Week 1: August 4-August 8

My people, the Tlaxcalans, have appointed me to undertake the responsibility of gathering

information about these abstruse and foreign Aztecs. It is my main objective this week to gather as much

information as I can about Aztec food and markets. This is what I have gathered so far:

The Aztecs are mostly vegetarian. The main crop that these people grow is corn. I have learned

the ways that the Aztecs make use of corn. I had been spying on a farmer’s family for four days, as well

as a nobleman. I wanted to see both sides of the social spectrum and how each of them treated

themselves. As I watched the farmer’s family, his wife had wrapped their corn in corn husks and ground it

with water for him and the children to drink. She repeated the same procedure except that she cooked the

husk on a comal to make tortillas. I had been sitting,

waiting for them to start the meal, but all of them had

gone out to carry out their responsibilities. I waited in

the hot, blistering sun for their arrival, but the family

did not come back until 10:00. I realized that the

Aztecs do not have breakfast. The wife and the

daughter had cooked porridge and laid out cups of

water for the rest of the family to have. After their

meal, the family had set out again. One of the little

children, a little boy, was walking my way, and I

quickly fled and hid behind a thicket of bushes, hidden from view. I studied the little boy’s movements.

He seemed to be looking for something, but I did not know what. Did he know I was there? The idea

seemed to frighten me, so I inched back further into the brush. There, in the corner of my eye, I saw an

iguana that was perched on top of a log. The boy crouched into position and pounced onto the iguana,

hands outstretched. He covered the iguana with his hands and ran back into the house. I finally gain back

the courage to remove myself from my current position and placed myself near the window of the house.

I see the boy bending over the creature, which seemed to be stabbed to death by a sharp rock. I cringed in

disgust. It was gruesome and revolting to see. I averted my eyes and decided to venture to the farms. I had

to go unnoticed, which was almost impossible since there was nothing to hide me. I was forced to observe

from afar. I believe to have seen beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, red peppers, and chilies. I also saw

guavas, apples, and cherries growing on different parts of the farm. I decided to leave the farm and go see

what the upper classes ate.

I entered the premises of a wealthy individual and settled myself near

his window near the dining area. I saw remnants of his past meal. There was a

cup of chocolate that I believed replaced the water that the local people often

drank. There, laid out for his midday meal was a tortilla with beans and

tamales with tomato sauce. I saw a shadow enter the room, and I immediately

removed myself from the window. I stretched my neck to see through the

window without being noticed as the nobleman walked into the room. He sat

down at the table and started his meal. He was outfitted with brocades and

fashionable cloth. It seemed as if he were to attend a special gathering of

some sort after this meal. He sprinkled what I believed was sage on his food,

as well as coriander. After his meal, he went over to a small bowl placed in

the middle of the table and picked out a piece of zictli, and started chewing it.

I decided to leave once he had left the room to attend his banquet.

I then came across a few children near a lake. They skimmed the lake and produced some sort of

algae. They started making cakes out of them and started eating them. They also caught insects and

grabbed water-fly eggs and worms. The sight of watching these children eat these disgusting creatures

revolted me even more. Since these people were mostly vegetarian, it was understandable at the time for

them to want some sort of protein.

It was nearing the evening and I decided to head back to the farmer’s house. The food laid out on

the table was a corn drink spiced with sage. I perceived this as their last meal, but it wasn’t even dinner. I

then realized that only the wealthy could receive dinner, for that nobleman set out to a banquet after

eating so little before. I shall conclude my information on Aztec food, for I have said sufficient.

