My Life, and my Bloodline

Home is where the heart is....

We lived in a beautiful Hacienda I loved our home; it was named Hacienda La Ezperanza.  

Our Hacienda was magnificent. On the first floor we had the dinning room, visiting room, Father’s office, and the most beautiful room of all, the grand ballroom! The ball room had beautiful high ceilings, whenever we had parties the crystal chandeliers were lit by hundreds of candles. Huge windows that were almost the height of the walls with arch shaped tops and wrought iron detail bars on the windows. In the back of the grand ballroom were beautiful French glass doors that opened to a lavish open patio, large fragrant Jacarandas, variety of irises, sunflowers, and Xempaxúchiles (marigolds in variety of sizes), and shades of gold, roses, and other fragrant flowers surrounded the patio. Interspersed among the Jacarandas were lovely crystal lamps, with small candles that gave off the right lighting, a subtle soft lighting. In the center of the patio a large water fountain made up of colorful talavera tiles. Cherubic angles eternally playing in the fountain. Sofas, and seats made of rich stretched leather were scattered for guest’s comfort in the patio. One of my favorite past times was helping Nachita tend to her garden in the patio. Another one of my favorite past times was to sneak into the kitchen and watch kitchen staff cooking; slapping out the perfect tortillas, making fresh sausages, or sneaking a snack in the evening, right before the cena, our last evening meal of the day.

The kitchens were my area in the whole Hacienda. The kitchens were very ample, with three built -in adobe ovens. These ovens were always lit and warm, some type of succulent meat was always slow roasting in the ovens. My Nachita always had fluffy tamales for me, or she would make her delicious maize gorditas for me, fresh hot and steaming with the best fruit flavored atoles to go with the gorditas and tamales. I remember having my best meals in the kitchen with my Nachita.  There were long wooden tables in the middle of the kitchen; one long table was where the fresh dairy products were made every day. Rich Queso Fresco, thick crema, and smooth butter. Although the kitchen was very utilitarian, it was a beautiful kitchen. Lovely talavera tiles adorned the walls, and the floors. Huge clay pots filled with fresh fruit waters, and delicious beans.

The kitchen was connected to other patios in the back of the Hacienda that connected also via Portales, large wooden doors to the corrales, the pens that held the house hold animals, the chicken coups were there, household cows, pigs, and other animals. Every morning the house help that were all indio heritage would fetch fresh milk, and eggs.

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This was a very important year for my family. My Cotillion was this year, which meant my celebration for my 15th birthday. During the celebration Father was to announce Francisco and mine betrothals. I was betrothed to my cousin Ernesto, and Francisco was to be betrothed to a young lady hand picked by our Presidente Porfirio Diaz himself. Maria de Jesus Ibarra de Leon, she was from a very prominent Mestizo family.

My pretty room, was decorated with the most expensive tapestries and curtains from Europe, in fashionable French style. My mattress was stuffed with the softest down feathers. A lovely pink gauzy material covered my bed. Against the east walls in my room was a large table that held a replica of our Hacienda in miniature; I used to play with my little Hacienda all the time when I was younger

Typical to the design of the Hacienda, my bedroom windows were just like the windows in the grand ballroom the tops arched, and wrought iron detail and bars. Lovely jacaranda flowers hung in planters outside my windows; filling my room with their rich heavy scent.

As the house staff would say, we were born in silk diapers. My Father was the Cacique in the region, as my Father’s language called Ka-Chi-Ka.[  He was lord of the land; leader of the local Indian campesino families of the region. All of the inhabitants of the land owned him homage and loyalty. Father was Don Axayacatl Francisco Sanchez, he was from a very well off Indian descent Mestizo family. Father’s family claimed they were of old Indian noble blood. My Nachita his Mother; she was in charge of our upbringing.

I didn’t know for the first 15 years of my life, but my siblings and I were considered Aristocracy, or almost royalty in our small part of the world. I thought that everyone lived the way we lived. With mozos, and serving staff to wait on them, the bountiful meals we had, and beautiful cloths like we had.

Unbeknown to us in our own little world, the country was going through great political unrest. Our country had known a long term of peace social and financial progress during the government of Presidente Porfirio Diaz, but the working class people, campesinos, claimed to be oppressed under Presidente Porfirio Diaz. His rule claimed it was a waste for Indian campesinos to have good lands, they were lower class citizens. Our honorable Presidente Porfirio Diaz wanted our whole country to be populated by more upper class families like ours. Presidente Porfirio Diaz was working hard to obliterate the Native Mexican Indians, and water their blood down with European blood; thus creating a new social class, with the superiority of the European blood. He proposed to use the vacant lands, sieged from Indian campesinos as incentives for the “Investor Immigrants” thus eliminating any history or culture left behind by the Native Mexican Indians; but Presidente Porfirio Diaz was not counting on not being able to water down the true spirit of Mexico. The noble warrior Indian blood that ran through or veins would never be watered down!

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Some Indian campesinos were cared for and protected by Caciques, Hacendados at some Haciendas, Some Hacendados gave the campesinos a the fair chance to work on their Haciendas, and own small parcels of lands, live on them with their families. Of course there was a price for the Indian campesinos had a very high price to pay, Caciques, or Hacendados had certain rights over the campesinos, Hacendados had the right to the virginity of any women throughout the Hacienda, consequently having many bastard children. I can only say I have heard of this phenomenon but never saw it first hand.

Cacique’s also had “Tiendas de Raya” which were stores were the people could get paid for their work by goods, or work off the goods purchased by labor. Goods they would not have been able to afford or get any other way. They would take whatever good they needed such as beans, cloths, rum and other basic necessities.

I know Father always took care of our campesinos, and had fair prices and arrangements for our “Tienda de Raya”. Mother made sure our Hacienda also had a school for the campesinos children, she provided a meal for the children while they were in school. Mother was kind enough to allow the children to go to school until they were 10 years old. Afterwards they had the opportunity of earning a good living working the lands along with their families. Of course since Mother was a good catholic woman, she had a Capilla built on our Hacienda for everyone to worship at. We allowed our campesinos to have Sundays as a rest day so they could go to church, and usually later get drunk. Mother said the more time off we gave off to the campesinos, the more they would get drunk and get lazy.