30 May 2025 / 10 House
Translate!
We're only too aware that, being a UK-based project and service, our work is almost entirely English-driven. One of our dreams is for the entire website to be available in Spanish, and to this end we want to appeal to any of you out there who are bilingual to offer to translate one of our pages or features into Spanish. All you need do is select a page and send us your translated version - we will do the rest.
A generous and superb start has already been made for us by a young Mexican postgraduate student, Armando Altamira-Areyán, currently studying in the USA. Armando wrote to us: 'I am honored and thankful for having the opportunity of collaborating with Mexicolore; I will do my best with the translation although I am not an anthropologist or a linguist, I am finishing a Ph.D. degree in geology (geochronology) at the University of Houston, Texas, USA.
The love for my Country keeps me distracted from plate tectonics once in a while; when I go back to Mexico City I always go to the Tezcatlipoca's Temple (now Antiguo Palacio del Arzobispado); it is still possible to contemplate the original obsidian mirror and part of the pyramid's northern stairway...'
Armando gave us a splendid translation of our report of the Tezcatlipoca Symposium held in London in 2005 (see the link on our homepage). We asked him to provide some background information, which we're happy to show here.
Armando Altamira-Areyán
Born in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico on Wednesday 12 Baktuns, 17 Katuns, 15 Tuns, 9 Uinals and 2 Kin (Mayan calendar).
Nacido en Coyoacán, en la Ciudad de México, México
un miércoles 12 Baktunes, 17 Katunes, 15 Tunes, 9 Uinales y 2 Kines (en el calendario maya).
Research Assistant, Ph. D. (geology) student, ICP Lab Supervisor.
I am using the 40Ar/39Ar isotopic system to test two different tectonic models proposed for the Caribbean - South American plate interactions.br
Actualmente soy ayudante de investigador, estudiante de doctorado en geología y supervisor del laboratorio ICP. Para mi investigación hago uso del sistema isotópico 40Ar/39Ar para someter a prueba dos modelos tectónicos que se han propuesto para explicar la interacción entre las placas tectónicas del Caribe y de Sudamérica.
I have always had an interest in education; not only in science, but also in understanding how and why the learning experience can (or cannot) be achieved.
Siempre he tenido interés en la educación, no sólo en ciencias, sino también en entender el cómo y el por qué la experiencia del aprendizaje se puede o no se puede lograr.
The Mexican civilization (pre-Hispanic) impacts enormously for being a culture that was destroyed so young, so beautiful and so pure that it did not have time to gradually decline, the Mexicas just suddenly disappear leaving their vision of the Universe petrified in sculptures and in sacred spaces.
I am attracted to understand the attributes of Mexican Gods; I think that the best way of study the Mexica’s philosophy is through their Pantheon, a rich source of information not fully explored.
La civilización Mexicana (prehispánica) impacta enormemente por ser una cultura que fue destruida tan joven, tan bella y tan pura que no tuvo tiempo de declinar paulatinamente, los mexicas desaparecieron súbitamente, dejando su visión del Universo petrificada en esculturas y en espacios sagrados.
Me atrae el poder entender los atributos de los Dioses Mexicanos; creo que la mejor forma de estudiar la filosofía de los mexicas es a través de su Panteón, una rica fuente de información que no está totalmente explorada.
Armando's address: University of Houston 4800 Calhoun Rd;Department of Geosciences Science and Research Building # 1; Room 318-B Houston Texas 77204-5007 USA.
Armando recommends: on Tezcatlipoca (in Spanish):-
Barjau, L., 1991, Tezcatlipoca, elementos de una teología nahua: Ciudad Universitaria, México, D. F., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 111 pp.