Week 1: August 9-August 11

I spent the rest of the week studying the markets that take place regularly during the daily lives of

the Aztecs. The city that I spent my time in was called Texcoco. It is known for its finest clothes and

ceramics and it amazed me how organized these markets were. They were large outdoor business places

placed in a large square in front of the town’s temple. This market lasts for the whole week, and I was

glad because sometimes markets last for only five days before the next week comes. I had to walk around

to see what these people sold almost every day, so I decided to disguise myself as well as I could. I

walked around quickly enough to pass the guards that oversaw everything during this time. I quickly

glanced back when one of the guards shouted something. I was alarmed, for the guard was walking in my

direction. I quickly walked into the crowds to blend in, but it was to my relief that the guard was not after

me. He had stopped a man that was arguing with the owner of a clothing vendor and took him away to a

panel of judges that was standing by. I was now able to observe the different things that people sold.

There was food, animal skins, cloth, spices, dyes, building supplies, tools, medicine, and slaves. The

sellers were all grouped according to their wares. These

markets were not only for getting the supplies that you

needed. I saw many friends talk to each other about news and

other types of gossip. These people used a barter system, or

trading one kind of good for another. I passed by a certain

shop where a woman was trying to buy something, but the

shop owner refused her trade repeatedly. I looked closely at

what she was holding. Her cocoa beans were counterfeit. It

looked like they were made of wax. Guards came over and

took the woman away. I followed the guards and saw them

throw her beans on the ground and destroy them. I could not

understand what they were saying, but I understood enough

to know that she had to pay a fine for trying to give counterfeit items. Since this market was getting

hectic, I decided to depart from the area. I returned the next day only to find what I already know.

However, there was one aspect that I have to write down. I saw a few suspicious figures that I believed

were the Pochtecas. I knew that they were not only merchants inside the market system, but they also

venture to distant parts of this land bartering different items to bring back to for sale at the marketplace. I

had seen a few bring these exotic items to the nobles for them to buy to show their upper class status from

the commoners. I was quite uneasy, for the land where I come from warns us about how the Pochtecas

were spies and messengers. I had decided to avoid the Pochtecas, for I knew if they had spotted me, I

would be in a lot of trouble. I now conclude my three days studying Aztec markets.

Week 2: August 12-15

What I was most intrigued about the Aztecs was how they dealt with crime and punishment and

what were their warfare tactics. I decided to focus on their crime and punishment system for three days.

As I already knew, their laws were based on religious beliefs. Judges governed marriage, business,

family, and personal behavior. I encountered one significant event on my first day investigating and came

across the local court’s senior warriors choosing the fate of a man who had committed a crime. I knew it

was his first offence, for he seemed frightened and confused. I had caught a few words and came to the

conclusion that the judges had given him a lighter punishment. They said to him that his punishment was

that his house was going to be demolished. It is to my understanding that crime was considered to be fate,

or inevitable, so it was not a horrible thing to commit, and that it was all part of the gods’ plans. Only if

the crime was serious would the person go to court with elected judges. I had been

given the chance to witness a court session. The man had committed numerous crimes

and the judges were dealing out his fate. He had repeatedly stole items from houses

and was publicly drunk numerous times. He was sentenced to death the next day. It

confused me when they said that being publicly drunk was a crime, but it did not

apply to the people that were at least 70 years old. I came to think that people at the

age of 70 could become besotted if they gave children and grandchildren.

I had come the next day to see what has become of the man. He was confined

in a cage to await his death. It was told to me that criminals could be drowned or

skinned alive. I did not want to see what punishment was given to the man and

decided to leave. No criminals were used for sacrifice because they might displease

the gods. I had to gain more information about crime and punishment, so I decided to

see what other fates awaited for those who were disloyal. I had come across a commotion that was going

on near the swampy lowlands. I had come just in time to see the punishment for a cowardly warrior and a

disloyal wife. They were both to be put to death by drowning in the swamp. I heard the judge say to them

that they had lost their right to be buried or cremated. This to me was the lowest possible disgrace for the

Aztec people as well as the two people and their families. I watched as they slowly walked towards their

death and watched as their bodies were engulfed by the water until I could see them no more.

