacan Pyramids...

... funny how things go in life. I’ve planned and imagined what this day would be like for the last 30 years and then it finally arrived...

Pyramid of the Sun with archeologists at work under the small tend at the bottom

Fellow archeologists working at full power in another spot.

Could this have been me some 20 odd years ago?

... I've dragged loads of photo equipment all the way from Panama, especially for this day. Last night, I didn't sleep 100% because I was so excited about today, so in the morning I grabbed a comfortable pair of pants, a comfortable pair of closed shoes and a shirt. Did not think with both my brain cells and chose a very bright white shirt. Oops, not good for photos in a harsh sunny day, in an open air place. Also, amongst other pieces of photo equipment, I brought my tripod, because using Joel’s huge zoom lenses requires one, only to be kindly told by the guide that tripods are not allowed anywhere in the vicinity of the pyramids... ai ai ai ui ui ui... that was not in the script. Could not use the lenses. Actually I did try it in a couple of photos but had to change it back again, they are very heavy for my emotional free hands, ha ha ha.

I know these guys in the pictures below have a questionable kind of job, they pest tourists to buy their stuff, but I wonder if they ever realize what their "office space" means to us!

But, it was not all bad... visitors who went there today in mid day, were lucky to see the festivities celebrating the end of a 52 year cycle that the Teotihuacan people used to celebrate . For what I understood, it would be like us celebrating the end of a century and the beginning of the next. So, as a consequence of the festivities, there were about 100 or more people dressed as what we think the Teotihuacans dressed themselves.

So, sitting at the top of the Moon Pyramid, we could see the "fake Teotihuacans" walking about which gave me a great sense that Teotihuacan every day life was going on as I watched them... ok ok ok, I know, you probably think that before going into the archeological site I had some shots of pure Tequila, not the "Reposada" one, but the rather strong one, so that all this imagination could surface, right? But no, not really, having these costume dressed people was great for a feel in the air.