This post is part of the Mexico #WorldChallenge Study Guide Trivia Quiz and Meet-up run by @Denise_Barlock and @jayasimha78 , in which I’ll be the guest host, see you on January 22,join the #StateChallenge Google Group to participate.
Name origin
First things first, the name of the country, the meaning of “Mexico” is: “Navel of the Moon”, it comes from the Nahuatl word Metzxico:
- “metz(tli)”= moon
- “xic(tli)”= navel o center
- “-co” = place
Nahuatl is the language spoken by Aztecs (also known as Mexicas) , nowadays there are some varieties of nahuatl spoken by Nahua people, the largest group of indigenous people in Mexico. Some words that you use on a daily basis come from this language, such as: shack, chocolate, avocado, guacamole, tomato, chili, coyote and chipotle.
The Eagle and the Snake
The history of the name of the country that we know today as Mexico is very particular, legend says, that a group of tribes abandoned their home known as “Aztlán”, located in the north, their god Huitzilopochtli, had given them the mission of founding the most powerful empire in Mesoamerica, with the only instruction to do it where they saw an eagle on a cactus and devouring a snake (quite specific, right?) and after their long journey this group arrived at the lake of the moon, there they managed to see the eagle and the snake and founded Mexico-Tenochtitlán (capital of the Aztec empire), today it is located in the center of Mexico City.
The México-Tenochtitlán Main Temple was discovered in 1978 by workers of an energy company and now it is a museum, around it there are some restaurants with terraces and you can have a great view of it.
The eagle and the snake are part of the national coat of arms and are in the center of the flag, which has three colors with the following meanings:
- Green: Hope.
- White: Unity.
- Red: The blood of our heroes.
Biodiversity
Due to its geographical location, Mexico is one of the countries with the most biodiversity in the world and has a large number of natural parks, ecosystems, caves as well as endemic animal and plant species, here is only a tiny part of them:
Axolotl is an endangered salamander, what makes it special is its ability to regenerate limbs and it is widely studied in other countries, according to nature.com in 2018 “the 32 Gb axolotl genome is the largest genome assembled to date”, this incredible salamander appears on the new $50 Mexican Peso bill.
Xoloitzcuintle or just Xolo is a dog that has almost no hair, Aztecs believed that this dog guided the dead to find the Mictlán (underworld), that is the reason it appears in Pixar’s Coco.
Cempasúchil or Mexican Marigold is a fundamental part of Día de Muertos, it is associated with the sun and with the petals a path is formed that leads to the offering for the dead, this can also be seen in Pixar’s Coco.
Poinsettia: In Mexico it is called Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) because of its use in the Christmas season, in the United States it was named in honor of the first ambassador Joel Poinsett, who brought the flower from Mexico to the USA.
Celebrations
Mexican Independence Day: Hmm nope, it’s not Cinco de Mayo, even though it is celebrated in the US, Cinco de Mayo is just another day for Mexicans, except in Puebla with a parade, Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla.
OK, now that this point is clear let’s move on to the real mexican celebration…Independence Day, it starts the night of September 15 at 11 p.m. it’s time for “El grito” the president of Mexico will step out on the balcony of his office in front of the Zocalo, the main square of Mexico City, he will ring the same bell that the priest Miguel Hidalgo used to announce the beginning of the independence from Spain in 1810 and give a speech in front of thousands of Mexicans, to honour all the heroes. The speech ends with everyone repeating loudly ¡Viva México! and the party begins, fireworks, lots of food, the next day a military parade takes place there too.
Day of the Dead: This is probably the most famous Mexican celebration, in which we celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us and remember them by placing altars with different elements such as cempasúchil flower petals, candles, Pan de Muerto, chocolate skulls or sugar skulls and photos of our relatives.
Food & Drink
Tacos: They are the most eaten food in Mexico and the reason is simple, in Mexican homes tortillas there are always tortillas, so basically you can make a taco of anything, and remember every day is taco day, not just Tuesdays 
Chocolate: In Nahuatl it means “bitter water”, Mayan and Aztecs used to drink it in ceremonies, it was also considered the “food of the gods” and cocoa beans were used as currency.
Tequila: It is perhaps the most famous Mexican alcoholic beverage, it is made with the heart of a plant called Agave Azul and is later fermented and distilled, to be called Tequila it must be produced in certain states of Mexico, due to its designation of origin.
Movies
Something that Mexico has had in recent years is Oscar-winning directors: Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Guillermo del Toro better known as the “Three Amigos”. And here are a couple of easter eggs for Harry Potter fans, in The Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, he added some objects that are references to Mexico, like sugar skulls in Honeydukes and the eagle devouring a snake statues in the fountain of the courtyard. Have you seen them? If not it’s time for a HP marathon!
Sports
Lucha Libre: This is a sport-show that is a tradition and is one of the things that should be on your list if you visit Mexico City. Due to the wrestling style with many aerial moves you can enjoy a good time watching acrobatics and the fight between “good vs evil”, Arena México is the best place to attend a wrestling event.
If there is an emblematic stadium in Mexico, that is the Aztec Stadium, this stadium has witnessed Pelé (1970) and Maradona (1986) become champions of the FIFA World Cup, in 2026 it will become the only stadium in the world to host a World Cup opening match three times.
Did you know the origin of the word “Mexico”?
Thanks for reading, with this post I tried to share with you a little bit of the best of my country, of course there is so much more to write about, but these were the basics, see you on January 22!
A participar! 
y práticamente tengan que adivinar jajaja