I had seen the punishments of both commoners and warriors, but I wondered whether or not the

nobles were given any punishments. It was to my pleasure that I had experienced such a case where a

noble had committed a crime. When he had committed the crime of stealing, he was tried by professional

judges in the king’s palace. He was punished harshly and he was sent for death

penalty. Nobles were supposed to set an example for the commoners, and for one to

commit a crime was a disgrace.

I had come across slavery and the exile of two people as punishments.

Slavery was a common way to pay back what was owed. I did not know what the

case was for the two people who were exiled, but for someone to be exiled from the

city must have committed a crime too large for the local court and too small for the

professional. I had come across many events in the course of three days, and I am

satisfied with what I had gained from the Aztecs and their way of dealing with

criminals.

Week 2: August 16-August 20

The Aztecs seemed fierce and merciless for they wanted to

show their superiority of their way of life and gods. The seemed to

have conquered a lot of the land, thankfully not mine so far. They

have extended their empire and gained wealth, power, and were

able to spread their religion. They found prisoners that they used

for religious sacrifices. I wanted to see how they trained their

menacing and ruthless warriors. At the age of 12, boys entered

warfare training. By the age of 17, these boys were required to

fight for five years without pay. This fighting allowed the warriors

to gain or move up ranks. They started out with simple clothes: a

wood or leather shield and a club or a spear. I have seen these

young boys go out to war and only a few of them come back. The more experience warriors are the ones

that come back victorious. The ones who are victorious and are at a beginners level move up ranks if they

capture a prisoner. Once they move up a rank, they also gain a different type of clothing to show their

superiority. The warriors now wear a feathered suit to show others that they have moved up a rank.

I knew that these warriors would not stop there. They wanted to fight for the land and gain their

own nobility and recognition. These warriors continued to capture prisoners and fight. As they move up

their ranks, they gain more colorful, decorated uniforms. The highest and especially brave warriors were

awarded a uniform that looked like a jaguar or eagle. I decided to accompany these warriors on one of

their conquests, but from a very long distance. I tried to stay hidden as well as I could. I hoped that they

would not attack my fellow Tlaxcalans, and I was relieved when they headed west. I had followed the

Aztec warriors to their next victim. They all crouched into position, hidden and unknown to the enemy.

They sprang out and screamed their battle cries. I heard the banging of drums and saw the warriors run

into the territory of their opponents. The start of a war began and ensued for a long time. I stayed hidden,

but I knew I could not stay in an area for too long for I knew someone would find me. As I ran to a

different safe zone, I saw the first wave of spears thrown into the air. The cries of men injured rang in my

ears as I ran into the jungle. I watched and observed from afar as the soldiers with clubs and shields ran

forth. The men engaged in hand-to-hand combat and none of them dared retreat. The warriors dragged

injured prisoners away while others were still fighting. I had noticed that these warriors tried to not kill

their opponent, but rather tried to capture

them to become prisoners or victims of

sacrifice. The warriors did not stop there.

They ran forth deeper into the premises

of the enemy, holding fire lit torches.

They started throwing the torches at the

temples of the city, burning them to the

ground. The Aztecs had entered the

palace of the ruler. I did not see the rest

for I fled because the warriors were

coming back into the jungle. They had won in the course of almost two days. The tribe was not big, but it

was still a very quick battle. It was another day’s worth of travelling to return back to the city. The army

had lost very few men, but they replaced those men with the prisoners that they had captured. It was a

gruesome discovery that I had experienced, but now I know what tactics these warriors use to win the

battles that they face.

