Nopal

Somos de la Tierra del Nopal
Image: Aswer Garcia

I was captivated by this image during my random scrolling a few weeks ago, and I also enjoy the caption. It is profoundly geographic and definitely sounds better in the original Spanish  than in translation. 

The Spanish "Somos de la Tierra del Nopal" means "We are the Land of the Nopal." This is even less poetic if we translate the last word: "We are the Land of the Prickly Pear Cactus."

But in any language, the point is made (pun intended) about the symbols that tie people to their land, in this case Mexican people to Mexico.

This illustration is a variation on the illustration central to the national flag of Mexico, which reflects the origin story of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan -- which was to become the literal foundation of Mexico City. The artist Aswer Garcia has done the original story one better, with the cactus growing from a skull instead of a rock. 

And now the final tangent in this post: I became aware of the symbolic importance of the nopal through a song by the McAllen, Texas band Los Frijoles Romanticos: ¿Donde Está Mi Raza?

Yours Truly with a Nopal at CATIE