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Every time you eat a chocolate bar or drink a cup of cocoa, you can say thank you to Mexico.
If you have ever swatted at a piñata at a birthday party, eaten a tortilla or a taco, or if you are a fan of cowboys and rodeos, again, you can say thank you to Mexico. It’s easy to visit this neighbor. Just head south.
▲ Mexicans and tourists love the cheery sounds of a strolling mariachi band. Musicians with guitars, violins, and trumpets share folk tunes from different regions of Mexico. They often stop to take special requests. Band members sometimes wear wide-brimmed hats, called sombreros, and silver-studded pants. They play at festivals, weddings, dances, and other celebrations.
▲ Some of Mexico’s best-loved artists are painters of murals. These murals tell the history of the country. They also celebrate its science, revolutions, and regional cultures. Many murals by Diego Rivera tell the history of the struggle by Mexican peasants, Indians, and others to win land and equal rights. This Rivera mural shows people of different classes in the past in Mexico City.
▲ The Aztecs introduced the Spanish to this delicious chocolate drink. Like all chocolate, it is made from the cocoa bean. The Spanish took the beans back to Europe, and people haven’t stopped drinking cocoa – or eating chocolate – ever since.
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▲ Dancing to the music of a mariachi band, these men and women are performing in a traditional Mexican dance show in the city of Durango. Each region has its own style of traditional dance and dress. The country also has a national dance troupe, the Ballet Folklórico de México. Its dancers perform Mexican folk dances all over the world.
◀ Mexico has thousands of beautiful churches, such as this one in Zacatecas. They reflect the country’s rich Spanish heritage and the important role of the Catholic religion in daily life.
Indians make up about one-fourth of Mexico’s population, and they speak over 50 different languages, including Nahuatl, Mayan, and Zapotec. Here, a Zapotec mother carries her child in a colorful rebozo. ▶