Week 3: August 21-24

It always occurred to me what the Aztecs did if they had any time off from their responsibilities. I

decided to focus on learning about the Aztec’s idea of recreation. During the little time they had off, the

commoners would play music, ball games, and board games. They made music using flutes, drums, and

their voices. I enjoyed listening to their music, for it was very different from ours. What I found very odd

was that singers who sang for nobles were not supposed to sing off key or make mistakes, or they would

be punished or put to death. These musicians would play at markets,

religious ceremonies, or celebrations. Men and sometimes boys would

play ullamaliztli, or tlachtli. I had to watch from a distance, but I could

describe the court and the game. The court was long and narrow, divided

lengthwise, and enclosed with walls that were eleven feet high. There

was a small ring projected on the court walls. The men scored by putting

the rubber balls through the rings only using their knees, thighs, or

buttocks. There were hundreds of spectators that gathered to watch

games. The often risked clothes, feathers, and gold betting on which

team would win. Sometimes some people lost their wealth by betting and

were forced to sell themselves into slavery. I believe that tlachtli also had

religious meanings. I noticed that this ball court was placed near the most important temples. I came to

the conclusion that the tlachtli court represented the world and the ball represented a heavenly body.

Children and adults also passed their time playing board games. Their board games consisted of

mat designs drawn in rubber and beans used for markers and dice. Players would move their pieces off

the board based on the throws of the beans or stones. These people often placed bets for the outcome of

the game. They bet precious metals and stones, plants, or even themselves. This game was called patolli.

It was a cross-shaped board divided into 52 squares. The board symbolized the sacred 260 days calendar.

This game was often played by the commoners and by the nobles. Anything that tested skill and

endurance was popular amongst the Aztecs. Nobles also enjoyed going on hunts. The children played

with bows and arrows, marbles and stones. For the adults, dances

and ritual battles were often considered a form of entertainment. I

was fascinated at how skilled and talented the Aztecs were. I also

was intrigued by the fact that they would bet so much of their wealth

over a game. This just shows how much recreational games are

important spiritually to these people.

Week 3: August 25-August 29

The Aztecs were known for their beliefs of sacrificing humans to the gods. I wanted to see how

this process worked and what they really did to the victims of sacrifice. The Aztecs were known as the

“people of the Sun.” They are known as this because the Aztecs believed that the gods threw themselves

into the sun to fuel it. Hence that belief, they also

believed that the sun needed precious water to help

it stay alive. That precious water is blood. I have

witnessed countless sacrifices of not only people,

but animals as well. They dress the person being

sacrificed as a representation of the god they are

sacrificing to. I have seen prisoners or slaves be

sacrificed, but there was no obvious hatred that

went towards the priest, for they believed that they

would become one of the gods’ messengers. Only

some rituals included sacrifices, otherwise the king

or the priests would pierce their skin with cactus

needles and offer their own blood to the gods. The

sacrifices were brutal, but I was forced to watch to

see what the priests did to the victim. There were heart-extractions, which were viewed as means of

liberating the sun’s heat and reuniting it with the Sun.

The sacrifice depended on the type of god being worshipped. I have seen sacrificial victims be

beheaded, drowned, given a pain-killing drug and burned, shot with arrows, and skinned alive. Once any

of these things have been done, the priests sometimes cannibalized the victim. This process was taken to

the top of the temple. The Templo Mayor was located in the middle of Tenochtitlan. This temple was

where all the sacrifices took place and was dedicated to the two most important gods, Huitzilopochtli and

Tlaloc. Usually what would happen was that the victim would be placed on a stone slab. Four priests

would hold his or her arms and legs while the fifth priest would slice their abdomen open with a

ceremonial knife. The heart was ripped out and was offered the god. The heart was placed in a vessel

called a Choc Mool that was dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility.

It was gruesome and uncanny as the priests placed the

bleeding head on display in the skull rack. There were

thousands of skulls displayed, and the sight of them sent

chills down my spine. There were hundreds, perhaps

thousands of skulls that were displayed on the rack. Tribes

have been frightened because of these many skulls, and I

think this was the purpose of them. The Aztecs also wanted to

intimidate their opponents with these victims. Surely the

consolidation and power, not to mention wealth, was in mind

as the leaders continued to promote the practice. All of these

victims have been sacrificed in the course of four days. In

addition, certain youths and maidens were chosen to represent

specific gods and goddesses. These people were treated with

great care and tenderness throughout the year before their

execution. This was an experience I will not forget, for now I know about the ritual of sacrifice for the

Aztec people.

Week 4: August 30-October 3

After learning about the rituals of sacrifice of the Aztecs, I decided to learn about the social

classes. I learned that people belonged to one of seven classes. The

highest class, of course, is the ruler, his family, and nobles. They

owned the empire and were made responsible for government choices.

Nobles had many other privileges. They generally received a fuller

education, and they were allowed to wear fancier clothes and decorate

their houses. Below this class were the priests. These were the most

educated people and trained other priests and rulers. They were also

responsible for rituals such as sacrifices. Below the priests were the

warriors. It makes perfect sense to me that these warriors would gain

such a high rank, for they are the main reason why the Aztec empire

expands for many miles. They also carried out orders. What is

interesting is that most of these warriors started out as one of the lower

class, but they slowly gained power and rank. The next class was the

tradesmen and craftsmen. Tradesmen sold and bought goods to help

their rulers gain riches. Craftsmen made jewels, built homes, and

quarried stone.

The lower class made up most of the Aztec population. The

lower class consisted of mostly peasants. They worked on farms, but

they had ownership of their land, but all of it belonged to the king.

These peasants could also vote for their local ruler.

On the bottom of the social pyramid are the slaves. The slaves were either prisoners of war,

people would owed money, or criminals. They were not treated poorly, to my surprise. They could earn

money to get their own slaves, or even buy their own freedom. Men

slaves could marry free women and the children whose parents were

slaves did not become slaves themselves. I believe this is because

children being born were needed in the Aztec society. They wanted

more warriors and laborers. Merchants were a privilege class. They had

the ability to travel and deal in valuable objects. They had a certain

amount of freedom that many Aztecs did not have.

Except for the nobility, the people of this society are quite poor.

They lived in adobe homes, made of much bricks. Most of the day I see

the commoners working for hours and hours, only having a few minutes

of free time to spend with their families and friends. The nobles attend

special banquets or gatherings, and the only event that they take part in

with the king was that they were allowed to hold important government

offices. However, not all of the nobles received positions of authority.

Some were craftsmen, or even palace servants that served with

distinction to move up ranks.

Week 4: October 4-October 7

This is my last week before the month ends. I have decided to learn about one more aspect of

Aztec life. I wanted to learn about their education system. I have learned that there are two types of

schools: the calmecac and the telpochcalli. The calmecacs, or monasteries, were run by priests for the

sons of nobles. The telpochcallis were for the sons of peasants and merchants. They were trained to be

good warriors and citizens. The calmecacs taught boys to be high priests or rulers. I have spied on their

classes and have seen the following being taught to these boys:

They are being taught warfare, singing, dancing, religion, citizenship, mathematics, law, writing,

astronomy, and medicine. Some boys were punished if they were not following orders or if they did not

do something right. Their punishment was that they would have their heads shaved or they would be

pierced with a cactus needle. Sometimes I see the boys fasting and getting up in the middle of the night to

pray. Sometimes they would dig ditches and clean floors. All of this I believed was to teach them

discipline.

The telpochcalli taught boys about warfare and how to participate in ceremonies and obeying

rules. Once these boys left their school, they were taught by their fathers. The fathers taught them about

their own skill. For example, I followed one boy home to his household where his father, a painter, had

taught him the basics of art and how to create it. Girls learned to weave, cook, and clean. All genders

were given an education, but males were given a wider variety. Their punishments at home were them

being held over a fire of burning chilies.

Females were mostly taught at home. They start spinning thread at the age of four and cooking at

twelve. The schooling for girls was a basic training for marriage, except the girls from a noble family

spent a year at the age of twelve or thirteen helping in the temples. Some of these girls became

priestesses. There are some temples with priestesses with their own schools, but I do not know of their

actual place in the hierarchy.

This concludes my information on the Aztecs. I

have covered most of the aspects of Aztec daily life, and I

hope that my people are satisfied with the information I

have gathered for them.